EASTER 5 – May 10, 2020 – John 14:1-14
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 14. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- It is confusing, sometimes, trying to figure out just what the disciples did know and did believe, and what they didn’t. This is a very key and critical issue, not only for them, personally, but also for each and every one of us!
- On this occasion described in our text, Jesus told them that they knew where He was going and the way to get there. Thomas claimed they didn’t. Jesus gave him an explanation – which hopefully he understood and embraced!
- Jesus asserts that if they had known Him, they would have also known the Father. In fact, Jesus asserts that they did know Him and also the Father. To this Philip responds, “Show us the Father and it will suffice us.” Jesus must have shook His head when He said to Philip: “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
- How about us? Do we know Jesus, truly? Do we understand that if we know Jesus we know our Heavenly Father? Jesus tells His disciples how they can know that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him – by the works that He does. Do we truly know His works? This is critical!
- The disciples didn’t know the power of their connection to Jesus – He explained it to them. Do we know the power of our “connection to Jesus”? He says it in our text: “Whoever believes in Me.” We have this same power, in the context of His love, by the power of His love!
- Jesus makes clear in our text that:
I. He Came So That We Might Know Our Heavenly Father
A. Who Gives Us Gracious, Loving Redemption In Christ Jesus
John 3:16 “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”
John 10:11 “I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
B. The Father Has An Eternal Commitment To Our Good
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? And 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.”
C. Remember, To Know God As He Truly Is Is To Have Eternal Life
John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.”
Statement: Jesus reveals the Father to all of humanity, and we who believe in Him and receive Him for Who He is, we are blessed to see the most essential and glorious aspects of the Heavenly Father – His eternal, gracious, and merciful love. This is eternal life – to know the Father through His Son, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, the One Who saves His people from their sins.
Application: It is God’s will that we allow this to sink into our hearts and minds and the very core of our being! You want to be known to others, to be known by others. What kind of friendship or love is it when someone doesn’t even care to truly know you? It is no different with God, our Maker! As I said earlier, this “knowing” is of critical importance, not only to God’s “feelings,” but to our very being! Jesus is “THE WAY” to all of this, in revealing the Father to us! And this blessedness is eternal, for:
II. Jesus Came To Bring Us To Eternal Life In Glory
A. He Is Preparing A Place For Us In The Father’s Eternal Heavenly Kingdom
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.”
B. He Himself Is The Way To The Father [The Truth And The Life]
Text: “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
Statement: Most of know this, that Jesus came to rescue us from death and futility! One of the great blessings that the Father has given us is a sure and certain hope, a living hope, that death is not the end for us, but rather a very beautiful and glorious beginning of life with Him in the perfection of heaven!
Application: Let us mark well that “THE ONLY WAY” to this blessedness is Jesus Himself! There is much here! To come to the Father through Jesus is to acknowledge we can’t the Father on our own. To come to the Father through Jesus is to acknowledge our need for a Savior, for God’s gracious mercy and clemency! To come to the Father through Jesus is the confess that He is the Savior of the world, our own personal Savior, our dear Lord and Christ. This is your blessedness, the gift of from the Father! And there is more!
III. Jesus Came To Richly Bless Us In This Our Earthly Life As Well
A. To Enable Us To Be Doing Great Things
Text: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
B. All Of This Is To Glorify God, The Father
Text: “Whatever you ask in My Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it.”
C. And All Of This Granted To Us Through Faith
Text: “Whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do.”
Statement: Do you know these things? Imagine – doing greater works than Jesus did in His earthly life? Our faith in Him is what opens the door to this marvel! It is His power – we ask Him, in His Name. That means something – in His Name. That is, everything that has to do with His goodness, His love, His kingdom. It does not mean for our selfishness, our pride, or our sinful desires for pleasure, power, or prerogative!
Application: So, if we get our minds and hearts right – and truly desire to accomplish those things that bring glory to the Father – and we ask Jesus for help, He will surely give it to us and enable us! Do you know this? Jesus wants us to know it! He asserts it of “whoever believes in Him.” Why should we not claim this promise as well?
Conclusion: What we know matters! Especially what we know about God, our Heavenly Father. Know this – that we can only know Him through Jesus, through faith in His beloved Son, our Savior.
He wants us to also know the blessings and the power that come to us by “knowing” Him, “THE WAY.” They are truly incredible – for the life to come, and for our life of service to God right now!
May He grant that we do know Him truly, through His beloved Son Whom He sent to reveal Himself to us! And may we truly experience the power that Jesus promises to give us. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.