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In order to inherit Jesus' life, we must first join Him in His death. Join us as we explore what Jesus' way, truth, and life is, and what that means for us.
Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.
May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you in the final moments of Jesus's life. He tells them that he's leaving which sort of an anticlimactic sort of thing. They've been with him for three years.
They want to follow him. Peter says I'll follow you wherever you go and Jesus says I am leaving. Now he's leaving as we've covered the last couple weeks because he's going to prepare a place for them.
He's going to set up a new kingdom. He's gonna close the chapter on the old covenant. He's gonna open up a new covenant a new creation Chapter. He's doing all of this work while he lies in the grave. But they were confused.
Especially in John 14. Which is by God's providence where we are in the scriptures. We know that they're confused because one of them speaks up. It was Thomas only recorded three times that he speaks in the Bible.
This is one of them and he says Lord. We do not know the way that you're going. We don't know. Jesus tells them that they do know. They do know where he's going. They've been with him long enough to know where he's going.
That he's gonna be marching out of the upper room arrested found guilty like the seed that falls to the earth and dies. They should know Where he is going somewhere deep inside of all the sermons that they had heard him preach and all the parables that they had told him or heard him tell and all the conversations by campfires and upper room discussions and just getting through telling them that Judas was gonna betray them they knew.
Somewhere down inside of them. But they didn't know on the surface. They were confused. They were like a floppy disk trying to load a flight simulator. The spinning wheel of death was happening on their faces.
They had a lot of information. They were trying to compute and not enough processing power. Thomas speaks up. Maybe before he thought. And he says Lord we do not know where you were going and I love the way Jesus answers them.
He doesn't answer them directly. He answers them in the most surprising way. Today, I want us to look at two things. I Want us to look at where Jesus went after the upper room. What led him? Where did he go?
What happened and how did that lead to the empty tomb. And then I want us to look at John 14 and I want us to discover how that Determines everything for us how he's the way how he is the truth and how he is the life.
Those are the things I want to explore together this morning. So if you will turn with me to John 14 verses 1 through 6 5 sermons and 6 verses we are moving. Let us continue John 14. Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God believe also in me in My father's house or many dwelling places. If it were not so I would have told you for I go To prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there.
You may be also and You know the way where I am going. Thomas said to him Lord. We do not know where you were going. How do we know the way? Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, but through me.
Let's pray Lord help us this morning as we examine your scriptures once more as We try to understand what that way is the way of Christ. Lord let us see where that way took you. Let us see what that truth is that you.
That you taught us and let us see what that life is that you have promised. And Lord also today as We close. Let us not stand as spectators of that way. Let us see that in order to have that life that you have promised.
We must follow you on that way. Lord let us see these two things. It's in Christ's name. We pray. Amen. The way that Jesus is talking about is his way to the cross. He told his disciples that they knew the way what he was getting at was not a magic prayer that you pray.
Not a check off that. I accepted Jesus as my Savior today at an Easter service way. He's talking about the way to the cross. The way that was going to end in his death the way that was going to lead to his Undoing.
He was talking about the arrest the trial the kangaroo court being punched in the face. Blindfolded spit in his face skin ripped off thorn shoved down. Mocked malign mistreated and marched up the hill of Calvary for you.
That is the way That Christ is talking about but that is not the end of the story late Friday night. As they took Jesus's body down we're gonna pick up now from where we left off. Good Friday. Late Friday night the Jewish leaders left the hill of Calvary and they marched down the hill and their smugness and their pride.
Thinking that they had accomplished something great. They washed their hands off and then they Oversaw the Passover. They were the ones who led the religious service. That would be like me coming to you and preaching a sermon after I shot someone in the head.
That's what happened. That would be like a husband Declaring his undying love to his bride after he just cheated on her. The Jewish leaders were so blind and so hard of heart that they did not even see the irony of that and as the Sun went down on Friday and A Saturday dawned normalcy.
Came back on the city of Jerusalem for a moment. The status quo came back to the city for a moment. Now Saturday sometime after the Sun went down Joseph of Arimathea Goes and claims the body at that time if you were crucified you would have to claim the body because the Jews had a really high view of the body.
They didn't leave a body hanging on the cross. Even for the worst criminal. They would have gathered it. They would have taken it down. They would have wrapped it. They would have anointed it with oil and they would have put it into a tomb unless you were just in a total scoundrel.
Maybe even like Judas where no one gathers his body and it falls headlong and burst open. Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and he claimed the body of Christ now. He was a wealthy aristocrat. It says that he was a rich man in Isaiah.
It says that he had his own tomb a hand-cut tomb. That would have been a very nice thing to have had at that time. He would have been a man of some status because to go up to Pilate the Roman governor at that time and to get an audience with him you would have had to have some clout and just and Joseph had some clout.
This move was both kind. Loving and dangerous because he was mending to Jesus his own personal family tomb and yet it would have been dangerous because He was a member of the ruling party of the Jews.
He was a member of the Sanhedrin. So they just killed Jesus and now he's outing himself that night saying putting a target on his back in a sense by claiming the body of Christ. It's also fits with the prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah 53 9 says his grave was assigned with wicked men and Yet he was with a rich man in his death. Because he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth? I have no idea if Josephus remembered this passage when he was claiming the body of Christ.
All I know is that by the sovereignty of God 700 years before it happened God prophesied that his own son. Isaiah 53 is about the destruction of his son Would be buried in a rich man's tomb. Isn't that astounding?
Josephus himself was helping fulfill a centuries-old prophecy that God knew and declared. Now he wasn't alone. Nicodemus also joined him. Do you remember Nicodemus if you were here ten years ago and we were in John 3 Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.
He was ashamed To be seen with Jesus and yet here he is Coming to help Joseph. He was outing himself publicly on Holy Saturday. He was showing to the world that I am not no longer a secret follower of Jesus now I am a follower of him.
This is Nicodemus a sort of redemption story the application Could not be more clear. How often do we like Nicodemus? Sort of secretly follow Christ. We go to our work and we don't say anything. We enter into our families and we don't talk about it.
We're ashamed. Maybe that someone will think poorly of us. We think that someone may say something think something believe something about us because we believe in Jesus. So we we sort of go through the motions.
We don't ruffle any feathers. Nicodemus and Joseph Believed what Jesus was about so strongly. That they were willing to lose everything for him publicly and they hadn't even seen him rise from the dead yet.
If you're following Jesus privately secretly nervously fearfully Today is the day To step into the light and follow him publicly. Like your brother Nicodemus and like your brother Joseph that you will be with in heaven today is the day To follow him boldly.
Now these two men they wrapped Jesus's body with strips of cloth. John 19 39 tells us about the Spices and the oils that they used when they anointed his body. This was typical Jewish custom. But because Jesus died late in the afternoon or Friday Sabbath was coming.
And because you're not supposed to do work on the Sabbath and because there's no streetlights in Jerusalem It was getting dark. Sabbath was coming so they couldn't finish the job. They had to rush. This is why the women had to come on Sunday morning to finish The burial procedures they wouldn't have been there had that not happened.
They wouldn't have discovered the empty tomb had that not happened. But I find it interesting in the text that it says that the women were nervous. Joseph apparently and Nicodemus were in such a hurry to grab Jesus and go to Pilate and get all the things together.
That they outrun the women the women don't know where the tomb is and mark. It tells us that they were not sure where the tomb was at first and when they came they found it their anxiety abated. You can imagine that would have been a frightening experience for them.
Again with time constraints, it would not have been surprising. Now they busied themselves Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Christ. They busied themselves gathering all the spices together. All of the things that they would need to finish the job on Sunday morning.
Mark tells us When the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might come and anoint Jesus. So this is now getting into Sunday morning. Sunday morning happens and the Jews wake up after their wonderful feast of Passover after they just Sort of acted religious in front of the entire nation after killing God's only son.
They wake up and they realize there's a loose end that they had not tied up yet. They realized wait a minute. Jesus said he was gonna rise from the dead. Now, of course, they didn't believe that the Sadducees didn't even have a theological category for that.
But the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn't believe in Jesus. So they said the what's the worst that could happen? Somebody comes and steals the body and then the disciples go around saying look he was raised.
And then they would have had an even bigger problem on their hands and they didn't want that to happen. So they also go to Pilate. Joseph goes to Pilate to get Jesus his body. The Jews go to Pilate to guard Jesus his body.
Look at what they say Matthew 27. Now on the next day, it's Sunday morning. Even late Saturday night the day after the preparation the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said sir We remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said after three days I am to rise again.
Therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead and that last Deception will be worse than the first Pilate said to them.
You have a guard. Go and make it as secure as you know, how. And they went and made the grave secure and Along with the guard they set their seal on the stone. I want to find so fascinating is here. As they brought their little army.
They brought their little soldiers. Jesus was Resting on the seventh day. He was dead and in the grave for three days. But if you follow the story, it says that he rose on the first day of the week. Which means that on the seventh day the week he was resting.
Do you remember in the Old Testament? God created the world in six days and on the seventh day. He rested. Is it any coincidence that Jesus is lying in the grave? Resting on the seventh day. Because he's gonna bring about a new creation he's gonna close the chapter on the old creation and when he rises on the first day as The first fruit of a new creation old creation is over.
He's bringing something new. We're not here today. Because Jesus rested though on the set on this on the sixth day. That's a wonderful theological point, but that's not why we're here. We're not here because Jesus kept resting.
We're not here because the disciples scattered and Were shaken in their boots inside of an upper room. We're not here because the dutiful guards were trying to do their duty. We are here because on Sunday morning an Earthquake started shaking the ground and broke that tomb loose shook old creation out of its place.
We are here because the tomb is empty. We are here because the guards were thrown into a panic. The tough guards were thrown into a panic and they Collapsed under the weight of his resurrection. We are here Because women found the tomb empty.
Why are you looking for the living? Among the dead. The tomb is empty. We are here because those women went back to the upper room and they told the cowardly disciples he's risen. They didn't believe it.
Peter starts running. John beats him and Then they get to the tomb and they realized that all of it is true that Jesus has been raised. We are here because John and Peter investigated and saw that the tomb was empty.
We are here because two men were walking home in defeat and Jesus came up on the road beside of them and said What are you doing? And they said are you the only one who hasn't heard of what's happened in Jerusalem?
And I think Jesus was like, huh? I think my news is a little more recent than yours. They keep walking along the road for a little while and then their eyes are open and they say this is the Christ and Then they throw all their safety away.
You didn't travel at night because of thieves and robbers, but they dropped their bags. They ran back to Jerusalem and they told the disciples he is risen. We're here. Because the one who said Lord we don't know which way you're going when he saw Jesus is the one who said my Lord and my God.
The greatest statement of who Christ is in all the New Testament was said by the doubter. By the skeptic by the one who was nervous and confused and broken my Lord and my God. We are here because of our Lord and our God.
Amen. Now with the moments that we have remaining I Want to lean into what that means? What does it mean? That he is the way. What does it mean for us? That he is the truth and that he is the life. Again, the way means the way unto his death.
What he is saying is that if you want to be with me You have to walk my way. If you want to be mine you have to walk my path. Kind of like the old song walk this way, although not quite like that song.
But if you want to be Christ, you have to go where Jesus went. You have to walk where he walked. You have to stop where he stopped before we can have his life. We have to walk with him to his death. So the first thing we must do is we need to walk the walk of death.
Mark 8 35 says whoever wishes to save his life must lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel sake will save it. We have to lose our life because we were born dead. We were dead in our trespasses.
We were dead in our sin. We were born spiritually still born and we cannot resurrect ourself. We can't bring ourself back to life. So if we want life that old man has got to die. We have to walk the path of death.
But you have to go further than that. Because you also have to go with Jesus to the cross. Galatians 2 20 says I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me in the life, which I now live in the flesh.
I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself up for me. You can't just walk to any kind of death. You have to walk to Christ's death. You cannot stand at the cross as a spectator.
You can't stand at the cross with pom-poms and cheerlead Jesus. Good job. You have to be willing to get on the cross. Be crucified. To die with him. It's not enough to be a fan. You must follow him all the way to the cross being crucified with him, but it doesn't stop there.
We must also be buried with him. The Bible tells us that every step that Jesus made we must follow him. Follow him to his death. Follow him to the cross follow him to the grave. Romans 6 4 says therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death as Antithetical as it may sound salvation comes first by death the death of you.
Because if you don't die your old man your old woman you will never live. If your sin nature is not crucified on the cross and buried forever in the grave. You will not live. If you are still a part of the old creation and You've not been given the breath of life from the Holy Spirit of God you will not live if we want to live.
We must die and we must be buried and yet we can't stay there. If we followed Christ to his death followed Christ to the cross followed Christ to the grave. What do you think the scriptures tell us next?
We must follow him out of the tomb. Romans 6 5 the very next verse. For if we've become united to him and the likeness of his death. Certainly, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. If you're in Christ, you don't stay dead.
You're alive. This is why Paul says and if Christ has not been raised our preaching is in vain. If Christ has not been raised you have followed a fool's errand. You have followed a vigilante to a tomb.
But if Christ has been raised then life can only come through him. There's no one else. Atheism doesn't rise from the dead. Scientism doesn't rise from the dead. Preferred pronouns and political movements don't rise from the dead.
Buddha and woke ism. Don't rise from the dead. Joseph Smith transgenderism and The Watchtower Society don't rise from the dead. It is Christ alone who left his tomb empty and Christ alone who is qualified to be the life giver.
He's the only way. That's why he says that if you want to know me you have to go through me. If you want to know God you have To come to me. There is no other way. This is why we can boldly say dear ones with Peter There is salvation and no one else.
There is no under other name under heaven by which There that has been given among men by which we must be saved that Gospel is the truth. Which saves us that gospel is the life which grabs us eternally and keeps us.
He is the way. He is the truth. And he is the life and he has called you to go his way Into his truth so that you can have his life. The gospel is not Your way your truth and your life. The gospel is his way.
Your death his way his truth not ours his life. So if you want to have life You must follow him to death. I prayed today that there'd be someone here who dies today. You're like, what are you talking about?
I hope the old man here and someone dies so that new life can rise up. Because if you want Christ you have to die. If you want your sins snuffed out you have to die. Now, maybe you're here and you're like Judas.
You follow Jesus for years and you've seen all the good things that he's done. But in the end You didn't commit to him and you betrayed him that's not life. Maybe you're like the Apostles when Jesus died and you're scared to to show your allegiance to him and you ran away and hid.
That's not life. Maybe you're like Peter and your false sense of bravado. You'll say I'll go anywhere with you Jesus. Only to crumble when things get tough. That's not life. Maybe you're like Caiaphas and your religion has gotten in your way.
That's not life. Maybe you're like pilot and You don't want to out yourself in front of your friends and in front of in front of the people that you work with. That's not life. Maybe you're like Joseph and Nicodemus and you've been private about your faith for years.
That's not life. If you want Christ you have to follow him all the way to his death and all the way back out of the tomb. Loving his way his truth and his life. That is why I'm pleading for us to die.
If you're already if you've already died and been risen with Christ my prayer for you is That you wouldn't revert back into your way your truth and your life tendencies. It's his way. It's his truth and it's his life and If you are separated from God today, my prayer is that you would cry out to Jesus and you would lay down your way and you would lay down your path and You would lay down your thoughts and your imaginations and your way of thinking and your opinions because they cannot save you.
There is something deeply broken inside of you that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can fix. Will it be your way or it will Be his. Will it be your truth or will it be Christ? Will it be your life which ends which fades?
Which will end up in a tomb that will be found. They're gonna make a mall one day and dig your body up and realize whoop. There's there she was there he was. Because you're perishable. Or will it be his life.
Which is never-ending. Let us pray or 2 ,000 years ago on the cross. You demonstrated your power in that you killed death killed sin and brought about life. You really are the one who like a seed that falls to the ground Germinates and grows and bears much fruit and Lord.
There are many here today who have our evidence of the fruitfulness of you Christ Lord I pray That we would not revert back into our way Into thinking that our truth is somehow more important than yours Lord.
I pray that our opinions our thoughts our heart our attitude our Desires our Theology, I pray that every part of who we are that we would love God with all of our heart soul mind and strength all Of that heart mind soul and strength would be patterned off of your way your truth and your life Lord.
I pray for anyone here who's outside the kingdom of grace. That they would surrender. That the old man the old flesh would die and that you would perform a resurrection. It's in Christ's name we pray amen.