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Selah is a collection of trainings, teachings, stories, and reflections from our community. Commonwealth is a community of missionaries and microchurches in Knoxville, TN, who exist to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do the things that Jesus did.
I AM statement. John chapter 14 verses one through seven. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house has many rooms.
Speaker 1:If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 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. 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?
Speaker 1:Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. So since, January, since the turn of the new year, we've been exploring the question, who is Jesus according to Jesus?
Speaker 1:We talk a lot about what we believe about Jesus, but what did Jesus believe about himself? Who did Jesus think that he was? What did Jesus believe that he came to do? And we're answering this question by looking at these seven I am statements found in the Gospel of John. These are seven bold and controversial claims, as we've seen, throughout this series, that Jesus makes about himself.
Speaker 1:And today, as I said, we come to the final and the arguable arguably most challenging statement that Jesus makes. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. What does Jesus mean by these three words, and how does it change the way that we think about him? How does it change the way that we follow him? In each of these three words, we find something that we desperately long for.
Speaker 1:Something that we were created for. Something that is hardwired into the very core of of who we are. At the same time, they are things that are frequently replaced by cheap, yet enticing counterfeits. These are things that we think we need, things that we think will satisfy us, but ultimately, they will leave us feeling empty. It's like going out for cheap fast food when you have a gourmet nutritious meal sitting there waiting for you.
Speaker 1:And we'll find that this is something that we do all the time. We we reach, we grasp for these cheap counterfeits when the when the real true gift is waiting for us right there. We do it all the time, particularly in the church. Now, as I was diving into this, I am statement, this three part statement, I realized that covering all three of these, words would not be possible in the time that we have. We we don't give a ton of time to this.
Speaker 1:We wanna have time to discuss and share and all that. So we're actually gonna break this up over the next three gatherings. Tonight, I'm gonna cover I am the way, and then the coming gatherings, the coming months, we'll talk about I am the truth and I am the life. So we'll be in this for a while here. So so what does Jesus mean when he says I am the way?
Speaker 1:I'm gonna pause now and and just pray for us. I was gonna do that earlier. Let's, let's pause for a minute before we go on and just invite the spirit to speak to us. Father, we pause before you, God. We we acknowledge your presence here with us in this room.
Speaker 1:We we know that, each one of us have been brought here for a reason. You want to do something in us, Gon. We're not here to just check a box or or, because we we signed up to bring food. We're here because, you want to speak to us. And every time we open your word together, we trust that you will do that, father.
Speaker 1:So I just pray, that over these next few moments that we have together, that you would speak deep to our hearts, that you would challenge us, that you would encourage us as needed, father, and that we would leave this place, more in love with you, looking more like your son, and more clear about, just the next steps that you have for each one of us. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So what does Jesus mean when he says, I am the way? And what is that counterfeit, that that cheap replacement that we look to in in place of this gift that Jesus is offering to us?
Speaker 1:In 2011, Emilio Estevez directed a movie called The Way. In this movie, a doctor named Tom, who's played by Martin Sheen, he's actually Emilio's father, in real life, and and Emilio plays his son in the movie, so it's it's true in both cases. So, this doctor named Tom travels to France to retrieve the body of his estranged son. They don't they don't get along. They don't have a great relationship, But his son died while walking the Camino De Santiago, which is this famous spiritual pilgrimage.
Speaker 1:In fact, Lynn and Don are gonna be there in two weeks, which is wild. We didn't when I thought of this, we didn't I did I knew that, but I wasn't, it wasn't on my radar, so maybe it was subconscious. But Yeah. I hope not. Not this one.
Speaker 1:Right. You're going with your daughter and son-in-law, so there you go. But And his mom. And his mom. Yes.
Speaker 1:Well, we're we're just praying for a really safe journey for you guys. Unfortunately, Tom's son did not not have a safe journey and he he died in a storm on the Camino. And so, we're getting back to the point here, Tom travels to France to retrieve his son's body. And in a moment of grief, Tom makes this sudden and uncharacteristic decision to walk the trail himself, and he does it carrying his son's backpack and all his gear and most importantly a box with the ashes of his his son. Now at first, Tom being a pragmatic type a, medical professional, much like Lynn maybe.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Tom's focused on getting from point a to point b. He has little time for friendship, for processing his grief, or appreciating the beauty of his surroundings. He wants to reach his destination, check all his boxes, and go home. But throughout the journey, he comes across fellow pilgrims that challenge his way of thinking.
Speaker 1:And as the movie goes on, Tom slowly realizes that the destination isn't the point. The point is the journey. Tom experiences healing. He experiences community. He comes to term with his grief, and all of it happens along the way.
Speaker 1:We tend to be so preoccupied with our destination. How do I get from point a to point b? From where I am to where I want to be? We think this way in our life. We think this way in our career, in our relationships, and even in our faith.
Speaker 1:What's the destination? How do I get there? What boxes do I need to check? Well, Jesus challenges this mindset. He stresses over and over again to his disciples that the primary purpose of their faith is not where they end up, but the way in which they go, the path that they take.
Speaker 1:For Jesus, the way is not the means to the destination, the way is the destination. The way is the purpose. Now you might be thinking, wait a second, isn't the passage we just read all about this future destination? I mean, let's look again at verses two and three. It says, starting in verse two, in my father's house there are many rooms.
Speaker 1:If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. So at first glance, these verses appear to contradict Jesus' emphasis on the way. It sounds like Jesus is talking about a destination, an afterlife that we will end up somewhere down the road, something that's far off. So so what is Jesus saying?
Speaker 1:Well, first, we need to zoom out and place this within the context, the larger context of everything that Jesus said, and then we can, come back to this and and take a closer look at what Jesus is actually saying in these verses. So what's the context? Well, if you've been around this community, if you've done our missional cohort or come to enough gatherings, you've heard that for Jesus, heaven and earth are not these two distant and separate places. One for our current life and one for our afterlife. They are physical and spiritual realities that overlap, that intersect.
Speaker 1:This is the story that begins all the way in Genesis one and two in the Garden of Eden. Our space and God's space are one in the same, a shared home, heaven and earth together, fully united. And by the time we get to Genesis three, we see that these spaces are torn apart by humans rebellion against God. Heaven and earth separated by greed, by selfishness, by shame. And the rest of the Bible is all about these two spaces being brought back together, a home restored, God with his creation.
Speaker 1:We see that fulfilled in in the book of Revelation, but Jesus claims to be the climax of this story. And here are just a few examples of of where we see this overarching theme of of of the Bible in Jesus' life and ministry. So in Mark, chapter one verse 14, we've talked about this, a few times. Jesus begins his ministry by saying, this is right at the outset of his ministry, he says, the time has come, the kingdom of God has drawn near, has come near. In other words, heaven has arrived.
Speaker 1:So repent, turn around, right, and believe the good news that the kingdom is here. Another example is in in John, the book of John, he begins his gospel by framing Jesus' arrival on Earth as recreation of the world. It mirrors this kind of Genesis one, language. So in chapter one verse one, it says, in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and the word was God.
Speaker 1:In verse five, it says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And then a little bit later in verse 14, it says, the word, referring to Jesus, became flesh and made his home among us, made his home here. This mirrors that that Genesis creation story in the life the birth and the life of Jesus. And then even in John 14, this chapter that we are we're currently looking at today, we find this overarching story of scripture. Look at verse 23.
Speaker 1:It'll be up on the screen. This is just 20 verses after, what we just read about my father's house. Jesus it's the same conversation. Jesus is still talking to his disciples, and he says, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.
Speaker 1:And interestingly, the the Greek word that's translated here as home is the same Greek word that's translated in verse two as rooms. Jesus uses the same word in the same conversation. So he's saying in this in in, you know, basically the same breath, he's saying, I am going to go away and prepare a dwelling place for you, and I am going to come and make my dwelling place with you. You see how how there's more going on here than what it might seem at first glance. So what is Jesus saying?
Speaker 1:Well, now that we have just a glimpse of that larger context, let's look back at the passage and see if we can get a better grasp of what these words actually mean. So the language that Jesus uses in in verse two and three, are are pretty unique. He uses a term that only appears two other times in the gospels, and that is right at the beginning of verse two, my father's house. Jesus uses this, term three times in the gospels. So I I don't know about you all, but when I've heard that term talked about, especially in the context of this passage, It's the DC talk song.
Speaker 1:It's it's the old hymn. It's it's all about heaven. Right? My father's house is this mansion. It's this place, streets of gold.
Speaker 1:You get to go live there someday when you die. But here's how Jesus uses it. Let's look at, Luke chapter two. It's gonna be up on the screen. Verses 48 through 49.
Speaker 1:This is when Jesus is young, his parents are looking for him for him because he's been missing for days, and it says, when his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you. He says, why were you searching for me? Didn't you know that I had to be in my father's house?
Speaker 1:Referring to the temple. In John chapter two verses 14 through 16, it says, in the temple courts, Jesus found people selling cattle, sheeps and doves, and others sitting at the table exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, he said, get these out of here.
Speaker 1:Stop turning my father's house into a market. So we read Jesus' words in in, verse or chapter 14 of of the book of John, and we meet immediately think, some of us may immediately think after life, a far off destination that we go when we die, but his disciples hear these words, and what do they think? What comes to mind for them? Temple. Right?
Speaker 1:That's that's what they're thinking when he says I'm going. So it's it's actually quite a confusing thing that Jesus is saying for his, disciples, because they know where the temple is. He's been there before. What what is he actually talking about? So so what is Jesus talking about?
Speaker 1:Is Jesus talking about the afterlife? Is he talking about the temple? And I think it's both and neither. And what I mean by that is there are aspects of both of these ideas that are in line with what Jesus is saying and aspects that are misunderstandings, a little off the mark of what Jesus is saying. When Jesus speaks of my father's house, he's talking about a home, a dwelling place, a place that God shares with his creation, heaven and earth united together.
Speaker 1:And according to Jesus, all throughout his teachings, this is both a present reality and a an eternal reality, a reality that existed in the garden and in the temple and will exist into eternity. But the turning point of this story, the point where heaven comes crashing back into Earth with a powerful and redemptive force is in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. This reality that he's talking about appears most evidently in him, and so this is why he continues on in John chapter two, after talking or after turning the tables in the temple to say that the true temple is not a building constructed with human hands, but the true temple is his body. He is the temple. He is the place where heaven and earth are fully united.
Speaker 1:So when Jesus says, in my father's house there are many rooms, he's talking about a place to dwell or or to use the language that Jesus is gonna use in chapter 15 right after this, a place to abide that is found in him. So what about verse three? So verse three here, can get a little fuzzy as well. So let's look at that. Verse three, Jesus says in in, if I go, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am, or you also may be where I am.
Speaker 1:That's the NIV. That's the translation we're using today. So, now doesn't that seem to reinforce this idea that Jesus is just talking about this future destination, this place that someday will get lifted up and taken off to? Well, there happens to be quite a bit of debate around how to translate this this verse, and and particularly, that phrase that we see up here as take you to be with me. Now if you look at other translations like the ESV or the NASV or even I think the the New King James, you'll see that this phrase reads something like receive you unto myself or receive you to myself.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit more ambiguous than what we see here. And, so what this phrase means, at least in the Greek, is is it it's something that can include a physical relocation, like taking something or someone physically to be with you, but it has a lot more depth and significance than that. This is a phrase that indicates relational intimacy, and it's frequently used in the context of marriage, like a groom receiving his bride unto himself and and taking her. So so it's it's ultimately it's about physical, emotional, relational union. That's what that's what he's talking about here.
Speaker 1:It's not simply this physical relocation, but it's it's this whole, body, whole mind, whole spirit union with one another. So so let's pull this all together. Might have felt like a lot, but I just wanna kinda sum this up in in this way. So in these verses, Jesus is speaking to a room of disciples who are are afraid, deeply afraid because he's been telling them more frequently as time has gone on that he is going to leave them. He's going away.
Speaker 1:He's been he's been saying that he's gonna be killed, and they don't understand. They're filled with fear. They don't know what they're going to do when their rab rabbi, this man that changed their lives forever is gone. They're afraid, and and so Jesus says that though he is going away, now, he will soon come back. And when he does, he will receive them to himself.
Speaker 1:This this term that that kind of means this relational and and physical union, and they will be fully united with him. And what that means is wherever he is, they will be there also. And wherever they are, he will be there also. So the question is when? When is this going to happen?
Speaker 1:This this promise that Jesus has given us to return and be united with his people. Again, I've often heard and and you may have often heard that this is a a a promise that will be fulfilled someday far off into the future, at kind of the end of this age, and and we just have to hang in there until until that comes. But another way of looking at this and the way I think his disciples saw this is is that it is a promise that was fulfilled three days later in the resurrection when Jesus did come back, and he opened the door for his disciples and every single one of us to be united with him. And and this is a promise that continues to be fulfilled as the spirit comes and lives in every single one of us. God's presence dwelling with us.
Speaker 1:We don't have to wait. We already have this permanent dwelling place in the family of God now and into eternity. That's what Jesus is saying here. We, as the body of Christ, are a living temple here on Earth. The place where heaven and earth overlap is is right here in this room, around this table, and that table, and in in our homes this morning, and in the coffee shops where we gather together and have conversations with our friends and neighbors.
Speaker 1:All that is what Jesus is talking about. All of that is included in this this dwelling place that we have been invited into, received into. We have a room in the father's house because we are the father's house. We are the father's house here on earth. So practically speaking, this is lived out as we go on this wild, journey with Jesus, as we follow after him along the narrow way.
Speaker 1:This is not some philosophical or theoretical concept. This is a tangible way of living that impacts every day of our lives, every moment, every breath, every conversation, every interaction, every decision or change of direction is all informed by by what Jesus is saying here. So so what does this all have to do with his claim that I am the way, this kind of climax of of our passage here? Well, to go back, to to where I started things, we often get preoccupied with our destination, with with that place, what wherever the that clearly defined direction, that end goal, wherever wherever we think we need to end up or we're invited to end up. And when we do, when we get preoccupied with a destination as the main purpose of our faith, our faith becomes a lot like Tom's hike on the Camino De Santiago.
Speaker 1:Just check the boxes, get it over with. It's the quick, it's the easy way, it's simple. Say your prayers, attend church, don't cause too much trouble, and get your golden ticket to the afterlife. Right? That's often what what our faith is is minimized to.
Speaker 1:But we were created for so much more than that, and what Jesus has to offer us is so much more than that. It's the gift that that is is hidden in this short sentence where he says, I am the way. Jesus offers us not a destination, but a way a way of living in this life and in the next, a way that brings goodness and wholeness and restoration and healing in our own lives and in the world around us. And it's it's not an easy way. We might stumble our way through it.
Speaker 1:We may wander off path. We may twist our ankle or scrape our knee like these things happen, but it's what we are created for. Following after Jesus every day our lives, of our lives, living like he lived, listening to his voice, following the promptings of his spirit, slowing down and being present. That's that's the question I'm asking is how how can I be more present? How can I not fill every, space, every every silence, every moment in my life with things and noise?
Speaker 1:Like, this is all included on in this in this journey of going along the way of Jesus, and and it isn't an add on to life. This isn't more to do. You think, I just I already got so much going on with my job and my family and and this and that and my commitments. It's like, it's not an add on to any of that. It's a reorientation of all of that.
Speaker 1:And part of that might be God calls you to some radical change or to give up something or to pick up something else, but but what we are certain about is he's calling us to reorient everything that we're doing each day of our lives. Whether it's cleaning up the dishes, whether it's mowing the lawn, whether it's having a conversation with your neighbor, cooking a meal for a friend, whether it's visiting your mom in hospice, all of it, raising your kids, serving people who are experiencing homelessness, who are hungry, who are who are needy, all of that is included in The Way. I love this, this this quote from the movie, that I mentioned at the beginning. It's two other pilgrims that are kinda walking along with Tom. He doesn't to want be walking with him, but that's just the way it goes.
Speaker 1:They're all going the same direction. And one of the pilgrims is complaining about Tom to the other pilgrim, and and she says, if we keep walking at this pace, quitting isn't gonna be our problem. Surviving will be. And then she says about Tom, does this guy ever stop to smell the flowers? This isn't a race.
Speaker 1:I just think that that that just is such a beautiful picture of how we approach our lives sometimes. And and what Jesus is inviting to is not to go faster, to do more, to accomplish more for him, but to be present in the life that he's called us to right now, with the people that he's called us to to be with right now. That is what it means to live in the way. And the last thing I'll leave you with, I'm gonna actually invite Dan up here to to process this a little bit more with us, is if we don't desire to walk with Jesus now, now this is a present reality and a future reality. Right?
Speaker 1:It's not just something that that we'll we'll someday experience far off into the future. There is a a a fulfillment that is yet to come, but Jesus is very clear. This is something that begins now, the moment we turn our hearts and eyes towards him. We are we are living this life. We are walking this journey.
Speaker 1:And so if it's a present and a future reality, if we don't desire to walk with Jesus, to live this way, to to experience this new creation now, what makes us think that we're gonna be interested in doing in it doing it then? And that's that's challenging for me. Like, I'm I'm saying that to myself. It's like we we have been invited to this. Alright?
Speaker 1:It's not something that that we have to sit around to die or sit around for Jesus to come back to experience. We're invited into this right now and and the world is broken and our lives are broken and we have sometimes hazy and fuzzy experiences. But if we can't learn to live in that now, what makes us think we're gonna want to do it then? And so, Dan, would you just come up here and help me bring this down to earth?