THE LIFE

John 14, three statements of Jesus, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

As we finish with life, let's pray.

Gracious God, we thank you that you are the source of all life,

and you also came to redeem us to give us life as you have life forever.

We pray that as we gather this morning, and especially as you speak your word of life to us,

that we might come alive in Christ.

And we ask for your miraculous work to be done by your spirit through your word now in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer and a governor of Puerto Rico in the early 16th century.

Quite significant things back in those days.

But what he is known for broadly outside of Puerto Rico is for his search for the fountain of youth.

A spring that restores youth to anyone who drinks from it or anyone who bathes in it.

Unfortunately, he never discovered the fountain of youth, but he discovered Florida instead.

And perhaps somewhat ironically, the mecca for retirement for US citizens.

Today, however, some scientists are keeping his dream alive.

These thinkers believe that genetic engineering or the discovery of anti-aging drugs

could extend human life far beyond its current natural course.

And so in 2015, it was reported that Google was throwing its might and its billions of dollars

into a project to slow the aging process.

I assume mainly for Mark Zuckerberg, but as a young guy, he just sees much more of a world to conquer.

Now, researchers think it's possible for humans to live until they're a thousand years old.

Now, this project, while it has its positive sides, has many philosophers and ethicists deeply concerned.

They're seeing that there are enormous amount of negatives to living so long.

There's the prospect of boredom as your daily routine drags on and on and on and on and on and on.

The prospect, in fact, of having too many memories to remember them all

and the really important ones from your early days actually being forgotten by the time you get to 800, 900 years old.

There's also the problem.

They figure that if your life hasn't got purpose at 70, it's not going to have purpose at 700.

And there's also the unappealing prospect of a thousand-year reign for the likes of King Jong-un of North Korea.

But what if you could?

What if you could have life?

I mean, real, enduring life.

Life without pain, without fear, without bondage, without failure, without the constant feeling of disappointment.

That would be different.

You know, a thousand years of life as it currently is, that's not so appealing.

And for Mission Month, we've been wrestling with three of these outrageous claims of Jesus.

John 14, 6.

Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, the life.

And today we're looking at the final one, the life.

He's claimed to be the life.

And in John 10, 10, just before he says this, he says that Jesus says,

I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest.

And so there's four things that I want to say about this claim to Jesus' life.

Normally three, today four.

It's not going to go longer, however, so just put that at rest.

Firstly, why Jesus claims to be the life.

Secondly, his life challenges our minds.

Thirdly, his life gives us hope.

And finally, his life gives us purpose.

So firstly, why Jesus claims to be the life.

The Bible declares that God is eternal.

Even if the Bible doesn't declare it, if there is a creator, he, by nature, has to be eternal.

Philosophers agree with that.

God's life has no beginning.

It has no end.

And the God of the Bible claims to be that God who has no beginning, no end.

In fact, a psalm that was written by Moses helps us to see God as always living.

Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

God never needed to be made.

God always is.

Not just always was, but always is.

In a brief 120 years, unless of course Google intervenes, this planet will be populated by more than 10 billion brand new people.

And the current 7.6 billion of us who occupy the earth at the moment will have vanished off the face of the earth, but not God.

Never had a beginning, therefore depends on nothing for his existence.

He doesn't depend on resources of this world or the universe for his existence.

God doesn't need air to breathe or food to eat or water to drink.

He doesn't need help for the work that he decides to do.

God always has, within his own life, everything he needs for being.

Everything he needs for who he is as God and for doing all that he chooses to do.

Everything in this world needs God, but he doesn't need anything in this world.

This God does not have it within himself, by nature, to go out of existence.

Just as we do not have it in our nature to not go out of existence.

We do not have it in our nature to live forever.

We all age, we all die, because that is our present nature.

And that is the case for everything in this world.

Increasingly so.

Once upon a time, you could buy a TV and it would be a family investment.

For years.

Now, two years warranty.

If you're lucky.

God continues forever unchanged because it is his eternal nature.

God is self-existent.

That is, he has life within himself.

And God is also self-sufficient.

He has everything he needs for his life in himself.

And that is why Jesus claims to be the life in John 14.

It's the natural extension of his claim to be God.

Jesus claims to be the life because he is the God who is self-existent and self-sufficient.

Last week, we took a quick glimpse at John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

And there, John asserts that Jesus is the son of God.

He is equal with God.

And that he is God's agent for creating all that is.

And it also says this in verse 4 of John 1.

In him was life.

And that life was the light of all mankind.

And a couple of chapters later, in John 5.26, that claim is expanded and clarified.

As the father has life in himself, he has granted the son also to have life in himself.

Jesus is the life because he shares in the self-existing life of God.

That's the first reason why Jesus claims here to be the life.

But secondly, as you go through John's gospel, what you notice is that John's main concern

is that this self-existing life of Jesus, because he's God, is in fact light for humanity.

That is, John's main interest in Jesus being the life and the light is for the salvation of humanity.

Jesus is the source of eternal life.

Jesus has come to impart his life to us.

In John 3, Jesus explains his death on the cross in terms of it being salvation and eternal life to all who believe in him.

So Jesus is the life, firstly because he's the God who always existed and from whom all life and existence flows.

And because he's the savior of humanity and the source of eternal life for those who believe in him.

In fact, he makes this claim specific in John 11.25.

I am the resurrection and the life.

See what he's saying there?

What he's saying is my life conquering death means life for you.

The one who believes in me will live even though he die.

And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

His resurrection guarantees our life.

And so all of his claims here in John hang on the resurrection of Jesus.

If he didn't come back from the dead, then all of his claims to be the life are null and void.

The apostle Paul said the same thing.

If the resurrection didn't happen, then Christianity is pointless.

It's useless.

It's a fallacy.

And so what I want to do now is I want to jump back into Mark 16.

And allow the resurrection of Jesus to challenge us, to give us hope and to change the course of our lives.

This word of challenge for our minds is there in Mark 16 verse 6.

Mark 16:6

Now that verse there is a challenge to our minds.

Jesus, that is the challenge is that Jesus came back to life after he was executed by the Romans.

The Bible says that after Jesus was killed, he came back to life and he appeared to his followers.

The Bible says that the reason why the followers of Jesus didn't go home after his execution

and the reason why Christianity exploded to become dominant in the Roman Empire within 200 years

and today the largest and most widespread of all religious faiths on the planet today

penetrating every culture

is because Jesus rose from the get.

And yet, this is Chatswood, 2018

in increasingly secular society

and most people around us just don't believe that

and I get that.

And so in challenging

our minds

it's so crucial for us here

not to be intellectually lazy.

Before we reject the resurrection

some thought

needs to be given to alternative

historically plausible explanations

as to the reason why things the way they are.

Now a general trend in our society

is rather than looking at the evidence

what follows instead is accusations

that the texts

like for instance Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

are not reliable.

That's a general trend in our society

is to

you can't trust anything

that was

you know

from the past.

So in

to justify ignorance

there's a temptation to call

the historical documents

legends

made up by

gullible people

and so Mark challenges that

here for us.

In fact, three times in eight verses

in Mark

Mark 15:40

15 verse 40

in 15 47

and in 16 verse 1

Mark

specifically

writes down

the names

of the eyewitnesses

who saw

it all

and Mark

writes down the name

Mary Magdalene

Mary

the mother of

James

and Salome.

so why

why three times

does he mention it?

Three times he mentions

these names

and the answer

of one New Testament

scholar

who understands

a whole lot more

about this stuff

and historical

ancient

historiography

than I do

which is not hard

says that

that the way

this is written

is the marks

of ancient

historians

not legend

even ancient

historians

outside of the Christian faith

not legend

these women

are clearly

described

as eyewitnesses

and so if you look

at 15 verse 40

some women

were

watching

again

in 15 47

Mary Magdalene

and Mary the mother

of Ioses

saw

where he was laid

then in 16

verse 4

when they

looked up

they saw

that the stone

which was very large

had been rolled away

and then in verse 5

of chapter 16

as they entered the tomb

they saw

and then in the

verse 6

see the place

where they laid him

it's pretty obvious

that what Mark

is doing here

is he's seeing

these women

specifically

as eyewitnesses

to the death

to the burial

and the resurrection

of Jesus

this in itself

is slam dunk proof

that the resurrection

is history

not legend

according to historians

one of the strongest

early arguments

however

against the truth

of Christianity

is that the accounts

of the resurrection

of Jesus

historical accounts

of the resurrection

of Jesus

are based

on the eyewitness

testimony

of women

that's one of the big

arguments against it

a second century

philosopher

named

Celsus

was one of the early

opponents

of Christianity

and he wrote

that the resurrection

of Jesus

was a lie

because

it records

historically

that women

were the eyewitnesses

and women

according to this guy

are hysterical

and unreliable

and people went

oh Celsus

that's a good point

yes they are

yeah yeah

unreliable women

that's a real

problem for

Christianity

it was

it was an

incredibly strong

argument

because in

ancient cultures

women were

marginalized

and it was

hard to believe

in their

testimony

and so people

like Celsus

said

Mark

Matthew

Luke

John

these guys

have all made

it up

they've all

made it up

but

this is the

very culture

that Mark

Matthew

Luke

John

are writing

into

and if

Mark

was making

it up

then he would

never have

put women

down

and specifically

emphatically

included women

as the eyewitnesses

to Jesus

empty tomb

unless of course

they actually

were

the only

way to

account

historically

for the

women

being

recorded

as

eyewitnesses

to the

resurrected

Jesus

is that

they were

in fact

eyewitnesses

to the

resurrection

Jesus

this is

never

written

not

written

as

legend

at all

so

Mark

is

challenging

our

world

view

here

he has

written

this

as

an

historical

documentation

of

actual

accounts

events

that

challenge

the way

we see

the world

and at

this point

it's easy

for

some

to say

okay

well

this

stuff

is

written

as

history

but

you know

they

kind of

got the

facts

a little

muddled

ancient

people

were

kind

of

gullible

they're

not

like

us

modern

people

we

don't

get

fooled

by

it's

easy

for us

to

assume

that

these

people

were

just

you know

open

to

the

idea

of

resurrection

where

we're

not

open

to

it

we

got

modern

science

where

they

didn't

have

it

let's

not

be

too

quick

to

assume

that

they

were

ignorant

and

they

were

gullible

one

thing

you notice

as you

read

through

Mark's

gospel

is that

Jesus

tells his

disciples

quite

clearly

that

I'm

going

to

die

and

I'm

going

to

rise

again

on

the

third

day

is

it's

there

in

chapter

eight

twice

in

chapter

nine

and

again

in

chapter

10

which

for

Mark

who

spares

ink

on

paper

that's

a lot

of times

to

emphasize

it

the

weird

thing

is

the

third

day

arrives

and

no

one's

expecting

the

resurrection

no

one's

anticipating

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

the

blokes

aren't

around

the

women

had

in fact

bought

spices

for

to

anoint

a

dead

body

you know

on the

Friday

as they

wheeled

their

trolleys

through

woolies

and

you know

they went

past the

spice section

and they're

all on

sale

they went

oh darn it

we're not

going to

need that

they're

like

yes yes

spices

for a

dead

body

we need

spices

to

anoint

Jesus

dead

body

he'd

only

just

you know

they didn't

know

they

hadn't

cottoned

on

he'd

only

borrowed

the

tomb

for

three

days

and

on

the

third

day

the

disciples

are

sitting

around

having

breakfast

without

bacon

thinking

hey

guys

it's

the

third

day

do

you

think

we

should

just

down

the

road

and

have

a

look

can't

hurt

let's

just

go

and

see

let's

go

and

have

a

look

no

one's

expecting

the

resurrection

and

when

they

got

to

the

tomb

the

only

thing

they

hadn't

thought

of

was

who's

going

to

open

the

stone

for

us

they

were

discussing

that

on

the

way

they

never

expected

an

empty

tomb

the

resurrection

took

everyone

by

surprise

it

was

as

impossible

for

them

to

believe

as

it

is

for

us

today

and

the

first

thought

at

seeing

the

empty

tomb

was

not

that

Jesus

was

true

to

his

word

and

come

back

to

life

but

that

someone

had

stolen

his

body

the

point

is

that

you

know

if

you

have

doubts

about

the

resurrection

so

did

they

but

they

allowed

the

evidence

which

is

evidence

there

for

us

today

as

well

to

challenge

their

worldview

it's

normal

to

question

the

validity

of

something

like

the

resurrection

but

if

you

do

at

least

for

integrity

sake

for

your

own

integrity

sake

then

you

have

to

come

up

with

an

alternative

historically

plausible

reason

why

this

ragtag

group

of

cowards

exploded

to

all

corners

of

the

globe

and

penetrated

vastly

different

cultures

and

has

changed

the

world

for

20

centuries

a

hoax

doesn't

do

that

if

we

reject

the

resurrection

we

have

to

come

up

with

an

alternative

historically

plausible

explanation

of what

happened

with the

body

of

Jesus

and

the

Christians

in the

first

century

the

Romans

and

the

Jews

every

single

one

of

them

every

single

one

of

them

historically

all

agree

that

the

tomb

of

Jesus

was

empty

you

can

go to

a

Jewish

historian

you

can

go to

a

Roman

historian

and

they

will

say

exactly

the

same

thing

the

tomb

of

Jesus

was

empty

so

what

happened

with

the

body

if

we

reject

the

resurrection

then

we

have

to

come

up

with

an

alternative

historically

plausible

reason

why

hundreds

of

people

claim

to

have

seen

him

resurrection

why

the

opponents

of

Christianity

could

not

and did

not

produce

a

body

and

why

these

early

Christians

most

of

whom

were

cowards

before

the

crucifixion

joyfully

gave

their

lives

to

proclaim

the

message

of

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

after

so

his

life

challenges

our

minds

but

if

we

allow

his

life

to

challenge

our

minds

then

his

life

will

give

us

hope

his

life

is

in

fact

mercy

to

us

that's

the

point

of

John

when

he

talks

about

life

and

light

it

is

God's

mercy

to

us

his

grace

to

our

hearts

look

at

this

wonderful

word

you

can

just

slip

across

it

not

even

notice

it

in

chapter

16

verse

7

go

tell

his

disciples

and

Peter

he's

going

ahead

of you

into

Galilee

and

there

you

will

see

him

just

as

he

told

you

to

understand

what an

incredible

word of

grace

and hope

this is

let's

consider

what

wasn't

said

to

the

disciples

and

Peter

he

didn't

say

to

the

women

you

go

and

tell

those

faithless

backstabbing

cowards

those

guys

who

deserted

me

who

denied

me

that

I

might

see

them

if

they

grovel

and

frankly

they

better

grovel

that

of course

would have

been

warranted

given

what

they

did

to

him

instead

what

we

see

here

is

a

word

of

grace

Jesus

is

in fact

forgiving

them

and he's

calling

them

back

to

himself

even

before

they

have

repented

this

this

is

a

word

of

grace

it's

a

word

of

mercy

it's

a

word

of

forgiveness

it's

a

word

of

hope

and

the

biggest

word

of

grace

and

hope

is

simply

the

name

Peter

why

signal

out

Peter

go and

tell

my

disciples

and

Peter

why

is

this

so

special

it's

because

at

the

end

of

chapter

14

Peter

does

what

he

promised

he

would

never

do

and

he

denied

Jesus

three

times

he

emphatically

denied

Jesus

he

abandons

Jesus

he

is

it's

a

terrible

betrayal

by the

head

guy

of

the

disciples

he

turns

his

back

on

God

and

runs

to

save

his

own

skin

and

so

if

the

word

to

the

women

was

simply

women

go

and

tell

the

disciples

Peter

in

that

moment

could

well

have

concluded

this

is

not

a

word

for

me

this

does

not

apply

to

me

not

after

what

I've

done

for

him

this

does

not

apply

to

me

I've

abandoned

him

and

therefore

he's

abandoned

me

Jesus

specifically

says

to the

women

through

the

angel

I

have

plans

for

my

disciples

even

Peter

Peter

the

biggest

screw

up

even

for

him

he

becomes

the

biggest

of the

leaders

of the

early

church

he

he

he

screw

up

the

biggest

his

repentance

is the

deepest

and his

grasp

of

grace

becomes

the

greatest

the

good news

of

Christianity

is that

salvation

is by

grace

it's not

by works

it's not

by effort

or it's

not by

strength

salvation

comes to

us by

the

weakness

of

Jesus

dying

for

us

on

the

cross

salvation

eternal

life

comes

to

us

by

Jesus

when

we

admit

our

inability

when

we

admit

our

weakness

when

we

admit

our

failure

when

we

admit

we

need

a

saviour

Jesus

is the

saviour

we need

forgiveness

and life

is offered

to Peter

in this

word of

grace

and it's

offered

to us

in the

resurrection

of

Jesus

you

see

when

a

criminal

gets

convicted

and

they're

sent

to

jail

and

they

complete

their

jail

sentence

fully

completely

they

totally

satisfy

the

sentence

and

when

they

walk

out

of

prison

the

law

has

no

longer

has

any

claim

on

them

anymore

they

are

free

Jesus

Christ

came

to

pay

the

penalty

for

our

crimes

against

God

it

was

a

huge

penalty

it

was

a

huge

sentence

it

was

a

crime

against

God

that

requires

death

and

he

who

is

the

source

of

all

life

the

self

sufficient

in his

own

life

self

existent

in his

own

life

surrendered

that

life

so that

we

deserving

of

death

might

have

life

forever

he

who

is

the

source

of

life

self

sufficient

in

his

life

surrendered

that

life

so that

we

deserving

of

death

might

have

life

forever

just

like

his

life

forever

death

and

he

must

have

satisfied

the

penalty

fully

because

he

walked

out

alive

and

free

never

to

die

again

death

could

not

hold

him

down

in

Jesus

God

has

stamped

paid

in

full

right

across

history

so that

no one

misses

it

it's

because

Jesus

was

raised

from

the

dead

God

can

come

to

us

with

the

word

of

grace

and

offer

us

life

forever

just

like

his

forever

life

and

so if

we

allow

his

life

to

challenge

our

minds

and

then

his

life

will

give

us

hope

and

then

lastly

his

life

will

give

us

purpose

to

our

life

and

in

fact

what

I

would

suggest

to

you

on

mission

month

it

reshapes

the

way

we

live

now

the

purpose

I

speak

of

is

captured

in

one

little

word

go

in

Mark

16

go

go

and tell

people

about

the

resurrected

Jesus

go

and

communicate

in

every

way

possible

that

Jesus

offers

us

life

forever

we

who

deserve

death

have

been

given

life

forever

it's

why

I

think

verse

8

the way

Mark

16

ends

is so

shocking

it's a

shocking

way to

end

this

gospel

account

trembling

and

bewildered

the women

went

out

and fled

from the

tomb

they said

nothing to

anyone

because

they were

afraid

the

resurrection

is so

magnificent

news

how

could

we

not

shout

it

out

the

resurrection

is the

answer

to our

deepest

longing

every

one of

us

wants

to live

forever

maybe

not

for a

thousand

years

with our

current

ills

burdens

pains

maybe not

I'd agree

with that

come Lord

Jesus

but every

one of us

wants to

live forever

there's

something in

us that

wants to

live

it's why

baby boomers

still wear

jeans

because we

want the

fountain of

youth

to exist

and because

Juan

Ponce de

Leon

did not

find it

we think

Levi's

might have

it

we want

to be

young

and vibrant

and healthy

because those

were the

days before

crippling

emotional

pain

responsibility

and frailty

we want

to live

and we

want to

live

well

and one

of the

main

reasons

why it's

so hard

for us

to suffer

in this

life

is that

we think

this physical

world

is it

and when

you lose

it

you lose

the best

and most

precious

thing

that's

why it's

so hard

for us

to suffer

resurrection

means that

it's not

it

there's

more to

come

resurrection

means that

God is

going to

perfectly

remake this

world

the resurrection

changes

everything

it's the

hope

for the

wheelchair

bound

for the

person

with

crippling

emotional

pain

no

religion

in this