(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

The disciples were troubled - by an impending sense of disaster, by shattered hopes and by Jesus' lack of confidence in them. He told them: "This very night you will all fall away on account of me." Mt26v31. Some would say that you get what you expect from others. Well Jesus did not expect much in the immediate future from his disciples. It is little wonder that they were glum! So in the time remaining to him Jesus does his utmost to encourage his followers. The words Jesus spoke before going into the Garden of Gethsemane reassure all who follow him of his abiding, loving concern for his own.

I consider that most of the great truths contained in verses 1 to 14 can be covered by examining in detail v6: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me."

(B) Jesus is the Way.

(1) The way out of trouble.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." v1.

We all get into predicaments that we long to escape from. One foggy day travelling to school on the A14 I was held up by a terrible accident. After sitting for two hours in my car getting more and more frustrated I was desperate for a way of escape. I had come to a halt on top of a steep grassy embankment below which there was a muddy track. I had no idea where the track went but anything seemed preferable to remaining where I was. So after much hesitation I drove down the embankment and to freedom.

Men and women get into all sorts of trouble. Some are in great debt. My niece and her husband ran up a huge debt on their credit cards. Others are in miserable, unsatisfying relationships. There seems to be more and more married couples in this predicament! It must be awful to be found guilty of a serious crime and to be awaiting sentence. Very many find them selves in great danger. Even as I write George Best, the great footballer, is critically ill and in danger of losing his life.

It is no good congratulating ourselves that we are not in any kind of trouble. We are in debt to God - we owe him more than we can ever pay. Our relationship with him is not all that it should be. Days pass and we hardly spare him a thought. We stand guilty of falling short of the standard he set and we are under sentence of death. Our condition is critically. We are in danger of God's condemnation and the ultimate destruction.

There is only one way out of our trouble. We must trust Jesus to save us through the sacrifice he offered at Calvary. We must trust God to forgive us in the name of his beloved Son whose sacrificial offering he accepted on our behalf.

Only trust Him! only trust Him!
Only trust him now!
He will save you! He will save you!
He will save you now!

One summer holiday I had call from a worried mother; her son, Matthew, and young Lizzie were stuck on the IT component of their Geography course work. Could I help? So I travelled to Debenham High School and explained to two very attentive pupils how to manipulate a database to get the information that they required. I made things clear and helped them to succeed.

A few summers later after completing a walk in the Framlingham area of mid Suffolk I dropped into the local pub for lunch. Elly, one of my former pupils, was serving behind the bar. In term time she studied music at Birmingham University. Her speciality was the cello and her ambition was to play in an orchestra. Elly said ruefully, "It's very hard to get in;" but then added, "I have an excellent teacher." She believed that if anyone could prepare her for a career in the orchestra it would be her teacher.

Christians should never forget that Jesus is a teacher as well as a saviour. If we believe in him then we submit to his teaching and go his way. We cannot just believe in him as saviour and ignore him as teacher. Jesus describes the way to please God. The Beatitudes are a concise statement of Kingdom conduct. See my expositions on The Beatitudes

(3) The way of entry

Jesus said: "No-one comes to the Father except through me." He has gone to prepare a place for us and he will return to take us to be with him where he is. I do not find it helpful to think of God dwelling in a house. God is not confined to any of the dimensions that restrict a bodily being - time or space. The Father's house refers to God's creation in which their are many rooms including our universe. Jesus did not say as recorded in the NIV: "I am going there to prepare a place for you. v3." He said: "I am going to prepare a place for you." The room that Jesus has gone to prepare for us is not the place we go to when we die - that is another annex altogether. Jesus is preparing the room Peter describes as a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 2Pet3v13. We will only enter this new creation after Christ's return to earth and our bodily resurrection. Jesus made this perfectly clear: "I will come back and take you to be with me that you may be also where I am." v3. (See section on heaven in article on Heaven and Hell.)

During my time at Debenham High School I used to visit pupils on work experience. Lizzie was working at Huntingdon Life Sciences in Occold. This is not an easy place to get into! It is surrounded by high fencing and there was a guard at the gate. But Lizzie had given me my instructions. I was given a personal contact, one Tracey J. I asked for Tracey and waited at the gate till she arrived. My personal contact took me in, guided me through a maze of corridors until I came to the room where Lizzie was. Tracey J. was my way to Lizzie. I had to submit to her, follow her and trust her if I was ever to penetrate Huntingdon Life Sciences and get to Lizzie.

Jesus is the way in this sense. We will only gain an introduction to God the Father through Jesus the Son. We will only reach that place where God's presence is experienced in a way we do not experience it on earth by trusting Jesus and following him.

(C) Jesus is the Truth.

Jesus doesn't just teach the truth - he is the truth about God. Such is the intimacy between Jesus and God the Father that he makes known to us all that we can ever know about the Father. He said to Thomas: "If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." v7. After an unwise interjection from the normally reticent Philip Jesus said: "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me... ." v11.

(1) Jesus reveals the nature of God's fatherhood.

If you want to know about a father it is a good idea to look at the relationship he has with his children. Bertrand Russell was a philosopher who loved humanity but not his children. He was the worst of fathers. One son committed suicide, one daughter was mentally ill and the other claimed that her father ruined her life.

Now it is evident that God the Father was not over protective of his son. Jesus faced many challenging situations. However, there is no doubt that the Father sustained and supported his son in all of them. Furthermore the Father showed his appreciation of his son. He did so at the baptism of Jesus and at his Transfiguration: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" Mt17v5. The greatest loss that Jesus ever experienced was the loss of fellowship with the Father experienced on the cross which prompted the cry of dereliction: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mt27v46. That same Father foreshortened the time Jesus suffered on the cross. The work was finished before the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves to precipitate their death. Jesus was restored to fellowship and was able to say with the utmost confidence: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Lk23v46.

Jesus relationship with his Father shows us that our Father will sustain us in service, help us in trouble, reassure of us of our value and reward us for doing his will.

(2) Jesus shows us God's overriding concern.

In Jane Austen's 'Emma' the youthful heroine acts in a very ungracious way toward Mrs Bates, an old friend and neighbour, on an ill-fated outing to Box Hill in Surrey. Mr Knightley, who has known Emma from birth, takes her aside and says: "Emma, I must speak to you as I have used to do: a privilege rather endured than allowed, perhaps, but I must still use it. I cannot see you acting wrong without a remonstrance. How could you be so unfeeling to Miss Bates? How could you be so insolent in your wit to a woman of her character, age, and situation? - Emma, I had not thought it possible." After Emma tries to laugh the whole affair off Mr Knightley continues: "This is not pleasant to you, Emma - and it is very far from being pleasant to me; but I must, I will, - I will tell you truths while I can, satisfied with proving myself your friend by very faithful counsel, and trusting that you will some time or other do me greater justice than you can do now." Mr Knightley was intensely disappointed in Emma because she let herself down and did not live up to his expectations.

When Jesus was here amongst men he demonstrated that there was much he could do for us. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, overcame natural hazards, protested against injustice and corruption and even raised the dead. But none of these things was Jesus' chief concern because none was God's first priority.

God is intensely disappointed in his creation - man who he made in his own image. We have let ourselves down and certainly do not live up to God's expectations. God is appalled at our fallen nature, our estrangement from him and our disreputable behaviour.

The Father sent his Son into the world to do something to restore the broken relationship between God and man. Jesus made a sacrifice of himself. He offered up a peace offering as a man for men. God accepted what Jesus did as atonement for our sin. This means that guilty, poor and helpless sinners can be saved by grace and through faith. We can be ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven if we believe in Jesus.

(3) Jesus declares God's love for us.

It is impossible to read John's gospel without realising how much God loves us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John3v16. This is the greatest of all truths. The little verse of George Herbert is particularly applicable to this truth.

Truth will fail thee never, never
Though thy bark be tempest driven
Though each plank be rent and riven
Truth will bear thee on for ever.

Because Mr Knightley loved Emma he experienced a thrill of pleasure that she heeded what he said, acted appropriately and was reconciled to him.

Because God loves us so much the greatest pleasure we can give him is to believe in Jesus for eternal life. He has our interest at heart, he desires our highest good and so when one sinner repents and trusts in Jesus for forgiveness there is joy in heaven - joy in the heart of God.

(D) Jesus is the Life.

(1) His restoring and transforming power.

It is wonderful when something old, dilapidated, broken, faded, useless and unattractive is restored to usefulness and life. In Suffolk there have been many barn conversions. A shabby, decaying and broken down barn is taken and changed into a smart, pleasing and comfortable house. The same sort of thing can happen to a dusty, dirty and darkened painting. A specialist restorer can bring it to life. The other day I took down from the shelf a cricket trophy. It was dull and black but after the application of some Silvo and a lot of elbow grease it gleamed in the sunlight.

Jesus has the power to restore lives - faded, broken, tarnished, overgrown and ugly lives. He transformed the lives of black people made wretched by slavery in the Deep South of U.S.A. Jesus gave them hope. He has given new lives to countless criminals in most of the prisons of the world. Jesus changed the life of Mark Macdonald who lives on the north coast of Scotland. When he gave up drink there was such a void in his life that he contemplated suicide. Mark began to read a Bible given to him by a friend. Eventually he came to the promise of Jesus: "Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Mt11v28. The void was filled. Jesus filled it. He is now so happy that he is known as the Singing Postman.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of his presence
With me doth continually dwell.

(2) His delegated power.

Jesus told his disciples: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name .... ." v12to14.

What is it that Jesus had been doing? He healed the sick, fed the hungry, gave to the poor, reclaimed the marginalized and fallen, presented himself and taught the values of the Kingdom. It is certainly true that through the ages Christians have done their best to do the same. I have just finished reading the biography of William and Catherine Booth - the founders of the Salvation Army. They founded a movement that went to the poor and depraved with the gospel and also extended practical help to the destitute.

What does Jesus mean when he said that anyone with faith in him will do greater things than he was doing. I can only think he was referring to the work of the Holy Spirit given in power at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit changes lives in a way that did not happen during Christ's ministry. For example, although Jesus taught his disciples for three years they were incredibly slow to learn. They remained in ignorance of the true nature of Christ's Kingdom until after Pentecost. It was only when the Spirit was given that they understood some of the things Christ said. I believe that today when a person becomes a Christian the Holy Spirit does give them spiritual enlightenment and a capacity to learn very quickly. The Holy Spirit can also use those that witness for Jesus to bring revival and spectacular growth in the church - something else that did not happen during Christ's own earthly ministry.

Finally Jesus tells us that he will do whatever we ask in his name. This verse has proved a stumbling block to many. Most Christians believe that the salvation of sinners is in the will of Jesus and so they cannot understand why their prayers for unbelieving loved ones are not answered. But it isn't in the will of Jesus to override the freedom of the individual. When he was here on earth he never forced anyone to believe in him. Jesus longed for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to take shelter beneath his wing but he accepted with tears their decision to reject him.

We can pray for help whenever we are doing something that Jesus did or Jesus taught us to do. I teach Christ's disciples to obey what he has commanded them. When I do this I ask for assistance and I believe that it is given. Every time we give to charity we can pray over the gift that it might bring relief from hunger, shelter or healing. I have sometimes prayed for help to turn the other cheek or go the other mile. Such prayers have always been answered.

It will help us to pray in the name of Jesus if we remember Jesus own prayer for his disciples recorded in John17 Jesus prayed that believers would be protected from the evil one, united in love, sanctified by God's word and given deep satisfaction (joy) in doing God's will. I thank God because he has heard my prayer: 'Lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil.' I wonder what our reaction to trouble in the church is? Do we take sides or get down on our knees and implore Jesus to keep us one in him. Do we ever take a verse of Scripture that addresses a failing in our lives and pray for help to apply it. When did I last ask Jesus to give me joy in his service?

(3) His resurrection power.

Jesus is the life because he has resurrection power. This is evident from his promise: "I will come back and take you to be with me where I am." v3. Jesus could never say that unless he was raised from the dead and he intended to raise all those who believe on him from the dead. Jesus taught on many occasions what John reports in Ch6v40: "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus calls himself the bread of life and the living water because he, and only he, can impart eternal life. No other sane person has claimed to be the resurrection and the life.

In Britain there are thousands of people on waiting lists for operations that will improve their quality of life. Patients will endure a great deal to enhance their enjoyment of life. Yet Jesus who offers a life of everlasting bliss is ignored.

Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Grant us that Way to know,
That Truth to keep, that Life to win,
Whose joys eternal flow.