Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text the first part of the Gospel Lesson just read, John 14:1-7. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- In the verses immediately preceding our text, Jesus has indicated to His disciples that His betrayal and death were imminent. Peter had offered to lay down his own life with Jesus, but Jesus had responded by warning him of his impending denials of even knowing Jesus. He had warned all of His disciples that they could no longer “follow” Him where His path was leading. He then comforts them with the words of our text: “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
- Our experience with Jesus is not nearly as poignant as theirs was – actually face to face, at least not yet. Still, we also have many things that trouble our hearts and minds. We have all of the kinds of troubles that Jesus warned His disciples that we will have in this fallen world of sin. We have the same struggles that the disciples, and especially that Thomas had, following the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have not seen Him, we have not touched Him, His wounds.
- So these words of Jesus are also important to us. We need the comfort of Jesus, and we need certainty in our approach to the Father. We also believe in God, and we are earnest in our desire to come to Him, to be assured of His blessing in our earthly life, and to have certainty and confidence when it comes to the end of our life in this world, in the face of death.
- These verses are often read and contemplated at funerals. They give eternal comfort. But they are also verses for living in this world, directing us as to “THE WAY TO THE FATHER.” These Words of Jesus can give us faith, comfort, and certainty – through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior Who has already passed through death, and risen to glorious immortal life.
- The first thing we are to contemplate is that:
I. Jesus Is The Exact Image Of God The Father – To Know Him Is To Know The Father
Text: “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Statement: This is quite a claim from Jesus – and of course it needs to be understood properly. The disciples had not seen God in His raw essence – for as God told Moses: “you cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.” [Exod. 33:20] Nonetheless, just as God promised Moses that “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” [Exod. 33:19], just so in Jesus Christ the disciples had seen this glory of God – His gracious mercy and love! This truly is to see and to know the Father!
Application: Now we might be surprised to learn that we have had this same experience, we who are believers in Christ. The apostle Paul explained this in his letter to the Corinthians, when he wrote: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit.” [2 Cor. 3:18] Elsewhere he explains, that even though we see dimly now, as in a mirror [1 Cor. 13:12]: “God, Who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” [2 Cor. 4:6]
How does this happen? When we repent and see our sin, and then the Word of God, and the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, come to us and assure us that all sin is cleansed away and forgiven! Here we also see “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” If we have seen Jesus – through His Word and Sacrament, then we also have seen the Father in His glory! If we have known Jesus, then we have also known the Father! In this we are “being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.”
Transition: This is why:
II. Jesus Is The Only Way To The Father – The Way, The Truth, And The Life
Text: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
A. As The Truth, He Commands Repentance And Faith In God, Faith In God’s Gracious Love, Mercy, And Forgiveness – Even As He Has Revealed Himself To Moses, To All Of God’s People, And Also To Us
Mark 1:15 “The time is at hand, the kingdom of God is fulfilled: “Repent, and believe the good news.”
B. By This Faith He Gives Us New Life And Eternal Life
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
C. So There Is No Other Way To God
Text: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Statement: The bad news is that there are not multiple and various ways to the Father, but only one. The good news is that this “Way” is available to all people, and it is a sure and certain Way to come to the Father. Yes, it is all dependent upon God’s gracious mercy and love, and His power to grant us faith. But this is Who God is, and Who He wills to be for us, as our God! And what a relief this is, in the face of honest consideration of all our sin and our evil hearts!
Application: Our mothers always made sure that we knew how to get where we were going, that we knew the way, so we wouldn’t get lost! God has done the same for us – in the gift of His Son, Who is the Way. Many of us had mothers who therefore pointed us to Jesus, in the matter of our relationship with God. They could have done nothing more important for our good and blessedness! May we honor them – and honor God – by believing in Jesus, and coming to the Father through Him! And may fathers and mothers today recognize that they can offer their children no greater blessedness than to bring them to Jesus within the church!
Transition: And best of all:
III. Jesus – The Way – Gives Peace And Joy To All Who Believe In Him
A. He Relieves All Of Our Anxieties For This Life
Text: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me.”
Matt. 6:31-34 “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
B. He Assures Us Of Eternal Life In Paradise
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life.”
Luke 23:43 “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise.”
1. He Himself is preparing for us
Text: “In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
2. He promises to return to us to take us to be with Him always
Text: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Statement: The disciples were no doubt rattled about what was coming up in the near future. Of course they had fear and anxiety – about what would happen to them in the next few days, and also whether Jesus could be trusted as our Savior and Lord. We have our troubles here and now, and like the disciples, we are concerned following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension! But Jesus, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” assures us that He will take care of everything for us here and now, and forever in His Father’s kingdom!
Application: Like Thomas and Phillip, and like all of the disciples, we also have our fears, our confusion, our doubts. But Jesus points us to Himself, and makes clear that if we have Him we have everything that the Father wills for us to have. And we have Jesus right here and right now – in His Word, and in the blessed gift of His body and blood. Here God shines the light of His glory into our hearts, and here we behold His glory and are transformed into His image! Here we see the glory of God and live – if we have the eyes of faith to see it!
Conclusion: We also have the promise of God that we shall see Him face to face on the Last Day – when our transformation will be complete, both body and soul. John reminds us: “But when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Here and now we see dimly, as through a mirror, but then we shall see clearly, and we shall know fully, even as we are fully known by God! [1 Cor. 13:12]
This is certain – as we continue to believe in Him Who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory forever, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.