The Way, Truth, and Life

Hello, everybody. Today is Wednesday, March the 15th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right, and you guys can help us keep the conversation going by supporting this podcast, sharing it online, and leaving us a good review on iTunes, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. But before we say anything more... I'm going to read the rest of it. I think it's time for Ryan to read the rest of the day. Sorry, I wanted to cut in line. Yeah, go for it, man.

Go for it. Um, this is John 14, verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Yeah, this is something I was thinking about yesterday when we were talking about, you know, the resurrection and the life, where he was saying, you know, I am the resurrection and the life. I'm not just one who gives resurrection. I don't just give life. I am life.

And it's the same way here. You don't just... I'm not just going to show you the way to the Father. I am the way. You have to come through me.

I was going to say the same thing. It's not just like, I'm going to lead you to the way, or I'm not one of many ways. I am the way.

I'm it. And a lot of times that spun is like exclusionary language. Like, oh wow, Jesus is talking about it. Like, he narrows the path. But really, there was no way. I mean, there was no path. It's not that Jesus eliminated other options.

He is the only option. He provided an option, but we didn't have one. That's a good point. That's a good point. It's not that he's like, okay, all these other ways are null now. There was never any way.

I hadn't thought about that. Yeah, he made the only possible way for us. We're going to talk about that today. We're going to bring Dr. Shah in and continue this series of episodes that we've been talking about through the I am statements of Jon. You just heard the one that we're going to be talking about today, I am the way, the truth, and the life. But before we do that, I think it's time for the gripe find. You got a gripe?

Yes, I do, because it's happened to me recently, and it just reminded me how irritating this is. Let me get my bucket so we can harvest these grapes off the vine. They are ripe. They are succulent today.

And they are filled with flavor. Let's do it. All right, what's on your mind? My gripe today has to do with books. Specifically paperback books, because hardback, I mean, hardback is hardback. It's its own category, but paperback books. Like mass market books.

Some little thick, short ones in the grocery store. Here's what I cannot stand, what I cannot abide. When you have a paperback book and you lay it down.

I already know, but you're going to say yeah. And the book resists you? It does this right here. Look at this. Look at this. Look at this.

Boop. Excuse me. Absolutely excuse me. I literally opened you to read you, and you are preventing me from doing the thing for which you were designed. Let me do it one more time. Let me do it one more time. Here we go.

I'll even press it down. Look at this. Right here.

Ready? No. That's a slap in the face. Let me show you the ideal. Let me show you the, what is the word? I'm trying to think of the word. Yeah, the ideal.

I can't think of the word. It's okay. Go for it. Here's the... You're worked up right now. Here, I'm furious.

Here's the ideal. Ready? When you hold it like this, already we're starting off well. See that? See that right there? I see it. That's a book that wants to be read.

That's a book that wants you to glean knowledge. Wow. Look at this right here. Can you see that on the camera? Can you see this on the A camera?

I think so. Y'all can see it? I'll put it here. Yeah, they can see it. Here we go.

Ready? Look. Look at that. Here's what's even better. It's the middle of the book.

Maybe the weight of the pages. Look, I'm going to turn to the beginning. Uh-oh. Look, I'm going to turn to the end. Uh-oh.

My man is on this. Look at this. Easy. Rehearse this. This is a book that functions for its purpose.

Yeah. That is a book that does not want to be read. I think there's something poetic in the fact that the Bible does this, but Frankenstein... I got a Barnes and Noble copy of Frankenstein here and it absolutely will not.

It's like a horrid creature of ill design. Whoever designed Frankenstein and whoever designed this book just was like... Books. Paperback books. You'll either find a hardback that's big enough that the cover weighs it down or that snaps shut. I mean, hardback is difficult to have this. But paperback books, if you find one that lays flat, that's like the golden goose.

It is exquisite. It's typically Bibles. I don't read a lot of fiction books. I don't read a lot of fiction paperback books that do that.

It's usually only big ones. I have a copy of... I can't remember the book, but I think it's two books together and it's a big paperback book and if you open it, it'll lay flat. Yeah. That's true. I got a copy of... I don't know if you've ever heard.

It's the big book of Amber where it has all the Amber Chronicles novels in one volume. But it'll do that. It'll lay flat. Yeah. Anyway, that's my gripe.

I feel like with the technology available to us now, we can have 17,000K streaming video. We should have paperback books that lay flat. You know what, man? That's why technology is so successful because they make everything easy. If I want to pay for something, I can do it right there with my fingerprint. They make it easy. Books, y'all need to get with it, man.

If I open a book, it should stay open. I don't feel like that's too much to ask. That's true, man.

That's very true. Y'all need to take a good look at yourselves and the products y'all putting out. I'm just saying.

Because that's money you're losing. Look at the cover. Now, come on. Now, come on.

All right. I got a question of the day coming in from Joshua S. talking to Dr. Shah. What's sitting in your Amazon shopping cart right now that you haven't pulled the trigger on? I bet it's some books that won't stay shut. I bet it's some disrespectful paperbacks. Or they won't stay open. That's what it is.

Disrespectful paperbacks. We're going to get Dr. Shah. We'll answer that question toward the end of the episode. But if you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, send those send those into 252-582-5028 or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be right back. Hey there, listeners. I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, daily devotions to help you move forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start. But a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 Days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's Word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show? Let's do it. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text 252-582-5028. Dr. Shah, welcome to the studio today. It's good to be here. Hope you guys are doing well.

Doing well. Happy hump day to everybody sitting around the table. Oh, it is Wednesday, isn't it?

That's right. Happy hump day to you guys watching at home, listening in your commute, your car, to the radio, wherever you might be listening. Did you just say at home, listening in your commute? I was giving different examples.

Oh, okay. You might be at home. You might be in a commute.

I didn't hear the comma. You might be in space. I don't know. Listening from the International Space Station. Yeah. That would be a dream come true. That would be pretty cool.

We already had a pilot listen, like at 30,000 feet. That was pretty crazy. That was pretty cool. Yeah. Well, if you're new and visiting with us, if you're not driving a plane right now, but you still want to know who's talking to you, Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, a professor at Carolina University, author, pastor, and the host of today's show. You can find all of his work on his website.

That's abbadanshah.com. That's right. And if you've been following along for the past few episodes, you'll know that we've been examining the I am statements of Jesus through the Gospel of John. Jesus had those moments where he said, I am the bread of life, or I am the light of the world.

And each of those statements was not only just a pivotal moment in his ministry, but it revealed a fundamental truth about who Jesus is and how we should view him. Just as you mentioned in this sermon series, Dr. Shah, he is sufficient for what we need today. And sometimes we try to find what we need in a relationship.

We try to find what we need in a career or a title. But Christ alone is what is sufficient for us for today. Right. And the key word there is today, the timing, because yes, he is sufficient for everything we need, whether it's relationship, personal life, emotional struggles, spiritual needs, but it's for today. Yes, he is even for yesterday and tomorrow, but we're not there. So let's not focus on yesterday and tomorrow.

Let's focus on today. And the next I am statement that we're focusing on is I am the way, truth and the life. Now, just like the one about the resurrection of the life, Jesus is talking about something else.

He's sufficient, but he doesn't not necessarily goes back to a festival or a feast, although Passover is also the background. But here it is like a contrast being drawn between Jesus's final words and Moses's final words. You know, John's gospel never ceases to amaze me because it has so many layers of meaning.

It's so rich. You know, sometimes it seems almost jumbled. It seems like a confusing, jumbly mess that you're walking through and nothing seems to make sense. But scholars have come to realize more and more that there is a pattern. There are patterns here in the gospel of John that we can careful study and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us. But careful, meticulous study can help us understand that these patterns are there. When you talked about this on the show before, but it's almost like an archeological dig. Like you're in there and you're examining and you're just very carefully using your tools, and then all of a sudden there's this shining gemstone over here.

And when you look at it, it's beautiful and it's complex and there's different facets in it. But then there's another kind of twinkling over here, and then you see a connection between these two. And then another one emerges over here, and then you realize it's not just like you said, it's not just this random jumble, but there is a pattern. It's a necklace there.

It's sitting there waiting for you to pick it up. And so also here, there is a pattern. And the pattern this time is a little different. To understand the pattern, we have to sort of understand that this statement, I am the way, truth, and life was given in the midst of Jesus's farewell discourse. For those of you who may not know, Matthew, Mark, Luke talk about the last night.

In fact, Luke does more than just talk about the last night. He also gives us some statements that Jesus spoke on the last night. But John from chapters 13 through 17 is nothing but his final words. And that's what we call the farewell discourse. It's a technical term referring to Jesus's final words in the upper room, starting from somewhere between the end of the Passover meal or the Last Supper, washing the disciples feet, sitting at the upper room, walking out, going down maybe past the temple, down the Kidron Valley, into the Garden of Gethsemane. That whole stretch are his farewell words, farewell discourse. Does John's gospel include far more of that account than other gospels? Yeah.

Do people know why that is? Do scholars know why John would have included more? Yeah, it's just that I think John was not just giving us a chronological sequence of Jesus's ministry, as much as he was, these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, you know, Son of God. He wanted people to be not just saved, but be so blown away by who Jesus is, that they would not just be like, Oh, yes, he is the Messiah, but they would fall in love with him. But John, most scholars are now seeing that it was somewhere after 65, and at the latest by, or latest, not in the sense of like closest, but away, by 85, 80.

Wow. So he has had time to marinate his understanding about who Jesus is. He's had time to dig into the Word of God in the Old Testament and see who the Messiah is. He's had time to take some of these words and symbols. And in the life of the church, seeing how those symbols have become so important, he's had time to understand that, and still under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This is not just some man's, you know, reminiscences. This is still under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Yeah. So Matthew, Mark, and Luke kind of give us just the hardcore account of what has happened. John, on the other hand, takes the farewell discourse, and in a sense, he is comparing the farewell discourse of Moses. Now, farewell discourse, just to let you know, it is a literary genre. Many secular works have this, you know, if you ever read the life of, say, Socrates by Plato, you know, Plato notes down and embellishes a little bit Socrates's last words, you know, before he drank the poison, whatever.

So also, Plutarch writes the words of Pericles. We also find the farewell discourse of Jacob. Remember, his sons are surrounding him in the final chapters of the book of Genesis. Then we have the farewell discourse of Moses, which we're going to focus on in the next couple of minutes. Feral discourse of Joshua, right? Hey, whether you serve the gods on the other side of the river or not, as for me and my house, we will serve God.

That beautiful, like, cross-ditched verse that's hanging on people's houses. They don't realize it's Joshua just being like, hey, I don't know about y'all. It's almost like he's giving up on the people, or he's like washing his hands and saying, finally, y'all do y'all's thing. He is. Yeah.

Because he's told them so many times, drive out the enemy, but they're like, oh, come on now. They canonize the nice people. They're okay. I like their food.

I got to go to their bakery at times and buy their stuff. Mima never knew that she hung that up on her, on her, like, doorframe. I mean, it's hanging up in our house too. Yeah. Yeah. All decorative.

Yeah. So, and then there's a farewell discourse of David and all that's too. So how is this connected to Moses' farewell discourse? Or is it? Well, if you stay the Gospel of John carefully, what you find it is that repeatedly there are parallels drawn between Jesus and Moses. Can I give you some examples?

Please, please. John 1 17. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1 45, Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. So it doesn't seem like a parallel, but, but think about it.

It's not that Jesus wrote about Moses, but as Moses writing about Jesus. Right. Right.

Who is superior. The one who is being written about, right? John 3 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. That's a definite parallel for sure.

Yep. And a contrast, John 5 45. Do not think that I shall accuse you to the father. There is one who accuses you Moses in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me for he wrote about me. And then John 6 32. Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven.

Yeah. They're all sort of like that. They're all sort of like, Hey, here's a way I'm not only like Moses, but I'm better. And here's one, exactly what you're saying is John 9 28. Then they reviled him and said, you are his disciple, but we are Moses's disciple. Oh, gotcha. We know that God spoke to Moses as for this fellow.

We do not know where he is from. So they're, they're, they're trying to say the disciples are these religious leaders are trying to say that, you know, we belong to a superior Guild and you, this fellow. Yeah. Yeah.

We don't even, we're not even sure about your pedigree. It's really funny. Like on this side of history, it seems so laughable, but to them, they were like, we got this dude. Right.

We don't, we're not putting him in his place. So when you put these things in, in to take these things into account, what you find is that the farewell discourse, John 13 to 17 is also in a sense, drawing a contrast with the book of Deuteronomy, which is Moses's farewell discourse to the people of Israel. Yeah.

I just thought of one too. Like imagine the Moses's whole goal was to get the people into the promised land, but it's still land. It's still like on earth. Right.

You know what I mean? It's still like a tangible place that not only can pass away in time, but it can be taken from you if you don't obey. And if you don't listen to and heed the word of God, that land can and was taken away from them. Right. Whereas Jesus promises us something that's eternal.

It's everlasting. Yeah. In fact, that's the first superior. So John 14, you want to read that verse one or two?

Absolutely. It says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me and 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. And 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.

Now keep in mind the word from mansions is the word Monet, which can be a room or a dwelling place, sort of like a large house with many subsidiary living quarters. So, but still the point is this, Moses could only point people to the promised land. He couldn't even go in the promised land, right?

In the book of Deuteronomy in chapter one and two, he talks about that. Like, look, because of you guys, I couldn't go in. But what is Jesus saying? Look, guys, the land on the other side, I've seen it. I've been there and I'm going to go there and I'm going to prepare a place for you. Moses is like, go in there and listen to Joshua and please obey God.

Jesus says, no, I'm going there and I'm going to come back to you and I'm going to take you there with me. My heart is starting to beat. Like there's something about this. Like I was feeling it yesterday when we were starting to wrap, like just the idea that Jesus is like, not only have I been there, I'm from there and you listen to me, I'm taking you with me. I'm like, my heart is starting to get like the swell up. I'm like, yeah, I want to go. I'm with you.

I can see how Peter gets so like hyped up on this. It's the difference in, you know, good luck. I'm going to send you on ahead to a place I haven't been. I know that it's where you're supposed to go, but I haven't been there myself. Versus Jesus saying, I'm from there. I've been there. I'm going there and I'm coming back for you to take you there. That's right.

And I'm preparing some places for you. Then there's another superior or this contrast parallel thing happening is where Jesus is not just a prophet. He is a mediator. Moses was just a prophet.

Now, in a sense, he was a mediator as well, but, but, you know, it's, he couldn't completely mediate for them. You know, he could only talk to God for people and people to God kind of thing. But listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse four. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you're going.

And how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you had known me, you had, would have known my father also.

And from now on, you know him and have seen him. So unlike Moses who simply is like, okay, God, what do you want me to say? Okay, I'll take it and tell him, what do you want people? All right, God, this is what they're complaining about. They want water. They want food.

They want meat. Jesus is the way. He is the mediator between God and man. I like how he says that too, where I go, you know, and the way you know. We had a, you know, last year, every year we have a workshop, a yearly annual workshop, some years we have two, where the worship team will come together and Dr. Shaw comes and he gives a devotion.

We just kind of spend some time talking about the heart of worship, you know, worship being part of our core values at Clearview Church. And I guess I could say it. Nicole, it was, it was Nicole.

Nicole said this. We were talking in our group time and she said, you know, sometimes I don't feel qualified to lead other people in worship. And so we started kind of talking about it and going around the table. And I don't, I don't remember how it got said or how we formed that idea, but Dr. Shaw, pretty much what you just said is, is we're leading people to a place that we've been. We've all worshiped God, truly. We've all been, had those moments where we've worshiped in spirit and truth. So as leaders and you listening as worship leaders, or as just leaders in your church, you're not leading people blindly. You're leading people to a place that you've been. And Jesus, even here gives us that assurance where I go, you know, and the way you know, because like he said, he is that way. That's right.

I love that. That's right. And here comes the third superior parallel contrast point between Moses' farewell discourse and Jesus' farewell discourse, which is this. Jesus is not just a servant. He may be a servant to us, but when it comes to God, he is his son. That's right.

Right. So Phillip said to him, Lord, show us the father and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long?

And yet you have not known me, Phillip. He who has seen me has seen the father. So how can you say, show us the father? Do you not believe that I am in the father and the father in me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the father who dwells in me does the works.

Believe me that I am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. I mean, he is repeatedly kind of like driving that point home that he is his father's son. You want to know the father? Look at the son. They are connected just like my biological children are connected to me.

You can see in their face, you can see resemblances of me, sometimes even in my mannerism, sometimes even in my way of thinking. So also when it comes to God the father and God the son, they are connected, right? So Moses was just a servant. He, God, you know, Moses even talks about that and God even says that, you know, Moses, my servant is dead, but Jesus is his son.

Sometimes I feel like we forget that. I've been seeing on Facebook here lately and on the internet just people talking about, you know, Jesus knew that his time was coming and instead of focusing on himself, he washed feet. And like I get that because he did. It was a perfect display of his humility, but they stopped there. They stopped there like as if being a servant is like the end point for Christianity. Like they don't go on to say that one day we're going to bow before him.

He's coming back in glory and he'll be our king. He is a suffering servant, but he is serving us. Not that we're superior to him. No, in his servanthood there is power and authority, but in his relationship to his father, remember the eternal generation of the son, he is eternally the father's son. Is Philip trying to circumvent Jesus here where he says, show us the father and that's sufficient for us. Like that'll be good enough for us if you just give us the father.

In a sense he is. It's like, okay, so we just need to get to the father. So he shows the way.

Tell us the truth. Give us a little secret so we can get to him. And he's like, I am it.

Yeah. Now here comes the final parallel contrast, superior thing between Moses' farewell address and Jesus' farewell address. Are you ready for this one? So who did Moses pass on the baton to? Joshua. Joshua.

Caleb was there too. Yeah. Joshua.

Right. But, but it's Joshua who's going to take the people through the Jordan river into the promised land and help divide it up and help them conquer and drive out the enemy and all that stuff. It was supposed to be Joshua. Now how about Jesus?

But let's read it. John 14 verse 12. Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the father may be glorified in the son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. Who is this another helper? The Holy Spirit. The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans.

I will come to you. You know, when you have the light bulb moment, but you end up at the wrong answer. I was about to cough. If you hadn't said here, let's look at it really quickly. I was about to just confidently be like, so who does Jesus pass the baton onto? Like, Oh yes, us, us. I'm really glad I didn't say yeah. Yeah. Holy spirit.

It's the Holy Spirit. So now compare Joshua. Joshua did the best he could at the ending of that whole, as for me and my house, it's more out of like, I am so tired of few people. I'm done. Given up slowly. Thank goodness. The Holy Spirit never gives up on us.

That's right. Amen. Amen.

That Oh gosh. The, these messages, I feel like we get to the end of them and I'm like, these are some more. I'm not going to lie. I know we shouldn't say this on air, but these are some good episodes. You guys, if y'all ain't listening or if someone in your family listening, they are really missing out.

And Hey, here's the deal. If you enjoy these episodes and you want more of that sermon content, you can find those manuscripts on Dr. Shah's blog, abaddonshah.com. Or if you want to go actually watch those messages, you can find them on our church's website, clearviewbc.org. Go check these out.

These are in the series called sufficient. Just go to the messages tab and look for the sufficient series. You'll be able to watch all of these messages, but don't watch ahead. Yeah. Don't watch the messages.

That's not cute. Cause you're going to get ahead on the episodes. That's right.

You can, if you want to listen, you guys stuck around to the end of the episode. So we're going to answer the question we posed up top. Joshua S what's sitting in your Amazon shopping cart that you haven't pulled the trigger on? Ooh. Oh boy. Wow. Two books right now.

So I have on one hand, this is, this was, this is amazing. I have the religious life of Jeff Stewart, who was a Confederate general in Robert E. Lee's army, his religious life, how he was a believer, a Christian. And I also have John Jasper's biography by William E. Hatcher. John Jasper was a a black preacher prior to the civil war who got saved, who got saved and his owner who was just so blown away by his salvation that he said, look, you go out there and you preach the gospel.

I'll take care of your expenses. Go out there and do that. And he went out there and he passed through the church somewhere near Norfolk area, but he was a pioneer in the field. In fact, his congregation had even had white people who would come listen to him. Wow. So it's kind of, cause it's very interesting when you go back and really study history instead of the propaganda and people's hate and all that. That's quite interesting that you learn about people and you go, wow, not everybody's perfect, right?

Anybody other than Jesus Christ is perfect, but then you see things in them. You go, wow, that's amazing. That is awesome.

So those two books sitting in my thing, I'm going to pull the trigger on both of them. There you go. That's awesome. Very cool. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview today.