STUDY THEME: EIGHT DAYS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD 3-03-02
"KNOWING GOD." JOHN 14:1-4, 5-6, 7-11, 12-14.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 14.
Many people know a great deal about God but do not know Him personally. In a secular worldview, the existence of God is rejected or is viewed as doubtful at best. To many people, the idea of an all-powerful God is nonsense. If a god exists, such a deity is more like a force with which to align oneself to be successful rather than a Person who is aware of and cares for people.
In contrast, in the biblical worldview God is Spirit and He is Person. He is Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and present everywhere. He also is loving, kind and merciful. To people who relate to Him in faith, He is Father in the best sense of that word. Through Jesus, people can know God in the sense of relating to Him, and they can know a great deal about Him. Humans never can know everything about God. Yet in Jesus’ personality, attitudes, words, and actions—particularly in His self-giving love demonstrated in His atoning death on the cross—people can know God. Through faith in Jesus, they can experience God as Father. I hope some of you have had the opportunity to either take the course or see the tapes of Henry Blackaby’s "Experiencing God."
Jesus made His royal entry into Jerusalem on a Sunday, which we call Palm Sunday. He made the triumphal entry from Bethany into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey. A crowd of people welcomed Him joyfully. That night He returned to Bethany. He was raised from the dead on the following Sunday. About one-third of the Gospels’ content tells of these events and those in between. These were the "Eight Days That Changed the World." According to A.T. Robertson, on Monday Jesus returned to Jerusalem. On the trip into the city He cursed a barren fig tree. In Jerusalem He cleansed the temple. That night He returned to Bethany.
On Tuesday He taught in the temple about the end times. This was a day of controversy between Jesus and various Jewish leaders. During the afternoon Jesus took His disciples to the Mount of Olives where He taught them about His second coming, and the end of the world. That night in Bethany Mary of Bethany anointed His head with ointment and Judas made plans to betray Jesus. No specific actions are recorded for Wednesday. Jesus probably spent that day in Bethany with His disciples.
On Thursday Jesus had His disciples prepare for the last supper. He ate with them and instituted the Lord’s Supper on that evening, which by Jewish reckoning was Friday (their days began at sunset). Also that night Jesus taught the disciples the truths found in John 14-16 and prayed the prayer of John 17. His prayer in Gethsemane, His arrest, and His trials took place late that night.
On Friday He was tried, crucified, and buried. His body lay in the tomb on Saturday. Sunday was resurrection day. Early Sunday morning Jesus appeared to various women and disciples, meeting with them that Sunday night in Jerusalem. We refer to the final week in Jesus’ life as Holy Week because those eight days changed the world.
The theme of today’s lesson is Jesus is the only way to know God. The Life Question this lesson seeks to address is, "How can I know God?" The Biblical Truth is that to know Jesus is to know God." The life impact is to help us grow in our knowledge of, and experience with God.
This five-session study theme will devote four sessions to Jesus’ teachings in John 14-16 and to Jesus’ prayer in John 17. The material is found only in John’s Gospel. These Chapters contain some of the most treasured words of Jesus. The final lesson on Easter is based on 1 Cor. 15
Today’s lesson is designed to help us grow in our knowledge of, and experience with God.
John recorded Jesus’ farewell messages to the twelve apostles in chapters 13-17. They were in the upper room, (the place in a house for banquets and gatherings) in a home in Jerusalem (possibly the home of Mary and John Mark.)" It was Thursday evening, the day before Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday. Jesus and the disciples had gone to the large upper room" to observe the Passover feast where Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper.
As the disciples ate the Passover meal with Jesus He had told them two things that troubled their hearts. He had told them that He was going away and that they could not follow Him until later. He also had predicted that, all of them would be offended by Him that night, and He had said that Simon Peter would deny Him. No wonder they were troubled. The world of the disciples was about to be shattered. Instead of the disciples lending support to Jesus in the hours before His cross, He had to support them spiritually as well as emotionally.
The word "troubled" is found again in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let nor your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The announcement of Judas’ betrayal, and Peter’s denials shook the disciples’ emotions and their faith. There are many causes for the troubled hearts of people in our world today. Jesus’ words come as a welcomed assurance. We can exchange our troubled hearts for the peace that He gives.
The promise of John 14:2-3 is among the most cherished in the Bible. It is a standard passage for funerals, but we need to cling to its assurance very day. For one thing, this promise assures us that this life is not the end. Those who know Christ will be taken to heaven. Secular people in our day either believe in an afterlife in which all will share, or they believe that death is the end for human life----beyond death is only darkness and nothingness.
Jesus’ provisions for the disciples’ future were also the Father’s provision, for the Father and the Son are one in purpose and action.
The Bible does not go into great detail in describing heaven, but what it tells us brings peace to our troubled hearts. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:9 "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." Jesus began by saying, "In my Father’s house are many mansions." Throughout John 14:1-14 Jesus referred to God as His father. He called heaven His Father’s house. In it He stated, are many mansions, or many rooms, or apartments. These are dwelling places in the Father’s house. Whether we will find it to be rooms in the Father’s house or separate dwelling places in His heaven, the point is clear---there is room enough for all. Wherever and whatever it is, we will be with our Heavenly Father. Like the disciples who had gone ahead to prepare the upper room for their Passover meal, Jesus was going ahead to prepare their place of final rest.
Jesus had to leave the disciples to go and prepare a place for them. Then He would return for them and take them to be with Him in the Father’s house. In Jesus statement you also may be where I am the pronouns you and I are emphasized. The disciples’ temporary separation from Jesus would make permanent union with Him certain. This was a secret the Lord was revealing to these apostles that night in the upper room. In the three Synoptic Gospels it was not mentioned. You may want to read more about the rapture in 1 Cor. 15:51-54 and 1 Thess. 3:13-18. To comfort the disciples the NIV says, "Trust in God: Trust also in Me,"while the New King James says "believe in God, believe also in Me." Vs 4 closes with, "whither I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas had a question:
Thomas was honest and he was never afraid to blurt out all the truth. He speaks three times in this Gospel. When Jesus made clear, over the objections of His disciples, that He was going to Bethany to help Mary and Martha after the death of Lazarus, Thomas showed a fatalistic courage by saying in John 11:16, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." John 14:5 is the second episode. Here Thomas showed the kind of honesty also displayed in the most familiar of the incidents involving him. John 20:24-29 is the account that earned him the nickname "doubting Thomas." On each of these occasions, Jesus dealt with the honest questions and doubts of this earnest disciple.
Jesus had said that the disciples knew where He was going and the way. Thomas stated what the others were probably thinking: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" Thomas and no doubt the others were uncertain about Jesus’ destination, and they did not know how to get there. Many of Jesus’ most famous and memorable sayings were spoken in response to questions. This is no exception, for it set the stage for one of the "I am" statements in John’s gospel.
The way is used in the Bible of the way of God and the way to God. Jesus claimed to be the only way to know and to serve God. He not only shows us the way; He is the way. Do not talk of many ways. There is only one—Jesus is the way. "There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus." Jesus claimed, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Many people object to this claim. Most people believe there are many ways to God. Some ways are religious, based on one of the world’s great religions or on one of the many religious cults and sects. Some people put their trust in living a good life. Others trust in mystical experiences. But the secular worldview assumes that one religion is as good as another; although many secular people believe that no religion is better than all religions or than any religion in particular.
How could Jesus claim to be the only way to God? Knowing God in time and eternity is not possible for humans to achieve by any means of their own. The only way to God is the way God has provided by His hand of love reaching down from heaven to sinful humanity. He did that in Jesus Christ.
When Jesus said that He is the truth, four meanings come into play. He is true, not false; genuine, not unreal; faithful, not unfaithful; and God, not man alone. Ultimate truth is revealed and made possible in Jesus Christ. He is "full of grace and truth". Jesus said in John 8:32, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The truth of which Jesus spoke is a person, not a concept. We know the truth when we know God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Life, like truth, is used many times in John’s Gospel. Often the word is found with the word "eternal". The important thing about this life is that it is real life, not mere existence. Just because someone is alive physically does not ensure that the person has the life that Jesus is and offers. It is the opposite not only of death but also of merely existing. Jesus offers real life. It is abundant life. Jesus said in John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Abundant and eternal life is also everlasting life. Endless existence without this life is the biblical definition of hell, or the second death. Christ enables us to come alive when we trust Him, and He extends this life forever.
Everyone is interested in life. Those who want to really live need to find that life by knowing God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. God sent His Son to reveal the Father and to provide "a new and living way" to have access to God. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Acts 4:12 says "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Jesus statement in Vs. 7 raised another question; this time from Philip. It was the cry of humanity voicing itself through this quiet man. That is what the world is saying, "Show us God an it sufficeth us."
What were we made for? To know God.
What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God.
In his book "Knowing God" J.I. Packer quotes C.H. Spurgeon: "No subject will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continual investigation of the great subject of the Deity."
Five basic truths, five foundational principles of the knowledge which we Christians already have should determine the course of our study of God.
In light of these general and basic truths, we are now going to examine what the Bible shows us of the nature and character of God of whom we have been speaking. What are the themes that will occupy us?
We shall have to deal with the Godhead of God, the qualities of deity which set God apart from humans (My thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways are not your ways") and mark the difference and distance between the Creator and His creatures; such qualities as His self-existence, His infinity, His eternity, His unchangeableness, His omnipresence. We shall have to deal with the perfections of God—His holiness, His love and mercy, His truthfulness, His faithfulness, His goodness, His patience, His justice. We have to take note of what pleases him, what offends Him, what awakens His wrath, what afford Him satisfaction and joy. There was a time when we taught "the attributes of God", but today many of these are comparatively unfamiliar themes.
If the disciples were worrying about the work Jesus had begun, they needed to worry no longer. In vs. 12 Jesus revealed hat anyone who has faith in Him would do what He had been doing. In fact, that person would do even greater things than these works. Greater works were possible because Jesus was going to the Father. The greater things would be the same kind of works but greater in quantity, not quality. Because God was going to exalt Jesus to His side, Jesus no longer would be in just one place at a time with who ever was with him. Through the Holy Spirit, He would be everywhere and available to all believers simultaneously. Through the power of the Spirit, Jesus would enable His followers to do greater works.
Jesus promised the ministry of prayer as another benefit from His exaltation. He promised the disciples saying, "I will do whatever you ask in my name." This promise was not carte blanche for answers to just any kind of petition. The disciples must ask in Jesus’ name. A person’s name represented his or her character. A believer should pray consistently with Jesus’ character and purpose. Prayers that are answered, must further His will and interests and accomplish God’s purposes.
Jesus promise to answer such prayers would bring glory to the Father. Bringing glory to the Father had been Jesus’ goal during His life on earth. Now Jesus would answer prayers, thereby bringing further glory to His Father.
Jesus repeated His promise again in vs. 14. However, this time He said, "You may ask me for anything in my name." This promise informed the disciples that they could petition Him as well as petition the Father. Acts 7:59 and Rev. 22:20 record prayers addressed to Jesus. Praying
to Jesus is essentially the same as praying to the Father in Jesus name. Concerning those petitions Jesus said, I will do it. The I is emphatic in the Greek text, meaning Christ will answer them Himself. He will answer prayers to bring glory to God and further His redemptive purposes.
The closing word in Vs. 14 are these "Arise, let us go hence." The conversation was over. At that point they left the upper room, where the Passover had been observed, and the new feast had been instituted. They were now on their way to Gethsemane where Jesus would be arrested. There were no more interruptions. The key note to the whole is "Let not your heart be troubled." Do not let these questions cause you unrest. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." There is direction for you in Me. There is solution of all problems ultimately for you in Me. "Let not your heart be troubled; believe God, Believe Me." On the way to Gethsemane Jesus gave us our next Sunday’s lesson on "Being Productive."
NEXT SUNDAY FROM JOHN 15 WE HAVE JESUS’ MESSAGE ON FRUIT BEARING. THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES. A.V. DAUGHERTY 3-03-02