The Way

NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST
THE WAY
DR. JIM DIXON
JOHN 14:1-10
AUGUST 17, 1997

Today when a person believes in Jesus Christ, that person is called a Christian, from the Greek word “Cristianos.” Now, in the first century AD, Christians did not use this title Christian to describe one another. Christians didn’t call Christians “Christians.” Believers didn’t call believers “Christians.”

In the first century, it was non-Christians who called Christians “Christians.” It was non-believers who called believers in Jesus Christ “Christians.” This label, this title, was derogatory. It was a derogatory term. It was a word of derision. It wasn’t really until the second century when Christians took this derogatory term and proudly applied it to themselves.

But what did Christians call themselves in the first century? If they didn’t call themselves Christians, how did they refer to themselves? How did they label themselves? How did they describe themselves? Well, there’s ample evidence, both in the Bible and in early Christian literature, that the first century church referred to itself—Christians described themselves—as “people of The Way,” “followers of The Way.” They referred to the Christian faith simply as “he hodos,” “The Way.” They did this because of the title of Jesus Christ where Jesus Christ said “Ego eimi he Hodos,” “I am the Way.”

This morning we examine this title, “The Way.” Why did Jesus Christ say, “I am the Way?” Why did the early church take this title and apply it to itself? Why did the early church use this title to describe the Christian faith itself? Well, this title has two meanings, and these comprise our two teachings. First of all, this title the Way, “He Hodos,” refers to the path of righteousness. When Jesus Christ said, “I am the Way,” Jesus Christ was saying, “I am the path of righteousness.”

Now, the word hodos, the Greek word for way, is used 55 times in the New Testament in the literal sense where it refers to a road or a path. It is also used 46 times in the New Testament figuratively. And the figurative use of he hodos, the way, almost always refers to the path or righteousness. Jesus Christ is the Way. He is the path or righteousness.

In the Old Testament, in the 23rd Psalm, the Psalmist writes, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ tells us He is not only the Shepherd Lord, but He is the path of righteousness. And therefore, He says to His people, “Follow Me. I am the Way. I am the path of righteousness. Follow Me.” But very few people do. Very few people follow Christ. Very few people are on the way. Very few people walk the path of righteousness.

You know, in the year 1987, M. Scott Peck, the well-known psychologist, wrote a book called “The Road Less Traveled,” published by Simon and Schuster. It was a best-selling book. At the time Peck wrote that book he was not a Christian. He would later dabble in Christianity. To this day, he remains a religious pluralist. But in his book “The Road Less Traveled,” he was not far from the truth. Peck believed that the road less traveled was the road to emotional maturity and the road to spiritual growth. That’s a road rarely traveled.

The Bible tells us that the road that is really the least traveled road is the path of Christ, the path of righteousness. This is the road in our world less traveled. This is the road least traveled. Jesus said, “Wide is the gate, easy is the path (he hodos) that leads to destruction and many there are who find it. But narrow is the gate and hard is the path that leads to life and few there are who find it.”

This morning Jesus Christ would say to you and to me, “Follow Me. Walk the path of righteousness.” This is not an easy call. You know, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, chapter 5, verse 6, we have the Beatitudes. Jesus Christ, in verse 6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” If you walk the way, if you walk this path of righteousness, you will be blessed and you will be satisfied. No other path can bless you. No other path can satisfy you.

Now, I would like us to take a brief second and look at this Greek word “righteousness” which Jesus uses in Matthew 5:6. I shared this with the men’s group some weeks ago and with the college group and I want to share it with you. This word righteousness in the Greek is “dikaiosune.” It’s not an abnormal word but it’s in an abnormal form. Jesus puts this word, dikaiosune, this word righteousness, in an abnormal form. Normally, the object of your hunger, the object of your thirst, would be in the genitive form. It would be a partitive genitive. If it were in the genitive form, you would be saying—for instance, if you hunger for bread and bread is in the genitive, it’s a partitive genitive—that you’re hungering for some bread. If you’re thirsting for water and water is a partitive genitive, that would mean you’re thirsting for some water. This was normal usage.

However, Jesus, when He says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,” He doesn’t put righteousness in a partitive genitive. He uses a direct accusative. Now, if you put bread in a direct accusative and you said, “Blessed are those who hunger for bread,” you’d be referring to the whole loaf, all of the bread there is. You hunger for all the bread, not some bread. If you put a direct accusative to the word water when you spoke of thirsting after water, you said, “I thirst for water” and you put water in a direct accusative, you wouldn’t be saying “I’m thirsting for some water.” You would want the whole well. You’d want the whole pitcher of water.”

And so, you see, in this little verse—this is so important—Christ doesn’t say blessed are those who hunger and thirst for some righteousness. That would be a partitive genitive. He uses a direct accusative and Christ is saying blessed are those who hunger and thirst for ALL righteousness, the whole loaf, the full deal. Christ would ask you this morning, “Are you like that?” He would ask me this morning, am I like that? Do we hunger and thirst for ALL righteousness? Because we tend to be a little selective when it comes to righteousness.

Now, we should understand—if we would walk the path of righteousness—this word, dikaiosune, was used in two ways. It was actually used in three ways, but we’ll get to that later. It was used in these two ways. I want to deal with this first. It was used to refer to social righteousness. It was used to refer to personal righteousness. If you want all of righteousness, if you would walk the path, if you would be on the way of Christ, you must hunger and thirst for social righteousness and personal righteousness. We call social righteousness justice. Personal righteous we call holiness. But it’s all part of righteousness and it’s all part of the path of Christ. It’s all part of he Hodos, the Way.

So, if you’re a Christian and you take the name of Christ and you’ve heard Him say, “Follow Me,” and you’ve responded, then you must walk His path. It’s the path of righteousness and it includes social righteousness. It has to do with a just society. Are you seeking to make society a little more just?

You know, if you’ve read the Old Testament and you’ve studied it, you probably know that in 722 Sargon II and the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. They took captive many Jews. They took them into exile. 27,290 Jewish men, women, and children were taken to Babylon in exile. It is a little-known fact that the Assyrians then imported foreigners to Israel. They exported Jews and imported foreigners. So, in the region of Samaria, in southern Israel, north of Judah, the remaining Jews that were not exported began to intermarry with these imported foreigners, producing a mixed-blooded people only partly Jewish.

When the other Jews returned from exile under the edict of Cyrus after the Babylonian captivity, they saw these mixed-blooded Jews called Samaritans, and the pure-blooded Jews hated them. They hated the Samaritans and so they treated them like dirt. They didn’t give a Samaritan an opportunity to have a job. They would not allow a Samaritan to live in their community. They referred to them as half-breeds and they treated them as half-human. And so, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, and you know the story. Can you imagine how it impacted their culture? Who were the heroes in the story and who were the bad guys in the story? The bad guys in the story were the priest and the Levite, the best that Judaism had to offer. They were the bad guys. Who was the good guy? Who was the hero? It was the Samaritan, this man the Jews considered a half-breed, a half-human. He was the hero.

Jesus loved to break down the walls of prejudice. He wanted people in that culture to know their society was not righteousness. It was not fair. It was not just. It was not a just society in Israel. On another occasion, we read how Jesus was traveling from Galilee to Judah, traveling to Jerusalem. He came to the region of Shechem. He stopped there with His disciples at a well called Jacob’s Well. The disciples went into town to get supplies, to buy some groceries. When they came back, they saw their favorite rabbi, Jesus, talking to a woman at the well.

Now, this was a Samaritan woman. The disciples were kind of taken back in two ways. First of all, it was a Rabbinic law that a Rabbi could not converse publicly with a woman. Rabbis were never, in that chauvinistic society, allowed to teach women. That was to “cast pearls before swine.” But Jesus loved to break down the walls of prejudice. He treated this woman with dignity, and He gave her mercy and grace. They were also stunned because she was a Samaritan and, as the Bible says, the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. But again, Jesus was breaking down the walls of prejudice and wanting them to understand there was no social righteousness in their culture.

I would ask you this morning, and Christ would ask you this morning if you are of the Way and you would walk the path of righteousness, do you seek social righteousness? Do you seek this?

One of my favorite passages is in the book of Micah where the prophet writes, “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings or with calves a year old? Would the Lord be satisfied with thousands of rams or ten thousand of rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? The Lord has shown you what is good. But what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Now, that phrase “do justice,” the Hebrew word there is “mishpat.” It is the equivalent of the Greek word dikaiosune. It means social righteousness. What does the Lord require of us? That we do justice. That we seek social righteousness. And do you?

You know, we live in a world where I think a lot of people dream of a just society, a fair world with no oppression, with no poverty, with no afflicted. People dream of a fair world. Plato, 2400 years ago, dreamed of a fair world, a just society. He dreamed of the mythological continent of Atlantis. Plato said that Atlantis was a continent beyond the pillars of Hercules, beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, out in the vast Atlantic, a continent that had 10,000 years before him been destroyed by volcanic eruption, “a continent,” he said, “where men and women had been equal under the law, a continent,” Plato said, “where the government ruled in peace and righteousness.”

Incredibly, some historians have actually tried to find Atlantis. Some historians have suggested that maybe Plato was thinking of the ancient Minoan civilization which was destroyed by volcanic eruption when Santorini exploded in the Mediterranean. But that cannot be because the Minoan civilization was not beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, not beyond the pillars of Hercules, not out in the vast Atlantic but in the Mediterranean. Men and women in the Minoan civilization were not equal under the law. There was no government that ruled in righteousness and peace. Most historians agree today that it was just a dream for Plato. Atlantis was just his way of dreaming of a just society, of a fair world, of a social righteousness.

Throughout history many have dreamed, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge dreamed of Xanadu and as James Hilton in “Lost Horizons” dreamed of Shangri-La. Even today the Tibetans dream of Shambala, a just society. Of course, Martin Luther King had a dream. He gave that famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. He dreamed of a just society where his children would grow up and not be judged by the color of their skin but by the quality of their character. If you’re a Christian and you are on the way and you would walk the path of righteousness, then you must dream of social justice too. You know it will only come to fruition when Christ comes again. He will establish righteousness in this world. That’s described in Isaiah 65 and Isaiah 66 and Isaiah 11. One day that will come. But in the meantime, we are called to seek social righteousness—not just dream but to make this world a little better place. We’re called to help the oppressed and the afflicted and the poor. Are you doing that?

Demographics show that most people on the south side of Denver are registered Republicans. My guess is that most of you are registered Republicans. Now Jesus Christ is not partisan. He is neither a Republican nor is He a Democrat. It is often said that when He comes again, He won’t be riding an elephant or a donkey. But since I’m a registered Republican, maybe I can say to some of you who are Republicans with less offense what I’m going to say. Because, is this not true: Are not Republicans in this nation known to be people who want less government? Are not Republicans in this nation people who want to see the needs of society handled more and more by the private sector? Is not this what we hear? I would say to you, if that’s how you feel—if you want the needs of society to be handled by the private sector, if you want to see the poor and the oppressed and the afflicted helped by the private sector—then put your money and put your time and your talent where your mouth is and begin to do something about it.

I mean, that’s why we have programs in this church like the Whiz Kids for inner city tutoring. That’s why we have Manna Ministries every single week here at the church. That’s why we support Save our Youth, which works with inner city children. That’s why we’re so actively involved. That’s why we support World Vision and we seek to help the poor all over the world. Are you involved? Do you really want to walk the path? Are you of the Way? Remember, it includes social righteousness if you would walk the path of righteousness.

Well the path of righteousness also includes personal righteousness. It also includes what we would call holiness. If we would be people of the Way, and if we would respond to the words of Christ “Follow Me,” then we must not only seek social righteousness, but we must seek personal righteousness. We must seek holiness. This is tough, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a hard call. There are a lot of easier paths out there.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. I was amazed, and I’ve been amazed these past few weeks, to see how popular Elvis remains after all of these years. It seems as though his popularity is actually growing. He is almost beatified and canonized in our culture. You know, Time Magazine and Newsweek Magazine had features on the life and death of Elvis Presley this week. There was a twenty-page article in the TV Guide. Even James Dobson’s letter this past week dealt with Elvis Presley from Focus on the Family.

I thought Sports Illustrated had a little different slant on things. They pointed out that somebody else died yesterday. Somebody else died August 16, just like Elvis, and that somebody else was Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth died in 1948 and Elvis Presley in 1977 but Sports Illustrated pointed out that there are a lot of similarities between “the Babe” and “the King.” They both loved cars and they both collected cars like toys. They both loved to give away Cadillacs to their friends and acquaintances. They both ate like pigs.

Babe Ruth ate hog dogs and peanuts and ice cream during the game while he was in the dugout waiting to bat. Just a little game-time snack. Elvis Presley’s favorite snack was peanut butter and smashed bananas in a sandwich, with the sandwich deep fried in a pool of butter. They both ballooned, the Babe and the King. In his prime, Elvis Presley was 6’ 1”, 180. Babe Ruth was 6”2,” 185. But that all changed, and Babe Ruth grew to 270 pounds and Elvis Presley to 250 pounds.

They both loved wine, women, and song and they were both tragically womanizers and sexually promiscuous. They were sexually out of control, both of them. They would not maintain their marriages. They were both addicted to drugs. Babe Ruth drank like a fish; he couldn’t control it. He smoked like a chimney, 30 cigars a day. That’s not easy. He also chewed tobacco and he dipped snuff. He put an end to his own life, really, dying of throat cancer at the age of 53.

Elvis Presley was hopelessly addicted to uppers and downers. When he died, the official autopsy report said that he died of natural causes but that was not true, not really. Newsweek Magazine and Time Magazine just this last week reported that at his death they found trace amounts of codeine, Demerol, Quaaludes, Valium, and many, many other drugs. It was medical mismanagement beyond belief. Of course, he died bloated from years of abuse. He had spent the night he died with a casual girlfriend in his bed, as often he did. He overate. He died on the toilet.

This last week a friend of Elvis Presley said Elvis was a Christian, that he believed in Jesus Christ. Perhaps friends of Babe Ruth would say the same thing about him. Nominal Christianity is easy. But I want to tell you what God’s looking at, what He’s looking for: People of the Way. He is looking for people who are willing to walk the path of righteousness, a path which the Babe and the King rejected. They took the easy path which leads to ruin. The Bible says it not only leads of physical ruin but spiritual ruin. But, you see, there’s a path that is blessed and leads to satisfaction and it’s the path of righteousness.

I know this is really hard. I mean, all of us who would be on the path of righteousness need to walk this path with humility because we’re not righteous, are we? Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said of old, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, whoever looks upon a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart.” Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said of old, ‘You shall not kill, and whoever kills will be liable for judgement.’ But I say to you, ‘Whoever is angry with his brother or sister will be liable for judgement. Whoever says to his brother or sister, ‘raca!’ will be liable for the Sanhedrin. Whoever says to his brother or sister, ‘moros!’ will be liable for hellfire.’”

The word ‘raca’ referred to intellectual bankruptcy and the word ‘moros’ referred to moral bankruptcy. Have you ever thought somebody was intellectually bankrupt? Maybe when you’re driving in your car? Have you ever thought anybody was morally bankrupt? Have you ever said the equivalent of ‘raca’ or ‘moros’ or have you ever thought it? We’re not righteous.

Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said of old, ‘Love your neighbor. Hate your enemy.’ I say to you, ‘Love your enemy. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who abuse you. Bless those who curse you.’” There’s none righteous, no, not one. There’s none righteous save one, Jesus Christ. Before a holy God, all of our righteousness is like filthy rags but if you believe in Jesus Christ and you are a Christian and you’ve entered the community, the people of the Way, then you’re called to this path of righteousness to hunger and thirst after righteousness, social righteousness and personal righteousness—justice and holiness. It’s all part of the call and you should think of this whenever you say that Jesus Christ is the Way.

I know our time is short. I just wanted to share for a couple of minutes another meaning of “the way.” And that is when Jesus said, “I am the Way,” He was also saying that He is the means of salvation. He is the path of righteousness we must walk. “Follow Me.” But He is also the means of salvation. Therefore, embrace Him and believe in Him. You see, the path of righteousness is not the means of salvation. It’s the call. It’s to be your lifestyle but it’s not the means of salvation. Jesus Christ is the means of salvation.

Theologians love to say that this word “hodos,” “the Way” is a soteriological word, from the Greek word “soterios,” which means salvation. The Bible again and again speaks of “hodon soterios,” the way of salvation. Jesus Christ is the way of salvation. He is not “a way” of salvation because there’s a definite article there. He is “the way” of salvation. This is not politically correct. I mean, we live in a culture where there are many ways to salvation. Buddha is a path of salvation and Muhammed is a path of salvation. The Dalai Lama is a path of salvation. Jesus Christ says, “NO! I am the Way. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” The Bible says, “There’s no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we may be saved.” No other way. He is the Way. He hodos. He is the means of salvation. That’s because He offers judicial righteousness.

I think most of you know the meaning of this word. He offers, in the courtroom of heaven, to declare you righteous. You seek social righteousness, you seek personal righteousness, but if you’re a Christian, you already have judicial righteousness. In the courtroom of heaven, you have been declared righteous by the grace and mercy of Christ who died for you. He lived a sinless life. He walked the path of righteousness perfectly and He died an atoning death in substitutionary atonement for you and for me, paying the penalty for your sin and mine. And now He is the means of salvation, no other. If we believe in Him as Savior and Lord, we are saved.

But there’s a danger here and I feel prompted to give a warning. And the warning is this. If you’re sitting there thinking, “Well, I have Christ, the means of salvation, and I’m saved by His grace and mercy. His righteousness has been imputed to me and I have been declared holy in the courtroom of heaven. I don’t even have to worry, therefore, about social righteousness and personal righteousness. I don’t have to worry about justice and holiness.” Be careful. Be careful. Because if you’re not ON the way, you’re not OF the Way. If you don’t have any hunger, any thirst after righteousness…If you don’t have any hunger or thirst for social righteousness or for personal righteousness, then you don’t have judicial righteousness. You’re not a true Christian. We’re all in process, but don’t pervert grace to license.

So, we have this call from Christ and it’s a call to righteousness. Jesus Christ says, “Follow Me.” As we conclude, I would like to just tell one story. It begins in the year 1920 at the Olympic Games. In 1920, the Olympic Games were held in Brussels, Belgium. In the 100 meters, a man named Charlie Paddock won the race. He received the gold medal at the 1920 Olympics. Charlie Paddock returned home. He was called “the fastest man in the world.” He returned home to the United States, and he was a hero. In subsequent years, he spoke in schools all over this country. On one occasion he was down in Georgia. A little boy came up to him. Charlie Paddock was speaking at a school there. A little boy came up to him and said, “Mr. Paddock, I guess I would give just about anything if, when I grow up, I could be an Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash just like you.” Charlie Paddock looked at this little boy and smiled and said, “If you really want it bad enough and if you really believe, it can happen to you.”

That little boy remembered those words and he did grow up and he became very, very fast. The year was 1936. The Olympic Games were in Berlin, Germany. This little boy had become a young man and he ran the 100 meters in Berlin in 1936. Like Charlie Paddock, he won that day. He received the gold medal in front of Adolph Hitler, shattering the myth or Aryan supremacy. His name was Jesse Owens.

Jesse Owens returned to the United States, and he was a hero. He was called “the fastest man in the world.” In Cleveland, Ohio, there was a big parade. Jesse Owens was going down the street and a little boy came up to him. The little boy said, “Mr. Owens, I guess I’d give just about anything if, when I grow up, I could be the 100-meter champion just like you.” Jesse Owens remembered what Charlie Paddock had said to him and he smiled. He looked at that little boy and he said, “You know, if you really want it and if you really believe, it can happen to you.” Well, that young boy grew up and he became a young man and he became very, very fast. The year was 1948 at Wembley Stadium at London, England and he ran the 100 meters, and he won the gold medal. His name was Harrison Bones Dillard.

I think God would ask us to ponder this. What are you shooting for in life? What’s your goal? What would you give just about anything for? What do you long to be and who do you long to be like? Who is your example? Do you have any shining light out there? Who is your example? Who do you long to be like? The Bible says it must be Jesus Christ and no other. He smiles at you today and He says, “If you really want it, and if you really believe, it will happen to you.”

“We all,” with unveiled faces, the Bible says, “beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed from one degree of glory to another.” This is the power of Christ within us when we really believe. If we’re really of the Way and on the way, if we’re willing to walk the path of righteousness, seeking social righteousness and personal righteousness, His transforming power will work in us. Let’s close with a word of prayer.