In John 13, during his last supper with his disciples, our LORD Jesus deeply confused his disciples by washing their filthy feet and telling them they must do likewise. Huh? We didn’t choose to follow you to become some sort of lowly house slaves! Then Jesus confused them even more by coldly predicting one of them would soon betray him. This prediction stirred up a firestorm of muttered questions around the table. But before the tension of that awful moment could fade, Jesus said something even more disturbing. He told them he was about to leave. And then, when the feisty spokesperson of the disciples Peter the fisherman anxiously asked Jesus where in the world he was going, Peter was cryptically told he “could not follow.” When concerned Peter objected and asked his question yet again, declaring his undying commitment to his Master, Jesus dropped the most disturbing bombshell of all. Peter, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! Peter, you will deny you even know me!Jesus disturbed people. Jesus challenged and confused people. Jesus’ preaching was very frequently not well received – sometimes crowds threatened his life. Jesus’ teaching about himself, in particular, left many in the crowds screaming blasphemy and crying bloody murder. Jesus was not some warm, fuzzy cuddler of the masses. Jesus spoke plain truth to the masses. Jesus told people “everything they ever did” and many people didn’t want any part of that. All sorts of people walked away from Jesus in his lifetime because he disturbed them.
Jesus still disturbs people. And one of the most significant ways he continues to disturb this world is by intolerantly demanding our singular allegiance. Jesus still stands among us non-negotiably offering only one way to the Father! Yet fearing accusations of religious bigotry and intolerance, today we are told to keep our “Jesus is the only way” stuff to ourselves or at least rephrase things in such a murky, politically correct way no one could ever possibly be disturbed by what we say. Believe whatever verses you want, Pastor, just don’t talk about it! And whatever you do, for goodness sake, don’t talk about the truly hellish, eternally horrific consequences of sinfully rejecting this Jesus as the only way of salvation. That stuff just isn’t marketable; people don’t want to hear it. Just give us the love, grace and comfort stuff…
I can’t do that. There are, of course, all sorts of perfectly obvious reasons I can’t do that but our scripture text this morning gives us a stunning, surprising, and utterly refreshing reason. Open your Bibles to John 14 (page 984) and let’s wallow in something wonderful. Just after Jesus disturbed his disciples by washing their feet, declaring Judas’ betrayal, his own departure and even Peter’s denial – Jesus said something utterly amazing. He said:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
There is nothing in the world I want more than for all of us to understand how very much Jesus loves each one of us. More than anything, Jesus longs to “untrouble” our hearts. Regardless of how damaged or religiously unacceptable your story, Jesus begs all the children to come home. Both prodigals and older brothers are warmly welcome at his party. He stands beneath the sycamore trees of all the sneaky sinners inviting himself home with them for a meal. He touches all the untouchables and warms all the frozen hearts. If you’re longing for messages of love and grace and comfort, you have absolutely come to the very best place when you have come to Jesus. But we must listen to what Jesus teaches here about the true source of all love, grace and comfort. We must listen honestly to what Jesus says here.
Jesus Is Our Hope
If Jesus has troubled your heart lately, if almost anything has troubled your heart lately, the first thing we must understand is that only Jesus can meaningfully and eternally calm it. Only Jesus has a place and plan for us. Only Jesus is preparing something eternally nice for us. Only Jesus can come back and take us where we most want to go. Jesus is all our hope. And if we’ll spend any serious time with Jesus, we’ll know that. We’ll know the way!
I used to view the first few verses of John 14 as preamble to the important stuff in the rest of the chapter – a little cuddly stuff on the way to the meaty arguments. I don’t anymore. These four verses are the core of Jesus’ desire for us. Do you see? This is thesis statement. This is the most important stuff. Jesus longs to take away troubles and fill up his mansions. He dreams of the day he will come back for us and we will be with him forever. This is his core desire. But the only way we will ever get to enjoy all these wonderful things, the only way our troubles will ever meaningfully go away for good is by embracing the rest of what Jesus says.
Jesus Is Our Way
And first of all, that means we must embrace Jesus as the only way home. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This isn’t religious bigotry or fundamentalist arrogance. This isn’t Jesus trying to pick a fight or provoke people. It is fact. When our doubting friend Thomas asked our very honest question of Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” He was looking for a road map. He was looking for religious and perhaps political direction. He was looking for all the same sorts of answers and directions people still look for today. But Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the only way.” Could it be any clearer and simpler than that? Let not your heart be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me.
Last year, Monica and I took a wonderful weekend road trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, but one of the things I enjoyed most was driving across the wide open prairie land. It was wonderfully serene; like being on a beautiful ocean alone. But as I think of that blissful weekend trip this morning, sometimes I feel as though, as a pastor, I’m out standing at an intersection somewhere in the middle of that beautiful, wide open land. I’m standing there giving people directions to Mount Rushmore. I happily tell them to go west on the I90 a couple hundred miles, past the Badlands, drive up through the winding hills, watch all the signs carefully and they’ll get there. I give them a good map, pamphlets and even some tourist information to help them enjoy the trip and quickly get to their destination. I do all of this…and then I watch as car after car after car turns left instead of going straight.
What is up with that? Honestly! Do you want to see the mighty mountain or don’t you? And if you really don’t, if you’re so very confident you know all the answers, why even bother stopping for directions? If you’ve already made up your mind about precisely how you want to go, if you’ve got your own fancy little GPS, why are you still coming round? And please, please, please do tell me – in a short while, when you find yourself inevitably lost, wandering around thirsty in Nebraska, completely out of gas and food in the middle of absolutely nowhere, why in the world are you angry and critical of those who tried so hard to give you directions? None of this makes sense, does it? This is not difficult stuff. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That’s really it. No one is trying to fool you or play games with you. There is only one way home and that way is Jesus Christ of Nazareth! I can’t offer you meaningful comfort unless you’re willing to accept that very foundational truth.
Jesus Reveals Our Father
Secondly, if we long to escape our troubled hearts, we must understand Jesus as not only our path to the Father, but also the only true revelation of our Father. This is the second great leg of Jesus’ argument. When Philip asked his question, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us,” Jesus responded with “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” We listen to the teaching of Jesus, we study and apply the behavior of Jesus, we are obsessed with Jesus not simply because he is our way to the Father, but also because Jesus is and always will be our best window into the heart of the Father. In Jesus, we discover our Father’s heart. We see His reflection in the glass. In Jesus, we have the opportunity to know things about God we could never discover any other way.
In Jesus, we discover the full depths of God’s love for us. We discover He who did not even spare his only son, but gave him up for us, that we might enjoy life with him forever. In Jesus, we discover our God is not some distant, unapproachable deity standing angrily in the heavenlies, watching us fearfully and religiously trying to please and placate him. In Jesus, we learn our Father stands at the end of the road, waiting lovingly for the first sign of the prodigal coming home – waiting for the first opportunity to forgive us for insulting and ignoring him. In Jesus, we learn our Father will sweep the whole, dirty house looking for just one of us who is lost. In Jesus, we are reintroduced; we are more fully introduced to the Father who has loved us like crazy all along. Let not your heart be troubled. You trust in God; trust also in me.
Jesus Is Our Power
Then third and finally, perhaps most amazingly and graciously of all, if we truly long to escape our troubled hearts, if we long for comfort, shelter and grace in our storms, we must understand Jesus is our power. If you can’t believe all these other things I’m telling you, then at least believe in the evidence of the miracles themselves. Anyone who has faith in me will be powerful; they will do what I have been doing. They will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name. And then, after saying all this amazingly powerful stuff, Jesus gave a wonderful introduction to the coming presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. I will not leave you as powerless orphans. I am the true vine and you are the branches. Do not be troubled.
Not only is Jesus our only way to the Father and the best reflection of our Father, he offers us the power of our Heavenly Father. He has not left us here alone. He has not left us weak and defenseless. He has not left us with just a form of religion, but lacking in power.
Can I let you in on a little secret? I sincerely believe many people doubt Jesus as the only way to the Father and Jesus as true revelation of the Father because they simply don’t see the power and character of Jesus displayed in the lives of his followers. And so I pray for big miracles. I pray for sick people to get physically healed. I pray for Almighty God to speak in miraculous and surprising ways. I pray for God to work so powerfully among us here at Elim, that when we come to our annual meeting every year, we are amazed at what he did. You see, we don’t want Northeast Minneapolis impressed with what a nice, hard-working, self-sacrificing group of people we are. We are that, but we want people to slowly but surely realize Almighty God is at work here. We want people to come here because they truly encounter God here – in powerful and utterly miraculous ways. We’re not supposed to settle for less than that.
I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the way to the Father, I am the truth about the Father and I am your powerful, overcoming, comforting way through this life and the next. Unless Jesus is our only way to the Father, unless we embrace him as the true revelation of the Father and the power of our Father, our hearts will remain troubled. We will find no comfort.
So let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
Do you? Do you really believe in Jesus? Is Jesus your only plan?
May God help us see how we are truly answering that question each day!
Amen.
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