Dan Herold | John 14:1-12 | 5/14/2017
For some reason, there are certain people who think that jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is a good source of entertainment. Personally, I’ve never had the desire to do that, but maybe you have. Whether or not you think skydiving sounds like fun let’s think about it for a minute. Imagine that you were interested in going skydiving and this was your first time. You show up at the airfield to get on a plane. There’s a man there that hands you a parachute, tells you that when he says to jump you’re gonna open the airplane door and jump, you’ll free-fall for a while, and then you’ll pull the cord and the parachute will open. That’s your introduction course and now it’s time to get on the plane. Are you ready to jump by yourself?
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be. I would at least want someone else to jump at the same time. I would probably want to see somebody else jump from the same plane at the same altitude using the same sort of parachute before I would have any desire to do so. Doing something on your own that you don’t feel prepared for is a scary thing.
Well, now think about this situation…You get to the airplane and the instructor tells you he has made over 3000 jumps from this very airplane at the exact same altitude you’re going to jump from and he has always used a parachute identical to the one you are going to use. In fact, since it’s your first time you’re not going to jump alone…you’ll be doing a tandem jump with the instructor strapped to you. That way he’s right there with you to make sure everything goes perfectly. Now, how would you feel about skydiving? Probably not 100% better but certainly you’d be feeling better about it than if you were just expected to figure it out on your own.
This Sunday is another one of those transition points in the church year. This Sunday is the 5th Sunday of the Easter season. These past several weeks we’ve been celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and the good news that our salvation is complete and guaranteed by God. There are two important days in the church year just around the corner—Ascension and Pentecost—in fact, half the church year is the season of Pentecost. Those two days brought about huge changes for the disciples and for the Christian church. So, to get ready for those big events, Jesus starts preparing us just like he prepared his disciples for a big change in their lives in John 14.
The words which Jesus spoke in John 14 were spoken on Maundy Thursday—the evening that Jesus shared his final meal with the 12 disciples as they celebrated the Passover in the Upper Room. Jesus knew that the disciples would be nervous and uneasy about the challenges that lay ahead for them so he comforted them. It’s no secret that our lives bring us a whole lot of nervousness and uneasiness so Jesus comforts us as well. The message he uses to bring comfort is the same for both situations—he simply says, “Believe!” Believe in your Lord. Don’t use that lame excuse that we all try to use…the one that says “Oh, I don’t know how.” Jesus says that you do know how. He reminds us that we do know our Savior and that is all we need.
Leading up to his death Jesus talked openly with his disciples about the fact that he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem. He predicted his death several times. So, on that Thursday evening the disciples knew that something was up, but there was a whole lot of confusion among all of them. Doesn’t that often happen to us too? We know that something is going on, but can’t quite put our finger on it. Then it starts to build into fear and confusion and if that is left unchecked it can take over and get out of control. Sin is the cause of that fear and confusion—our sins and living in this world that is plagued with sin. The thing that keeps sin in check is the peace and comfort that Jesus gives.
Jesus says
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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.”
So, there it is…trust—Believe. Believe in God and believe in Jesus. First and foremost believe in the promise that Jesus refers to in that verse—that there is a place in heaven waiting for you and Jesus is most certainly going to come back and take you there one day. So that’s the first step to keeping the fear that sin causes in check—trust that no matter what happens in this world heaven is yours and nothing can take it away.
Just like always, the disciples are people to whom we can easily relate. Both Thomas and Philip try using that lame excuse that I mentioned before. Thomas says that he doesn’t know what Jesus is talking about and Philip acts like he has no clue who Jesus is. Our sinful nature is always looking for an easy way out and it loves to make us think that if we act totally incompetent someone else will just do the hard stuff for us. But Jesus—like always—keeps sin in check and he doesn’t let the disciples get away with a lame excuse.
Jesus could have treated Thomas and Philip much differently. He could treat us much differently. When we are nervous and uneasy and trying to make excuses for ourselves he could say, “Well, I’ve given you all you need. You better figure it out,” just like the the first skydiving instructor that handed you the gear and told you you were on your own. Thankfully, that is not how Jesus deals with us. He has an unending supply of patience and love that he uses to deal with us and our lame excuses. So since he is patient and loving this is what he said to Thomas when Thomas said he didn’t know where Jesus was going to go.
Jesus said,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Both are formed differently on buy levitra viagra http://djpaulkom.tv/my-partner-speaks-about-household-issues-while/ account of different reasons. The medical analyzers of the Food & Drug Association have completed the innovative discoveries of a number of medicinal products that have been helpful for combating against the strong mechanism of erectile dysfunction & this has been a general problem of the males & in this contemporary lifestyle, this form of disorder pfizer viagra discount has created its impact on the body and its side effects. cialis tabs 20mg According to the degree of problem he would be able to suggest you the right dosage after analyzing your condition. djpaulkom.tv levitra 40 mg It offers effective treatment for renal and urinary problems. Now for a moment, really think about those words which Jesus spoke.
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Those are some of the most remarkable words ever spoken by Jesus. This is a statement that contains an idea that the disciples had heard countless times before, but never before had it been spoken so plainly and clearly.
For thousands of years God’s prophets had been saying this very same thing, but still there were some like Thomas who just didn’t get it. So, with his infinite love and patience Jesus plainly says that he is the one. He doesn’t say that he’ll show the way like Moses did as he led God’s people. Jesus is the way. He didn’t say that he possessed the truth like Elijah did, but Jesus says that he is the truth. He doesn’t say that he will lead them to life like the apostles told those to whom they preached. Jesus proclaims that he is the life. What a unique and powerful sentence it is that Jesus spoke! And while powerful it is still gentle and patient as well. Because Jesus is all those things for us we do know the Father…we know him and it is as though we have even seen him because we know Christ.
You often hear people say that you’re stronger than you think you are or that you are capable of much more than you think you are. That’s not a modern idea by any means…Jesus told his disciples that very same thing and he tells us as well. He tells us that we are capable of much more than we’d ever imagine and we have much more to offer than a lame excuse. But, that’s not the case because we are so great on our own. It’s true because we have a patient and loving Savior who is always at our side. He’s not sitting back and pointing us in the right direction…he is the way, walking alongside us. He’s not like a big computer just storing information, he is the truth equipping and empowering us with the truth that drives out fear. Jesus is not just a road marker standing alongside the road to eternal life…he is our life right here and right now.
Jesus said to Philip and he says to you,
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
If you have faith you will do what Jesus has been doing and will do even greater things than Jesus did. He doesn’t say you have to do those things—Jesus isn’t making new laws here—but he says you just will naturally do them because you believe. Those are pretty strong words.
So, what are the things that Jesus had been doing that we are going to do too? Jesus himself summed it up best in Luke 19,
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
As the time for Jesus to die approached he prepared his disciples to carry on that work without him physically alongside them. After Jesus rose from the dead he spent 40 days encouraging and comforting his disciples to keep on doing the work of seeking and saving the lost after Jesus ascended to heaven. After Jesus ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit came and equipped the disciples to do that work on Pentecost. Today, you and I are still receiving the Holy Spirit’s gifts which equip us to do that very same work—to do the things that Jesus had been doing and to do even greater things.
The work of seeking and saving the lost is a pretty broad field. There’s no specific way Jesus tells us to to that work other than to make disciples (or preach and teach God’s Word) and to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are methods Jesus used to do that work—feeding 5000 people, turning water into wine, and other miracles—that are not available for us to use. There are methods the disciples used—speaking in tongues, healing diseases, and others—that are not readily available for us to use to do that work either. But, just because we can’t do that work the same way Peter and Paul did doesn’t mean we can’t do it. Remember there’s no room for lame excuses.
We have tools available to us that Peter, Paul, or any other apostle would have loved to have! How many more letters do you think Paul could have written if he could have typed them out on a computer, hit send, and had it delivered to Thessalonica or Ephesus immediately? There were well over 3000 people listening to Peter preach on Pentecost. How many more could have heard his sermon if he was on TV or the radio? Paul had plans to do mission work as far away as Spain and he was going to get there by walking and sailing on a ship with regular old wind-powered sails. Where would he have gone if he had an airplane?
Our excuses to not do the things that Jesus did all come from fear and sin. That nervous feeling you get when we start talking about talking to unbelievers about our faith…that is a product of sin. The only antidote to that disease of sin that plagues us all is Jesus. Believe! Believe in him and believe what he says to you and about you. He is the way, the truth, and the life. That’s not just a statement about him—it’s a powerful reminder that you are walking on the way, you are speaking the truth, and you are free from death and have life because you have Jesus. Believe! Believe in the Lord with all your heart!
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.