I Am the Way, Truth, and Life

Getting lost can be one of the most terrifying of human experience. Several years ago, I went hunting with the brother of a friend of mine, and we drove to the property and parked and walked into the woods, and he pointed me to the direction of where he thought would be a good place for me to go, and then he went on to another spot. And after a couple of hours, it was starting to get dark and it started raining. And since I hadn't seen anything yet, I decided to go ahead and climb down and try to make my way back to the truck while there was still a little bit of daylight. But after walking a little ways, I just kind of wasn't sure. I had that feeling that I wasn't on the right path. And I hadn't paid really good attention on the way in because I was walking with somebody. And everything started to look the same, and yet nothing looked familiar at all. Maybe you've had that experience before. And I was pretty sure we had followed a trail in, but there was no trail to be found. And it's in that moment that panic starts to set in, right? This is before smartphones, right? I didn't have a reception on my cell phone. I had no map. There was no way to get in touch with anybody. I was starting to get wet. The temperature was falling. And the outlook was not looking really good if I didn't get back to the truck. And so I yelled out several times and got no answer. And eventually, I just decided I've got to go somewhere. I've got to make progress. And so I went the direction I thought we had parked and went through some really thick stuff and eventually came out very near the truck. At the time, I was probably as close to where I am now to the parking lot from it. I just couldn't see it because it was really thick. And it turned out I'd been heading the right way the whole time. I'd just been off the path a little bit. And when I got back to the truck, there was a piece of paper at this point mostly destroyed by the rain, but I was able to deduce from it that my friend's brother had abandoned the hunt a long time before that and had gone home way before I had. So obviously I made it out. I'm safe. Praise God. But I came out of the woods that day with a couple of important lessons. Number one, never hunt with Willie. Right? Because that dude will leave you in the woods. So never hunt with Willie. But number two, more importantly, if I'm going somewhere new, I better make sure that I know the way or I can trust the person I'm going with. Right? Those are really the only two options, to know where you're going or to trust someone who does. Otherwise, you'll get lost. And in our text this morning, Jesus' disciples, I think, are feeling some of the same helplessness and vulnerability that I felt in those Kentucky woods that afternoon. He tells them he's leaving, and they start to panic. But Jesus assures them that they have everything they need because they know him. They know Jesus, and therefore they have everything they need. Jesus is the way to God. And that's what I hope that we take away from our sermon this morning. We're continuing in these series of the I Am statements in the Gospel of John. It's how John is sort of highlighting certain aspects about who Jesus is. And so we've considered those, several of the elders preaching through this series this summer. And this morning, as you heard a moment ago, we're considering Jesus' statement here, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so we're gonna Look at that this morning. Before we do, though, a little bit of background information, just to bring everybody up to speed. What we've seen in the Gospel of John is Jesus continuing to demonstrate that He is God. He is the Son of God. And there's escalating tension between Jesus and the ruling authorities, the Jewish authorities, because of that. And in fact, just recently, there's been a plot to kill Jesus. They've committed that they've got to put Him to death. He's too much of a problem, and they're going to kill Him. And so chapter 12 begins a second half of the Gospel of John. So you can break the Gospel of John up into chapters 1 through 11, which is the signs that Jesus is doing, and then 12 all the way to the end of the book, really, that focus on mostly the last week of Jesus's life, where we see all of these events culminating in his death and in his resurrection. And so chapter 12 kind of concludes his public ministry. And then for the next four chapters, Jesus is giving this extended discourse, dialogue with his disciples to help to equip them for what's ahead. He's leaving. He wants to give them information that's going to help them to do what they're supposed to do, to reassure them, to comfort them, to instruct them. And that's what's going on in chapters 13 through 17. And so, we see in chapter 13, Jesus observes the Passover supper together, where he starts these final instructions, and shockingly, Jesus washes his disciples' feet. He does the thing that the lowest of low servants would do, which is wash And that's what Jesus does to show the kind of sacrificial love he has for them and the kind of love they're supposed to have for each other. And then he predicts the betrayal of Judas and sends him out. And that's where our passage picks up in verse 31, where he sends Judas out. And since we've already heard that read, I'd like to jump down to 14.6 and then unpack that statement in light of everything else John is presenting here. So 14.6, kind of the main idea here, Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And so here we have this I am claim that Jesus is making again. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And Jesus here again is identifying with the God of the Old Testament, the God who reveals himself as the one who says, I am who I am. That's my name. I define myself. Nothing can contain me. And he qualifies this here with both this affirmation and denial, right? I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And so let's just unpack that for a minute. What does it mean when Jesus says, I am the way? Well, as we heard a moment ago, he keeps talking about going somewhere, right? And the disciples are confused and want to know how to get there. And he says, I am the way. Jesus says they can't go there now. He expects them to know how to get there. And then he, in his denial, I think, gives us the clearest explanation. No one comes to the Father except through me. So clearly the destination Jesus has in mind is God himself, God the Father. Jesus is the way, the route, the means to get to God the Father. So he's saying, in making this claim, that he is the one and only source of access to God. No one gets to God without Jesus, and this is by virtue of his nature as the Son of God. He has unique access to and intimacy with God the Father, and so only he has the right to invite people into that. And so in light of that, Jesus says, the truth means that he's the only reliable source of information about God. This is because he's the son who knows the father. He's been sent to bring the message of the father. We hear that over and over again in John. During his public ministry, he's consistently and perfectly revealing God the father to us. And so then when Jesus makes the claim that he is the life, again, this is a claim that he is the only source of eternal life, which is a relationship with God. We heard this clearly demonstrated last week when he raised Lazarus from the dead, right? The life begins at the point when we enter into relationship with Jesus, and it continues forever. And I think Jesus explains all of this really, really well in his last public declaration, chapter 12, verses 44 to 50. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me. So again, with these words, Jesus is making a claim of his absolute exclusivity, right? There is one way, one truth, one eternal life. There aren't many ways to God. We're not all on different trails to the same summit or blind men touching different parts of the same elephant. No, God has revealed himself in his Son. And this is what Jesus has been saying and showing throughout the Gospel of John. And so if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, we're really glad that you're here. We're thankful that you've taken the time to be with us this morning. But we want you to understand that Jesus is not just kind of one option among many. He's not something you can add to just supplement your spirituality. He comes claiming the authority as the one true God. And so if you're not a Christian, I just invite you to consider the claims of Jesus this morning. Realize you've got to either outright reject Him, to your own condemnation, or to submit to Him as God, to your eternal joy. There's really nothing in between. There's no way to remain neutral or mild toward Jesus. He is polarizing. And that's just taking Him at His word. That's not what I think. That's just what Jesus says. If you're a Christian this morning, I hope this message encourages you in the salvation that's been accomplished for you and emboldens you to live a life of joyful, courageous obedience to Jesus. So with this exclusivity in mind, I want us to look back to the whole passage in three parts. Jesus' departure in 31 to 35, denial in 36 to 38, and then reunion in 14, one through six. So departure, denial, reunion will be our structure this morning. So let's look at the departure in 31 to 35. The section starts out with when he had gone out, talking about Judas. Jesus sends Judas away to begin this process of betrayal. And so Judas is going to go confer with religious leaders to deliver Jesus over to them. And so he's, Jesus is now in the room with the 11 faithful, true disciples. And so he says, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him. So the words now should kind of jump out at us because John has been anticipating this moment throughout his gospel. If you know the gospel of John, you know that he's been referring to this coming hour of Jesus. His hour had not yet come. His hour had not yet come. And now we hear now. This is the time. The hour is here. It's the hour of glory. He says the Son of Man is glorified, God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and glorify Him at once. So this is the culmination of the story. It's the moment that we've been waiting for. Jesus is going to be glorified. Now glory is not a word that we use a lot these days. We talk about glory as fame and honor, which is part of it. But really what it refers to is the honor that's due God or the majesty that radiates from Him being God. And so it can be the visible manifestation of His power and His holiness that we think of when He comes to the tabernacle or comes to the temple and people are just overwhelmed. They can't speak. They just kind of fall down. or the right response of worship or reverence to that manifestation. As we think, give glory to God, right? Glorify God. Show Him the honor and reverence and glory that's due His name. And so when John says, or sorry, when Jesus says that He's going to be glorified, it means that He's going to be displayed as the unrivaled, surpassing value of God. Who He is and what He's come to do. Everything that He's promised is coming to fulfillment. That's going to be obvious. It's going to be on display. Now there's this union going on here. Jesus is not alone because God the Father is also glorified in Him. They're absolutely united in being and purpose. Jesus has come to do the will of the Father, to execute His plan. But in what's about to happen, God the Father is also going to glorify God the Son in Himself. So God the Father is giving God the Son the appropriate honor and place in the center of the created universe as He's restored to His heavenly glory. And He says that He will glorify Him at once, which means it's happening now. It's going to happen immediately. Now the question for us really is, so what is this glory? What's this going to look like? That sounds amazing, right? And if we were Jews at the time, believing in Jesus, trusting him, we would be expecting to see some kind of awesome display of power like the Exodus, right? Plagues and floods and signs and wonders and deliverance that rescue the Jews from the Romans and finally restore them to the place of prominence on the earth, right? That's what they were looking for. That's what it sounds like. But the glory that Jesus has in mind is the coming cross. So we look back at chapter 12, verses 27 to 33. He says, now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, an angel has spoken to him. But Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. Unless we miss it, John adds for us, verse 33, he said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So Jesus' glory comes through the cross. And this is one of the most counterintuitive statements that could have been uttered. Glory in crucifixion. I think it's easy for us to kind of read over the word cross pretty casually and not appreciate the horror that it's talking about. This is a brutal and torturous death where a person was nailed to beams of wood and then spent hours in agony pushing and pulling on nails to breathe while slowly suffocating in his own blood. It was designed to be a public spectacle to utterly humiliate the one who was being crucified and anyone who would identify with him. It was reserved for despicable criminals. But the moment of apparent failure is actually the moment of greatest victory. Because what happened on the cross was not just Jesus' physical suffering and death as the Son of God. No, on the cross, God was pouring out his holy wrath against sin so that he could forgive everyone who was united with Jesus by faith. So Jesus willingly yielded his life in order to bring about the salvation of God's people. And so considering the different metaphors that we've heard already, the good shepherd came to lay down his life for his sheep. The gate was opened to welcome God's sheep into his pasture. The bread of life was torn and distributed to give life-sustaining food to God's people. The light of the world shone forth into darkness, and resurrection and life were made available through death and resurrection. This is the way to God the Father. So we see that God is glorified by his sovereignty and his freedom in showing mercy. Back in Exodus 33, God said to Moses, I am who I am and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. It's God's choice. There's no greater force compelling him to do this. There's no higher law by which God has to operate. He is absolutely free in showing mercy. And we know from scripture that this mercy is not in any way arbitrary, right? God, if he simply overlooked sin, he wouldn't be righteous. But his glory is displayed by showing mercy at the cost of Jesus's life, by the son of man taking the sin of man so that sinners can become sons of God. God is perfectly holy and righteous, but he's also wonderfully merciful. And the glory of the gospel is that a holy God has made a way for sinful people to be with him. And part of that glory is that it's worldwide in scope, right? Through this Jewish Messiah, God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth through his son. This was a glory that was hidden for centuries, but is now on full display in the gospel. That Jesus is not just the king for Israel, but for the whole world. And John makes this clear in 12 20 to 23. Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew, Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. So John is showing us that the glory of the gospel is like a cloud that's about to burst in a downpour on a parched desert. Jesus' last public dialogue with the Jews starts because these Gentiles are seeking him. John is showing us that the age of fulfillment is beginning, that today is the day of salvation for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. So if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, understand that the message of Jesus's death and resurrection is the good news that we call the gospel. What He demands from you is to believe in Him, which means to turn away from your life of sin, from outright rebellion against God, or from subtle self-righteousness, self-reliance, and turn to Jesus, and trust in Him, and take Him at His word, to live a life of submission and dependence upon Him. And He assures us that this is the one and only way to God. He demonstrated this by dying and being raised, and He promises eternal life to everyone who comes to Him in faith. Now all of us, in response to these words, should ask, what is my life about? Or maybe a better way to put it would be, what glory am I seeking? John shows us that it's possible to believe or to confess the right things about Jesus without actually having that faith come to completion. And so in 1242 to 43, he writes, nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. So what glory do you live for? Glory from man comes in all shapes and sizes, wealth and power and pleasure and accomplishments and morality and all sorts of things. But Jesus assures us that every earthly glory will fade. Nothing will last forever. No accomplishment will amount to anything in God's presence. But our faith will. If our faith is in the right object, and if we live a life of faith, that faith will matter. And so Peter encourages first century Christians regarding their new birth into a living hope. He says, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So what he's saying is at the return of Christ, there is a glory that comes from God to his people. All of our suffering and progress and faithfulness will be rewarded on that day. God will give glory and honor and praise to his people who are faithful to him on that day. And friends, that is a glory worth living for. Let's go back to verse 33. Jesus says, little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. So this was something that he did say to the Jews twice in chapter seven and eight. I'm going somewhere you can't go. And both here and there, he's revealing his identity as the unique son of God. The fact that his going is exclusive. No one else can do it. Only Jesus can accomplish God's saving mission. So we've spent a lot of time over the last few minutes thinking about Jesus's glory. And we see his tenderness and his care as he addresses his disciples like a dying father speaking to his children. But the disciples, they don't seem to have a clue, do they? All they can hear is the bad news, right? The time is almost over. Jesus is going. What do you mean you're going? Where are you going? Even though Jesus has been alluding to this throughout his ministry and is at times very specific about what's gonna happen, they just can't wrap their minds around it. But as he's going, Jesus has work for the disciples to do. Verse 34, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. So in his absence, he wants his disciples to live together in love. And this is obviously something on his heart flowing right out of his washing their feet and instructing them to do that to each other. It's a theme that he's going to take up several times in this section. It feels like an aside here because his disciples are so confused by his leaving. And so the dialogue kind of continues there. So I want to just set these verses aside and we'll come back to it later. So let's look at the disciples' response, verses 36 to 38, their denial. So Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? So it's not uncommon for Peter to be the first one to speak up, kind of representing what everybody's thinking. And notice that he just completely ignores Jesus' command, right? He's more concerned about the destination. Wait, what do you mean you're going? I'm not listening to what you're telling me to do. I want to know where you're going. And if you're a parent with young kids, that sounds familiar, right? You're giving them instructions. You want them to listen and obey. And they're concerned with some other detail that's not really relevant to them. But we see Jesus' mercy here. It's not surprising that the disciples feel this way. They've been quite dependent upon him for the last three years. And so we see Jesus' compassion, answering them patiently, even though he doesn't really tell them what they want to know yet. So Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. So what he's saying to Peter is, look, this is a matter of timing, right? This is not the right time. I'm going ahead to do something that you can't do. Your part comes later. In verse 37, Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. So Peter, he doesn't get it. You know, Jesus, there's nowhere I won't go for you. I'll die for you. And we all can appreciate the sentiment of Peter. He seems to genuinely love Jesus. He wants to follow him. Jesus wanted to wash his feet. He said, then wash all of me. And here, Jesus, I'll die for you. But it's like at that statement, everything in the room comes to a screeching halt, right? It's one of those moments. Verse 38, Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. So Peter is so close, but so far away. And Jesus just puts his finger right on Peter's pride. Do you think you'll die in my place? Peter, you're about to deny me three times before the sun comes up. In the next few hours, you're gonna deny me. And as we considered a few minutes ago, Jesus alone gets the glory for our salvation. His death and his death alone can bring it about. And the New Testament authors make this point several times by referring to his death as once for all. Jesus' one sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all the sins of all his people, past, present, and future. Now Peter's words would become prophetic, and at the end of the book of John, Jesus tells him that he is in fact going to die for following Jesus. But Peter here is missing a crucial part of the story, because he doesn't see the truth of who Jesus really is, and therefore he doesn't see himself accurately. Jesus doesn't need a hero, right? Jesus is the hero. And he says, you can't die for me until I die for you. And this is a lesson for all of us. We contribute nothing good to our salvation. We bring our sin, our failure, our need. Peter would go on to deny Jesus three times that night. And this is the truth of who all of us are before God, right? We are in need. We are hungry and thirsty and broken and rebellious and blind and lost and vulnerable and weak and dead. And Jesus's glory is displayed in the truth of who he is and in his sufficiency to meet every single one of those needs. It's not that we're so worthy of having our needs met, but that he is so powerful and so gracious and so generous to meet the needs of such a needy people. So if you're here this morning, you gotta understand the gospel is not in any way self-esteem. It's not, look how amazing you are that God would love you. No, the gospel is God esteem. Look how amazing God is that he would love someone like you or like me. So I wonder, friend, how do you think about your salvation if you're a Christian? Do you think there was something about you that God just couldn't do without? Did you figure out the right way because you're smarter than everyone else? Are there ways that you think you're a better Christian than other people because of what you know or because of what you do? Or do you see yourself as someone who's received mercy, right? Completely undeserved, like being freed from prison or having a debt canceled or being an orphan adopted into a family? One of the ways we know about this, if that's who we are, is that we care way more about our own sin than other people's sins. We talk about the mercy of God's past forgiveness. We ask for help in our present struggles. We know there's nothing that we can confess that the cross of Jesus doesn't confirm. And so we don't deny or hide our faults. We take them to God and we take them to others to get the help that we need. We don't talk about other people's sins. We talk about our own. Let's move on to 14.1-6, the reunion. So we've seen departure, we've seen denial, now we look at reunion. Verse 14.1, let not your hearts be troubled. Now I think if we can put ourselves in the room as it were, who at this moment has the most right to be troubled? Jesus knows what's coming, right? With each passing second, Judas is one step closer to meeting with the leaders, to bringing about the betrayal that's going to end Jesus's life. But the disciples are also troubled, right? Jesus is leaving and he's told them he's going to be betrayed. They're unsettled. And so as Jesus faces his darkest hour, he once again steps outside of himself. He sacrifices himself to comfort his disciples. Beautiful words. And John says at the beginning of chapter 13, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Such a beautiful picture of Jesus's mercy to us. So the disciples have genuine reasons to be troubled. But Jesus says they must not give in to overwhelming sorrow. And then he tells them how. He says, believe in God, believe also in me. So the answer to their sorrow, the answer to their distress is faith. And that's been the point of the gospel all along. As we thought about earlier, faith is not just a feeling of goodwill toward Jesus. It's not just liking Jesus and not thinking he has helpful things to say. It's not an unfounded optimism that things are gonna somehow work out in the end. No, faith is a reliance on the promises of God, right? It's a commitment to trust and obey no matter the cost or the obstacles because you take God at his word. And so Jesus says, believe also in me. And this only makes sense because Jesus is equally God with his Father. Faith is properly placed in Jesus just as it's placed in God the Father. They are one in purpose. And now finally Jesus goes on to explain the reason for his departure, what the disciples have, at least in part, been looking for. So verse two. 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." So his going is for the purpose of preparing a place for the disciples. Now, I don't think we should take this to mean that Jesus is like hanging drywall in heaven or something like that. The reason, the going that he's talking about is actually talking about the cross and the resurrection, right? That's, it's those acts that actually prepare the place for us in heaven. And the author of Hebrews describes this in chapter 9, just like the tabernacle had to be cleansed once a year, the blood of the sacrifices sprinkled on everything to cleanse it from the sins of the people so that, so just like that happened in the Old Testament, so Jesus' sacrifice cleansed God's heavenly presence so that sinful people could come in. And that's what he's going to do in the cross and the resurrection. And so he's securing a place in his father's house. That's what he went to do. Now, if you went to youth group in the 90s, you know about this house. It's a big, big house with lots and lots of rooms, a big, big table with lots and lots of food, a big, big yard where we can play football, right? The image here is one of a housing compound of a wealthy person, right? Multiple generations would live together in this place. Some of us are confused. If you're a King James person, you're used to hearing mansions here, right? And this is from a Latin translation and the evolution of English language over time. The point doesn't seem to be that we all get our own kind of wealthy estate to live independently of each other, but that there's one place that's big enough for everybody. That's the point, is that we're all together. And so Jesus promises his disciples and us that if he's preparing that place for us, that he will return and bring us to himself and be with us forever, right? And he's talking about the second coming, right? He's promising that he's come to do something, he's going and he's coming back. We hear the authority of his actions, right? I'm going, I'm preparing the place, I'm coming back, I'm taking you to myself, you'll be with me forever. It's his initiative, it's his power to make it happen. Now, I think these verses actually help us to understand a lot about what heaven is like, right? It's coming to a place where you are known and loved, a place where you're welcomed, where you always have a spot. For a lot of us, it's like coming home, right? I hope many of you know a place like that. But if you don't, if you don't know that place, let me assure you that there is one out there, right? One that makes all earthly homes pale in comparison. And Jesus invites you to that place even now. It seems like home renovation shows have kind of captivated our culture. Seems like 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can watch somebody's home getting fixed up in some part of the world, right? And it's easy to see why at one level, right? A house that's customized for your needs makes life really great. Like you've got the space you want, you've got the decoration that fits your personality, like all that's great. But more than space and stuff, it's the people who really make a home, right? It's the people. And as my siblings and I have gotten older and our lives have been more complicated and we're spread out in different places, it's increasingly rare that all of us are at home at the same time under the same roof, right? But nothing makes mom happier. And I think in that we catch a glimpse of the joy of heaven. God's glory isn't merely in the legal act of acquitting sinners, but in uniting us to himself as his children and bringing us into his home to delight in him and him in us. So recently our church was able to celebrate with the deans as they completed their adoption process and actually went and brought Ruth home from Thailand, right? And this is exactly what Jesus is promising to each one of his people. That's a beautiful picture of what he's doing. It's life as it was intended to be, perfect harmony and fellowship with God our creator and with each other as his people. So Jesus continues in verse four. And you know the way to where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? So Jesus is giving the disciples words of great assurance, right? You know how to get there. You know the way. And Thomas is still thinking in terms of geography. We don't know. We don't know where you're going. We don't really get this. How can we know the way if we don't know where you're going? In verse six, Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And so Jesus is saying, it's not a matter of where, guys, it's a matter of who. Eternal life is not about what you do, it's about what Jesus has done for you. Do you believe this? Do you believe this this morning? Where do you go for life, for motivation, for energy and purpose? I don't know what God has in store for you or me this morning, But I know that apart from the return of Jesus Christ, every single one of us will die, right? And that can be a scary thought, if nothing else, because of all the unknowns. So if you're here this morning, again, you're not a Christian. The Bible does not offer any hope for anyone apart from Jesus. The cross is the only way to get people into God's presence. And so if you haven't confessed your sin and asked God for forgiveness, your only expectation in death is judgment and condemnation for your sin. And we don't want that for you. We don't want that for you. So please, turn to Jesus even now. Forsake your sin and follow him. And if you wanna talk about that, I would love to talk to you more about that after the service. For those of us who know Jesus, we can actually look forward to that moment as homecoming, right? Think about all the promises of Jesus. Take heart that you don't need heaven's address to know how to get there. You just need to know Jesus, or more importantly, be known by Jesus. So if we have received that good news of comfort, what should we do as his disciples? Well, I think one application is to spend your time getting to know him so that you recognize him when he comes for you. Sometimes children who are getting adopted have like a picture book or even just a picture of their new parents, even a long time before they meet face to face, right? They have this picture in this book. And imagine the joy of the child when that picture becomes real life, right? When those people that you've been looking at for so long actually walk into the room where you are and they become real people. I think this is what we have in the Bible, right? It's portraits of Jesus, it's sacred family stories, all for us to own as ours. So let's learn to treasure those stories and build hope and expectation as we wait for Jesus. But I think the main takeaway that Jesus wants for us to have is what he actually said in 34 and 35 of chapter 13. So he says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. Now this command is not exactly new, right? Israel's law was summarized, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. But the context here is not your own standard of self-love, which oftentimes we're not even aware of, but of Jesus's sacrificial love for us, right? It's the identifying mark of the New Covenant community that reflects the eternal love of the Father and the Son. It's been demonstrated by washing the disciples' feet, which is a parable of the cross that he's about to endure for them. And the disciples are to show each other the same kind of sacrificial love. And Jesus's point is that the church should be heaven on earth. It's where we get to display the love of the Father and the Son that's been so freely given to us. It's where the welcoming, familial love of heaven is brought into our present existence right here, right now. And notice the reason in verse 35. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. So Christian love is to be a witness, right? If Jesus's sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate display of God's glory, then Christians are called to reflect that glory in our sacrificial love for each other. It's supposed to be our trademark, what makes us stand out in the world. The purpose of this command is that the world should look at Christians and say, wow, no one loves like they do. Your conduct in the church can be the greatest witness to or hindrance to the gospel. And so our lives of faith are to be expressed in sacrificial love for each other like Jesus has done for us. It's the kind of love like a family that meets us where we are, that assumes the best about us, that sticks through us through thick and thin. And this is one of the many passages that I think points to the importance of the local church, right? This is how we identify ourselves for the community around us to see who Jesus's people are. This is why church membership is important. It's not just how we mark ourselves out from the world, but it's also how we mark ourselves out for each other. Our church has a covenant that outlines what it means to live in that kind of sacrificial love for each other, right? It defines exactly who it is we're making this commitment with. And so membership should help to set our relational priorities. If you're here this morning and you call yourself a Christian, but are not a member of a church, I just wonder how you respond to this command of Jesus, right? How do you define who and how you're committed to love the way that Jesus loves you? In John's letters, he goes on to say that if you love God but don't love his people, you're a liar. One of the reasons I think membership is so helpful is that it clearly defines for me who, what Christians I'm supposed to love and pray for and serve in this way, right? And the goal of the church, and therefore this church, is to be a place that people look at and say, wow, I wish someone loved me like that. So if you're a member of Jefferson Park Baptist Church, I wanna ask you, what are you doing to make this place like heaven? I'm not asking you to sit back and say, who doesn't love me that way? Who isn't fulfilling that command towards me? No, I'm asking you, how are you fulfilling Jesus's command to love people the way Jesus has loved you? This is not optional, it's Jesus's command, right? So I'm gonna ask just a few things, like are you really committed to church? Are you here regularly, like participating in a family would be being there regularly, not just when it's convenient. What are the things that keep you from gathering with the body and what does that say about your priorities and what's really important? Do you value the role of prayer in our life together? So one thing that we try to do in order to facilitate that is have a Sunday night service where we spend most of our time praying for each other, where we're sharing personal family info. So if you're committed to each other, I would encourage you to prioritize that. It's a really easy way to hear more about what's going on in each other's lives so you can pray for and care for each other throughout the week. But beyond those things, are you a reliable part of the family? So being present is one thing, faithfully praying for each other is really important. But are there church members, are there people in this church who depend upon you? Someone that goes to you for accountability or counsel, someone who you regularly encourage or serve, whose life would be affected if you, for some reason, were not here anymore? I trust that all of us feel that way about our families, right? It would be really different if somebody, for some reason, were not there anymore. And shouldn't it be the same for the church? Now this kind of love is not something that we do in our own strength or by the force of our will. It's the kind of love that flows naturally.