I Am the True Vine

This is the manuscript of the final sermon in a series titled "The Adequacy of Jesus Christ", which is a study of the seven ‘I am' sayings of Jesus found in the gospel of John.

In his gospel John consistently shows the relationship between the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the revelation of Jesus as God in the New Testament era.

As God promised to be adequate to meet the needs of Moses and the children of Israel, so Jesus also claimed divine adequacy.

All of the I AM statements were connected with an event going on around Jesus at the time. 

In John 6 Jesus fed over 5,000 people. Right after that miracle, He made the first I Am declaration. 

John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus and his Disciples were at the Temple to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and He made the 2nd I Am declaration 

John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In the 10th chapter of John;

They were looking out over hills where shepherds herded their sheep when Jesus said

John 10:9 NIV I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

He went on to say;

John 10:11 NIV “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, 

John 11:25 NIVJesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

At the Last Supper, Jesus warned his apostles about his coming arrest and death and he told them that they knew where He was going. 

John 14:1‭-‬4 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas was confused,

John 14:5‭-‬6 NIV Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, we come to the end of the great “I Am” sayings of Jesus. Here in this last sermon is a message for the church. Jesus is the true Vine, God the Father is the Gardener, and we are the branches. I know how well the true Vine functions. I also know how well the Gardener does his work. But the question that is still to be answered is, how well do the branches bear fruit? Are you a fruit-bearing branch? Do you abide in Christ and receive your strength from him? If you do not, perhaps now is the time to set matters right and become the kind of branch you were saved to be.

Scripture Reading: 

John 15:1‭-‬8 NIV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Text: 

John 15:5 NIV “I am the true vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” 

Introduction

This the final sermon in our series “The Adequacy of Christ” which is on the seven I Am declarations that Jesus made that are recorded in the book of John. John consistently shows the relationship between the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the revelation of Jesus as God when He walked the earth.

All of the I AM statements were connected with an event going on around Jesus at the time. 

In John 6 Jesus fed over 5,000 people. Right after that miracle, He made the first I Am declaration. 

John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus and his Disciples were at the Temple to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and He made the 2nd I Am declaration 

John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In the 10th chapter of John;

They were looking out over hills where shepherds herded their sheep when Jesus said

John 10:9 NIV I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

He went on to say;

John 10:11 NIV “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, 

John 11:25 NIVJesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

At the Last Supper, Jesus warned his apostles about his coming arrest and death and he told them that they knew where He was going. 

John 14:1‭-‬4 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas was confused,

John 14:5‭-‬6 NIV Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This week’s text is 

John 15:1 NIV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Let’s set the scene.

The night before Passover Jesus and His disciples gather in a borrowed upper room to eat together. He chooses the bread to represent His body and the wine to represent His blood as He shares with His closest friends one more time the reality of His sacrifice. He makes the devastating pronouncement that one of them would betray Him and Peter would deny Him. He takes upon Himself the job of a servant as He washes the feet of His disciples. The end is coming.

No doubt the disciples are sitting there perplexed and dumbfounded as they listen to the words of Jesus. No doubt their hopes for an earthly kingdom are being dashed on the rocks. No doubt they become dejected and saddened as they realize that the time for them to be with Jesus is short. Then Jesus says, “Arise, let us go from here.” And they begin making their way from that upper room to the garden of Gethsemane. They pass through the hustling and bustling streets. They pass through the city gates, and they make their way through the ancient vineyards that stand in the shadow of the city of Jerusalem. And Jesus calls his loved ones to come in a little bit closer. He has something that He wants to share with them. And having a supreme ability for taking the common and making it supernatural, He holds a branch full of plump ripened grapes and begins to speak…

And He says 

John 15:1-2 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

When Jesus walked the earth in Palestine, where He lived, grapes were a big agricultural product and gardener was a prominent occupation.  Some gardeners were specialists in tending grapes; they were called vinedressers. Vinedressers are agricultural specialists who oversee the propagation, planting, pruning, and tending of grape vines in a vineyard. Their goal is to optimize the quality and abundance of grapes used in wine and food products.

Although most people were not vinedressers back then, they were familiar with that line of work. It was in this environment Jesus made his last great “I am” statement. 

John 15:1 NIV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Vines were grown on terraces and required a lot of attention. A young vine was not allowed to bear fruit within the first three years. It was pruned drastically to develop a strong root system. Even after the vine began to bear grapes, it was still pruned, because some branches would produce fruit while others only sapped the vine of its strength and productivity.

It is in this setting Jesus gave a dramatic lesson about Himself and about those who claimed to be followers of God.

Jesus said that He is the only true vine, his Father is the gardener; and we are the branches. Let us look at each of these statements and see what truth they reveal for us.

1. Jesus is the only true vine.

1. The vine is the means of life for the branches. 

The roots gather water and nutrients from the earth, and these flow through the vine and give life to the branches. Apart from the vine, the branches will wither and die. No fruit will be produced on any branch that detaches itself or is broken off from the vine.

2.  Some people claim to be Christian but try to get their Christian growth from a variety of sources. 

It is not that they cut themselves off completely from Christ. They want to be nurtured by Jesus, but they also want to receive sustenance from other sources, like self help books, or philosophies from other religions.  They try to have an attachment with more than one vine, so to speak. They want eternal life from Jesus, success from their business or jobs, happiness from a bottle of booze or drugs, love from immoral sexual relations, security from the government, and fortune tellers. They have  divided loyalties and splintered commitments.

3. But Jesus said, “I am the only true vine.” 

Jesus offers not only eternal life but true success, true happiness, true love, genuine security, and healing for body and soul. When your relationship is in line with your faith in Jesus, you have a more secure chance of real success. Jesus is the guideline for ethical behavior. He is the foundation of good government. Jesus is the true vine—he is the true fountain of all that is good and wholesome about life.

2. The Father is the  gardener, the vinedresser so to speak.

Without sounding overly simplistic, gardeners just know more than branches. Sometimes we forget who God is and who we are. Like Adam and Eve, we want to believe that we either know as much as God or that we should have the right to know as much as God.

Genesis 3:6‭-‬7 NIV When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Why doesn’t the gardener allow the branches to bear fruit for the first three years? Why all this pruning? If the vine is put here to bear grapes, then why does the gardener hinder it or hold it back? 

On the surface none of this pruning makes sense.  But all this pruning makes the branch better able to produce a greater harvest of good grapes.   The purpose of pruning is to obtain maximum yields of high-quality grapes and to allow adequate vegetative growth for the following season

1. In the plan of God, pruning is necessary for us for our role as bearers of fruit.

"Bearing fruit" is a phrase used to describe the outward actions that result from the inward condition of a person's heart.

Galatians 5:22‭-‬23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As Christians, we want to bear fruit in keeping with our relationship with God. We seek to do things outwardly that demonstrate that we have been made new in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Remember pruning makes the branch better able to produce a greater harvest of good grapes.   The purpose of pruning is to obtain maximum yields of high-quality grapes and to allow adequate vegetative growth for the following season. Remember also what I said earlier that a young vine was not allowed to bear fruit within the first three years. It was pruned drastically to develop a strong root system.

So, let’s look at some examples of pruning to be made ready to bear good fruit. 

Abraham began his work for God late in life. 

Genesis 12:4 NIV So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Still later—when he was one hundred—Abraham’s son Isaac was born. 

Genesis 21:5 NIV Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when God had them go tell Pharaoh to let His people go.   when God met him at the burning bush. 

Exodus 7:7 NIV Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

David was thirty when he became king; Jesus was about thirty when he began his ministry.

2 Samuel 5:4‭-‬5 NIV David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

Luke 3:21‭-‬23 NIV When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Now consider Paul. We know that he was already out of rabbinical training when he met Christ on the road to Damascus. 

Galatians 1:13‭-‬17 NIV For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

It was years later before he was accepted by the early church.

What’s my point?  Some of us Christians want to begin sharing the good news of Christ before God’s Spirit has properly trained us. The flip side of this is that we use this as an excuse for never serving as an active witness for Christ.

2. We need to recognize the wisdom and plan of God if we want to be fruitful branches. 

That period of preparation is to be where God can mold us, teach us, and train us in his Word. No branch, or follower of Christ, will ever be an effective branch until he or she comes under the discipline and instruction of God. The gardener cultivates the vine so that good fruit will grow on the branch. His sole objective is to care for the vine and the branches. We must trust him to lead us.

3. Jesus is the vine God the Father is the gardener and we are the branches.

1. Branches are the fruit-bearing part of the grapevine.

Apart from the vine, they cannot bear fruit and thus are withering sticks suitable only for burning. As we see some branches that do not bear fruit are cut off from the vine. 

John 15:6 NIV If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

But what about the branches that remain? 

John 15:5 NIV “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

2.  A bunch of activity doesn’t necessarily result in a lot of fruit.   

Activity does not equal spiritual growth. Sometimes churches are so busy in the new gymnasium that they have no time to be in the neighborhood. It is not that recreation is not important, but it hardly stands on a par with the conversion of the lost or the teaching of God’s Word. 

The church should have both activity and growth—not one or the other. Our ultimate goal is to bear more fruit.

Conclusion

So, we come to the end of the great “I Am” sayings of Jesus. Here in this last sermon is a message for the church. Jesus is the true Vine, God the Father is the Gardener, and we are the branches. I know how well the true Vine functions. I also know how well the Gardener does his work. But the question that is still to be answered is, how well do the branches bear fruit? Are you a fruit-bearing branch? Do you abide in Christ and receive your strength from him? If you do not, now is the time to set matters right and become the kind of branch you were saved to be.

Sermon Audio

I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life

 

This is the manuscript of the sixth sermon in a series titled "The Adequacy of Jesus Christ", which is a study of the seven ‘I am' sayings of Jesus found in the gospel of John.

In his gospel John consistently shows the relationship between the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the revelation of Jesus as God in the New Testament era.

As God promised to be adequate to meet the needs of Moses and the children of Israel, so Jesus also claimed divine adequacy.

(John 14:6 NIV) “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”.

In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the great “I Am,” the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life. He was staking His claim as the very God of Creation. He declared this fact to His disciples so that they would be able to face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to the world. Once they understood the truth of His words, they became changed people, and the world has never been the same.

So how do we follow Him today? We follow Him the same way the disciples did. They heard the words of Jesus and believed them. They took His words and obeyed them. They confessed their sins to Jesus as their Lord and God. They believed that He died to take the punishment of their sins and rose from the dead to give them new life. They followed His example and command to tell others the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we follow Him we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven.

Scripture Reading: 

John 14:1‭-‬14 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Introduction

We are continuing our series on the seven I Am declarations that Jesus made that are recorded in the book of John.John consistently shows the relationship between the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the revelation of Jesus as God when He walked the earth.

As we have learned, in this series, I AM is the ultimate statement of self-sufficiency, self-existence, and immediate presence. 

The first I am statement in John’s Gospel was 

John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. 

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The second was 

John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The third was:

John 10:9 NKJV I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

The fourth

 (John 10:11 NIV) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”

Last Sunday we talked a out the amazing statement found at 

John 11:25 NLT Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the great “I Am,” the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life.

Now today we are going to look at Jesus' declaration that He is the way, the truth and the life. 

Our text is 

Text:  (John 14:6 NIV) “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”.

Let me start by saying that summer vacations that involve long trips by car often include the need for directions, and today we use GPS installed in an app on  our phones or a feature in our cars.  We really need and use GPS when traveling to a city or state or location that is unfamiliar to us. Most GPS applications in use today talk to you. But if your guidance system is outdated or inaccurate, it is still possible to get lost. It is easy to take a wrong turn or fail to see some highway marker.  This has happened to me a number of times. When that happens, you either have to backtrack or wait for the GPS to reroute you to your destination. The best possible thing is to travel with someone who knows the way, because that nearly eliminates the chances of missing a turn or taking a wrong turn.

A few years ago I wrote a blog post titled "God's Word is Your GPS.  This is some of what I wrote in  that post; 

"How many times has a friend suggested a restaurant, or a beautiful spot to enjoy God's creation that's off the beaten path?”.   The only problem is that this friend is horrible at giving directions. all they know is the name of the place.  How many times has the GPS application installed in our cars, or on our phones taken us on roundabout way to our destination?   Once we get there we realized that we could have taken a more direct route.  .  

When you use God as your GPS you can be sure that He will guide you to your destination by the most direct route.  The route that He takes you may not be free of hazards but if there are hazards, but if God is also your driver,  your driver will never panic, He will remain in control, and you will arrive safely.  God is the perfect driver and He’s the perfect GPS.

This Scripture says that few people find the narrow road and gate that lead to eternal life.  Those who find it use God as their GPS.

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)13  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.14  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

In the scripture that Jean read today, from John 1:1-14 Jesus had been instructing his disciples that he must leave. But he reminded them that they knew where he was going. Thomas interrupted Jesus to ask, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5 NIV). 

Jesus answered with our text for today.

(John 14:6 NIV) “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”.

Here, Jesus makes three  three statements about himself.

Jesus said He is the Way, He is the Truth and He is the Life. 

He is saying that He is the only way.

Jesus used the definite article to distinguish Himself as “the only way.” A way is a path or route, and Thomas had just expressed the disciples' confusion about where He was going and how they could follow. However from the very beginning Jesus told them and kept telling them  (and us) to “follow me.”

Matthew 4:18‭-‬22 NIV As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 10:37‭-‬39 NIV “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

John 12:23‭-‬26 NIV Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

That’s just three instances of Jesus saying follow me but there are others.  You may want to take your concordance and find them.

The point is that there is no other path to heaven, no other way to the Father. Peter reiterated this same truth  later to the rulers in Jerusalem.

Acts 4:12 NIV Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Christianity is exclusive in that. 

Jesus is the only way to be saved. That rules out the possibility that someone can come to eternal life by any other means.  

Jesus is either the only way to the Father or he was a liar. 

If he was a liar, then he wasn’t God. And if he wasn’t God, then everything he taught is suspect, because he told us he was God.  Remember what I said earlier John consistently shows the relationship between the revelation of God in the Old Testament and the revelation of Jesus as God when He walked the earth.

John 1:1‭-‬5‭ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

‬14 NIV The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the only way to the Father. That means it is incumbent on us to tell everybody that Jesus is the only way. 

John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way and He is the only truth.

Truth is a valuable commodity in our world. 

We live in a time when mankind desperately needs a true standard. Science, mathematics, music, and other disciplines offer true standards, but these are not helpful to us in establishing moral and spiritual behavior. We need a standard outside ourselves that is true for our spiritual lives.

Again Jesus used the definite article to emphasize Himself as “the only truth.” 

 Psalm 119:142 says, “Your law is the truth.”

Psalms 119:142 NIV Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.

Now follow me here, I'm going somewhere with this.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded His listeners of several points of the Law, then said, “But I tell you . . .” for example;

Matthew 5:21‭-‬22 NIV “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Or

Matthew 5:27‭-‬28 NIV You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

When you get some time also look at verses 32, 34,39, an 44 for more "but I tell yous".

The point is that Jesus was equating Himself with the Law of God as the authoritative standard of righteousness. 

In fact, Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law and the prophets 

Matthew 5:17 NIV “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Jesus, as the incarnate Word of God is the source of all truth. We just read 

John 1:1 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Many people may teach truth, but only one person is Truth. Jesus not only teaches truth; he embodies it. He is the Truth by word, action, and thought.

The revelation of God in Christ is the sole standard for moral and spiritual conduct. All claims to truth must be judged by the life and teachings of Jesus. Some teachings in other religions are true by the standards of Jesus, but no religion outside of Christianity can stand the complete scrutiny of Jesus. False ideas about God, eternal life, and moral conduct will be exposed when Jesus is the standard by which they are judged.

Jesus is the only way, the only truth and the only life.

Jesus had just been telling His disciples about His impending death, and now He was claiming to be the source of all life. Jesus declared that He was going to lay down His life for His sheep, and then take it back again. 

John 10:17‭-‬18 NIV The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus made the promise that “because I live, you also will live.” 

John 14:19 NIV Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

The deliverance He was about to provide was not a political or social deliverance (which most of the Jews were seeking), but a true deliverance from a life of bondage to sin and death to a life of freedom in eternity.

Romans 6:1‭-‬10 NIV What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Life for many people is a poor existence at best. 

Life is going to work at a job they hate, living in a marriage or family they find hard to tolerate, and seeking material possessions they cannot afford and that do not make them happy. Life has no meaning, no purpose, no joy, no assurance, no satisfaction.

We live in a country with one of the highest standards of living in the world. We have fine health care, freedom, possessions, and a world of entertainment possibilities. Yet people are not happy. They seek meaning in drugs, alcohol, sex, technology, possessions, career advancement—and still those things do not satisfy.

Jesus announces that He offers the only life worth living. 

It is the only life that has meaning and satisfaction that lasts not just a lifetime but forever.

John 10:10 NIV The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

He promises an answer to why you are here. Millions have given their lives to Christ and have found unlimited reasons to go on living.

Conclusion 

(John 14:6 NIV) “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”.

In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the great “I Am,” the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life. He was staking His claim as the very God of Creation. He declared this fact to His disciples so that they would be able to face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to the world. Once they understood the truth of His words, they became changed people, and the world has never been the same.

So how do we follow Him today? We follow Him the same way the disciples did. They heard the words of Jesus and believed them. They took His words and obeyed them. They confessed their sins to Jesus as their Lord and God. They believed that He died to take the punishment of their sins and rose from the dead to give them new life. They followed His example and command to tell others the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we follow Him we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”

Let's pray.

Lord you are The way, the truth and the life!

Don't let us stray from your path, For you are our way.

Do not let us distrust your promises, For you are the truth.

Do not let us rest in anything other than you, For your are our life.

Lord, You are the one to believe, You are the path to follow,

You are the hope for life, And the One in whom we rest.

Amen.