What sets Jesus apart from every other spiritual teacher?
WATCH
I Am, 6 of 7 from April 5, 2026
“Jesus Himself is our only hope to find God.”
John 13-14 by Michael Lockstampfor (@miklocks)
SUMMARY
This sermon explores Jesus’ declaration that he is “the way, the truth, and the life,” showing that knowing God is not about a religious system, feelings, or rules but about a relationship of personal trust with Jesus Christ, who is not merely a good teacher but Yahweh himself. By walking through Jesus’ final night with his disciples before the crucifixion and his death and resurrection, Pastor Michael emphasizes that Jesus alone provides access to the Father and that, although the world is broken and trials come, God uses crisis to increase our trust in who Jesus actually is rather than who we imagine him to be.
REFLECTION & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
💬 What doubts are we maintaining about God’s trustworthiness?
💬 What ways to God have we tried and found wanting?
💬 What did God allow to happen that has eroded our trust in Him?
-
Well, hey, good morning, church, and welcome to our neighbors. If we've not met yet, my name is Michael. I'm one of the pastors here at Neighborhood Church, and I tend to be somebody who is a little bit skeptical.
First impressions are not usually something that I just take for granted. And I like to chew on things. I like to think about things a little bit. I like to look at them from different perspectives. And one of the things that I don't like is I don't like when somebody tells me what I ought to think about something.
I don't know if anybody else has ever had that experience where somebody tells you this is what you ought to. This is what you ought to believe. Let me think about that for a little bit. I want to chew on it. And again, I'm a millennial.
I'm a young guy, and so I'm pretty sure I just am, like, special in every way, and I don't fit in any categories. Some people call me a snowflake. Whatever. I get it. But I do like, like to think about.
I do like to think about things a little bit more critically. And so what we've been doing over the last couple weeks here at Neighborhood Church, if this is your first time, no worries. You're gonna be able to track. It's gonna be great. But what we have been doing over the last couple of weeks is instead of just listening to what other people have to say about Jesus, what the opinions are on TikTok or what the biggest news bulletin is at any given time, instead of just, like, listening to all of the buzz about Jesus.
We took a couple of weeks, and we've been looking at some times where Jesus said, this is who I am. This is who I am. This is what I'm like. And there's been several times where he just kind of has stopped a conversation and said, I am like this. And he usually.
It's interesting. He doesn't talk like I do because when I say, when I introduce myself, I introduce myself as Michael. I am one of the pastors here, right? But when Jesus introduces himself, he calls himself kind, goofy things. He says, I am the bread, and I am the light, and I am the door.
Like, that's not how I would usually introduce myself. And so it's been a really, really interesting study to see, okay, not only what does Jesus say about himself, but then what does he mean by those statements? And so if you want to catch up on some of those conversations, the most up to date right now is if you check out our YouTube channel. All that stuff is there on YouTube for you to go back and listen to.
But yeah, the text that we've been using is what is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of John or the Book of John. And as far as, like, historical documents go, this is as reliable of a historical document as we're ever really going to get. This is a biography about Jesus life that was written by one of Jesus best friends in the whole world. So he had 12 guys that he hung out with. We sometimes call them the apostles.
And they didn't glow in the dark or anything. They were just 12 dudes. And as they spent time with Jesus, their lives were transformed. It's funny how that happens. And one of the.
He had the 12, and then there were three that he spent the most time with. And John was one of the guys that was the three. Somebody who knew Jesus well, who followed him around, who knew his inside jokes, like, all that kind of stuff. And he sat down to write an account of, like, what. Who did Jesus say he is?
And so that's what we've been looking at over the last couple of weeks. I've got one more for you today that we're going to look at, and then next week I've got the last one. Actually, we're going to do kind of tackle two today. It's going to be a bit of an adventure, but are we ready for that? Can we go on an adventure together?
All right, lovely. Well, it's our habit as neighborhood church to pray. The Disciples prayer. You might know this as the Lord's Prayer or something like that. We're praying it out of the English Standard version.
So the words might be a little bit different than what you grew up saying, which is. Okay, more important than the words, what Jesus invites us to do is to settle our heart into these attitudes. And so let me just invite you. Maybe you're kind of stressed out, you're uncomfortable. Maybe this morning there was extra pressure to get here on time and things like that.
And so let's just name that for what it is, and let's just set that aside for a moment. So let me invite you to just take a deep breath.
Let's close our eyes together.
And if you haven't yet talked with God yet this morning, just say, good morning, Lord. We're here for you. And so we pray together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we Also have forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen.
So as we take a look at what Jesus said about himself, let's turn together to John chapter 13 to start. So navigate with me to John 13. If you want to follow along in these blue Bibles that are kind of tucked around under the chairs, I'm on page. What page is this? 1040.
1040 in the blue Bibles. And if you don't have a Bible at home that's like in a translation that you can kind of engage with, just write your name in the front of that one and take that one home. Let that be our gift to you. This morning we're in John chapter 13 on page 1040 in the blue Bibles. If you want to follow along there, don't take my word for it.
For real, like, read it. That's what we're reading today. Now, as you're navigating there, the book of John is really interesting. Chapters starting in chapter one to chapter 12 covers about three years worth of time. So just think about what are all the things that have happened in your life in the last three years?
A couple of things. Maybe we bought a new house, maybe we started a new job. Like, if you were going to write a book and you had 12 chapters to write about the last three years, like, what pace would you have to do? Right. Like, you'd have to summarize some things.
You'd have to move relatively quickly to cover that. So in John, the first 12 chapters covers about three years, starting in chapter 13. Chapter 13 to about chapter 19 covers three, about three days. So if we were going to sit down and read this whole biography together, we'd be chucking along. We'd be moving along at a pretty good clip.
We'd cover three years and about 12 chapters, and we'd hit chapter 13 and it would feel like everything is moving in slow motion, right? It's like everything slows down. And what's happening In John chapter 13 is it's the night before Jesus is betrayed. It's the night that he's betrayed. It's the night before he's arrested and executed.
And he knows he's got one more shot to spend time with these 12, 12 guys that he's kind of collected over the last few years. I've got one more night. I've got one more thing that I can sit with them and I can talk with them and I can teach them. And do you know what he does? To start with, this is interesting.
It's not in my notes, but it's interesting. He sits them all down and they're kind of chatting amongst themselves, and they're actually arguing about which of them is the best. I actually think it has to do with the seating arrangement, like who gets to sit where, who gets to sit next to Jesus and all this kind of stuff. They're kind of arguing about who's the best of them, right? I told you they were just dudes.
And as they are arguing about who's the best, Jesus gets up from the seat of honor and begins to wash all of their feet and shows them, hey, like, the best among you is going to be the one who serves like I do. It's fascinating. And he washes everyone's feet there. So you've got 12 apostles, 12 disciples. They're all there.
He washes all of their feet. He washes the feet of a guy that you may have heard of. His name's Judas. And after he washes Judas feet, after he gives a little bit of a teaching, Judas gets up and he leaves. Right?
And so that's where our story picks up. In John, chapter 13, starting in verse 31, I'm going to start in verse. No, that's not right. Yes, it is. No, it's not.
I'm looking at the wrong place on the page. Okay, I am going to start in verse 31, but it's not in chapter 14. It's chapter 13. Okay. Excuse me.
John, chapter 13. Starting in verse 31. When he had gone out. So that's Judas. When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you, you will seek me. And just as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another. Simon Peter said to him, lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, lord, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered me, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God.
Believe also in me. I'll pause there. So one of the things, if you're not kind of familiar with the Bible, one of the things that you should know is like the chapters and verses, those Numbers on the page, they're kind of added later. And so as John was writing this, he wrote it to all kind of be read together. The chapters and verses help us navigate.
So like when I say, you know, chapter 13, verse 31, we can all be on the same paragraph really quickly. But that's not how John wrote it. John didn't, like, put a giant 14 in the middle of the page as he was writing this. We added that in later. So those breaks are somewhat arbitrary.
So on this last night, on this last night, as Jesus has washed their feet, Judas leaves. And Jesus says that glory is coming, and it's coming right on schedule.
Now, the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. Like, everything is happening according to schedule, and glory is coming right on schedule. Now, what is glory? It's a word that can talk about radiance and brightness and light.
So, like, when you turn on. When you turn on the lights first thing in the morning, you know you were just waking up and you like, flip that switch. Blah. Like, that's an expression of glory, right? Like, oh, it's so radiant, it's so bright.
It's interesting. Cause Jesus had as just said, not just said, but in this book and in the study as we've looked at it, that Jesus said that I am the light of the world. Whoever believes in me will never walk in darkness. Jesus lights up things that we cannot see on our own. Like, now that Judas has left, things are progressing right on schedule, and it's time for glory.
It's time for us to be able to see the things that we were meant to see. Glory may also relate to this idea of weightiness, like a heaviness, a weight. Like it's not just bright and glorious, but it also is heavy. It's important. This night that's now moving in slow motion is a significant turning point to all of human history.
Everything's been set in motion. It's all going according to the right time. And this is heavy.
He had predicted his departure before. He's saying, now is the time and so when I leave, what I need you to know when I am gone, the thing that you have to remember, the thing that you have to grasp, the thing that you have to wrap your arms around, is that you ought to love one another as I have loved you.
He's demonstrated that, like, just in the last couple hours, you guys came in here dirty. You kind of stink a little bit. Y' all are arguing about who's the best. Let me love you, bro. Let me wash your feet.
In fact, if you don't let me love you, you don't have a part in me. And so as I go love one another, that's the way that people are going to know that you're my disciples. Disciples is kind of a church word. I think probably the quickest corollary that we have in modern English is like an apprentice. If you're a carpenter's apprentice, you go to the master carpenter and you watch what he does, and he shows you how he does it, and he talks you through it, and then he gives you the tools, and then you take the tools and you try to do what the master carpenter does until you then become the master carpenter.
That's a disciple, is an apprentice. And the way that the world. The way that people that are far from God are going to know that these men are disciples or apprentices of Jesus, is if they happen to actually love one another as I have loved you. It's not about what faith you circle in on the census. It's not about, like, what imagery you wear in your jewelry or what messages you put on your T shirt.
Like, those are all cool things. And I hope you, like, wear and broadcast your faith. But he says the way that you broadcast your faith so that other people buy it, so that other people know for sure, is if you love one another.
But there's this thread of confusion throughout. He says, where are you going? Why can't we come? We don't know how to follow you. If we don't know what the way is.
We don't know where you're going to be able to follow. You say, we're going to follow later, but how are we going to get there? There's this thread of confusion. And Peter says, like, why can't I come with you? I'm going to.
I would die for you. And Jesus says, yeah, Pete, I appreciate your heart, but you won't. Because Jesus knows in the next couple of hours he's going to be arrested and put on trial. And Peter's going to pretend like he doesn't even know the guy.
Peter is going to be driven by a selfish preservation, and we all kind of start there. But as Jesus had said that he is the bread of life, he looks at a group of selfish people and says, let your selfish desires drive you to me, and then let me rewire your selfish desires.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. These guys have given up their livelihood. They left their job.
So their paycheck went from, like, being a paycheck that they could work for to just living off of donations of people. They're following Jesus around. They've been following him around for three years. Now he's saying, I'm leaving. Like, wait, dude, you're the one who's holding this all together.
What do you mean you're leaving? What do you mean I can't go with you? Everywhere you've gone for the last three years, I've gone with you. What do you mean I can't go with you? Yeah, you can't come with me.
I'm leaving. But believe in me. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in me.
He's queuing them up for a trial. There's going to be a test. There's going to be a crisis. But God's goal in crisis is to increase our trust, not just to make us comfortable, not just to make it easy. God's goal in our trials is to increase our trust.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Well, how do I do that? Cause I got troubles. You got troubles. Y' all don't got troubles.
It's just me. I got troubles. I got lots of troubles. And Jesus invitation to me, then maybe not to y', all, but to me is, don't let your heart be troubled. Well, how am I not gonna let my heart be troubled when I got all these trou.
Yeah, believe in me. Like, what does that mean? Like, am I just in my head gonna say, okay, I'm pretty sure that Jesus is who he says he is? And, like, I think that's the right thought to think. And so I'm gonna let those thoughts, like.
Like, what is that gonna do? He says, no, no, no. Believe in me. Believe in me. Don't just think about me.
Don't just know something is true in your.
Act as though what is real is real.
Because we do what we believe is true. Our behaviors validate our beliefs. I don't think it's intellectual. I don't think he's saying, academically, you should believe that I am the Son of Man and the son of God. I don't think he's saying, like, sign off on the doctrinal statement, fill in the right answer on the Scantron.
I think what he's saying is, believe in me, trust in me. It's not academic. It's relational. Who are the people that you trust? Like, who are the people that you trust in?
Because there's some people that I trust. I trust some people I trust, and I love them to death. I trust the waitresses. I do. I trust that when I tell them the order, they're going to reliably confer that to the.
To the cook. I trust that the cook is going to cook the thing the way that I said that I wanted it to cook. Not all of us have the same trust that I have. That's okay. That's all right.
Some people are more skeptical than others. I trust them. I trust them when I give them my debit card, right? And they go off with it, which does make me a little bit nervous. But I trust them that they're gonna charge and they're gonna bring it back to me, right?
I trust them, but I don't trust in them.
When crisis comes. Like, I'm not, like, dragging myself to the diner and hoping that they'll make sure that I can get home. Like, I trust them, but I don't trust in them. Who are the people that we trust in?
God has filled my life with a lot of people, a lot of beautiful people and a lot of trustworthy people. I'm so grateful for the community that he's surrounded me in, and I'm grateful to have grown up in the family that I did, because for a long time, the person I trusted in was my dad.
He just always knew. He didn't always know the answer. He couldn't always verbalize it. In fact, most of the time, he wouldn't say anything because he didn't talk very much. I was the one who did all the talking.
And he just sat there and kind of nodded. But he always had a solution or he had a resource or he had something that it was going to be okay. And I knew that if I brought my problem to him, that it would be okay. Somehow I trusted in him.
And Jesus is saying, believe in God, trust in God and trust also in me. Jesus is saying, of all of the people that you can go to, of all of the advice that you can run to, of all of the resources and supplies that. That you can put your faith into, put it in me, put it in God, and put it in me, Jesus. Those are two different things. Like, you're talking about God, like, God's God.
And you got 12 guys following you around. Like, who are you? What are you talking about? Trust in God and trust in you. What is even happening here?
Let's keep reading. Okay, well, before we keep reading, let me just ask you one more question. What doubts are we maintaining about God's trustworthiness? What doubts are we maintaining about God's trustworthiness? I don't think it's unreasonable to have doubts about God's trustworthiness.
There's times where you have. Like, if you're gonna be trustworthy, somebody's gonna have to put you to the test. Cause you don't know somebody's character until you've tested it, right? Character's tested over time. So I'm not saying that you can't have any doubts about God's trustworthiness.
I'm asking, what doubts are we maintaining about God's trustworthiness? Which doubts are your pet doubts that you're not willing to let go, that it doesn't matter what anybody says, you're still gonna doubt it just a little bit.
What doubts are we maintaining about God's trustworthiness? And I don't think it's just intellectual or academic. I think it's relational, too. Now we can keep reading. Start again in chapter 14.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have.
Would good Lord, help me. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself. That where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going.
Thomas said to him, lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.
From now on, you do know him and have seen Him. Philip said to him, lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me? Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works himself. So Jesus says, don't let your hearts be troubled. There's a lot going on right now, but I'm going to prepare a place for you.
And I wouldn't have told you I was going to prepare a place for you if I wasn't going to prepare a place for you. So I'm telling you because I'm doing it, all right? So I'm going to leave. I'm going to go and prepare a place for you. In their context, in, like, Jewish culture, if a couple was engaged, it was expected that the betrothed husband would go and he would build a house for his bride to be before they got married, that there was no wedding until there was a place for him to take them.
And so Jesus is saying, I'm going to prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you may be also. I'm gonna make sure it's ready before you get there. Right. And it wasn't uncommon either for them to, like, build onto their dad's house. So sometimes you end up with these compounds, like dad's house is, and then sons houses here and sons.
And then they end up building in a circle. There's a courtyard. They got the whole family under one roof. It's pretty interesting thing. But that's, I think, what they're hearing when Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you, I'm leaving to make sure that there's somewhere that we can be together.
There is a destination to arrive at. There's a place that we are going, but the directions are not geographical. I made a joke this morning. Somebody was concerned about, like, navigating to the next place. Like, if I forget my phone, I don't know how to get where I'm going.
Anybody else? That's me. Don't tell me how to get there. Text me the address so I can have Google tell me how to get there. Right.
I said, well, we'll print off some MapQuest directions. Anybody remember MapQuest? Yeah. Still use it at work. Lovely.
Yeah. Remember, you had to, like, know where you were going beforehand and then, like, print out the directions. Right. And there's some of you that are, like, that newfangled stuff. I remember when we had a map, it didn't know where you were going.
It didn't care where you were going. It was up to you. To know where you were going. You find it. You find it yourself.
And you hope that the lines correspond to the roads because there's no guarantee when it was printed.
There's a destination to arrive at. But the directions are not geographical. There's nothing landmark. Philip is saying, like, how do we get there? Show us the directions, like, let us know where we should turn left at.
And Jesus says, you already know the way. It's not a geographical, It's a relational way. The way to God is not a system. It's not a religious system. It's not a mathematical system.
The way to God isn't a system. It's not some kind of an algorithm that we have to unlock. The way to God is not a feeling that we experience and then we spend the rest of our lives trying to relive ad nauseam. The way to God is not a set of data that we memorize and then regurgitate whenever things get hard. The way to God is not a magic spell that we have to say correctly in order to be heard.
The way to God is not a charitable act of kindness to family or a charitable act of kindness to strangers. The way to God is not a political victory that will fix everything that's broken in our nation. The way to God is not a weekly habit of sitting in a box while someone tells you that everything that's wrong with the world and why you'll never get it together. The way to God is now and only ever has been a person, the person of Jesus. He says, I am the way.
He says I am the truth. He says, I am the life. If you want to get to God, I am, you got to come through me. And if I told you I was going to prepare a place and I wouldn't have told you if it wasn't true. He says, if I wasn't the way, I wouldn't have told you that I was.
That's not something that you just get to teach.
For those of you who kind of know me, you will not be surprised to hear me say, like, pastor Michael is not the way. If you, like, follow Pastor Michael, the best that you get is a bad imitation of somebody who's really trying to follow Jesus. Jesus is our goal. We put Jesus first.
He is the way. It's not me. It's not neighborhood church, it's him. And so if you get connected to church, if you get connected to friendships and relationships, if you get connected to doing good works and you don't get connected to Jesus, then you're still in Danger. Because Jesus himself is our only hope to find God.
If there was another one, I'd tell you. If there was another option, I would tell you.
But we like to troubleshoot, don't we?
Yeah, I know you said that that's the way, but like, what if there's some other ways? I know the GPS said to turn right, but like, do they really mean to turn right? Because I'd like to just go straight here, here. And then we get frustrated at the GPS and we didn't listen to the gps, right? What ways to God have we tried and then found wanting?
Because there's all kinds of ways. I I the reason I that that list that I gave a system, a feeling, data, magic spell, charitable act. That list was not just an arbitrary list I pulled out of the sky. I thought of people's faces, I thought of stories of people that I know who have tried ways to God. So what ways to God have we tried and found wanting?
Friends, no one gets it right the first time. If you got it right the first time, if you were already living everything perfectly, then you'd have no need for Jesus to come and help you at all. And if your God already agrees with all of your opinions and all of your thoughts, then I'm concerned that perhaps you found false God.
And so let me encourage you to come to the one who alone says he's the way.
Philip says he wants to see God, which I think is good, because there's some days where I don't really want to see him. Some days I'm like, you can stay over there. I'm just going to, I'm going to do my thing here. But Jesus says that Philip knows God because he knows Jesus. Jesus is the clearest, visible example of the heart and mind of God.
You want to know who God is and what God is? Like read the stories about Jesus. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son Jesus, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world. He's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Now, I told you as we're looking at John, that everything's kind of moving in slow motion. So I'm going to ask you to turn a couple of pages in your Bible to chapter 18. But as we do that, we're not flipping days, we're just flipping minutes. Okay, so minutes later, we're in John chapter 18.
Jesus has spent the rest of the evening talking with his disciples, teaching his disciples, praying for his disciples. He prays for you, too. That's in chapter 17. I don't have time for that one. But if you want to be encouraged this week, go back and read John 17.
And in chapter 18, it is the end of Jesus teaching. He has moved all of the disciples to a garden. They're supposed to be praying together. And that's where we pick up in chapter 18, starting in verse 1, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. Now, Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.
So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, whom do you seek? They answered him, jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with him.
When Jesus said to him, I am he. They drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, whom do you seek? And they said, jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered them, I told you that I am he.
So if you seek me, let these men go. Let me pause there. There's something that's happening here, kind of that I want to draw out for you. You might not see it right on the page out front. So Jesus has withdrawn to a garden, and now there's some people, like, coming with with pitchforks and weapons and torches to come and find Jesus.
Now, this sounds intimidating, but when it says that some soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, when it says that phrase, he's saying that they got some people together that work security at the temple to come and to arrest Jesus. So that's a little bit like being arrested by mall cops at your house. They work security at the temple. If you mess up at the temple, sure, you're gonna have to deal with them. But for them to come to your house and to try to arrest you, like they should have called the real cops to come and arrest me if they're gonna come to my house because I'm not on mall property anymore, right?
So it sounds big and intimidating, but it's a little bit silly. And so these guys walk up to Jesus with their torches and with their pitchforks, and Jesus knows exactly what's going on and what's gonna happen? Did you see that? Then Jesus, verse 4. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, he's not surprised by what's going on.
He knows what was going to happen. He came forward and said to him, whom do you seek? And they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am He.
Jesus is going to consent to their arrest as long as he lets his people. He lets his disciples go. In verse eight, I told you, I'm He. So if you seek me, let these men go. He says, you can arrest me, but let the other guys go home.
Let them go home. And I think we see the heart of a good shepherd who's caring for his sheep. Like the good shepherd, Jesus gives us life and love with God as we join his flock. He cares for and he protects us. He is the door that filters out our deadly distractions as we recognize his leadership, like Jesus is caring for the men that are entrusted to his care.
He says, you can arrest me, but let these guys go free. But there's much more going on here than just good leadership. The English translation expands Jesus response a little bit. So in the translation, they say, I am He. The words he said as they were written are, I am.
Who is it that you were seeking? Jesus of Nazareth. Nazareth I am.
Now you can see why the English translators would add a he like that. Just makes it grammatically correct. Right? But I don't think Jesus was making a grammatical point. I think he was making a theological point.
Who are you seeking? Jesus of Nazareth. I am.
In Exodus 13, this is 400 years. 4, 5. 400 years. 400 years before this, Moses talking with a burning bush, as one does.
And the burning bush is saying, hey, you're going to go back to that tyrannical government that oppressed you. And you're going to go and you're going to deliver this group of slaves out of there, and I'm going to use you to do it. And Moses says, then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am.
And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you. That word, that phrase, I am is often translated as Yahweh, or you will sometimes see it translated as Jehovah, like it's the personal name of God. Who is God? God is the God.
Who is I am. Who I am. I will be who I will be. I have been what I have been. I'm the God who exists.
It's my personal name. When you see Lord in all caps in the Hebrew scriptures, in the Old Testament, it's that word Yahweh, I am. And so as Jesus, this man, this rabbi, this teacher whom the Pharisees have been scoffing at the whole time, who they've been trying to catch him in his words, who they have tried now to set up a plan to assassinate him because he's resurrected another man from the dead, Lazarus, which last story was last week. They come to him and he says, who are you looking for? We're looking for Jesus of Nazareth.
They don't even know who he is or what he looks like. I guess it was dark. And he says, I am. And what do they do?
When Jesus said to them, I am He in verse 6, they drew back and fell to the ground. He says, I am. And they just fall over.
Jesus is Yahweh, one with the Father in a way that's beyond comprehension.
If he were just a guy, if he were just a good teacher, they would have killed him and that would have been the end of the story.
But here, he's going to willingly subject himself to their unjust violence. They're going to drag him away.
They're going to convince the Roman officers unjustly that he's worthy of the death penalty. He's going to drag. He's going to be whipped and dragged across out to the garbage dump where they're going to set it up and nail him to it. He's going to hang there for hours until he declares everything he came to do is finished and he dies according to the right time.
They're going to come and try to speed up his death, and they're going to be surprised that he's already gone. He left when he was ready.
They're going to take him down and they're going to bury him. And it's a holiday weekend. It's not a great time for public execution.
So it's going to take a couple of days before the disciples can come and come to the tomb. And Mary is going to come to try to take care of the body. And she's going to find that it's open.
There's going to be some guys standing around, and she's going to ask him, where did you take him?
She's going to recognize that it's Jesus who's talking to her. She's going to go back and she's going to tell Peter, she's going to tell John. And they're just some dudes. Because of all of the important stuff that gets communicated in the Bible about this event. One of the things that John wants you to know is that he ran faster than Peter to get there.
Now you tell me they aren't just some dudes.
So John outruns Peter to the tomb, and he sees that it's open. And Peter just barges right in and sees that not only is it open, the body is gone, and Jesus is folded his clothes. That's how you know he was a perfect man.
But his body's gone. And the first thing they think, these guys have been with him for three years. The first thing they think is somebody stole him. We watched him die. And so somebody stole him.
He had told him at least three times, when we go to Jerusalem, they're going to kill me, and then I'm going to come back from the dead. And the first thing they thought was they stole him.
And I just draw that out to let you know that if you don't get it the first time, that's really okay. None of us do.
But Jesus himself is our only hope to find God.
So if this is the first time you're hearing that story, that's the whole reason why we celebrate Easter. That's the whole reason why we celebrate anything on a Sunday morning. If this is your first time, then I hope that that's encouraging to you. And I hope that that will be the start of something beautiful, that you'll put your trust in Him.
But none of us get it right the first time. And so I actually want to talk to those of you that have heard the story before, and you're still holding him at a distance and saying, you know what? I still got some stuff that I want to work out. I. I don't think I need you in this.
Can I just show you one more passage? Let's look at John 20.
It's been a couple of days. And Jesus appeared to Mary at the tomb. And the disciples saw the empty tomb. And then they're all huddled together. They're afraid in the upper room.
They've locked the door. And then Jesus just like spawns in. He just shows up and he's like, hey, peace. Peace be with you. And they're freaking out, right in John 20:24.
Now, Thomas, one of the 12, called the Twin. He wasn't with them when Jesus came, so he didn't get to see him show up in that room. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the Mark of the nails and place my finger into the Mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. I'll never believe.
I will never believe.
And eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. And although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood, stood among them and said, peace be with you. And he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. And Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God.
Jesus said to him, have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. I've got a ton of respect for Thomas. I get it. I get the skepticism, I get the wanting to investigate.
But man, I love Jesus heart for him.
Jesus got to pick when he showed up. And he showed up in the room at a time when Thomas was out running errands or something.
Jesus could have got them all at the same time, and he didn't.
And now he has this conversation with Thomas. And this is what makes me think that it's not just intellectual, right, that the belief is a trust. It's a relational trust. He doesn't just say, lord, I see you now. I believe the fact that resurrection, he said, I trusted you when you were here, but then you lost my trust.
Jesus, I followed you for three years, but you lost my trust when you let yourself get killed. Like there was a way that this was supposed to go. We were supposed to ride into Jerusalem and everybody was saying that you were going to be the king. So we were going to lead a political revolution and you were going to be in charge and I was going to get to be a governor or something. I don't know.
I like I trusted you, I followed you, but you lost my trust when you let something happen. I just wonder, what did God allow happen in your life that has eroded your trust in him?
I don't think Thomas is the only one.
The world is broken.
Bad things happen, we lose people. Stuff doesn't work out right? We get passed over. That person that we cared about walks out of our life and never comes back. What did God allow to happen that has eroded our trust in him?
The world is broken, but Jesus never wastes our pain.
One of the things that Jesus said he is, and he was talking about resurrecting another person. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. He brought a dead man back to life after four days. And Jesus brings the dead to life yesterday, today and tomorrow. God's goal in trials is to increase our trust.
But it's not trust in who you thought that Jesus was.
Because there's a lot of times where we come to Jesus and we think we know what he is and what he's like, and then we're disappointed when he doesn't do what we want.
His goal is to increase our trust in him. Who actually is the way to God is a person, not a fact sheet to memorize or a list of to do's or to don'ts. It's a person.
God's goal in trials is to increase our trust in who Jesus actually is. He is the only way to the glorious fulfillment of our life with God. He is the only true light by which we see what is real. He is the only life life abundant with hope, joy, peace and love. Because Jesus himself is our only hope to find God.
Because Jesus himself is God. And as God, he is our only hope to find God.
Thomas sees and he doesn't answer intellectually. He answers relationally. He says, my Lord and my God.
So do you see him?
Do you believe?
Will you trust?
Will you exclaim today? My Lord and my God, you're alive. Come live in me.
Let's pray.
Jesus, I do thank youk for your word. And Lord, I pray that if there's anything I've said that's been a distraction from your words or your truth, that that would be forgotten real quick. But Lord, where I've been able to articulate clearly your heart and your mind and your truth, Lord, I just ask that we would not be able to shake it.
Jesus, I thank you that you're alive, that you're risen, that you're not some old dead philosopher who left us a book, but you are the living God who is writing your Word in our hearts this morning. And so, Jesus, I pray that if there's somebody who's hearing my voice that feels that tug to trust you, maybe for the first time, Lord, I ask that you'd meet them in that moment, that you'd continue to grow their trust.
You alone are the shepherd of your sheep. And so I pray that you would shepherd our hearts. This morning.
I just want to give us a couple of minutes. Our world is so noisy. I just want to give you a couple minutes of quiet to sit and ask how the Lord is leading you this morning. There's some questions that we talked about on the screens. If it's helpful to look back at them.
I just want to give you a couple of moments to sit with Jesus and to talk with him.
Sa.
We thank you for your work in us this day. It's in your name we pray. Amen.
LINKS
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
