Nov 15
8
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 33
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.’ When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’’’ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘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. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.’” (Exodus 33, ESV)
New Testament Reading: John 14:4-11
“‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 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. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘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’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’” (John 14:1–11, ESV)
Introduction
It seemed good to me to begin the this sermon by remembering the illustration of a husband going on a long journey and leaving his wife behind.
It would be a most terrible thing if a husband just up and left on a long journey without saying a word to his family. Even if the trip were a good one, and for a good purpose, he would be a fool to up and leave without a word. No, a husband would need to prepare his wife for his departure. The purpose of the trip would need to be communicated. The wife would need to be in agreement that the journey is worth, while and for their ultimate good. Provisions would need to be made for her so that she could thrive while her husband is away. Where will she get the money that she needs? How will she care for the children? How will she communicate with her husband while he is gone? How will the marriage relationship be strengthened and maintained? How how will she be kept safe? You can picture a husband and wife sitting together on a couch discussing these things, can’t you?
John chapters 14-17 are not much different. What we have here is a farewell address. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure from this world. He has made it clear that he would have to go away for a time, and he is here comforting his disciples, explaining to them how they will get on in this world without him.
So it is no wonder then that John chapters 14-17 contain some of the most beloved passages in the whole Gospel. This entire section is practical. It applies deeply to you and I. True, Jesus was speaking to the eleven who remained with him there in that upper room, but he was preparing them to live in the age between his first and second comings. And that is the age in which we live! What Jesus says to his disciples, therefore, applies deeply to you and I.
We are the bride. Jesus is the bridegroom. He has departed from this earth for a time. But he has not left us unprepared or without necessary provision.
The disciples of Jesus were troubled at the news that their Lord was going away. Jesus comforts them saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1, ESV) This advice is simple and yet profound. What better advice can be offered to a troubled soul than to say, believe in God; believe also in Christ?
Jesus also comforted them with these words: “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?” (John 14:2, ESV) Here we learn that Jesus’ departure was for a good reason; his departure was for our good. He has gone to the Father, not to sit in idle inactivity, but to prepare a place for you and me and all who believe in his name. The place that he has gone to prepare is ultimately the new heavens and new earth as described in Revelation 21.
He also brings comfort with these words: “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.” (John 14:3, ESV) A husband may go on a long journey to build a home for his wife and children. If the journey is for a good purpose, the family should ultimately rejoice in the departure of the man. But they can only rejoice if they know that in the end the husband will return and take them to be where he is. That is what Christ has promised to you and me. He has gone to prepare a place for us, and he will return to take us to be with him where he is.
Notice, though, that what has been said so far is only about, one, the fact of Christ’s departure; two, the reason for his departure; and three, the end result of his departure (that is, his return to take us to be with him). What has been said so far is indeed good and encouraging, but little has been said concerning how we are to get along in this world while he is away. We have been exhorted to believe in God, and to believe also in Christ, and that is certainly good! But Christ gives us more.
In fact, the rest of chapter fourteen on through to the end of chapter seventeen is all about the way of the Christian in the time between Jesus’ first and second comings. He tells how to get along. He gives us what we need – the instruction that we need, and the sustenance that we need – so that we might walk with him faithfully in this world as we wait for him to take us home to the Father.
Notice three things in verses 4-11: First of all, Jesus has not left us to wander aimlessly in this world, but has provided a way for us. Secondly, Jesus has revealed the Father to us in a way sufficient for the journey. Thirdly, Jesus again calls us to go on believing in him, that we might have strength to the end.
Jesus has not left us to wander aimlessly in this world, but has provided a way for us.
Notice first of all that Jesus has not left us to wander aimlessly in this world, but has provided a way for us.
Given what has been said so far, we might reason to ourselves saying, Lord Jesus, it is indeed comforting to know that you have gone to prepare a place for us. And it is also comforting to know that you will return for us so that we might be where you are for all eternity. But what about now? How are we walk between now and then? Jesus shows us the way.
This point emerges in the dialogue that takes place between Jesus and one of his disciples named Thomas.
In verse four Jesus says, “And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:4, ESV) The word “way” could also be translated “road” or “path”, for that is the idea. Jesus would soon leave his disciples on earth and go to the Father, and he expects that his disciples know the way (metaphorically speaking) to the Father. He expects that they know how to get from where they are now to where they will be for all eternity in the presence of God. They know how they are to walk, if you will. Why does he expect that they know this? Because he had walked with his disciples for over three years, instructing them along the way concerning these things!
But listen to how Thomas responds: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5, ESV) How are we to understand this reply? Did Thomas really not know the way? Was Jesus wrong in his assessment of his disciples when he said, “And you know the way to where I am going”?
I think Thomas (as well as the other disciples) understood more than they let on here in this moment. There is evidence throughout this Gospel that they knew Christ truly. Also, Jesus does say that they “know the way” – we cannot ignore this fact. But in the heat of the moment, being overrun with despair, their hearts being troubled by the circumstances which pressed in upon them, the disciples of Christ floundered. They had much more to learn, it’s true. But they knew these things. It seems that the pressures of the moment shook them to the core, causing them to flounder even in the foundational things that they already knew.
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”, Thomas says. How could it be that Thomas did not understand where it was that Christ was going? Jesus had made it clear! From the Father he had come, and to the Father he would return. Jesus was going to prepare a place for them “in his Fathers house.” This had been said plainly time and again!
Notice that Jesus only addresses Thomas’ statement, “Lord, we do not know where you are going”, in a round about way. Instead he focus in upon Thomas’ objection, “how can we know the way?” Jesus responded to Thomas saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)
This is one of the most famous verses in all of the scriptures, and rightly so. Notice a couple of things about it:
First of all, notice that Jesus’ final destination is “the Father”. And this too should be our greatest desire, to be with the Father and the Son for all eternity. This is what makes heaven, heaven. This is what makes paradise, paradise. We were made by God, and we were made to know him. He is our greatest treasure. He is our life. In him – that is, in the knowledge of him – are pleasures forevermore. We should agree with Augustine, saying, “[God] you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.”
Some long for heaven thinking of it as a place where all of their fleshly, worldly, and (quite frankly) sinful desires will be fulfilled. They have a rather pathetic view of heaven which reveals the sick condition of their hearts. When they think of heaven they think, first of all (and dare I say, only), of fleshly things – food and drink, material possessions, and physical pleasure. Brothers and sisters when we think of heaven, we should think of God. We were made by him and for him. He will be the one who will satisfies our greatest desires. He should be the first thing that comes to mind when we think of that glorious place. Oh, how good it will be to see God face to face. How good it will be to behold his glory, to grow forever in our knowledge of him, and to worship his holy name, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
Secondly, notice that this verse makes clear that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. In other words, no one will go to heaven except through faith in Jesus Christ. This same point has been made in John’s Gospel in other ways. Jesus revealed himself as the door of the sheep. This gives us a visual of what is stated here in John 14:6. He is the only door – the only way – to the Father. If anyone is to go to God he must go through the Son. Of course what this means is that they must to the Father believing upon (or trusting in) the Son.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18, ESV)
Many are offended by the words of Jesus here. Our culture is wholeheartedly opposed to exclusive claims like the one that Jesus makes, when he says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” It seems that the only unforgivable sin in our day and age is to make an exclusive claim. To say that Jesus is the only way sounds like the hight of blasphemy to the ears of the postmodern man. “How arrogant of you to claim that there is only one way to God”, they say. “And how narrow minded of you to think that your way is that only way!” You can hear their objection now, can’t you?
This question came up at our Jr. High study just this past week. A student asked, “what if someone believes or trusts in God but is not a Christian? Will that person be saved?” It is here in John 14:6 that we have the answer to that question. “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6, ESV) If we are to go to the Father it must be by way of Jesus, the eternal Son of God come in the flesh, who is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Salvation is found in him, and in none other.
Here is where there confusion exists, I think. If we were claiming that Jesus was nothing more than a religious leader who started a great movement, now known a Christianity, and if we believed that his prime objective was to teach morals – that is, to make people better and more well behaved – then it would make little sense for us to say that Jesus is the only way to the Father. Certainly the argument could be made that other religions can increase morality in man. Why then is “salvation” not possible through those forms of religion. In fact, why is religion needed at all if the objective is to be a better person? Can’t an atheist accomplish this on his own?
But this is not what the Bible teaches concerning Jesus. Jesus was not merely a religious leader, he was the Son of God come in the flesh, the Messiah promised from long ago. And he did not come to teach men how not to be better people so that they might earn their way to heaven. No! He came to pay for the sins of men. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, ES), said John the Baptist. He did not primarily come to teach us how to be better people that we might work our way to God. No, he came to bear our sins in his body on that tree. And he alone could do it, given his utterly unique nature as the God-man. He was the utterly unique Christ, the anointed one of God.
Man’s problem, you see, is that he is a sinner. And as a sinner he stands condemned. He can nothing about it on his own. He needs his sins to be covered, paid for, taken away. To whom else can we turn if not to Jesus Christ. He alone is the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This is why Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)
Thomas was struggling with two things: Jesus, We don’t know where you are going, and we don’t know how to get there. Jesus addressed both questions: Thomas, I’m going to the Father, and I am the way to him.
Jesus is the way because he is also the truth and the life.
He is truth from God. He has revealed the Father to us. He is the light of the world. You and I can tell the truth, but Jesus is truth! Think on that for a moment.
He is also life. You and I can possess life, but it is life given to us by the grace of God. We are dependent creatures. We do not posses life in and of ourselves. But Christ is life.
He is the giver of life. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1–4, ESV)
He is the sustainer of life. The writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…(Hebrews 1:2–3, ESV)
And he is our eternal life! Paul exhorts us in this way: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4, ESV)
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV)
I picture Thomas loosing his head there for a moment, but Jesus set him straight.
Jesus says to him in verse 7, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7, ESV) More needs to be said about this verse, but for the sake of time we will move on (see endnote).
Jesus has revealed the Father to us in a way sufficient for the journey.
As soon as Jesus was done with Thomas, one of his other disciples spoke up with another objection. This time it was Philip. And it is through Jesus’ interaction with Philip that we learn that Jesus has revealed the Father to us in a way sufficient for the journey.
“Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’” (John 14:8, ESV) Perhaps this request could be paraphrased with the words, “Lord, we would rather not wait. Show us the glory of God the Father now, and we will be content with that.”
There is a connection that exists between Exodus 33 and this request from Philip here in John 14:8.
In Exodus 33 the people of Israel are about to begin their journey into the wilderness. In John 14 the disciples are about to begin their journey in the world after Christ goes to the Father.
In Exodus 33 Moses is troubled at the thought of going it alone without the presence of God. God had threatened because of the sin of the people, saying, “but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” And “When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.” The people repented and God relented, agreeing to go with them (God does not truly repent – it is only from our perspective that God seems to repent).
“And [God] said [to Moses], ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And [Moses] said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:14–16, ESV)
That the presence of God be with him, and with the people, is Moses’ greatest concern. He was troubled at the thought of going it alone. And so it was with the disciples in John 14.
And look now at Moses’ request. After the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name”, Moses made this request of God, saying, “Please show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:17–18, ESV)
Philip’s request echoes Moses’ request. He says, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us”. In other words, Show us the glory of the Father now, please. Show us God’s glory in the same way that God’s glory was manifest to Moses’. Prove to us that you will go with us just as God reveled himself to Moses proving that he would sojourn with Israel in the wilderness.
The interesting thing to notice is that Jesus did not place Philip in the cleft of a rock in order that the glory of the Father might pass by him in visible form. This was Moses’ experience. Jesus urges Philip to see that his experience was in fact greater than Moses’!
“Jesus said to him, ‘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’?” (John 14:9, ESV)
Jesus Christ has revealed God the Father to us. He was and is God incarnate – God come in human flesh.
Remember the opening chapter of John’s Gospel. There we were told that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)
Paul says it this way: “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15–16, ESV)
The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way:
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…” (Hebrews 1:1–3, ESV)
The point is this: Moses indeed saw the glory of God, but those who saw the Christ, who was and is God incarnate, beheld the Father in a way greater than Moses did. “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’?” (John 14:9, ESV)
There is a difference between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is a man. In him are two natures, the human and divine, united in one person forever. It is not right to say Jesus Christ equals God the Father, or that Jesus is the Father. There is not a one to one correlation between the two. There are very important differences between Jesus Christ and God the Father. Nevertheless, Jesus could say, “whoever has seen me has seen the Father”, for he is the one who has revealed the Father to us in a most full way. He was and is Immanuel, which means, God with us. In him was the divine nature.
This is what Jesus gets at in verse 10, saying, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (John 14:10, ESV)
Philip wanted to see the Father. Jesus’ reply was, Philip, I am sufficient. I have reveled the Father to you in a most full way. In me you have beheld the glory of God, “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” To see me is to see the Father. To know me is to know the Father.
Jesus is enough, that is the point. He is sufficient. We are to be content with him in this age between his two comings. Yes, we long to see the glory of God in full. Yes, we long for that day when we will behold the Father in an unveiled, unobstructed way. But for the journey before, Jesus is enough! Indeed, he is more than enough. He is the way, the truth, and life. He is the way to God the Father.
Jesus calls us to go on believing in him, that we might have strength to the end.
And for this reason Jesus calls us to go on believing in him, that we might have strength to the end.
Look with me at verse 11. Jesus says, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:11, ESV)
“Believe me”, Jesus says. In 14:1 he said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” And now in 14:11 he again says, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” This is what Jesus has to say to his troubled disciples who are floundering in a moment of weakness. Believe in me! Have faith in me! Trust in me! Trust in my person. And trust in my work.
Conclusion
So here is how the Christian is to walk in the time between Christ’s first and second coming. He is to walk in Christ, for he is the way, the truth and the life. He is to walk in Christ knowing that it is in Christ that the Father is revealed. And he is to walk in Christ, believing in him, trusting in him, depending upon him for all things.
Jesus Christ is everything to us, that is the point. He is the beginning, middle, and end. He is our everything. He is our life. He is sufficient for us in this life in every way.
Endnote: The Textual Critical note in the NET Bible is helpful here: “There is a difficult textual problem here: The statement reads either “If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, egnwkate) me, you will know (γνώσεσθε, gnwsesqe) my Father” or “If you had really known (ἐγνώκειτε, egnwkeite) me, you would have known (ἐγνώκειτε ἄν or ἂν ἤδειτε [egnwkeite an or an hdeite]) my Father.” The division of the external evidence is difficult, but can be laid out as follows: The mss that have the perfect ἐγνώκατε in the protasis (Ì [א D* W] 579 pc it) also have, for the most part, the future indicative γνώσεσθε in the apodosis (Ì א D W [579] pc sa bo), rendering Jesus’ statement as a first-class condition. The mss that have the pluperfect ἐγνώκειτε in the protasis (A B C D L Θ Ψ Ë 33 Ï) also have, for the most part, a pluperfect in the apodosis (either ἂν ἤδειτε in B C* [L] Q Ψ 1 33 565 al, or ἐγνώκειτε ἄν in A C Θ Ë Ï), rendering Jesus’ statement a contrary-to-fact second-class condition. The external evidence slightly favors the first-class condition, since there is an Alexandrian-Western alliance supported by Ì. As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε…ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18).” (https://lumina.bible.org/bible/John+14)
