Jesus Describes His Purpose

John 14:1-10

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Jesus is born as God Incarnate in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. Why? Why go to all the trouble? Very simply, mankind has a problem, they are separated from God because of sin, and Jesus has come to make a way back to God. He is the way. And you can emphasize that no one comes to the Father except by Him, but I think it is better to say that all may now come to the Father because of Him! There is a Way!

  1. The Way to God is Blocked to Individuals

 

  1. The pathway to life is blocked by ignorance

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”    

 

We have two big ignorance problems:

  1. We are not able to evaluate ourselves properly because our hearts are deceitful and we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. We naturally tilt the scale in our favor.
  2. We think that the standard of goodness is determined by how we do compared to other people. And on top of that, we think that most people are going to be acceptable to God.

II Cor 10: 12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Jeremiah 17:

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”

Matt 5: 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Three sins a day illustration

 

The Cross should scare the hell out of people! Because it is necessary!

Gal 2: 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[e]

 

  1. The pathway to life is blocked by sin

        Matthew 23: 37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

 

        Proverbs 21:2 Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But         the Lord weighs the hearts.

Isaiah 59 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated  you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,   so that he will not hear.

Sin and ignorance block the way to God, so He sends Jesus to make a way.

Isaiah 43: 16 This is what the Lord says—    he who made a way through the sea,    a path through the mighty waters…

18 “Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness   and streams in the wasteland.

 

  1. The Way to God is Through Jesus

 

  1. Jesus is the exclusive pathway to God

Matthew 7: 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

John 14:6

Acts 4:10-12

10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Gal 2: 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[e]

I Tim 2:

5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

Revelation 5:

2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

9 And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Who else has done this? This is what it means to make the way to God available!

 

  1. The pathway to Jesus is freely available

        John 1:

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 4:

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

If you had known, you would have asked Him for life and He would have given you life!

This is as good a statement as there is in the Bible. What she is does not matter, only Who He is matters!!!

  1. Example of Cities of Refuge
  2. They must be spread around so you were never too far away.
  3. They had roads that were twice as wide as others and must be made smooth. They had the best access!
  4. They were on elevated ground so you could see where they were!

ADVENT LIGHTING

Light the Advent Candle for Hope at this point. Jesus being the way to God is all about hope. And the hope is aimed at being connected to God’s truth and life! Each of the people who encounter Jesus as their Way to God in the Bible are filled with hope that God will transform them and give them a better life! That is my hope as well!!

III. Those Who Found the Way

        The birth narratives are all about people finding the Way!

  1. There were Shepherds

        And we need to find in the kinds of people that God reveals Himself to great encouragement that we are not excluded by our sin, by our insignificance or by the fact that we don’t know much about religion!

Luke 2:   

6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

These men were excluded by their job from being observant Jews. They are gonna be unclean most if not all of the time. This is gonna make them ignorant of theological issues. And God gives them a testimony! Why? What kinds of people find the gospel to be good news? Those who are acquainted with their bad news.

The ignorant get a testimony!

9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

 

  1. There were Magi from the East

        Matthew 2:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Magi smh. Astrologers, philosophers, politicians from a completely different culture! Certainly NOT Jewish!

 

  1. Simeon and Anna

        Luke 2: We know nothing about them except they are people looking for Messiah to come and when they see Jesus, they know that they have found the Way!

 

God did not announce His plan to the great of the world. So far the only reason we would know any of these people is because of the greatness of Jesus. They found the Way to God. Have you? It is an impossible way on your own, but finding Jesus He will take you to God!