Day 1122: The way home - John 14 vs 1 - 7

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2-4 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him, and have seen him.” John 14:1-7 English Standard Version.

In this section, and the verses which follow, Jesus taught His disciples some important things before He went to the cross. And there are three questions asked by different people. The first question is from Thomas, who says “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

The question comes after Jesus gently tells them to not allow their hearts to be troubled by His talk of going away and leaving them. He had already told them of His coming betrayal. What was the reason Jesus gave why they ought not to be troubled? (vs 2-4

He assures them that His going away was only in order to prepare a place for them.

Jesus must have firmly believed that He would rise again and ascend to the Father. And, in going there, He would make ready a place so that they could eventually be where He was. Those who grew up with the KJV will be familiar with the phrase 'many mansions'. But the Greek word used can simply imply a place to stay, a dwelling.

But think of what this means for us. Jesus was telling them that He would come again – and take them home. And He says they knew the way. Thomas interjects that, as they didn't (yet) know where Jesus was going, how could they possibly know the way? And Jesus answers with words which we do well to memorize, especially in the days we now live. He says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I say 'especially in the days we now live' because His words are so exclusive! No-one comes to the Father, except through Jesus. He claims not to just show us the way, but that He is the way through which men, women and children come to the Father. More than that, He also claims to be 'the truth'. How crucial that is for our times. Many people claim to have 'their truth' about things. But Jesus is the only truth that matters. Truth is not subjective. It is not even a democratic vote, or the majority opinion. Truth is found in God's word, and in Christ.

And Jesus says that He is 'the life'.

And it is through faith in Christ that we can also live. The apostle Paul wrote: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey . . . but God, because He is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.” (Ephesians 2:1-4) It is by being joined with Christ that we live.

And so Jesus answered Thomas' question by saying that He is the one who has made the Father known. (vs 7). This is an unmistakeable claim to Jesus being God. Earlier, in John 10:28-30, He said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish! And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

It's often said that 'home is where the heart is'. If we have come to love God, then we would long to be with Him. And in Jesus Christ, God has shown us the way home.“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”