The Way, the Truth, and the Life

[00:00:05] If I haven't met you yet, my name is Eric Bowling, and I'm part of the preaching team here at village church. And I just want to tell you, you are on the precipice of one of the best times of the year. Do you know why young parents are thinking, my children are going back to school? [00:00:24] That is part of it. We are on the brink of football season. Now, I will tell you, in my own home with my wife, I mentioned that to her. I said, honey, this is the last weekend without football until February. [00:00:44] And you know what she did? She rolled her eyes. [00:00:47] And if you know anything about human behavior, that's not a great sign. [00:00:51] She's not as excited as I am, but I'm excited for it. Here's what's coming up this week. Thursday night, we have bears, Texans in the hall of Fame game. [00:01:03] I'm going to make a prediction right now. Okay. Right here today, I'm going to put it. This is probably recorded. It's going to live forever on the Internet. The Super bowl this year will be the Chicago Bears against my team, the six time Super bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The final score will be 28 six. Justin Fields will be responsible for four rushing touchdowns, and he will win the MVP. You heard it here first. [00:01:31] We'll revisit that in February. [00:01:35] But I love the game of football. I coached it for ten plus years at the high school level. Both of my sons played football. [00:01:43] I love the sport. I can tell you that. I will watch way too much of it. But my wife is wrong with that. There's more to be watched. I will watch obscure college teams, and she'll be like, why are you watching this? I'm like, cause there's a running back that might go in the 6th round that we're looking at that could probably help us on special teams. And she said, but you can't remember to take out the trash anyway. But football can be a little bit of a confusing game. And I get that if you watch it, it just looks like big people running into each other, right? And there's confusing things. Like sometimes they, like, huddle up in a little group and then they come up. And there's other times they don't huddle. They just come right up. Sometimes the scoring is strange. You cross the goal line and it's worth six points or it's worth two points, depending on where you're at. [00:02:38] You kick it through the uprights. It could be one point, it could be three points. You can pass the ball forward sometimes, but not others. [00:02:47] It's a confusing game, but I'm gonna make it simple for you in three steps, all right? So you can take this with you wherever you go over the next football season, and you can have at least enough to be a little bit dangerous with it. All right, here's what it is. Number one, football is big people pushing small people around. That's really the essence of the game. Chip Kelly, who is now the offensive coordinator at Ohio State University, that's how he described it. Big people push small people around. Second thing, you need to run the ball and you need to stop the run. Right now. That one's really useful. As you're watching a game, you could see like, hey, it seems like fill in the blank team is really stopping the run here, and you're going to probably be right, okay. Or they're going to try to run. And then the last thing is just, it's all about blocking and tackling. At the core of the game, it's blocking and tackling. Can we block you better than you can tackle us? And it's all about fundamentals. Now, every sport has fundamental things to it, but football in particular is built on fundamentals at every single position for 22 players on that field. And there's all certain responsibilities and certain things that need to happen. [00:04:02] And what I find fascinating about football as a sport is that every team practices the same fundamentals, from youth leagues to high school to college to the pros. A couple years ago, I got the chance to go to the Bears training camp when it was at Olivet Nazarene University, and I had an opportunity to really, like, go on the field while they were practicing. And so, again, I'm not a Bears fan, I'm not a Bears hater, but I knew enough, if I'm a guest to go to this practice, I can't wear my mean Joe Green jersey to that, right? Like, it's just too much. [00:04:40] So I get there, and I was just wearing some generic Nike stuff, and they said, well, you gotta wear bear's gear if you want to be, you know, on the field. [00:04:49] And I'll be honest with you, I thought about that for a second. I was like, well, all right. So I put it on. I'm on the field. I'm watching. At one point, I ended up in the defensive linemen huddle because they came off the practice field and they're kind of gathered around, and I'm standing there and I'm looking up at everyone and thinking, why did I ever think I could play this game as a child? Right. But one of the things I noticed was they would do the same drills that we would do as a high school football program, except these are full grown men. Most of them have been playing football since they've been eight, nine years old. Some of them are literally making millions and millions of dollars, and they're doing these same drills. [00:05:34] And it just hit to me how important fundamentals are and how important practices and going back to the basics, there's a quote, it's not attributed to anyone that says this, that fundamentals matter because it determines what you will do in pressure. It says, under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion. You sink to the level of your training. [00:05:59] And so this idea of fundamentals and going back to basics, in Christianity, there are sets of fundamentals, things that are true, they're basic, but everything is built on those. [00:06:14] And a good example of that would be the apostles Creed is a fundamental statement of the christian faith. Things like Jesus is the Son of God, the Bible is God's inspired word, etcetera. And so when we talk about fundamentals and basics today, we're going to do what I'm calling a fundamental sermon on a passage that's familiar. John 14, verse six. We're going to go back and look at some basics because it's important for us to be reminded of those and to practice those before we go to our text for the day. We're going to set up some context because it's important to know the setting in which Jesus is going to give this verse to the disciples. So the context is this. It's the upper room. It's the Passover celebration. It's the last supper. Jesus is teaching his disciples about his death, resurrection, and eventual ascension into heaven. He's preparing them for what's to come. Now, the disciples at this point don't really have a full understanding of all that's going on. They just know Jesus is teaching them. Here's what Jesus says. We're going to actually go back to John 13 and pick up a couple verses to give us the context for John 14. Jesus says this to his disciples. He says, little children, yet a little while I am with you, you will seek me. And just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. [00:07:48] And to the disciples, this would have been probably a confusing statement, because they've been literally following Jesus for three years. Where he went, they went. Where he told them to go, they would go. And now he's saying, where I am going, you cannot come. [00:08:04] And this prompts Simon Peter, Peter to say to him in verse 36, john 1336 says, lord, where are you going? [00:08:14] Jesus says, where I am going? You can't follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. [00:08:21] So Jesus says, where I'm going, you cannot come. And then he says, you cannot follow me now, but you will later. That's probably confusing to the disciples. [00:08:33] We know that Jesus again is speaking of his death, resurrection, ascension. He's also telling Peter, especially, here's what's going to happen to you. You're going to eventually follow me through this path. [00:08:47] And then he says in John 14, four to five, he says this, and you know the way to where I am going. So he just says, you can't follow me, but you know where I'm going. And Thomas asks probably the most profound question. He says, lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? [00:09:08] He's like, we don't know where you're going. How could we possibly know? [00:09:13] And I think that's one of the fundamental questions that we sometimes wrestle with as human beings is how do we know the way? How do we know where to go? How do we know which direction to take? How do we know what's going to happen in the future? All of those things in our patches. John 14 four to six. Jesus answers Thomas question, and he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. [00:09:43] No one comes to the father except through me. [00:09:48] So Thomas says, how do we know the way? And Jesus gives four things that are going to lay out. Here's how you know, and that's what we're going to dive into today. [00:09:58] The first thing we need to dive into is the phrase I am. [00:10:03] And what's fascinating about this phrase, if we were to go back and read it in the original Greek, what Jesus is saying is he's saying, when he says, I am the way, the truth and life, he says, I am, which means I myself and only I am. [00:10:21] That's a little confusing to our ears, but he's basically saying I am. It's a claim of divinity. [00:10:28] In the Hebrew, the word that he uses for I am reflects the name of God, Yahweh, which means to be or the self existing one. [00:10:37] And so when Jesus says, I am, he's claiming to be God. [00:10:43] He's describing himself and he's reminding the disciples of this is who I am. So he sets it all up by saying, I am God. And Jesus often used this phraseology for himself throughout the scriptures. Let's look at three examples. Matthew 28 20. Jesus on the great commission says, I am with you always. [00:11:04] As God, I am with you always. John 858, Jesus says, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am now. That phrase caused a lot of issues for him with the jewish culture of the time, because Abraham was the patriarch. He was the one established by God. And Jesus says, before Abraham, I was or I am. [00:11:32] And we know that the Jews reacted strongly to this because their response was to want to stone him to death. [00:11:39] And so he makes that claim of divinity. The last one, John 1846. When soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the garden, he told them, I am he. And his words were so powerful, it knocked them to the ground. [00:11:53] And so Jesus often uses this phrase, I am, to invoke a name of power and authority and deity. [00:12:02] And so as he begins this chat, as he begins this verse to the disciples, in answer to Thomas question, he's saying, I am God, and he's reestablishing and reminding of who he is. [00:12:15] And so then he gets into he is the way. [00:12:20] And so what's interesting, when he says, I am the way, he uses the definitive article to say, I am the only way. [00:12:30] And I think that's important for us to pause on this morning, because we live in a world, like we said before, where we're trying to find the person, place, or thing that gives us direction and purpose. Like what's the way we should go? [00:12:44] And if we're honest, we all have paths that we feel like, well, this is what I should take and this is what I should do. And we like to script it out to know I'm going to do this, and then tomorrow this will happen, then the next day will look like this, and then eventually this will all end very well for me. [00:13:04] You know, I think culture's looking for these types of things, too. I was doing a little research, and it's somewhere between, Americans spend like $6 billion a year to try to stay younger. [00:13:16] Why? Because we feel like that's a way that we should go. Look about the rise in, like, spiritualism. [00:13:25] People have an ability today to just take various parts of whatever religious beliefs they want, and they cobble together their own spiritual view, and they say, well, that's the way. This is how I'm going to go, and this is what I'm going to follow, what I'm going to do. And when Jesus says, I am the way, I think he's talking on two different levels. The first level he's talking about is that he's the way to live life. [00:13:51] He's a model for us to follow in terms of what we say and what we do and how we treat each other and how we function. Remember wWjd? [00:14:03] What would Jesus do? [00:14:05] It's a great question. [00:14:07] It's a way to try to live like Jesus. And then later something came out and it was like he would love first. And then I think they got into a corporate fight. Whatever, right? Doesn't matter. But it's that question of, like, I should live like Jesus. [00:14:21] Most people are cool with Jesus, really, especially in american culture. Most people are like, oh, yeah, Jesus. He's great. Like, that's. That's all, yeah, we should be like Jesus. Why? Because they look at him as, like, a good moral teacher, or they look at him as just this nice guy, or they look at him whatever. And so if that's the. As far as we go with this, that we should emulate and be like Jesus, we have really an incomplete picture of what Jesus is saying about him being the way. Because what Jesus is saying is, he's saying, I'm not merely the example, I'm the way to salvation. [00:14:59] I am the way to God. So if we just want to emulate Jesus without accepting and acknowledging him as the path to God, then we only have part of the picture. And so when Jesus says he is the way, the only way, it's an exclusive claim. [00:15:21] And that causes issues for christians in culture, because we live in a pluralistic society where that offends people. [00:15:31] We live in a society that says, like, well, yeah, he is a way, but there's multiple ways. And it's as if we're all climbing the same mountain and we're taking this path, and another religious view is taking this path, and here's this path path, and we all end up at God. And what Jesus is saying is, this is a completely different mountain entirely. [00:15:54] And so when he makes that statement, he's saying, I am the only way. And that's hard for culture. [00:16:03] Like, culture reactions is, how dare we make that claim? Because we live in a coexist culture. Have you seen that bumper sticker? [00:16:11] And I get the sentiment behind it. I understand why our culture would say, like, no, let's have all of these things together. But Jesus is saying, I am the only way. [00:16:24] And what's amazing about this teaching of Jesus, yes, it's exclusive. He is the only way to God. But it's also radically inclusive because anybody can get there. [00:16:37] You don't have to be born into a certain family or have a certain amount of money. All you have to do is believe. [00:16:45] And so when we come to that statement, Jesus is the only way. We're only saying what Jesus himself claimed about himself and what was backed up by the Old Testament, reiterated by the New Testament authors. [00:17:00] And so when we have that statement, jesus says, I am the way. It forces us into one of two sides. One side is we don't believe it, we don't accept it, we reject it. The other side is the opposite. We believe it, we accept it, it becomes our own. Obviously, as a church, our desire is when we say, Jesus is the way that you believe it and that you have that hope. And so to answer Thomas question, how do we know the way? Jesus says, I am the way. The second thing he says, and it's connected to the way, is he says, I am the truth. And again, he uses a definitive article to say, I am the only truth people are looking for truth, what's real, what's dependable, what can I build my life on? And the truth and way go together, right? If I believe something is true, I'm probably going to follow that. [00:18:03] For example, if I go to the doctor and I say, hey, I've got this medical issue, and he says, well, here's the truth, you have this happening. I was like, well, what's the way to deal with it? We're going to do this and follow this, right? Those two things are correlated together, they go together. And so when Jesus says he is the truth, he's connecting it to him being the way, we know the way, because he is the truth. But truth is difficult for us to find in today's world. [00:18:34] I suspect it's difficult for people at all ages, throughout history, but it's really hard today, and I'll tell you why. [00:18:44] One is just there's confusion, there's competing narratives all the time about everything. [00:18:52] There's all these different. And we have access to everything. [00:18:57] I mean, think back to what we went through as we all experienced Covid together, right? [00:19:03] Wear a mask, don't wear a mask. Get a vaccine. Don't get a vaccine. Stay 6ft apart, don't stay six. I mean, again, everybody had to determine what they did, but I'm just saying it was confusing at best to try to figure out what do I do? Do I do it now but not then? Do I, how do I handle it? And it creates weird. It created weird things with people. [00:19:27] Gotta be honest, early on, I'm a bit of a germaphobe and so I, like, was wiping down packages and some of you were like, yeah, we knew it. He's that guy. Okay, whatever. I don't. It's what I did, right? That's how I handled it. But then I was like, oh, wait, what am I. What am I doing? Cause it was confusing. I wasn't sure what was true. The second thing that makes truth hard to find is sometimes we're just lied to. [00:19:51] People make stuff up intentionally, unintentionally, if we give people the benefit of the doubt. But we're lied to. We're told, yeah, this will be it. This is what you should do. This is how it should be. This is what should happen. [00:20:07] You want to get a good shiver down your spine? Look at deep fake AI this afternoon where now we have technology. Yeah. Some of you are like, no, I'm not going to do that. I don't blame you. But we have technology where we can make it look like and sound like people are saying and doing things they didn't do. [00:20:27] It's hard to figure out what's true. There's bias, there's rumors, there's gossip, there's fake news. Like, how do we know what's true? I think we also live in a culture of deconstructionism, where everything is torn down. [00:20:44] And this one's tricky for us because we should be analytical, we should be critical. We should really think through. But we're told to question everything, and we have so much access to knowledge. [00:21:01] Again, I'll use another example of, like, going to the doctor, right? So I am a Webmd user. Anybody else? Okay, a couple. Thank you. You guys maybe know where I'm going. So I get on WebMD, and I'm like, I got a pain in my side. What is this WebMd like? Well, you could have indigestion or cancer. [00:21:26] And it's like. It's like, those are the two options. And I already admitted to you a bit of a germaphobe. I'm like, that's probably what it is. And so I research and I go to my doctor, and I say, hey, I got this issue. And he goes, oh, it's probably this. And I was like, yeah, but what about. And I threw out these, like, terms because I've been on WebMD, right? And he's. And my doctor's great. He's kind of like, hey, why don't you stay in your lane? [00:21:51] I'm like, all right, okay. But I'm questioning, right? I'm questioning things I probably shouldn't question again. This one's hard. We should be critical. We should be analytical. We should use our minds, but we're told to question everything. The last thing I think makes truth hard to find for us is just the rise of secularism. [00:22:11] Our culture has been described as being post truth. [00:22:15] Here's what that means. According to the Oxford Dictionary, post truth is relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. [00:22:32] Now think about that for a second. Objective facts are less influential to shaping what we think and believe than appeals to emotion and our own personal beliefs. So what's happened is we put ourself in the center and we say, well, I am the source of truth. [00:22:55] That's why culture has that phrase, speak your truth, and you can't challenge someone else's truth. Why? Because it's theirs. [00:23:06] And we may not like that. We may disagree with that, but we as christians need to figure out how do we navigate a culture that is there, that that is part of it, and it's easy for us. I think sometimes as christians have become cynical or despair in trying to find what's true and trying to find what's right. [00:23:31] But Jesus, again, cuts right through the doubt and confusion when he says, I am the truth. [00:23:37] What's so great about that is Jesus not only tells the truth, he is the truth. [00:23:44] And so when we have that, we have our scriptures that we can go to, we know we're getting the truth. [00:23:52] I mean, that's one thing I love about the Bible, is that it tells me the truth. Sometimes I don't want to hear it. Sometimes I don't like what it tells me, but it always says, this is what reality is and how you should live your life in light of it. So Jesus says, I am the way. He says, I am the truth. The third thing he says is, I am the life. [00:24:18] Now, he's been going through and he's been talking about his impending death, and now he makes this switch to say, well, and I'm the life. [00:24:28] And again, this ties into the other two. If we know the way and we believe the truth, then our life becomes oriented to that. [00:24:36] It's interesting. We as an american culture are looking for the good life, and all of us have a picture of, well, this is what the good life is. [00:24:49] This is what it would look like for me. [00:24:52] This is what I would be doing. This would be where I'm living. This would be all of those things. [00:24:58] So the question is, okay, well, what is the good life? Can we figure it out in a way to say this is it. The Pew Research center ask Americans in a recent study, what's a fulfilling life? So they said, we want to know what's a fulfilling life. [00:25:15] So they asked that this what's a fulfilling life? And people were to respond with extremely or very important or somewhat important or not important at all. Here's what the people surveyed said. Number one, they said having a job or career they enjoy. [00:25:32] 71% of respondents said, that's a fulfilling life. [00:25:36] Yeah, we get that right. [00:25:38] We work roughly 47 plus years to retire. And if we live to the average lifespan of 77, we get twelve years to enjoy what we did for the last 47. We get that it's important. [00:25:52] Number two, they said having close friends, 61% said having close friends is a fulfilling life. [00:26:01] And then the next next one was having children. 26% be extremely important or very important. [00:26:09] And then having a lot of money came in at 24% and then being married at 23%. So according to Americans that were surveyed, that's a fulfilling life. Here's what's also interesting. 49% of Americans agreed having a lot of money is somewhat important to having a fulfilled life. [00:26:30] And so if we ask people what's a fulfilling life or what's the good life, that's probably the metrics they want to operate off of. Got a career I like, I got friends, I've got family, I've got enough money, whatever it is. But the good life is not the point, right? That's not the ultimate goal. And when Jesus says he is the life, he's speaking about the life to come. [00:26:56] He's talking about eternal life. [00:26:59] And sometimes we have a tendency to take Jesus and we can say, well, we're going to follow him because we can get this really great life now, sometimes called prosperity gospel, where we can have all of these great things. And yeah, you might get that God does bless us with things, but the important thing to know is that he's talking about the life to come. [00:27:24] CS Lewis in mere Christianity said this, aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. [00:27:35] And so this idea of Jesus as the life is focused on our new life, spiritual life, eternal life, the gift of salvation, the opposite of spiritual death and condemnation. [00:27:49] So Jesus has said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. The last thing he leaves us with, and we've touched on this a little bit before, is he say, no one gets to God except through me. And as we've said, Jesus is the only path to God. And it's interesting if you study religions, when you look at religions, there's a lot of commonality between them, right? There's a lot of things they share. Most major religions have some type of religious text. There's a book, there's scrolls. There's something that guides them. Most of them have some belief in, like, life here and life after. [00:28:32] Most of them have some type of moral code that goes with it. Here's what's right, here's what's wrong. Most of them have an outline of religious practices. This is what you do as part of this religious belief. [00:28:48] The big differentiator to me is what religions do with Jesus. [00:28:54] Because if you have Jesus anywhere else than the very center of that faith, then you aren't following Jesus. [00:29:04] And Jesus says, I am the way to the father. [00:29:09] And so as we come across a pluralistic society where every road, quote unquote, leads to God, we are reminded again, it is only through faith in Jesus that gets us there. [00:29:23] So, Thomas question, how can we know the way? [00:29:27] Was definitively answered by Jesus when he said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the only way to God? [00:29:38] I think the timing of this was exactly what the disciples needed, because, remember, this is given at the last supper. Jesus is going to be crucified. Jesus is going to. Essentially, they think that they have lost. The disciples are going to be scattered, they're going to experience persecution. [00:29:56] But yet, three days later, Jesus rises again. [00:30:01] Once the disciples understood this mission, they were fundamentally changed. And the world literally has never been the same. [00:30:10] And I think in the same way for us, we can take comfort in knowing what Jesus says is the way, the truth, and the life. As we face dark days, some of them happen around us. Some of them are own personal lives. But that truth that was there for the disciples is the exact same truth that's here for us today. Today, it's what we need as we carry the gospel to the world. [00:30:36] Two, so what's to wrap up? And again, fundamentals, basic things. Number one, a. So what is trust in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life? [00:30:50] It all comes back to? How much do we really believe that Jesus is who he says he is and will do what he says he's going to do? [00:31:00] And I think sometimes it's easy to talk about that and to feel that. [00:31:06] And sometimes it's really hard to trust, especially when it looks like everything is going the exact opposite of how we think it should go or want it to go. But do we trust in Jesus? If you've never trusted Jesus for salvation. [00:31:24] Make today the day. [00:31:27] Again, the exclusivity is he's the only way to God. The inclusiveness is anybody can be in if you accept and you trust in him. I think the second thing goes with the first. And again, fundamentals. Obey, follow, do what he says to do. [00:31:47] What I love about following Jesus is honestly how clear so much of it is. There are things that are mysterious, there are things that I wrestle with or wonder about, but there's so much that says, this is what you should do, this is the way you should go, this is how you should think, this is how you should love your neighbor, this is how you should. [00:32:09] And my responsibility becomes in obeying that. [00:32:13] And again, like trust, there are times where it's easy to obey. There are times it's really, really hard. [00:32:23] It's like that old hymn says, prone to wander God. I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. I get that. I resonate with that. But if we're going to be serious about following Jesus, we need to trust him and we need to obey him. Let's pray together. [00:32:44] Jesus, we are thankful to you that you are the way, the truth and the life. That we don't have to rely on anything that is earthly or anything that is temporary or we're thankful. We don't have to go and find truth within ourselves. We don't have to rely on human wisdom or because we have you and you are the way, you are the truth, you are the life. Thank you again for this encouragement from your word. [00:33:16] We love you. [00:33:18] We're appreciative of all that you give to us. I'm praying your name. Amen.