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WHO IS JESUS? finale

"I AM the gate and the good shepherd"
December 30, 2007
with Matt Johnson

I have a confession to make… One of my favorite movies is Babe the Pig. Yes, I know… it’s a children’s movie about a talking pig but I just like it. In the movie, Babe is a pig that farmer Hoggett wins and brings home to his farm. His prize shepherding dog, Fly, raises Babe as one of her pups. It doesn’t take long for Babe to find a special place in the Farmer’s heart when he saves the flock from thieves on Christmas Day. Soon he begins to be treated as one of the sheep dogs on the farm and learns that the best way to communicate with the sheep is not aggression, it’s kind words. One of the refrains that you hear early on in the movie is from the sheep, as they say “Pigs are definitely stupid…” It always cracked me up that of all animals, it was the sheep calling someone else stupid. For what it’s worth, sheep really are not the brightest animals on the farm.

I remember reading an excerpt from a book a few years ago from a man who describes shepherding from his experience as a Shepard in the Middle East. He tells of saving sheep after sheep from death. Not by fighting wolves, bears, or other wild beasts, but by saving them from their own saliva. That’s right, see sheep have a strange habit of finding a comfortable spot in the grass and getting so comfortable that its impossible for them to stand. They are paralyzed on their backs and eventually drown in their own saliva. As a Shepard, it was his job to keep these sheep upright and moving. When he would notice a sheep stuck on their back he would rush to them and turn them upright. Often times if one of the sheep had been in that position long they would have lost much of their circulation. The Shepard would have to hold the sheep close and massage its legs and body in order to get the blood flowing again. Rather than yelling and scolding the sheep, the Shepard speaks with a soft, comforting voice. “I wish you would learn, when are you going to realize that this is not good for you?” Then he’d put them down, go help another sheep, and look back to see that the same one was yet again settling down into a rut that would no doubt cause it to get stuck again.

I think more accurately, that it’s Sheep, not pigs, that are definitely stupid!

A lot of times the imagery of the bible is lost in our modern world. As Donald Miller speaks of scripture in Blue Like Jazz, “All the vocabulary about God seemed to come from ancient history, before video games, palm pilots, and the internet.” When is the last time you saw a shepherd roaming the countryside with a flock of sheep here in the Morrow area? It just doesn’t happen anymore, so how are we supposed to understand what God is talking about when the sheep / shepherd references are made so often in scripture?

Lets dive into the passage and see what we can figure out about sheep and their relationship to the shepherd.

We’re going to be looking at John 10 today, but I think to really “get” that chapter, we’ve gotta talk about John 9 first.

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind guy by spitting on the ground, making some mud, and wiping in on the guy’s eyes and then telling him to go wash it off in the nearby pool of water. When the man does, his sight is instantly restored. It doesn’t take long for word to spread to the neighbors and townsfolk that this guy can suddenly see. With the growing word of mouth, the Pharisees approach the man to find out what his story is. They call him into their chambers for questioning twice, and also approach his parents, hoping to find out some information which will help them to corner Jesus. In the end, after much questioning, the man tells them, “Look, I was blind, he healed me – that’s all I know to be true, and that’s enough… surely HE must be from God if God listened to him enough to heal my eyes.” At this, the Pharisees had their toes stepped on pretty hard as they were supposed to be the people of the time that had communication with God. They dismissed this man, possibly excommunicating him from the Jewish religion because of his threatening honesty.

The rub here is twofold – The first problem is this: Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath day, which according to Jewish laws at the time, was a big no-no. In fact, he broke the law in at least three ways.
First, He made clay – kinda. I never thought that some spit and a little dirt constituted clay, but it would have been enough to break the laws of the time. Here is a few examples of “work” that would have been illegal just how specific the laws were at the time… A man was not able to fill a dish with oil, put it next to a lamp, and set the wick into the oil. A man was not able to put out a lamp in order to save the wick or the oil, even if it’s usage was done for the night. A man could not wear sandals which had been repaired with nails because it would cause added labor to walk. A man could not trim his fingernails or pull out hair from his head or his beard.

Second, He healed someone. It was forbidden to heal on the Sabbath. Any medical treatment which was not necessary to save a life was considered sinful on the Holy Day. Even then, only the minimal treatment to continue life was allowed. Nothing was allowed that would actually cause improvement in health or life, just the prevention of death. As this man’s blindness was clearly not a life and death situation, it was wrong for Jesus to heal him on this day.

Third, He broke the actual letter of the law, which read “As for fasting spittle, it is not lawful to put it so much as on the eyelids.” It doesn’t get much more blatant than that.

The second, and more glaring problem though, is that Jesus’ healing of this man ticked off the Pharisees because it was supposed to be them, not Jesus, who was in communication with God.

It’s with all this in mind that we’re going to pick up the scriptures…

Take the time to read all of John 9:35 through 10:18

There is a ton of sheep/shepherd imagery here. I read this passage, and I can’t help but hear the description of Mark over in Mark 6 as Jesus feeds the 5000 – they were like sheep without a shepherd so he took compassion on them and taught them many things.

Here again, Jesus has compassion on those that need it. I find it interesting that in both cases, he goes into his shepherding talk with the Pharisees around – the ones that are supposed to be the shepherds of god’s flock… As we unwrap this passage, lets look at the two I am statements that Jesus shapes his message around…

First, Jesus says that he is the gate. Again, this would have been imagery that the people would have picked up on immediately. There were two types of folds that shepherds would temporarily house their pigs in – a town fold and a thatch fold out amongst the pastures. In the evenings, the shepherds of the town would all bring their flocks back and would lead them into a large community fold where the sheep of the community – usually 6-10 flocks in each one – would be kept for the night. These typically were large stone walls, high enough to keep out animals and robbers – usually over 6 feet high. They had one big wooden door which was the only entrance and exit point. It would be guarded during the night to ensure that only the shepherds could have access to their sheep. This is the type of fold that Jesus speaks of in the first section. Each morning the shepherds would go to the fold and call out their sheep. Only their sheep would exit, knowing the voice of the shepherd and listening to him.

The second type of fold was typically a fold out in the open fields – perhaps built into a cave, sometimes just some thatch strung together to make a basic pen to hold the sheep. These did not have gates on them, as they were usually makeshift and temporary. Shepherds would lead their flocks into these each afternoon to provide the animals rest and protection. Since there was no door, the shepherd would place himself in that opening. This way nothing could get into or out of the pen without his knowledge. It’s this type of pen that Jesus speaks of when he refers to himself as the gate.

Jesus uses a unique Jewish saying when he says that the sheep will come and go freely. To come and go freely was a recognized term within the culture meaning to be at peace, to have security, to find safety. When Jesus says that he is the gate, those who come through him will find exactly this. The imagery is simple – Jesus is gate. The shepherd who allows passage into protection. What a stark contrast to the actions of the Pharisees in dealing with the blind man. It were they who were supposed to be the gatekeeper of the kingdom at the time, but they seemed much better at removing people from the kingdom than adding people to it.

Jesus speaks directly to the heart. His purposes and his priorities are not in setting laws which exclude people, but bring people into the fold and proving them with safety and a rich and satisfying life. How refreshing it must have been for the blind man to hear these words! Finally someone who loves me! Someone who really wants to take care of me!

Jesus goes on though, saying “I am the good shepherd”. The main characteristic of a good shepherd according to Jesus, is his willingness to lay down his life for his sheep. He wants to get this point across so much so that he says it three times.

I think most of the time when we think of shepherds, the closest imagery we can muster is that of a farmer. They may be the modern caretaker of sheep, but they are far from shepherds. Shepherds spend their entire lives in caring for the sheep. They are with them for days on end out to find pasture before returning back to the town for a night or two to restock food and such. Then they’re back out with their flock again. Shepherds have a great relationship with their sheep. The sheep recognize their voice. They heed their commands. The shepherd will do whatever it takes to keep his sheep safe. They protect the sheep from animals, burglars, and even themselves. In fact, it wouldn’t be uncommon for shepherds to die while trying to protect their flocks.

Farmers, on the other hand, are more likely to build a pen around their animals to keep them enclosed and leave them be. Sure, they will feed and care for the animals as needed, but their involvement in the animals life is minimal compared to a shepherd. And when is the last time you heard of a farmer dying to try and protect his animals? It just doesn’t happen too often.

Jesus came speaking to a world filled with religious farmers known at the time as Pharisees. They built up walls of legalism to contain the flock and left them to fend for themselves. Jesus came as a Shepherd to bring freedom. To live amongst the sheep, not above the sheep. How freeing it must have been for the blind man to hear that Jesus was willing to be his Shepherd! That Jesus was not about containment, but about freedom. That Jesus was willing to even sacrifice himself to protect his flock!

I think too often we get used to being part of a religion which regularly sets laws to exclude people. We hear constantly what Christianity is against… homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, abortion, smoking, sex… the list goes on and on from the biblically sinful to the culturally questionable. If we can label it sin, we’re going to, because that’s what Christianity is all about right? The Pharisees have come and gone, but the mentality remains. We create religion in efforts to do what we think is right, but often times hit far off the target. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that there are many things in life which are worth fighting for. Unfortunately, not all of them are flown under the flag of Christianity. More so, there are many battles being fought under the flag of Christianity that I doubt Christ would really care to be a part of. In the end, I think we’ve done a pretty bang up job in becoming religious farmers and letting the world know that our walls our built nice and sturdy.

But Jesus didn’t come to be a farmer, he came to be a Shepherd. He didn’t come to establish a religion – that was man’s doing… he came to establish a relationship. To live among his sheep. To build a relationship with them so that they could hear his voice, so that they could heed his words, so that he could protect and save them at all costs – even his own life. Jesus didn’t come to build walls – he came to tear them down. He came to bring freedom. To bring safety, to bring security, to bring peace. He came to give a rich and satisfying life!

Being a sheep on a farm is boring. Being a sheep with a shepherd though, is an adventure. Why would we ever choose life on the religious farm when Jesus is willing to be our Shepherd?

Prayer…

I was reading this week about this sheep/shepherd imagery, and came across a story of a missionary who recants a story of trying to share the Gospel with a nomadic shepherding tribe in the Middle East. He worked so hard to try and get them to understand what God was all about, but he couldn’t find a way to break into their worlds. He got to know the language, and found words which translated well to both love and mercy, but couldn’t find a word that related well the concept of Grace. He kept telling them that God wanted to come live in their tents with them, to dwell among them… but the people just didn’t seem to get it.

One day as he was reading scripture he came across the passage of the lost sheep, and excitedly took it to one of the tribe leaders, thinking surely this will get the point across in their world. He retold the story to the leader, explaining to him how one sheep of the 100 had strayed and the shepherd left the 99 to find the one to bring it back safely. He explained that this is why Jesus is the good shepherd.

The tribe leader paused for a short time, thinking through the story, and then replied – that’s not a good shepherd, that’s a stupid shepherd. If one of my sheep were to stray, there’s no way I’d go looking for it. It’s shown itself ignorant and even if I saved it, it would only take off tomorrow and I’d have to go after it again.

It wasn’t until the missionary pointed out that he would relate better to the sheep than to the shepherd that the man understood grace.

It’s true – to many, Jesus is not wisdom, but folly. We’ve spent the last month examining the claims of Jesus. What does he have to say for himself? Who does he claim to be? Is he for real? Who is this Jesus guy?

There comes a point where a decision must be made about what you believe about Jesus. Is he all the things he says he is, or is he just a stupid shepherd? As we sing one last song we ask that you take the time to examine Christ and choose for yourself who you think he really is.

WHO IS JESUS? Part 5

"I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD"
December 23, 2007
with Adam Waters

MARK SALISBURY shared his “I AM’s” this weekend.

Introduction
• If you have need of glasses or contacts to see clearly, then sometimes middle of the night wake-ups are among the hardest things for us:
o Told story of Zeke’s 3am bottles
• LIGHT ~ glow, beam, bright, luminous, day, radiant, God, energy, dawn, the way to see, source of fire, visible, to give something animation
• DARK ~ dim, shady, shadow, murky, gloomy, sinister, night, miserable, angry, nasty, closed, simply lack of light
• In comes Jesus with a “new” view on the messiah once again.
o He claims to be the embodiment of truth and life (not the Law).
o He claims to be the TRUE vine (not Israel).
o He claims to be our TRUE nourishment (not physical food).
o He now claims not to bring light to the world, but to be it’s light!

LIGHT OF THE WORLD
John 1:1-9: Jesus is the essence of creation from the beginning
 Light was made before darkness.
 Light was made before the sun and stars (day 4!)
 Genesis 1:1-5
John 3:19-21: Jesus calls us to make a choice.
 Who do you love?
 Will you hide in the shadows?
 Will you ‘come to the light’?
John 11:9-10: Jesus lights our path.
 We will not go safely without Jesus.
 Danger of stumbling when you ‘dance in the dark’.
John 12:35-36: Jesus ignites childlike faith.
 Walk in belief.
 Children of light! Also see EPHESIANS 4:17-32 and/or 5:1-14
John 12:44-50: Jesus comes to stamp out darkness.
 Trust me, obey me, follow me, build friendship with me.
 I’m here to save from darkness (47).
 Revelation 21 describes the new Jerusalem…vs 22-27 ~ there will be no need for any light but the LAMB and NOTHING EVIL will enter.

WRAP UP…
• Jesus comes to show that His words are powerful (way, truth, life).
• Jesus comes to invite us into intimate relationship (vine).
• Jesus comes to nourish our souls (bread).
• BUT, Jesus comes to leave us with a choice… walk in darkness OR live in light.

WHO IS JESUS? Part 4

"I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE"
December 16, 2007
with Adam Waters

Introduction
· I am a lover of food… told of all the things I like the most.
· My first thanksgiving with the Jennings… we planned dinner at lunch, breakfast at dinner, etc… I thought “now, this is a family I can get on board with!”
· Going to the grocery store hungry is a bad thing… Driving down FieldsErtel or MasonMontgommery hungry is almost worse… WHEN WE’RE STARVING WE WILL SOMETIMES EAT THINGS THAT WILL NOT NOURISH US!
· In the midst of a starving generation, came Jesus. A generation where the priests had corrupted God’s law. Where the true prophets of God had been silent for years and false prophets were everywhere. Where people were following every wind of teaching and rebellion against the Romans.
· In comes Jesus with a “new” diet.

HOW’S YOUR DIET? John 6
The crowds came hungry for miracles: THEY HADN’T SEEN GOD IN YEARS.
— John 6:1-25
— Jesus feeds the 5,000. He walks on water. He appears on the other side of the lake.
The crowds came hungry for manna: FEED US!
— John 6:26-34
— They put faith in Moses, not in the Father who worked through Moses.
The crowds came thirsty for water: WE’RE DEHYDRATED!
— John 6:35
— John 4:1-15
— They could not see beyond their own physical needs.
Jesus brought a “new” perspective.
— John 4:31-34 ~ Nourishment comes from doing God’s will and finishing God’s work.
— Manna gave physical life. BREAD from heaven gives everlasting life. (6:35-40)
— Romans 8:5-8 ~ Will you follow your FLESH or be controlled by the SPIRIT desire.
Jesus gave them the spirit – 6:63
Jesus gave them his word – 6:63
Jesus gave them eternal life – 6:47
Jesus gave them HIMSELF – 6:47-51
— Remain (meh-known) in me!
— John 6:56 – A Promise.
COMMUNION SERVICE
· We’re not coming to be fed (as the priest would do with the sacrifices).
· We’re not coming out of habitual repetition (as the Jews were).
· We come to proclaim Jesus (1 Corinthians).
· We come to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for all (6:51).
· We come to receive God’s power (6:57).
· We come to FEAST on the nourishment that can only come from a living, active, present, real God who loves us indescribably.

WHO IS JESUS? Part 3

I AM THE VINE
December 9, 2007
with Adam Waters

Has anyone here ever been in an argument?
With a friend?
With your spouse?
Today with a friend or spouse?
We have argument/division/etc. when we lose he principle of "oneness."

PRINCIPLE OF ONENESS
**Told the story of Adam/Eve.
**Not good for "man to be alone."
**This principle reflects in the relationship of Christ and His Bride (the church).

REMAIN
**menon (pronounced meh-known)
**to abide, live with, endure and exist together
**it's a participle (an -ing word)
**we are in the continual process of remaining together
**literally means: to exist in the sphere of where Jesus is

JOHN 15
**Before we read the text, we need to understand where we're at in the Jesus story. This is after the PAssover meal, after Jesus has told them He's going to die, after Judas has left, and they are now walking to the Garden. At the end of 14, they leave on their walk. We find the apostles and Jesus traveling through a vineyard. He's telling them his final words, his final chance to help them grow. And, he's still teaching.
** “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off (ORIGINAL MEANING: he lifts up the wild vines out of the mud and cleans them up) every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches (ORIGINAL MEANING: he cuts back the leaves to make room for grapes) that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. (Jesus never removes us from Him, we make the choice to leave the vine.) “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. here is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, (THE ONLY JOB OF A BRANCH IS to make grapes) so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

COMMUNITY WITH CHRIST

—Jesus: THE TRUE VINE
—Disciples: THE BRANCHES
—Father: THE GARDENER
—True Disciples: PRODUCE FRUIT
—True Friends: OBEDIENT
It is impossible to be united with God and remain ignorant of His ways.
It is impossible to be untied with God and not manifest His love.

WHO IS JESUS?
**He is OUR vine.
**our nourishment
**our food
**our strength
**our support

How do we own him as our vine?
**strengthen your relationship with him
**all relationships are very different
**find what best builds friendship for you and do the same in your relationship with Jesus
**strengthen/thicken the part of your branch that is closest to Christ

WHO IS JESUS? Part 2

I AM THE WAY.
I AM THE TRUTH.
I AM THE LIFE.
December 2, 2007
with Matt Johnson


Intro:
I am Matt Johnson.
I am a brother, a son, a grandson.
I am a nephew.
I am a third generation Cubs fan.
I am a Packers Fan.
I am a Compassion International advocate.
I am developing a heart for missions.
I am an animal lover.
I am an aspiring author.
I am a lover of fermented grapes.
I am an artist.
I am a photographer.
I am a graphic designer.
I am fallen but redeemed.
I am a husband.
I am a defender of the weak.
I am learning to love Jesus.
I am a lineman.
I am an oops baby.
I am a teacher at heart.
I am a Johnny Cash fan.

The best way to get to know someone is to spend time with them. It’s actually pretty hard to get to know someone if you’re never around them, never hear them speak, never take the time to listen to what they have to say. I mean really, think about the relationships that you are in – friends, family, spouse, classmates, etc… how well do you really know the people that you don’t spend time with? Sure, you say “Hi” to your mail man, but do you really know him? Really understand him? Really have any idea at all who he is?

On the other hand, you get to know someone really well when you spend a lot of time with them. There are guys that I spent four years of college with in a small, confined dorm with a total of four shower heads that I know WAY too well. After living with Ashley for the last three and a half years, I know a great deal more about her than when we got married because I have spent a great deal of time with her. I have listened to her. I have heard her soul speak. We have communicated.

AW Tozer says “God’s presence is not easily obtained, but is met only by much effort of a long and loving interaction”. Tozer got that if we’re going to really know God, we’ve got to spend time with Him. He can’t just be an acquaintance. A friend you see occasionally and have some small talk and then go on your way. NO – to know God is to interact with him regularly, consistently, lovingly. To hear Him speak and to listen. To hear His soul and to allow yours to communicate with it.

Sadly though, I think that all too often we Christians don’t really know all that well the Jesus that we claim. We are willing to stake our eternal future on a relationship that we’re not fully committed to pursuing? It doesn’t make a lot of sense really. If I’m going to claim Christ, I want to know him. Really know him. I want to hear his words. I want to hear his soul. I want to KNOW him, not know of him. This sermon series is about exactly that. Hearing the words of Jesus and getting to know Him. What is His heart? What’s he say about Himself? What’s important to Him? Who is this Jesus guy?

As we look at the passage, it’s important that we get some context from the surrounding passages. We are in the Gospel of John – the fourth Gospel, and the one that is the most different from the others. John writes with a very specific purpose of trying to explain well who Jesus is. He answers this question by shaping his letter around seven “I AM” statements that Jesus makes about himself. We pick up here at the sixth of the seven statements. Jesus is at Passover with his disciples. By this time he’s done many, many miracles and has a very large following. The tides are about to turn though. Jesus has just been welcomed into the city of Jerusalem with a hero’s welcome known now as Palm Sunday. The people were ready for their king to come in with force and overtake the city. Jesus is their guy, so they think. Jesus has other thoughts though, and he is headed straight for the cross, not the throne. He’s in the borrowed upper room of a home in the city with only his twelve disciples. He takes the time to wash their feet, to serve them. As they eat has a confrontation with Judas and announces that he will be betrayed. As Judas leaves, he begins to speak to the other disciples and he tells Peter that he’ll deny him three times. Jesus has got a lot on his mind. His heart is no doubt heavy with a burden of both the recent and upcoming events. Scripture actually says that his heart was deeply troubled. It’s here that we pick up the story in John 14:1-7.

Read John 14:1-7
The care and the heart of Jesus amazes me. He is trying so hard to give the disciples a few last bits of the really important things that he wants them to really understand. This is the last time he’ll be able to spend time with them before his death. He could be so caught up in what is happening to him and not be concerned with the disciples, but he isn’t. His soul is deeply troubled, yet he comforts the disciples “don’t be troubled – you trust God, now trust me…” He gives a vision of heaven and a second coming. Thomas, the practical one, responds with sincerity. Thomas gets a bad rap. He’s always known as Doubting Thomas. It’s not a very fair title though. A few chapters earlier when Jesus is headed to heal Lazarus, Thomas is ready to go and die for Christ. Thomas just wanted to make sure that he understood before he followed. It’s actually anything but a negative trait. This world needs more Thomas’s – people who ask questions and seek answers and then believe and follow with all that they have once they have an accurate understanding.

Thomas here asks the practical question. How are we supposed to get there if we don’t know where you’re going. Jesus doesn’t rebuke him for doubt, he honors his question by providing additional insight and an honest answer. It is also one of the most theologically loaded passages of scripture. Jesus’ response is simple – “I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” He says to Thomas - You want to know how to get there? ME.

He says, “I am the way” –
Hearing these words as a Jew in Jesus’ time would have a different flare than our reading here today in 2007 America. The “Way” was a fairly common term in the Jewish writings now known as the Old Testament to describe the nature and character and the expectations of God.

God said to Moses, “You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in the all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you” – Deut. 5:32-33
Moses said to the people, “I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you.” - Deut. 31:29
Isaiah said, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it…” - Isaiah 30:21
Isaiah said, “In the brave new world there would be a highway called ‘the Way of Holiness’ and in it the wayfaring man, even though a simple soul, would not go lost.” - Isaiah 35:8

It’s with these things in their mind that they hear Jesus say “I am the Way”. He claimed to be the embodiment of God’s Nature, His Character, His expected lifestyle. Jesus wasn’t just a good example of the way, he was the way!

He says, “I am the truth”-
The truth was a common way to describe the teachings of the Jewish leaders at the time. They brought truth to the people, telling them how to live and interpreting God’s moral teaching for them to understand. The teaching of truth, of morality and it’s implications for life, are very different than any other kind of teaching. Teaching math or language or science does not require the teacher to be upheld to a moral standard. It is merely a transference of information from teacher to student. Teaching the truth though, has much higher standards. No one is going to listen to an adulterer teach about the sanctity of marriage. Not too many people are going to be moved to action by a wealthy miser preaching about giving to the poor.

Jesus however, doesn’t just claim to teach truth, he claims to be truth. He doesn’t just say you should do this and that, he says watch me as I live it out for you. Jesus is the embodiment of truth. He is truth come to life – living, breathing, bringing morality and truth as an example lived out among the people, not just taught from the alter. Many men can claim to teach truth, and many can even do it pretty well. Jesus, however, is the only man who can claim to actually be truth. It’s more than just a statement of moral perfection, it’s moral perfection found to be realized in the life of Jesus.

He says, “I am the life”-
I love the duality of this statement. Jesus is not only life as we know it, but also eternal life. He is as much responsible for the beating of our hearts at this very moment as he is for the dwelling of our souls thousands of years forward in heaven. John is very intentional in starting his Gospel to make sure that we understand that Jesus is in God, and God in Jesus. They are one in the same, and yet embody two individuals. John says that the world was made through Christ. He is life. He is the breath in our lungs. He is the circulation of blood in our heart. He is the firing of synapses in our brain. Without Christ, there would be no life of any kind – earthly or eternal.

Jesus paints it in pretty clear colors – if you want to get to God, he’s the path. The ONLY path. It is absolute statements such as these that bring us to a decision making point. As Adam said last week, with Jesus, there’s not a lot of room for gray. Either you believe him or you don’t. Either He’s the savior that he claims to be or he’s some loony from thousands of years ago who was crazy enough to get a bunch of people to follow him and write a book about him.

The world will tell you a lot of things about who Jesus is and what he says and how you should live because of that… but Jesus doesn’t really care about what the rest of the world says. He cares what you say.

Jesus approaches his disciples one day and asks them who people say that he is. They respond, some say Elijah, others a great profit… but Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”

It can be easy to ride on the faith of others. To hold on to your parent’s faith and never really claim it as your own. To hold on to some form of societal morality and believe that it’s enough… At some point though, you’ve gotta answer the question. Either now or at the day of Judgment, you’ll have to answer: Who do you say that he is? Is he the savior or is he the crazy guy?

Most of us have made some form of a public statement claiming that we believe that he is the savior. The problem is, our actions and thoughts often don’t follow suite. I think it’s because we don’t know Jesus very well. We haven’t spent the time with him to gain more than his acquaintance. We have not allowed our soul to interact with His on a regular basis. We haven’t taken the time to hear him speak, to listen to his words, to hear his heart.

If we’re going to stake our eternity on a relationship with Jesus, lets take the time to get to know him the way we should. When Jesus asks who we say he is, may we answer with the faith and knowledge of a trusted friend.

Prayer:

Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. The question is, what do we do with that, here, now, in 2007. What’s the significance? What’s the application? Where do we go from here?

The first thing I think is simple – believe Him. Let his words soak deeply into your heart and soul. Let his claims about himself become the foundation of your faith as you build it.

Second, find Peace in his words. So many times this passage is preached as an evangelistic hellfire and brimstone sermon. That doesn’t seem to fit though. There is no condemnation in the words of Christ. He’s speaking to the 11, the closest friends he has on this earth. The ones that he is going to rely on to start the church. He’s not trying to convert them or scare them into believe - No, this is a passage of encouragement and promise. A passage of peace. You have trusted in God, now trust also in Jesus. He is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. He will get you to God.

Third, take the time to remember that this was not free. It comes at a great cost for Christ. He is the way, yet his way is directly to the cross. He is the truth, yet it is deception that will sentence him to death. He is the life, yet in order for this to happen he must lose his own.

It is no mistake that in the upper room of Passover as Jesus tries to comfort and encourage his Disciples to face the things that are about to happen, that he shares a very intimate meal with them. One that we as followers and as friends now also have the opportunity to share with him. Communion is a time of celebration, a time of encouragement and peace, a time of remembrance. It is a proclamation even today that Jesus is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. As you take the bread and the cup, remember his body and his blood, and hear his words. Let your soul interact with the very heart of Christ as you take the time to remember the sacrifice of a friend.