Homily Pastor Dan Neary
Jesus: The Way
Here in chapter 14 is another
example of Jesus the Master Communicator… taking a set of
circumstances and ideas to push His hearers, in this case His Disciples, to a
new level of understanding.
Talking about laying down His
life…
Talk about His Disciples doing the
same…
Talk about Peter disowning Jesus
Three key sayings of Jesus
- Trust
in God; trust also in me. (v.1)
- I
am the way and the truth and the life. (v.6)
- Peace
I leave with you. My peace I give to you. (v.27)
Trust in God; trust also in me.
- Half the translations that I looked at translate trust
as believe… Trust has a richer meaning (I feel a time
of mulling coming on – I think our whole country is
wondering who can we trust?)
- Who
– Character - Trustworthiness
- Ability
- Demonstration
of Miracles
- Profound
Teaching
- Motive
- Self or Others (servant leader)
- Jesus
is saying that as you have believed or trusted in God, put that same trust
in Him (because He is God)
I am the way and the truth and the life.
- The Way (not merely show the way, or pave the way… be
the Way)
- We don’t know a lot about the specifics of Heaven
- Unlike a lot of religions, isn’t described in terms that the
place alone would motivate us
- No Valhalla like the Vikings… no 40 virgins like Islam
- It seems natural that we’d want to know… I get asked all
the time
- The prize isn’t the place… it is the person
- Not a palace for an earthly kingdom
- It is
- Where God is
- Where God’s people spend eternity
- Only accessible through the Way, Jesus
- The Truth (I AM)
- Another of the I AMs. Jesus is clarifying again that
He is God.
- Remember: There are 7 “I Am”
self-descriptions, claims that Jesus makes about Himself, in John – a thread
throughout the Gospel of John
1. The Bread of Life (6:35)
2. The Light of the World
(8:12 & 9:5)
3. The Gate for the Sheep
(10:7,9)
4. The Good Shepherd
(10:11,14)
5. The Resurrection and the
Life (11:25)
6. The Way, the Truth, and
the Life (14:6)
7. The True Vine (15:1,5)
All these uses of the title I Am echo the I Am of Exodus 3:14
·
When everything else is stripped away… I Am
·
Faithful, Dependable, Trustworthy
·
The Pre-existent
·
The All Encompassing
·
The Eternal
- The discourse with Phillip
- The Life
- In Jesus’ name
- Transfer of power, authority… agency (vs.12-14)
- When this Christian life is best lived… it is lived in such
a way that the believer acts with supernatural power and authority… how
can this be?
- With the Holy Spirit
- The Counselor (legal term), Helper, Comforter
- Spirit of Truth…
again, God
- Teacher of all things v.25
Maybe sometime in the future, once
we have answered this question Who is Jesus by walking through
the Gospel of John chapter-by-chapter… we should take some time and answer the
question: Who is the Holy Spirit?
I think there could be some
confusion… or maybe some incomplete understandings.
- We
could start here with what Jesus is saying about the Holy Spirit
- We’ll
eventually get to John 20 where Jesus breathed on the Disciples and said
“Receive the Holy Spirit”
- We
Pentecostals tend to put the Holy Spirit in a 2nd Chapter of
Acts sized box
- And,
I think we pay far too little attention to the Holy Spirit’s work of
sanctification. We are being renewed, stretched, transformed, healed, made
holy… day by day through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.
A common greeting, we know it…
Shalom.
When we say “Have a nice day” it
is merely hope. When Jesus says “peace I leave with you” it is
much more than merely hope… He actually delivers.
Where does this claim intersect your life?
- Have
you lost your way?
- Or, do
you find yourself on no way at all… or on a futile way?
- What
is true?
- What
about your living?