Saturday, March 15, 2008

Sermon: Love is the Glory

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Today's sermon is based on John 13:31-14:31. This chapter contains the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Jesus' statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6-7).

The section of John under discussion for the sermon begins with Jesus speaking quite a bit about glory and glorification (John 13:31-32). (Earlier in John we learned that Jesus came to glorify the Father.) This is immediately followed by the "new commandment" to "love one another: just as I have loved you" (John 13:34). Today's section concludes (John 14:31) with Jesus giving the reason for all of his works, the purpose and nature of glory, which is to show love. By Jesus showing that he loves the Father, he shows that the Father loves all the people in the world.

The pervading theme in throughout John chapter 13 through 17 is love: love of God, love for God, love for one another. Thus it is in this context that I believe John 14:6-7 is best interpreted and understood. In fact I believe that the way, truth, and life that Jesus spoke of are fully explained by him immediately in the following verses, in the remainder of chapter 14.

So in this sermon, I make an attempt to explain from the broader context how the pat, surface reading of, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," while correct, may be rather inadequate. I discuss how I believe Jesus intended a much broader understanding and application of his statement.

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