Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, 2022
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Standard Time
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody 5 p. 123
The Lections The Passion History
Hymn #149 Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain
The Sermon – I AM - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
I AM - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
John 14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
6 λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγω ειμι η οδος και η αληθεια και η ζωη; ουδεις ερχεται προς τον πατερα ει μη δι εμου
The double negative (no one...except) removes any chance for an except. English is Greek plus some Latin and German.
This is one of the most important passages for our Age of Apostasy. So many have been beguiled into thinking such idiocies as "All truths are God's truths. All roads lead to Him." That may seem good in an Introduction to Buddhism class, but it is contrary to the Scriptures.
The aim of false religions is to make all religions the same, and that leads to Satanism. If anyone doubts that, read a little about the connections between the the ultra-rich and the occult, that is, Satanic cults.
The is the key verse on whether all roads lead to God, because "the way" is literally the Greek word for road. The road out of slavery was the Exodus. Some might call it a path, too. One cult called itself The Way recently, but Jesus is The Way.
This shows how the Gospel of John anticipated all kinds of error in the future and gave clear, exacting statements to preserve the truth. Just as important, this verse is clarified even more by the second part, which reinforces the first part - for our benefit. Reinforcing is very important, as we can see in cement, a very tough material. However, if it is not reinforced by steel bars, or they rust from water seepage, the same building material becomes as fragile as cookie.
There are not many truths that somehow point in the right direction. There can only be one truth in a universe created by the Logos, the Son of God, acting to execute the commands of God the Father, witnessed by the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1 and John 1).
We can easily dismiss other claims because there is only one truth and Jesus expressed it simply and powerfully.
The life is far beyond what we normally think of as life. This is not biological life, which is bios in Greek, but eternal life, by implication. People who do not believe in Jesus Christ have many notions of life, such as a Presbyterian saying she liked the concept of reincarnation. Scriptural evidence to the contrary did not persuade her at the time. Some think simply that life ends when we stop breathing. Jesus talked about life in abundance, and not filling stadiums, but receiving the blessings of faith, which are uncountable.
The second part proves that the first part of verse 6 is without contradiction or subordination to other concepts. Note that this is just as simple and plain in Greek as it is in English. The New Testament, especially John, can easily be translated and understood in any language. That is another reason why the sceptics want to bury the Fourth Gospel next to Mark, which they also abuse and misrepresent.
No one comes to the Father, except through Me.
There is no other Gospel, no other Savior, no other salvation except through faith in the Son of God, the Savior Jesus.
Proof of apostasy is seeing and hearing so many fake Lutheran leaders joining their Calvinistic, rationalistic mentors in teaching "universal justification" - without faith in Christ - as opposed to Justification by Faith, taught so clearly throughout the Bible, from Genesis 15:6 through the entire New Testament.
Romans 5:1-2 disposes this false notion, foul dogma, but is never read, studied, or quoted by these slaves of their Father Below.
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