Jesus, The Way to the Father
John 14:1-14
Key Verse 6 – “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus called his twelve disciples. Each one had a problem. But Jesus had a shepherd heart for them. Jesus patiently suffered to help each one come to the Father’s house. He also prayed for them to be great. Let’s learn through this message Jesus, the only way to the Father.
Part 1 – Trust in God (1)
As Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee he called people to follow him. Jesus called John and his brother James. They were fishermen, like Peter and Andrew. At Jesus’ invitation they left their fishing poles, their careers, and their families; and they followed Jesus. Jesus also called a selfish guy names Levi who was sitting at a tax collector’s booth. He called a useless intellectual named Nathaneal who was sitting under a fig tree. Jesus took these men around with him as he went and taught the people the word of God. By following Jesus, these ordinary men experienced an extraordinary life. At the wedding in Cana they saw Jesus change water into wine. And Jesus changed their boring lives into an adventure. They had front-row tickets to the Sermon on the Mount. They helped him feed the crowd with five small barley loaves and two small fish. They stood by as he called Lazarus out from the tomb. They saw Jesus walk to them across the stormy sea. They saw him heal the sick and rebuke many evil spirits. Life with Jesus is never easy. But it is always exciting, meaningful and fun. Personally, each disciple received much love and encouragement from Jesus. Jesus took care of all their needs and taught them the word of God each day. And he prayed early in the morning for each one of them.
The disciples came to depend on Jesus. They had followed him for three years. So when he told that that he was going away, they were filled with fear. They had separation anxiety. They were like Baltimore coworkers. Each one had a problem. They were not great. They trusted in their friend and human shepherd Jesus. But Jesus wanted them to trust in God. When we have a problem, we look for support, but we do not always look to God. Some people trust in money. Others trust in their intellect. The Founding Fathers of America trusted in God. Their motto was, “In God we trust.” When the people of America trusted in God, God greatly blessed this nation. Today, the American people want to trust in America—that is, in American economic and military power. But those things are not trustworthy. Let’s pray that America may return to its motto and trust in God again. Many people are fearful. But a kingdom of priests and a holy nation are not fearful. Jesus wants us to trust in God.
When I finished college, I didn’t know where to go. My classmates headed to New York and Chicago for high-paying jobs and seemingly bright futures. To me, such a life was meaningless. My parents said, “Rockey, come home to Michigan.” But Jesus said, “Trust in God.” So I decided to stay at Lehigh and serve student ministry. When Rockey decided to trust in God, God blessed Rockey and made his life hard, exciting and fun.
Part 2 – The Father’s House (2,3)
Look at verse 2. Let us read it together. Let’s go. “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.” On Earth, Jesus had no house. So he invited his disciples to his Father’s house. Jesus invited them not just to visit, but to live there and become part of God’s family. Jesus’ “Daddy’s House” is better than my father’s house. My parents built their own house when I was three years old. It is a beautiful house on a gentle hill in the woods of Michigan. I had my own room. But eventually I moved out. My old room is now a computer room. I was replaced by a computer. My Father’s house is still nice, but it is no longer my home. Each of us needs a room in the house of Jesus’ Father. We belong to Jesus and to his Father and we should live forever in his Father’s house. Last month, James Schafer—also known as superman—stayed for a while at with his grandparent;s in Chicago. One night at the dinner table, he was crying. His grandmother asked him, “James, do you want some banana?” He said, “No banana, I want some ‘go home.’” Each of us needs to go home. We need to be in our father’s house. This was well illustrated last night by the Shippenburg drama. The prodigal son, Josh, tried to live it up in Reno and Vegas. He lost all his money and he lost his soul. He lost his true home. In the end he came to his senses and decided to return to his father’s house. He expected his father to rebuke him. But his father welcomed him and treated with honor and made him a permanent member of the family. When we return to our Father’s house, he welcomes us with open arms and shows us to our new rooms and gives us eternal gladness.
People of the world are wandering sinners. But Jesus knows that, deep down, each person really wants to come back his Father’s house. Each of Jesus’ disciples wanted a room in his Father’s house, even if they had to share it with a computer. Going home to be with our father is the key point of the whole Bible. It is the deep longing in the heart of each sinful man. Even after Abraham was one hundred years old, he longed to go to the “Father’s House.” Hebrews 11:10 says, “… he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Our burning desire cannot be satisfied until we come back to our real home. Now the question is, “How do we get home?”
Part 3 – Jesus the Way (4-14)
Jesus’ answer is in verse 6. Let’s read it together, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” Everyone wants to go to the Father. But by ourselves we cannot get to the Father. There are many things blocking the way. Human beings long to know their creator God and be connected with him. But the way to God is blocked first by our sin. Sin makes us paralyzed like the man in yesterday’s passage. Sin makes us selfish like Levi. Sin cuts off our relationship to our Heavenly Father and prevents us from going back to his house. Second, the way is blocked by our fear. Some of us want to go to the Father, but we are too fearful. The way to the Father can also be blocked by our pride, our shame and our guilt. Sometimes friends and family members block the way. We cannot get to the Father’s House on our own. We need the way. What is the way? Jesus is the way. Jesus is the way because he is God’s One and Only Son. He has unique authority to forgive sins and to invite sinners to his Father’s house. Only Jesus can bring a dirty sinner into the presence of the Holy God. Why can Jesus do this? Because Jesus cleansed our sins by the power of his blood. Only through the blood of Jesus can we come to God. That’s why Jesus said, “I am the way.”
Because Jesus is the only one who can bring us to the Father, we urgently need to go first to Jesus. We need to call out to him to cleanse us of our dirty sins. We have to get back to the Father, because he is our Father. If we do not go to him we are orphans. Orphans are homeless people, restlessly wondering the earth like Cain. Their lives are fearful and meaningless. People try other ways to get to the Father. But there is no human way. No doctrine can bring us back to God. No law or moral code, no actions or rituals, and no religious experience can bring us to God. Only one person, Jesus, the living Word and Son of God can bring us back to the Father.
There are many obstacles that keep us from God. Yet Jesus, the way, can overcome all these obstacles. In this passage there are two examples of people whose way to the Father was blocked. First, look at Thomas. Verse 5 says, “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’” People often refer to Thomas as doubting Thomas. Thomas followed Jesus but his heart was often filled with doubt. At times he was consumed by anxiety and his stomach twisted in knots. He wanted to trust Jesus, but he always seemed negative. Thomas’ way was blocked by doubt and negative thinking. To get to God, Thomas had to go through Jesus. He had to take his doubt to Jesus and allow Jesus to open the way and free his mind from doubt.
The second example is Philip. Look at verse 8. “Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’” Philip clearly wanted to go to the Father, but he did not want to go the right way. He wanted to see God right now. His understanding of what it meant to “see” God blinded him to the words Jesus was telling him. Philip was a brilliant man. He was an expert at estimation and approximation. But Jesus was very disappointed in Philip. Philip knew lots of stuff. But Jesus wanted Philip to know him. Look at verse 9: “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”?’” But Philip wanted a mystical experience that would miraculously change his life in an instant. Philip was spiritually lazy. He wanted to see God without life-giving struggle and without believing in Jesus’ words. We cannot get to God through religious experience. We have to go through Jesus Christ. Philip had to repent and accept Jesus’ way, in order to really see God. Philip’s spiritual laziness was disappointing. But Jesus was patient and gracious to Philip. He gave Philip the word of God again and again until Philip could accept him as the only way to the Father.
Each of Jesus’ disciples had one life problem that kept him from coming to the Father. Matthew was blocked by his selfishness. Peter was blocked by his audacious personality. James and John were blocked by human jealousy and human ambition. Jesus personally dealt with each of his disciple’s problems, one by one. Jesus diligently served each of them. Jesus worked so hard to unblock the way and bring each of them to the Father one by one. It’s difficult for me to take care of my own children for two hours, but Jesus took care of his twelve disciples for three years. And he did so patiently and wholeheartedly, because Jesus had a deep shepherd heart for them.
Jesus has a deep shepherd heart for us as well. Last night, Masi testified to how Jesus opened the way for her to come to God. When she was a little girl she wanted desperately to go to God. She sensed God’s presence in his creation. Before going on vacation, she would sweetly tell the roses and sunflowers on her balcony, “Good bye”. But they did not answer her. The flowers were silent. Then she tried to come to God through Islamic ritual prayer. She put on perfume especially for God, because she loved him. But others told her that she committed a sin. Then she tried to reach eternal bliss through human love, but it didn’t work. Every way she tried to come to God was blocked. Yet God knew her heart. He showed her the one and only way, Jesus. Jesus approached her and invited her through his word in Matthew 14:29. Jesus said, “Come.” She heard the gentle voice of Jesus and came. Jesus opened the way for her to become a child of God. Jesus chose her and, and through his blood, redeemed her for himself. The Gospel of Mark records that, when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus opened the way to the Father. Jesus tore down the barrier that separated sinful man from the Holy God.
Let us read again, verse 6. Through this message, we learned that Jesus chose twelve men as his disciples. With a shepherd’s heart, Jesus led them to the Father’s House. Let’s go to Jesus and through him go to our rooms, in our Father’s house.