Part 1 – Jesus is the Way
Text: John 14:1-7
By nature we are people who look ahead, what does tomorrow bring? Where are we going? How do I prepare for the unknown?
Are you living a life that follows Jesus as the way? Or are you making your own way, and hoping for the best.
This statement from Jesus is one of seven “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John. The focus of the Gospel of John is to reveal Jesus as the Son of God, to reveal that Jesus is in fact God himself the great I AM (See Exodus 3).
John 14 is part of the discussion that Jesus has with his disciples during the last supper. As Jesus is talking and explaining to them the things that must take place, he is preparing them for his betrayal and death. But in chapter 14 Jesus begins by encouraging the disciples and that chapter starts by Jesus saying; “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and then Jesus goes on to explain to them that he must go, because he is going ahead to prepare a place for them. It fell to Thomas to ask the question that everyone else was probably thinking; “where are you going? How can we know the way?
For the disciples who were still looking for a literal re-establishment of an earthly kingdom, they were looking for a temporary Kingdom that was to be the final overthrowing of the Roman Empire. Even though Jesus had countered this time and time again, it was so hard for them to understand. They were thinking that maybe Jesus was going to a famous city to setup his throne there, maybe Bethlehem, or Capernaum or maybe a well known Gentile city.
The thought of Jesus leaving was too much for Thomas to bear, he wanted to go along; he wanted to know how to get there.
Hebrews 10:19-20 states; “19Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,” When Jesus died and rose again he provided the way.
Jesus does not simply teach about the way to go, he does not point us to the way like some giant billboard, no; Jesus is the way.
Jesus makes it clear in the statement that follows in verse 6 of our text; “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus isclear that he is the way, but he is also the only way, there is no other way. I know that this is not very Politically Correct today, but Jesus makes it clear as the only resurrected living Savior, who is the only way to be restored to a right relationship with God. Wealth will not get us to heaven, good works or being a good person will not get us to heaven. Religious ceremonies will not get us to heaven. Money, power or fame, none of these things matter – the only thing that ultimately matters is our relationship with the living Savior Jesus Christ, who is the only way (Acts 4:12).
As we all know life is a journey with many twists and turns. Jesus isn’t simply saying that he will be our way when we die to direct us to heaven. No, the way starts when we make Jesus our Lord and savior. The way is our day to day walk with him, following him and allowing him to lead and direct our lives. But that takes faith; faith that Knowing Jesus is enough and that he will take care of the journey.
Isaiah 35:8 states; “8And a highwaywill be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness, it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it”.
We are warned throughout scriptures of taking our own path and trying to make it on our own. Proverbs 14:12 puts it this way; “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
As I said earlier, Jesus is the only way to a life of peace. By what Jesus did on the cross we are able to be assured that God and man can meet in a loving relationship. Jesus made a way for us to be able to speak directly to the creator God of the universe, we have the awesome privilege of coming being able to kneel before the throne of God and we can call him, “our Father”.
The way is our journey with Jesus; he is with us on the journey that we take while in this brief life. We wrestle on this journey, because we don’t trust him. But Jesus can be trusted; he is faithful and will never let you down.
You may have made the decision to follow Jesus as your savior many years ago, but somewhere along the road of life, you have wandered off of the path that God has for you. You began well, but then the cares of the world and the troubles of life overwhelmed you and you are not walking the path that you know God has planned for you. Your wrestle because you do not have peace, something is missing. Paul wrote about this as he encouraged the Galatian church to get back to the path that they once were on (see Galatians 5:7).
Jesus is the way; it is not simply punching your ticket to get into heaven. It is the way to a life that has direction and purpose beyond our carefully structured and educated plans. Our lives should be a testimony of God’s faithfulness as we embark on a journey of radical risk taking, by being obedient to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we ignore the prompting of God to step out of our comfort zones of life, we will seldom have the opportunity to see the hand of God working in miraculous ways.
Let Jesus be the WAY for your life starting today.