Message

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We thank God for the beautiful love chapter, John 13. John 14 is another beautiful dialogue between Jesus and his disciples. It can be considered the hope chapter. Without hope men cannot live. True hope sustains our lives. And those who have hope can live their present life with faith. In today’s passage Jesus gives the promise of the kingdom of God to his troubled disciples and the promise of prayer as well so that they may have a steadfast hope. He makes a tremendous self-proclamation, “I am the way…” May we deeply know why Jesus is the way and put our hope and faith in him. First, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (1-4). Look at verse 1. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” People may say, “The world is full of troubles. So how can we live without our hearts being troubled? It is impossible to live without anxiety.” As for the disciples, at the news of Jesus’ departure their hearts weighed down and their human dream of the Messianic kingdom crumbled. Their future as his disciples was uncertain and looked very dark with no human security at all. They were not prepared for this situation. Knowing all these, Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” In light of this word, a troubled heart is not right at any situation. God does not want his children to live with anxiety or worry in this world. A troubled heart begets trouble and anxiety begets anxiety. In any troublesome situation there is a way not to be troubled. There is a solution to all anxiety attacks, an unconditional solution. Jesus said, “Trust in God; trust also in me.” This is one of the special messages in John’s gospel. Jesus said this when Jesus himself and his disciples were humanly in the most troublesome situation. Some people say, “Trust me.” It is good to be trustworthy people. Yet, who can be truly trustworthy at any life-situation? But the Bible repeatedly says, “God is our rock, our refuge, and shelter” especially at the time of great troubles. (Isaiah 26:4 says, “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”) He is truly trustworthy, because he is the sovereign Ruler and he is our all-knowing and caring God. Jesus also said, “Trust also in me.” How could be it be possible that Jesus said, “I am going away,” and then, he said, “Trust also in me”? It is an implication that physically he would be leaving his disciples, but he would be with them in the Spirit. He is trustworthy from first to last. By trusting in God we can overcome the troubles of life in this world. Here is a deeper reason why we should not be troubled living in this troubled world. Look at verse 2. “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.” What a fabulous word of promise! If someone promises you, “I will prepare a house near U of T for you, worth one million dollars,” how exciting it will be! But here Jesus’ promise is incomparable. It is not about an apartment or a house in this world. It is about mansions (KJV) in the kingdom of God. Before Jesus and ever after, no one gave such a promise as this to mankind. Now in the upper room dialogue Jesus gave the glorious promise of God’s kingdom to his disciples and to us as well. The promise was so great with no precedence but Jesus spoke in a very familiar and realistic way, “in my Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you.” We feel as if the house and rooms are very near us at hand. It is too good news to hear for those who are living in this turbulent, confined world. For anyone it is not easy to see beyond the life of this world. However, without the hope of the kingdom of God, people are really pitiful. One young lady came to Canada from a third world country. She worked hard as a cleaner in a hotel for the last 20 years and then purchased a house. That was a life-investment. Now she wants to go back to her country to take some rest for a year and then come back. If that’s all her life, how pitiful the life is! A V.P. in a prominent company lives in a big house with his wife and a dog. His wife was barren, so they raised a dog instead of children. This good and faithful man wants to retire. However, he is hesitating because he has nothing to do after his retirement. If living in the big house was the end of his life, how pitiful the life also is! What people really need is the eternal house in the kingdom of God. There is the place for our eternal living. It is so real that Jesus spoke in such a familiar and friendly way: “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I will…prepare…for you.” May we accept this personal invitation of Jesus into our hearts. According to the plot of the Bible, there are three distinctive divisions: Paradise created, Paradise lost and then Paradise restored. We must know that the promise of the kingdom of God is the key point of the gospel. Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection are the process of fulfilling the promise of the glorious kingdom of God. Then he continued, “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.” How could Jesus say such as this after talking about the many rooms in his Father’s house? This was not the saying of a man in this world. Jesus knew the place where he was going, for he came from that place (Jn 3:13). He knew why he was going there. He knew why he had to come back. And he knew where his disciples would be after their lives in this world. The second coming of Christ Jesus, which will be the greatest event in human history, is written in a very loving and personal way. It does not make us surprised, but appeals to our hearts. Those who believe this are truly blessed people. Jesus will not fail to take his people to his original place so that we may be with him in that glorious place. Second, “I am the way…” (5-11). How did the disciples respond to the series of Jesus’ amazing promises, the offer of many rooms in his Father’s house and his preparation and coming back and taking them to the place? When Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going,” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus did not use any philosophical or difficult word, but very plain and easy to understand. Of course, Thomas knew where Jesus was going. Yet, probably he did not want Jesus to leave: he did not want to let Jesus go. If he wanted to believe, obviously he could. But he did not want to believe because of his hard present situation. He seemed to be saying, “The house and rooms in heaven sound good, but how about here and now? You know our situation? We are young, but feel miserable now.” It is likely that he represented all the disciples, saying, “We don’t know where you are going…” And in his a bit rebellious mind he protested scientifically and philosophically with the question, “We don’t know where you are going, how can we know the way?” He seemed to say in his heart, “Prove the way,” and challenge Jesus’ plain teaching with a philosophical question. How did Jesus respond at this? One Chinese philosopher said, “If I know the way in the morning, I will be happy in the evening.” He is great in his seeking mind. Did Jesus say like that? No. Look at verse 6. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is really great. How could he make such a huge claim, saying, “I am the way…”? He did not say, “I can guide you to the way to my Father’s house?” It is a revolutionary statement, which no other human being has ever made. Jesus said, “I am the way.” And he fixed this self-declaration with two more statements, saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” The way, and the truth and the life are one body. If it is not the truth, or the life, it is not the way. And he fixed it more with the unambiguous and exclusive statement, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” In our times when we speak about the only way, it seems to end the conversation or the end of the world. People can say, “Why is your word so exclusive and dogmatic? Why not more open, broad, inclusive and bearing and tolerant? Wouldn’t that be better?” We live in a time of religious pluralism and cultural relativism. We sense a spiritual war is going on around us. As we risk our lives to “be faithful to his dear cause”, we must know why Jesus is the way. To his disciples, one of Jesus’ main teachings was that he came from God and was going back to God. Jesus is the way because his origin is from above; he came from God. This is repeatedly written in John’s gospel (3:13; 6:51; 5:24; 7:28; 8:23,29). And Jesus is the way because he is the lamb of God sinless yet slain; he died for our sins and rose again from the dead. So he is the mediator between God and man. Sinners have been separated from the holy God with no access to come to him. But through Jesus’ sacrifice the way to God, once blocked and closed (Ge 3:24), was opened. This is a new and living way to God wide open for us. Through him and in his name now we can come to the holy Father in heaven. In him we can see the kingdom of God and will enter the kingdom of God, which is prepared for his redeemed and purified people. Jesus is the way because he is the truth. The truth is unchanging, applicable to all people of all generations, setting men free. His words and his life are true to all people in all times. He said in John 8:31,32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus is the way because he is the life. He is the author of life (1:4) and he gives eternal life to those who believe in him (10:28). Here we must know that the way is not a theory or concept but a person Jesus. It is not a united way, but a unique way. It is a spiritual and very personal way. This way is open to all, young and old, adults and children, the rich and the poor, the high and the lowly. Those who seek can find this way. And if we believe that Jesus is the Way, we should use the way as we use highway. This way is not closed, though some highways are often closed. It is always open. We should use and enjoy the way. As we come and enjoy this way day by day, we can be more and more sure of this way, the way to God and his kingdom, however people and the generations are changed. Jesus is the way, and he is the truthful and life-giving way in life. He is the way when there seems to be no way. He is the way to all human problems. In verses 7-11, the point is that Jesus and the Father are one (10:31). He said to Thomas, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” And when Philip asked, “Lord, show us the Father,” he said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” He said continually, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?…Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” This is the main point of Jesus’ teaching and living with his disciples for three years. He purposed to reveal God in himself to the disciples. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” God is the person Jesus. One of the intellects’ concepts of God is that God is absolute nothing. They say that it is unthinkable God is a person. But from Genesis, it is clear that God is a person. And he came to this world and the personal God was fully revealed in Jesus. And one can believe that Jesus is God through his words. This is the inevitable evidence that Jesus is the way to the Father and to the kingdom of God. Third, “I will do whatever you ask in my name” (12-14). When Thomas said, “Lord, show us the Father…” it showed his low spiritual condition. But Jesus had a great hope in him: “If you have faith in me, you can do great things.” And Jesus wanted him to be a man of prayer, giving him the promise of prayer: “…I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” What a privilege it is to pray! We can pray to God in Jesus’ name! Prayer is our daily practice that Jesus is the way. Prayer in Jesus’ name brings God’s presence to us. In prayer we see God is real and the kingdom of God is real. And through our prayer Jesus can work. There are many things we cannot do even though we eagerly wish to do them as we serve his will. But our Jesus promises, “I will do whatever ask in my name…ask me…I will do it.” He was about to leave, but he promised, “I will do…” We are greatly encouraged with this promise of prayer that we can do the work of God through prayer while on earth. When we believe his promise, we can believe that he will answer all our prayers. May God bless our prayer for the Purdue conference. Believing in Jesus’ promise of prayer, we may engage in prayer all the more, never giving up. We thank Jesus who is the way. So he could say, “Trust in God; trust also in me,” “In my Father’s house are many rooms…” and “I will do it…” Most importantly he made a self-declaration, “I am the way…” He is the way to God and to the heavenly kingdom. He is the way to all human problems. May we put our faith and hope in him and follow him the way until we reach our final destination of the journey, the kingdom of God.

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