“I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life”

Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 23, 2024 :: John 14:1-6

Are you troubled right now?

Are you in distress? Is your heart heavy, worried, burdened, scared?

I would imagine that many of us in this room are troubled right now or very tempted to be.

Some of us are happy and joyful and everything in our lives is running smoothly. But I know there is at least one heavy heart in every pew. Probably more.

There are a lot of reasons to be troubled in heart.

Financial troubles.

Family troubles.

Job troubles.

Health troubles.

There are a lot of crises facing our country right now.

We’re living in another American election year, and the stakes can feel really high. And what will happen if your guy doesn’t win and the other guy does?

And not our just country, but our world is in turmoil. Just read the headlines. There are a lot of reasons to be troubled in heart.

Are you troubled right now? If you weren’t already, I probably just pushed you into it.

In this passage of Scripture, the disciples of Jesus were tempted to be troubled. They had just received four big shocks to their systems. You will remember that they are gathered closely together in secret with Jesus on the most important night in human history. The night before the Cross.

Jesus has gotten up from the table and washed their feet. That was a shocker! Their feet are still moist from His gentle hands wiping off the dirt of the street.

Then Jesus had predicted that He will be betrayed by one of them. We know which one it was (and he’s now left the circle with Satan). But they couldn’t believe it was going to happen at all.

And Jesus also predicted that Simon Peter himself was going to disown Jesus that very night. That also seemed unthinkable.

And maybe the biggest shock of all was that Jesus said that He was going away. And that where He was going, they could not follow (13:33).

He also gave them the new command to love one another (that we are memorizing right now), but they could hardly hear that because they were so shocked that Jesus was leaving them!

In fact, we often call these three chapters the “Farewell Teaching of Jesus.” Chapters 14, 15, and 16 are what our Lord taught His disciples to get them ready for His departure. We’re going to spend the whole summer studying them deeply. Because these chapters contain some of the deepest, most important things we need to know.

Including how to keep from being troubled in heart.

Jesus said, verse 1. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

By the way, that is not a rebuke. Jesus is not disappointed that they were troubled in their hearts. “Why are you so worried? Cut it out.” Some of you will read “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” and immediately feel shame.

But it’s not shameful to have a troubled heart. You know how I know? Look up the page at verse 21 of the previous chapter. Look Who is troubled there in 13:21. Same Greek word. Jesus was troubled. It’s okay to be feel shaken. It’s okay to feel distressed.

This is not a rebuke. It is a comfort! Jesus is not taking them to task; He’s sharing the truth that will bring their hearts to rest.

Now, if you refuse to be comforted by this truth, that might be another story. If you embrace being troubled in heart and refuse this counsel that Jesus gives us here, then you might need rebuking.

But it was perfectly natural to be troubled by the thought that Jesus was leaving them.

Imagine being with Jesus constantly for three whole years, and then, all of a sudden, hearing that He was taking off and leaving you behind! Kind of like how the Evans feel and how our church feels now that Jonalie has been taken from our midst.

“Jesus was going away. Of course, we’re going to be distressed.”

But Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” “It’s going to be okay. Trust Me.”

In fact, that’s the short answer for how to keep from being troubled in heart:

Trust in Jesus.

It sounds so simple. Yet it’s incredibly profound. Look again at verse 1.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

Faith in Jesus makes fear run away. Trust in God settles the troubled heart.

Jesus says, “Trust in God.” Or that could be translated, “You believe in God.” Like that’s what they already do. They already believe in God. Now, Jesus says “Go deeper.” Believe also in Him, God’s Son.

And, of course, that would be highly controversial to the Jews. Putting faith in Jesus right alongside faith in God.

It’s statements like that that have gotten Jesus into so much trouble out there. It’s statements like that that have led to what is going to happen to Jesus later that very night. But it’s also statements like that that make all the difference for our lives now and forever!

Troubled in heart? Trust in Jesus.

Now, of course, that’s easier said than done. It is simple, but it’s not always easy to trust in Jesus. So Jesus gave His disciples multiple reasons to trust Him that night.

I’d like to summarize them in three points of how we should trust Him today, as well. Here’s number one.

#1. TRUST IN JESUS TO PREPARE A HOME FOR YOU.

Trust in Jesus to prepare an eternal home for you. That’s where Jesus starts. He assures His disciples that His departure is for a very good reason. Yes, He’s going away, but it’s going to be for their good. Look at verse 2.

“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.”

If you don’t have that memorized yet, you really should. This is some of the deepest, most precious truth in the whole Bible.

Jesus says that His Father (that’s God!) has a house, and it has many rooms in it. Now in chapter 2, we learned that Jesus called the temple in Jerusalem, “My Father’s House.” But Jesus isn’t just going to the temple now. He’s going to what the earthly temple only symbolized. Heaven itself.

Tomorrow, Jesus is going to die. (And He knows it.) And He’s going to go to heaven. And soon after that, He’s going to ascend to heaven (in His resurrected body). He’s going away to heaven in both ways. I think that’s the departure He’s talking about. His death and His ascension.

And there is a reason for His departure. He’s going to His Father’s House to get a place ready for His disciples.

“I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

Isn’t that good news?! I guess it’s okay if Jesus goes away, if He’s going away to get a place ready for me in heaven, right?

By the way, I’m glad the newer translations use the word “rooms” or “dwelling places” in verse 2 instead of “mansions” like the old King James. Because we don’t use the English word “mansion” the same way today that people did back in the time of King James. “Mansion” back then just meant rooms or dwelling places or apartments. (They still use the word that way in places in the UK.)

We use it now to refer to big personal castles and imposing palatial homes. But see what Jesus says in verse 2. These “rooms” the Greek word is “monay” (from “meno,” to “abide”), these abiding places are IN “my Father’s house.”

The emphasis here is not that we are off on our own in some personal gigantic building on a hilltop. But that we are dwelling close to the Father, in His own home. We have a personal space, a personal place in God’s own home!

We will be near to God forever! If that doesn’t chase away a troubled heart, what will?!

What is troubling your heart right now? No matter how terrible it really is. Put it up beside this. Put it beside the fact (the fact!) that Jesus has prepared and is preparing(!) a place for you in God’s eternal home.

Jesus says that there is room for you there. He would tell you if it was already full.

There is room. Don’t get the idea from “rooms” that it’s small. Just because it’s not “mansions,” doesn’t mean it isn’t big. It’s huge! There’s plenty of space for all of Jesus’ disciples. “It’s a big big house with lots and lots of room!” Right? Some of you remember that song?

There is room for you there to abide with God.

And that is why Jesus is going away. Why He’s going away to the Cross in a just a few hours. And why He’s gone away from us right now. So it’s worth it.

But it’s even better than that. Because He’s not going to stay away! Look at verse 3.

“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.”

#2. TRUST IN JESUS TO COME BACK TO TAKE YOU HOME WITH HIM.

Jesus doesn’t just promise to go away. He doesn’t just promise to get a place ready for His disciples. Jesus personally promises to personally return to His disciples and personally take them, bring them to be with Him personally in that place.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Doesn’t that beat anything that you’re worried about today?

Jesus has promised to return.

We just quoted Article 9 of our EFCA Statement of Faith.

“We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.”

And it gives rest to our troubled hearts.

“I will come back.”

Do you believe that? I think He was talking about His resurrection. He will come back from the dead. And I think He was also talking about the “parousia,” His second coming.

And what’s great about that, is that He isn’t just coming back, but He’s coming back to take us to be with Him forever in His Father’s House.

“That you may also be where I am.”

He’s coming to get us!

I don’t know when. But I know it’s going to happen. And it makes everything okay.

And then Jesus says to His disciples (v.4), “You know the way to the place where I am going.” And his disciple Thomas says, “No, no, we really don’t.” “We don’t get it. We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Verse 5.

“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’”

I love his honesty. Thomas always tells it like he sees it. Which gives Jesus the opportunity to say one of the most profound and important things anyone has ever heard. Verse 6.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

That’s our sermon title for today. It’s the 6th of the 7 “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John.

Once again, Jesus makes everything about Himself.

He said, "I am the Bread of Life."

He said, "I am the Light of the World."

He said, "I am the Gate for the Sheep."

He said, "I am the Good Shepherd."

He said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."

And now He says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

He makes everything about Himself.

Because, apparently, everything is about Him. Way, Truth, and Life!

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “I know the way to the Father.” He doesn’t say, “I know the secret truths.” He doesn’t say, “I know where to find life.”

He says, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.” You have to come to Him personally for those things.

The word “way” means “a path” or a “road.” It’s the “way” you get somewhere.

I drove over 1600 miles in the last three weeks, on our vacation.

We flew into Seattle and then borrowed a car from Heather’s aunt and then went visiting people.

We visited Tom and Stacey Fisch in Tacoma, and we visited our son Andrew in Sullivan Lake, Washington. We got to see where he works.

By the way, Andrew is working the Pioneer Fire right now so I’d appreciate prayer for him. There’s over 4,000 acres burning out there, and his crew is in the thick of it. He loves it, but it is dangerous. So thanks for praying for him.

Then we drove to Calgary and visited family there and then through the Canadian Rockies to visit family in Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

And my faithful navigator, to whom I’ve now been blessed to be married for 30 wonderful years, gave me great directions for all 1600 miles. Safely there and back again.

Heather Joy is a master of the map and great at deciphering the directions on the GPS.

Jesus is kind of like that GPS, right? He’s kind of like the map. He gives us the directions. He shows us the way.

But He’s more than that, isn’t He? He is the directions!

And He’s more than that. He’s the actual way. He’s the actual road. He’s the actual pathway that we travel to get to God the Father!

Just like He’s the gate. He’s the way.

And the only way. You only get to the Father if you come through Him. That’s exclusive. That’s narrow. There’s only one way. So, I’m glad He told us! There are not many paths. There is only one path, and the path is Jesus Himself.

He has gone away to make us a home. He will personally come back to personally take us home.

So we need to trust Him to do that.

#3. TRUST IN JESUS AS YOUR WAY, YOUR TRUTH, AND YOUR LIFE.

If Jesus is THE way, then He needs to be YOUR way.

If Jesus is THE truth, then He needs to be YOUR truth.

If Jesus is THE life, then He needs to be YOUR life.

You’ve got to make this personal. Jesus has!

This is life and death. This isn’t just a great name for a radio station. This is life and death. Eternal life and death.

Have you trusted Jesus as your own way to the Father? Have you trusted Jesus as your ultimate reality? He is what is true for you? Have you trusted Jesus as your own life?

If you do not, then you are not getting to the Father and you will not live in His house. But if you do, then you will.

You will have a place in God’s eternal home.

You will know what is real and true forever.

You will have life in Jesus’ name.

And He will hold you fast. Trust in Jesus.

I posted Jesus’ words on social media yesterday, and Bonnie commented, “I embrace this passage.” That’s exactly right. That’s exactly what we all need to do. Not just nod our heads. But to embrace what this passage says. And embrace the Jesus of whom it speaks.

Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.”

And that means that all who trust in Jesus come to the Father. And live with Him forever!

Brothers and sisters, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

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