THE WAY

There's an ancient parable that's found in both Hindu and Buddhist texts,

and in fact, a variety of ancient religious texts.

It's known as the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

And it's possibly a parable that you've heard or engaged with

because it's widely used even in modern circles

to demonstrate how no one's got the full pictures.

Just people have got part of a picture, but not the entire picture.

And the parable is this.

A group of blind men heard that there was this strange animal called an elephant

had been brought to their village,

and they found it, and they were feeling it to try and work out what this thing is.

And I think I've just gone one too far.

Can you go back for me? Thank you.

And the first person grabs hold of the trunk and said,

this thing's a big, thick snake.

And another grabs hold of the ear and says, no, it seems a bit more like a fan.

Another blind man wraps his arms around the legs and said,

no, this elephant is in fact a tree trunk.

A blind man who placed his hands up on the side of it said,

no, elephants are in fact a wall.

And another felled its tail, said, no, no, elephants are a rope.

And another one grabbed the tusks and said, no, actually elephants are spears.

It's been passed down for centuries.

It's a famous parable.

And someone more recently inverted the story in a bit more of a humorous way

and said that six blind elephants were discussing what people were like.

And after arguing, they decided to find a person

and determine what it was like by direct experience.

And so the first blind elephant felt the human being with its foot

and declared human beings are flat.

And all the other elephants felt the human being with their foot

and said, yes, we all agree human beings are all flat.

Now, this parable is used to illustrate,

particularly in our modern world,

to illustrate how world religions all have part of the truth,

but no religion has the whole truth.

And you come to a passage that was just read out to us in Matthew 14, 6,

and you've got to ask yourself the question,

are Christians therefore arrogant?

Or more to the point, was Jesus especially arrogant?

He certainly claimed to have exclusive rights to the God business.

John 14, 6 just read out to us,

I am the way, the truth, and the life,

and no one comes to the Father except through me.

That's an exclusive claim.

And over the next three weeks,

I'm going to be looking at that claim of Jesus

and his claims to be the way,

the truth, and the life.

And in our times when all sense of reason about issues of faith seem to have been abandoned,

I want us to have a reasonable faith.

My hope, as I prayed earlier,

is for the thinkers amongst us to believe and the believers amongst us to think.

I hope for some of us to be led to belief

and others to think deeper about what it is that we believe

and find a deeper sense of joy and confidence and hope.

So we're starting today with the first claim,

Jesus is the way.

I've got three main ideas that I'm running with.

Rethinking Jesus' exclusive claim,

the sweetness of Jesus' exclusive claim,

and humility and this exclusive claim.

So firstly,

rethinking Jesus' exclusive claim.

In these verses,

you'll notice,

as I will read out,

that Jesus is providing

his disciples with truth

that must be believed

if their faith is to be triumphant

and their lives to be at peace in troubled times.

And it is troubled times for the disciples.

They have just heard from Jesus

that he is departing.

And they're like,

their worlds are rocked.

He tells them he's departing

to his father's house

to prepare a room for them.

And then he tells them

that they know where he's going in verse four.

And it's at this point

that Thomas speaks up in verse five and says,

Lord, we don't know where you are going,

so how can we know the way?

Now, blokes in the room,

this is really important.

This must be the only time

in recorded history

where a man actually admits he's lost

and asks for directions.

It's Thomas a couple of centuries ago,

a couple of thousand years ago.

But Thomas's question

is more ignorant

than he actually realizes it is.

His question implies

that the way that Jesus takes

to get to the Father,

to get to God,

is the same way

that the disciples will go

to get to the Father.

And so Jesus stops at that moment

and clears up Thomas's confusion.

He stops talking about his way to the Father

and addresses the way the disciples will take.

And it's there in verse six.

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life,

and no one comes to the Father

except through me.

The way of Jesus to the Father

is via the cross

and the way of the disciples

to the Father is Jesus.

And because Jesus took his way to the cross,

he himself becomes the way for others.

But here's the sticky bit with this.

Jesus insists here

that he is the exclusive way.

He is the way,

the truth,

the life.

He's not opening up the door

for any other opportunities,

any other options,

or ways,

or truth,

or life.

And we must grapple

with the magnitude

of Jesus' claim

if we're to deal with

the person of Jesus.

If you don't deal

with the magnitude of his claim,

you don't deal with Jesus.

It's broadly acknowledged

throughout the centuries

that Jesus was a teacher.

Jesus taught people

to love each other.

He was also very kind

to the poor

in the outcasts of society.

He laid his hands on the sick.

He fed the hungry.

And throughout history,

there have been many people

who have done

those sort of things.

They have told people

to love each other.

They have cared for the sick.

They've been kind

to the poor.

So you've got to ask

if there's many people

who have done that,

why did this one,

why did Jesus Christ

become the most influential

single figure

in the history of the world?

And it's not because

of the nice things

that he said and did.

It's not because

he told everyone

to love each other.

I mean,

that message is everywhere.

It's because

of the controversial things

that he said and did.

it's because

of the outrageous

claims

of Jesus.

You see,

with Jesus,

there is a whole bunch

of humility

but no modesty.

His actions

are humble,

they're gentle,

they're kind,

they're loving.

He weeps

with the weeping.

His heart breaks

at the death

of his mate Lazarus.

He is gentle

with children.

His character

is unquestionably

strikingly beautiful

and compelling.

He is,

and yet,

this Jesus

is always combining

highest majesty

with the greatest humility.

He joins the strongest,

absolute strongest

commitment to justice

with astonishing

mercy and grace.

He reveals

transcendent

self-sufficiency

and yet

entire trust

and reliance

upon his heavenly father.

He is tenderness

without weakness.

He is boldness

without harshness.

He is humility

with absolute

towering confidence.

He is

the perfect combination

of truth

and love.

his actions

and his character

were so

completely

unself-centered.

That is

totally

unself-centered.

And yet,

his claims

about himself

are so

completely

self-centered.

you never

see him

pompous

or offended

or standing

on his dignity.

He's approachable

to the weakest

and the most

broken.

He's never

moody.

He's

never moody.

in fact,

in his book

called

The World's Religions,

Houston Smith

says that

only Jesus

and Buddha,

historically,

only Jesus

and Buddha

so impressed

their contemporaries

that they

asked

not just

who are you

but what

are you.

In the history

of all

religious leaders,

only those

two

were asked

what are you.

Smith makes

the case

that these

two figures

had characters

that transcended

ordinary

human life

to the degree

that that question

became necessary

for people.

And yet,

Buddha

asserted

with great

clarity

that he

was not

God,

that he

was not

even an

angelic

being

or any

form of

divine

being.

He made

it absolutely

clear that

I am just

a normal

human being,

not Jesus.

He was

totally

different.

He

repeatedly

claimed

to be

the God,

the creator

of the

universe.

And so

we don't

come to

grips

with the

real Jesus

until we

come to

grips

with

the

controversial

things he

says.

We don't

deal with

Jesus

until we

deal with

his enormous

claims.

And that

is what the

average person

in this

country

is unprepared

to do.

The

average

person in

our

country

thinks

well of

Jesus.

They're

positive

towards

Jesus

with some

reservations.

Love the

love stuff.

Don't like

the truth

stuff.

Don't like

the claims

of Jesus.

When we

went through

Mark's

gospel very

recently,

we noticed

throughout

Mark's gospel

that Jesus

is always

always

working

hard

to try

and avoid

people coming

to that

conclusion.

You see,

he's not

interested in

people liking

him with

certain

reservations.

If you

listen to

Jesus and

have any

intellectual

integrity,

then what

Jesus does

to us is

he consistently

pushes us

to the

extremes.

you can't

sit in

the middle

with this

guy.

We either

reject him

outright or

we embrace

him outright

and both

of those

are on

his terms.

You reject

him on

his terms,

you embrace

him on

his terms.

What he

says about

himself,

the controversial

things,

is either the

worst thing

that anyone

has ever

said or

it's the

best thing

that anyone

has ever

said.

I am

the way

is his

claim.

And either

he is

right and

we follow

him and

we adore

him or

he is

wrong and

we destroy

him.

But how

dare we

decide to

sit in the

middle and

say we

just like

him.

That is

not coming

to terms

with who

Jesus is.

He polarized

people in

the first

century.

So we

need to

rethink this

exclusive

claim.

But secondly,

we need to

see the

sweetness of

Jesus'

exclusive

claim.

It's

really crucial

for us to

see here

that when

Jesus says

that there's

no one

comes to

father except

through him,

he's not

offering us,

he's not

saying that

you cannot

know anything

about God,

without him.

That's not

what he's

saying.

In fact,

philosophers,

theologians have

argued for

many, many

years that

every world

religion,

philosophical

system gets

some knowledge

of God from

this world and

all of them

are arguing in

one way or

another in that

direction, but

they fall short

because they

don't see

Jesus.

so we can

know something

of God

through general

God has

revealed himself

according to

Romans 1,

revealed himself

in the

created order.

What Jesus

is saying

here that no

one comes to

the father

except through

him, what

he's saying

is there's

no way to

come to the

father and

really know

the father

except through

him.

there is a

real sweetness

to these

words of

Jesus.

Jesus is

promising so

much more

than just

knowledge of

God.

He's promising

intimacy with

God.

Jesus is the

only way to

change God

from being an

oppressive boss

who I need to

please to

being a loving

father who

accepts and

embraces me.

he's the

only way to

turn a

relationship

with God

from fear

and uncertainty

to absolute

confidence and

warmth and

love.

Now my

girls know,

I've got three

daughters and

they know

that if

they tell me

that they're

going to do

a chore,

like unpack

the dishwasher

and go and

watch TV

instead,

that there

will be

consequences

for that.

But they

also know

that the

consequence

isn't going

to be I'm

going to

fire them

from the

family.

They're not

going to get

the sack

from being

in the

family for

that.

Even at

their age,

what they

don't fully

understand is

that they

haven't even

begun to

plumb the

depths of

what me as

their dad and

that as their

mum would do

if they were

in danger.

they

didn't even

plumb the

depths of

that.

Back in

2012, I

was in

Saisha,

it's right

up the tip

of Australia,

I've been

Cape York,

and one

afternoon I

went to

this place,

which is at

Saisha, on

that wharf

fishing.

And I

was up there

with a group

of friends,

and one

of the

blokes had

his four-year-old

son with

us, and

we were on

the deck

of that

wharf doing

the fishing,

and we

were told,

it's about a

four-meter

drop from

where we

were to

the water,

and we

had been

told that

afternoon that

there is a

four-meter

saltwater

crocodile that

lives under

the wharf.

No point

fishing there,

catch anything

decent, the

croc will grab

it, and

there'll be

nothing left

for you.

But this

is my

only time

to fish

at the

top end

in the

Gulf, and

hopefully catch

something of

reasonable

size.

And my

particular issue

with the

wharf at

Saisha is

that there

was no

fence, no

barricades, or

anything like

that.

I'm trying to

enjoy an

afternoon of

fishing, and

I've got this

four-year-old,

who's kind of

an overconfident

four-year-old,

doing this

at the edge

of the

wharf,

looking over

it, and

doing this

along the

edge.

And I'm

thinking,

there's a

four-meter

crocodile.

Your afternoon

tea is what

you are to

this crocodile.

And so I'm

trying to

relax.

It appeared

to me that

this kid's

dad was not

concerned at

all about

this.

He's not

in line,

getting best

dad of the

year.

I'm

going to

do this.

Dad's

over there.

This kid,

for some

reason,

wanted to

hang around

me and

do this.

And I'm

conflicted

here.

I'm wanting

to enjoy

my fishing,

and I

couldn't

enjoy my

fishing,

because at

any moment,

this kid,

in my view,

is going to

tumble into

the water.

And I'm

now conflicted,

because if he

ends up

there, I

feel like I'm

going to have

to jump in

and rescue

him.

And I

don't want

to rescue

him,

because there's

a four-meter

crocodile down

there.

And so I'm

conflicted at

this point.

What do I

do?

Will I,

I mean,

for me,

getting eaten

by a

crocodile's

got to be

the worst

way to go.

Potentially,

the worst

way to go.

And certainly

not a helpful

way to go,

that's for

sure.

And so I

cannot

relax.

And to

save me

the possibility

of surrendering

my life to

the jaws of

a crocodile,

I gave up

my one and

only opportunity

to fish in

the gulf by

packing up

and going

back to

the campsite.

Because I

was not

going to

jump in,

well, I

might have

had to have

jumped in

to save

a four-year-old.

Now,

I am

a finite,

flawed,

totally

average

parent.

And it

scares me

to know

how far

I would

go to

save one

of my

daughters.

If that

was my

daughter that

happened to

fall in in

that moment,

I would

not even

think,

not even

think for a

moment,

I would

willingly give

my life

to a

four-meter

crocodile for

one of my

kids.

There is a

real

sweetness

here,

because

Jesus is

saying

that there

is no

other way

for us

to have

this kind

of confidence

about a

relationship

with God,

a confidence

that this

God,

this Father

would love

me and

us so

much more

than any

mother would

love their

children or

father would

love their

children.

There is

only one

way to

have that

kind of

confidence.

And that

is in

Jesus.

That's the

sweetness that

he offers

here in

declaring that

he is the

way to the

Father.

He's offering

us intimacy.

And there

is no other

religion in

the history of

this world that

declares that

God loves us

more than we

love ourselves.

Not a single

religion declares

that God loves

us more than

we love

ourselves.

There's not

a single

religion that

declares that

you cannot

be fired

from the

family like

the Christian

faith.

Not a

single one.

And so

that makes

this exclusive

claim of

Jesus good

news not

good advice.

Every other

religion and

philosophical

system even

the system of

no religion

declares that

if you follow

this advice or

you live in

this particular

way you

obey these

rules then

you will

achieve the

goal of

life.

Not

Christianity.

Jesus has

not come to

show us how

to strive.

He did the

striving.

He didn't

come to show

us a mountain

of righteousness

to climb.

He climbed

it.

it was all

done for

us because

we are

incapable of

climbing and

striving.

You see

the biblical

picture of

the human

nature and

the human

race says

that we need

someone to

intervene.

And

Ephesians 2

1 to 3

we see why

we can't do

it.

It says

we are

dead.

We are

dead in

our

transgressions

and sins

in which

we used

to live.

All of

us also

lived among

them at

one time

so we're

all dead

and we're

all by

nature

objects of

wrath.

You see

God's

diagnosis of

the human

condition is

not that

we're in

danger of

death but

that we're

in a state

of real

and present

death.

And yet

you look

around a

room like

this and

there are

people whose

bodies are

active,

whose minds

are sharp,

personalities

brimming.

And yet

in the

area that

matters the

most,

our souls,

our relationship

with God,

there is no

life there.

We are all

blind to the

reality,

to the demands

and the glory

of our

created God.

We simply

do not

love him.

We simply

do not

love him.

He is

dead

to us.

Ali,

can you

push the

next slide

for me?

As

John

Stott

says,

we should

not

hesitate

to affirm

that a

life

without

God,

however

physically

fit and

mentally

alert the

person may

be,

is a

living

death and

those who

live it

are dead

even while

they are

living.

We are

helpless,

we are

hopeless,

and we

are in

great peril

unless

something is

done for

us.

I've got a

picture up

here of the

philosopher

Jeremy

Bentham.

He died

on the

6th of

June

1832.

And this

guy left

his entire

estate to

the University

College of

London,

University

Hospital

College

Hospital in

London,

on the

condition,

you can

have all

of my

estate on

the condition

that you

preserve my

body and

stick it in

a wooden

box.

And that

my body

in the

box gets

wheeled out

for attendance

at the

hospital board

meeting.

Every hospital

board meeting,

I meant to

be there.

And over

the years,

they have

reworked that

requirement to

the point

where once

a year,

I think it's

at the

AGM,

the cabinet's

wheeled out

to the

board table

and the

chairman says,

Jeremy

Bentham,

present but

not voting.

Weird thing,

that is,

this guy

will never

raise a hand

in response,

he never

submits a

motion,

he's there

in body

but he's

been dead

for 175

years.

I believe

his head

is now

waxed.

Been dead

for 175

years.

You see,

dead people

can't do

anything for

themselves and

that is all

of us

spiritually.

We need

someone to

act for us

and yet the

very next

verse in

Ephesians

declares the

good news of

Christianity.

Have a look

at it up on

the screen.

Because of

his great

love for

us,

God who

is rich

in mercy

made us

alive with

Christ even

when we

were dead

in our

transgressions.

It is by

grace that

you have

been saved.

In our

state of

deadness,

spiritual death,

God acted

with grace.

God knows

our true

state and

what is required

to fix it.

We are dead

in transgressions

and sin and

so the Lord

Jesus took

that deadness

upon himself

that is

God,

the created

God took

on human

form,

identified

with us,

took on

death for

us,

broke that

curse so

that we can

have access

to God.

He went

to the cross

to open the

way for us

back to God.

And so what

that means is

that Christianity

is not good

advice on how

to improve

your life.

it is

life-altering

news that

declares that

the only way

that you can

have your sins

forgiven and

be saved is

Jesus.

The only way

you can be

raised from

death to

life is

Jesus.

The only way

you can know

God as a

father and

not as an

oppressive

boss is

Jesus.

God's grace

allows the

weakest to

come.

It allows

every dead

person to

come.

Every

spiritually

dead person

to come.

It excludes

no one.

So,

that means

that Jesus'

claim here

to be the

way is

an exclusive

claim.

But it's

the most

inclusive

exclusive

claim there

is.

In our

world,

everyone's

making

exclusive

claims.

But this

is the

most

inclusive

exclusive

claim because

of the

grace of

God.

When

someone

says,

you know,

surely a

good moral

person can

find their

way to

God,

they are

being so,

so exclusive

at that

point.

The premise

behind that

exclusive

claim is

that the

good moral

people find

God,

but all

the bad

people don't.

So,

some people

are in,

some people

are out.

It elevates

that exclusive

claim,

elevates

certain people

in society

over others.

Jesus

says,

in actual

fact,

those who

acknowledge

that they

are in fact

dead and

sinful and

bad come

to him

and trust

him and

his work.

They're the

ones who

are in.

It's those

who see

their sin

against God

and their

offense against

God.

It's the

humble who

are in

and the

proud who

are out.

And so,

yes,

this claim

of Jesus

is exclusive,

but it's

sweet because

it's the

most inclusive

exclusivity

because it

is open

to everyone.

Everyone.

So,

thirdly,

my third

point is

humility

and this

exclusive

claim.

Christians

are the

only people,

the only

people whose

exclusive claim

leads to

humility,

not arrogance.

If you,

for instance,

belong to

a religion

or a

philosophical

system that

says you

are in,

you're part of

the in

group and

you get

access to

God because

of your

effort or

belief or

knowledge or

culture,

then ultimately

what that

means is you

start to feel

superior to

people who

don't hold

those views.

You start

to see

those other

people as,

look at those

poor people

who don't

have the

same knowledge

or belief

that I've

got.

If you are

a secular

person who

thinks that

all religions

are the

same or

that they're

relative or

they've all

got bits of

the truth,

then ultimately

you will

feel superior

to those

poor fools

who think

that their

religion is

the only

true one.

Remember that

parable I'd

said right at

the beginning

about the

elephant and

the blind

men?

The point of

that parable

is that

every religion

has part of

the truth but

no one sees

all of the

truth.

And that

is how

vast ways

of our

society

view it.

The problem

with that

is the

only way

that you

could possibly

say that

all religions

have part of

the truth but

no religion

has the

whole truth

is if you

think you

see the

entire

picture.

You're

working on

the assumption

that you've

got the

picture.

You've got

the truth.

truth.

The only

way you can

see that

every religion

is blind in

some way is

if you think

you're not

blind.

The only

way to say

nobody has

the superior

knowledge is

to assume

that you

have the

superior

knowledge.

Whichever

way you

come out

of it,

your exclusive

claim leads

to pride,

leads to

arrogance,

arrogance,

because it

elevates you

over others.

But if

you're a

Christian,

you are

saved by

grace.

This means

that when you

talk to an

atheist or

you talk to

a Buddhist,

it is likely

that they are

better than

you.

But you're

not saved

because you're

better.

You are

saved by

grace.

Christianity

is the

only

exclusive

claim that

creates a

spirit of

humility.

Christians

therefore should

be the most

loving towards

people who

disagree with

them, who

have different

views than

they have.

Christians

should be the

most forgiving.

Christians should

be the most

patient.

Christians should

be the most

humble.

And friends,

reality is

until we

are,

why should

our society

believe this

incredible claim

of the Lord

Jesus?

Until they

see this

incredible claim

of the Lord

Jesus producing

in us

humility and

grace and

mercy and

patience.

the reason

most people

don't see

it in

Christians is

because most

Christians either

don't understand

they're saved by

grace or

forget they're

saved by

grace.

Could that

possibly be

you?

Up on the

screen, have

a look at

verses 8 and

9 of

John 14.

Jesus

answered,

don't you

know me

Philip?

Even

after I've

been among

you such a

long time,

anyone who

has seen

me has

seen the

Father.

How can

you say

show us

the Father?

You see

what Jesus

is saying to

Philip there?

Have you

been around

me for so

long,

Philip, and

yet you

still don't

know me?

See, Jesus

claims to be

the way to

God.

He died that

we might

have intimacy

with God.

In fact,

intimacy with

God is what

the universe

is about.

It's what

the cross

is about.

And my

question,

potentially for

you, if

you're sitting

in church

for years,

is what

Jesus says

to Philip

here something

that he might

be saying

to you?

Is your

relationship

with God

knowledge

about him

or is it

intimate

knowledge

of him?

That is,

deep

in your

heart,

do you

sense the

warm embrace

of the

gospel?

Do you

sense the

warm embrace

of the

Lord Jesus?

In the

moments of

failure,

do you

sense the

warm embrace

of the

Lord Jesus?

where he

won't

sack you

from the

family?

Secondly,

that warm

embrace of

the gospel

is what's

at stake

for our

world when

we as

Christians

back away

from the

outrageous

claims of

Jesus.

Jesus.

When we

want to

not offend

anyone with

the outrageous

claims of

Jesus.

Jesus has

been offending

people for

2,000 years.

Why stop

now?

We go

soft here

and intimacy

and yet

that is

what is

happening.

A few

years ago

there was a

large

ecumenical

service in

one of the

cathedrals,

Christian

cathedrals

in Hobart

to mark

an anniversary

of the

Port Arthur

massacre.

One Christian

minister,

a guy I

know,

was asked

to do

the Bible

reading.

The passage

for the

Bible reading

was printed

on the

service sheet

and it

was John

John 14:1

14

verses 1

through to

the first

half of

verse 6.

it stopped

at the

second half

of verse 6

which reads

no one

comes to

the Father

except through

me.

And the

organizer

said to

this minister

I know

that it

was very

important

not to

read

that bit

of the

verse

so as

not to

offend

anyone

as if the

rest of the

verse 6

didn't offend

anyone.

but not

to read

that

specifically

so that

people

would not

be offended.

My

friend

said

I

in fact

submit

to a

higher

order

of being

and I

will be

reading it

and so

he did.

I'd never

been asked

to do it

again but

he did.