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Christ Community Chapel is a church in Hudson, OH, that invites people to reimagine life because of Jesus. Learn more about us at ccchapel.com.
John 14:6–7
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."
Hey, everybody.
Good morning
and welcome to Christ Community Chapel.
My name is Joe.
I'm one of the pastors here.
And I'm just really glad that you come.
All right.
This is Palm Sunday,
and we call it Palm Sunday,
because this is the day that Jesus rode
into Jerusalem on a donkey.
And people
cut off palm branches and laid them
in the road and cried out, Hosanna!
Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
Hey, just so you know, in our kids area
right now,
we have two miniature donkeys
walking the halls and,
the kids are out with their little palm
fronds and putting them down
in front of the donkey
so that they're reenacting Palm Sunday.
I love what our kids,
I would love to be a kid in this church.
You know, when I was a kid,
we were lucky if our Sunday school teacher
had a cutout of a donkey
that they put on the flannel board.
You know, we have real donkeys.
Anyway, we are in a series. We're calling
I Am More. If you're new,
just once
you know, it's not about us.
We're not saying that we're more.
We're saying that Jesus is more.
We've been looking at
what Jesus says about himself.
And those statements are called
I am statements
where Jesus says stuff like,
I am the good Shepherd.
I am the light of the world.
In this case, he says, I am the way,
the truth, and the life.
Let me kind of set the stage of
he actually says this
statement to his disciples
right before he goes to the cross.
I mean, this happens late Thursday night
or in the wee hours of Friday morning.
By Friday at 9:00 in the morning,
he is hanging on a cross,
and then he kind of just paint the picture
for either.
The disciples at this point are really
pretty rattled and understandably so.
I mean, tensions are at an all time high.
They just finished the Passover meal
with Jesus.
It would later be called the last Supper.
Of course, they didn't know
it was the Last Supper at the time,
but it was still super unsettling
because during that time, with Jesus,
Jesus told them
that one of them was going to betray him.
He talked about his body being broken,
his blood being poured out.
He told Peter that Peter before the
the sun would rise.
Peter would deny even knowing
Jesus three times,
and then he just broke the news to them
that he was leaving them.
And so into that,
Jesus gives them the statement,
let me go ahead
and read the whole passage to you.
This is beginning at verse
one of chapter 14.
Jesus says,
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'm going.
And Thomas said to him, Lord,
we don't know where you're going.
How can we know the way?
And Jesus said to him, I am the way,
and the truth and the life.
No one comes to
the father except through me.
Out of
all the
statements that Jesus makes about himself,
this is probably the most polarizing
because this is where he claims
exclusivity
and people hate that about Christianity.
Jesus says no one comes to the father
but through me.
Super offensive to people.
What's interesting is that
Jesus said it to comfort
the disciples,
not to offend them, to comfort them.
He was saying,
listen, it's all going to be okay
because I am the way,
the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the father but through me.
How can the same statement be so offensive
and yet so comforting?
Paul the Apostle says something
very similar in Second Corinthians.
He says this for
we are the aroma of Christ to God
among those who are being saved,
and among those who are perishing,
to one a fragrance from death to death,
and to the other
a fragrance from life to life.
The same fragrance smells like death.
To some smells like life to others.
Jesus makes this statement.
It offends some people,
and for other people, it's
the best news they've ever heard.
And of course, the question is why? Why?
I hear my three points.
I'm just going to take the three things
Jesus says about himself.
The first point is Jesus the way.
Second point is Jesus the truth.
And the third point is Jesus the life.
First, Jesus the way.
Right after my son graduated from college,
we took a family
vacation out
west to go to the national parks.
Out there.
And while we were out there, Jeremy
and I decided to go bouldering.
We were outside of Las Vegas
and a place called Red Rock Canyon.
If you've never heard of bouldering, it's
kind of what it sounds like.
There are these big rocks.
It's kind of like a
a big hill, steep hill,
or a small mountain,
and we had never done it before.
But it was a blast.
So you kind of you running
kind of jump on the rock
and you climb up on all fours
and it's really steep.
There are places where you have to jump
across little chasms.
And, we made it up to the top.
Beautiful view. All of that.
But I was thinking when we got to the top,
I was thinking, you know, going up
was okay, but going down at that steepness
might be kind of dangerous.
So I said, Jeremy, let's try to find a
different way down to a smoother way down.
So we did.
We went
and started to go down a little path
that seemed like it was going to work out.
And then about 20 minutes later,
we came, to a place where it was a sheer
drop of about 40 or 50ft,
and we had no way to get down there.
So we ended up having to reverse course,
go back to where we started,
and try again.
I should tell you right now
that, you know, we had never done it
before where we were way out of our depth.
We knew enough about climbing that
when we got into crevices, we'd
spread out like, you know, like a spider.
And use the force of our legs
and hands against,
you know, the two walls
and go up and down.
And at one point
we're in one of those crevices,
and my son Jeremy said, hey, dad,
are these rappelling hooks?
And a rappelling hook is what, a rock
climber will pound into the rocks
to put the ropes in because it's
so dangerous to do without ropes, right?
We didn't have ropes.
I had a backpack with two water bottles
that left my phone in the car.
All right, so we're outside Las Vegas,
middle of the summer.
It's literally 113 degrees.
We are way out of our depth, right?
So we try another way down,
come to the same type of impasse.
We did it three times.
After the third time, we went back up.
And my son has a really good sense
of direction.
And I turned him and said, Jeremy,
you have to find the way.
We came up because I don't
have another mistake in me.
I was
praying, I mean, it's just going, God,
I know, I know, I'm an idiot,
but don't make him suffer right.
Save him.
Maybe I'll go with him.
But. So, Jeremy,
he searched his way down,
and I just watch him,
and I stay right with him.
Thomas says to Jesus,
we don't know where you're going.
How do how can we know the way
he thinks that Jesus
is going to give him a set of directions
like a map?
Every other religion gives you a map
on how to get to God, like
you want to get to God.
Obey these rules, climb
this ladder, walk this path,
but not Jesus.
Jesus comes and says, you.
You want to find the way to God.
It's not a map,
it's a person.
It's me.
And this is the thing.
If you think that you have another way
that you can get to God
or that there are multiple ways,
and when Jesus says, I'm the only way,
then that'll be offensive to you.
But if you're like,
I was, Will, you've tried a couple of ways
to make yourself
feel right with God,
and you don't have another mistake in you.
Then when Jesus says, I am the way, it's
the best news you've ever heard.
Because Jesus is saying,
listen, it's not a map.
It's not based on your performance,
it's based on mine.
So you just stick with me.
That's the first thing Jesus says.
I am the way.
The second thing is Jesus. The truth.
There is a law for logic.
It is the most basic law of logic.
It provides for all reasoning,
but also meaningful communication.
It's called the law of non contradiction.
And it's simply this that two
opposing statements
cannot be true
at the same time in the same way.
That's it.
That's the law of non contradiction.
Like if I say there's a table here
and you say there's not a table here,
one of us is right and one of us is wrong,
we can't both be right.
If there's a religion
that says there are multiple gods
and one and a religion
that says there's one god,
they could both be wrong,
but they can't both be right.
That's the law of non contradiction.
Truth in its purest
form is always exclusive.
Jesus says, I am the truth.
What's he talking about?
I think he's talking about
at least three things.
The first is
Jesus is saying I am the truth about God.
You want to know what God is like?
Look at me.
Other religious leaders would say,
you want to know what God is like.
I can tell you what God is like.
Jesus goes one step further.
He said, I will not only tell you
what God is like, I'll show you.
Just watch me.
That's what he says in verse seven.
He says, if you had known me,
you would have known my father also.
From now on, you do know him
and have seen him and his disciples.
Philip doesn't quite understand.
And Philip said to him, Lord, show
us the father, and it's enough for us.
And 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?
Jesus is
saying, you want to know what God is like?
Look at me. I'm the truth.
The second thing is, he says,
you want to know what you are really like.
You need to look at me.
Years ago, I took a golf lesson at,
a country club near here.
From the golf pro at that country club.
And I was just talking to him, and I said,
hey, how did you become a golf pro
at this club? You know, a club?
Because I didn't know how anybody became
a club pro.
He said, oh, well, this is the way
I was playing golf for Ohio State.
I was the best player on the team.
My plan was to play in the Big Ten
Conference championship, win that,
then go into the PGA,
earn my card, become rich
and famous as a professional golfer.
And I said,
what happened?
And he said, well,
I played in the Big Ten Championship.
There was another player
for a University of Illinois.
His name was Steve Stricker.
Now, if you are a golfer
and you know who Steve Stricker
is, he, had a very, very good PGA career.
I don't know if he's going to make the
Hall of Fame or not, but he's really good.
And this club pro said.
So I was playing in the Big
Ten Championship.
Steve Stricker was playing
Steve Stricker beat me by 18 strokes.
He said, I had no idea.
I had no idea how good I would have to be
to make the PGA tour.
So now I'm a club pro.
Jesus says, you, you want to know
how good you are to.
An awful lot of people will say
to themselves and said, other people,
I'm a pretty good person now.
That's why I can find my own way to God,
because I'm a I'm better than most
the way you think.
That is because you compare yourself
to the people that you are friends
with or around you, right?
If you want to know
if you're good enough for the PGA,
you can't just play with the foursome.
You usually play with.
You got to play with somebody
who's good enough to be on the PGA.
Jesus says, you want to know
how you stack up against the standard
that God has?
Look at me,
look at me.
There's a place in the Gospels
where Jesus says,
you need to be perfect
as your father in heaven is perfect.
Then Jesus lived a perfect life.
Peter
and his
letter Peter was one of the disciples.
He said, there is no sin.
Jesus committed no sin.
There was no deceit found in his mouth.
What he was saying is, I lived with him
24 seven for three years,
and he was perfect.
Jesus says,
you want to know what you really like?
You know.
You want to know how you stack up
with the standard that God has.
Don't look at other people. Look at me.
I'll show you the truth about yourself.
The final thing is
he shows us the truth about our need.
About my need?
You know, whenever somebody asked me
why I believe in Christianity,
I will give him one of two answers.
The first answer I give them is that
I believe that the resurrection happened.
I mean, if the resurrection happened,
then Christianity is true.
Like full stop.
If the resurrection of Jesus did
not happen, then Christianity is not true.
Full stop.
That's what
the Bible says, and I'm okay with that.
But I am convinced
the resurrection happened,
and we're going to talk about that
next week.
And I can't tell you really what
we can, but, you know, that's
there's going to be live
preaching in both venues
here and over in the gym,
which we're going to transform.
And so Zach and I will be preaching
and we're both going to do the same thing.
We've never done it
before. It's going to be very cool.
Can't tell you about it.
Yeah. Gotta come right.
Just I'll let you know.
But it's going to be great.
All right.
But that's what I tell him first.
The second reason
I'll tell them that I believe in
Christianity
is because it just makes sense to me
because and I,
when I, when I say that,
what I mean is I'm a dad,
and I feel like I understand
something about justice and love.
Like I love my kids.
If if one of my kids
got into financial trouble
and they were going to lose their home,
become homeless,
I would do everything I could
to gather the money to pay off their debt.
And that makes sense to me
that if they had a debt,
they could not pay out of love.
I could step in and pay that debt.
Makes sense
now if they happen to get into debt
with the mafia, with the mob.
And it was something that
neither of us could pay, and the mob sent
word to say, listen, somebody's
going to have to pay with their life.
Somebody's got to die.
And I stepped forward and said,
okay, take me.
I will stand in as the substitute.
That makes sense to me, to
it makes sense to Hollywood.
And they make movies about it
all the time.
There's a movie called Man on Fire
with Denzel Washington,
plays a guy, there's a crime boss, and you
don't have to know much about the movie.
I give it to.
There's a crime, boss.
He's kidnaped a little girl he calls
Denzel Washington, and he says this.
Your life for her life.
Your life
for her life.
And nobody's watching the movie goes.
Doesn't make any sense.
It makes perfect sense.
And it's based on a true story.
And sure enough, that's what happens.
Denzel Washington trades himself
for the little girl.
She goes free.
Listen.
You know, if if I
have a debt to God that is so great,
I cannot pay it myself.
I need somebody who will say,
I will pay that debt for you.
And if that debt is so great,
that don't cost me my life.
I need somebody to step in and say,
my life, for your life,
my life for you.
That's the gospel.
Listen, if if you want to know the truth
about God, about what God is like,
look at Jesus.
If you want to know the truth
about yourself, where you are
with the standard that God has set,
look at Jesus.
If you want to know what it takes
to be forgiven,
what can happen to set you free?
Then look at Jesus.
Jesus says,
I am the truth.
I am the truth.
That's the second thing.
The third point is he says, I am life.
I am the life.
Here's a question
what do you think
you need to be really happy?
What do you need to have a full life
like full to the brim
from now until you die your whole life?
Like if I said to you, you can write out
a list, like a Christmas list.
And I will give you everything
on that list.
If you write out that list, how
how certain are you
that if everything on that list is met,
that you will you will have life
and have it abundantly?
I don't think you ought to be
very confident of that list,
you know,
and I say that because I,
I was thinking about my own life
and how my list has changed all the time,
the things that I thought
would make me happy, like when I was ten,
I wanted to I wanted to be gone.
I was like the kid from,
you know, the Christmas Carol, just like,
let me put my eye out.
And so I wanted to be gone from my dad.
I asked him for that for Christmas.
He gave it to me. It's a great Christmas.
It filled me to the brim
for about a month.
And you think, oh, you were a child.
Yeah, that's true.
When I was 19, in college,
I was on a basketball scholarship,
but I was able to fill myself up
with everything that was supposed
to make a college kid happy.
And that lasted about eight months.
Oscar Wilde was he famously said this
when the gods want to punish us,
they answer our prayers.
When the gods want to punish us,
they answer our prayers.
What's he saying?
He said, we don't even know what to put
on the list.
When Jesus says, I am the life,
he's talking about something else.
There's a story in John chapter
four where Jesus is outside
of a little town called Sychar,
and a woman comes out to draw water,
and she has had five husbands.
The man she's living with
is not her husband.
She has a conversation
with Jesus and Jesus says, basically,
you've been making a list your whole life
and it's never worked for you
if you would ask me.
And then he says this,
I would become inside of you offspring,
welling up to eternal life.
Spring.
But Jesus says to his disciples, is this
you don't need a list.
Don't keep thinking.
You need a list to fill your life up.
All you need is me.
Iron is me.
Augustine said,
our hearts are restless
until we find our rest in thee, O Lord.
Listen.
The disciples were unsettled.
They were rattled,
and Jesus came to them.
And he said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the father
except through me.
It's going to be okay.
So this is the message I have for you.
No matter what you're going through,
no matter what's going on in your life,
this is what I say.
Let not your heart be troubled
the way the truth
and the life has come for you.
And his name is Jesus.
Did you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, we come to you.
And I, all of your statements, I love
when you tell us who you really are.
This one is the one that divides people
where it offends people because they can't
believe that you would be so exclusive.
But for those of us
who have found you,
who are don't have another mistake in us.
This is the best news in the world.
I pray for every one of us here.
I pray that for all of us you would become
the way, the truth and the life.
Fill us up.
Thanks for being such a wonderful Savior.
We pray this in your name. Amen.