God's Gospel Truths
John 14:1-7
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Pondering Point
I had occasion to drive my daughter (a United States Air Force member) to Patrick Air Force Base. Though I’d never been there and didn’t know the way, I didn’t bother with GPS because she was with me navigating. Not only that, once there she vouched for me, it permitted me access to the base as well.
Similarly, we have Jesus (and His Spirit) as our Navigator to and through life. Remember, Jesus defines life as knowing God (John 17:3). Sometimes that is general navigation, but other times can be quite specific (see Acts 9:11). Of course there is more than one person who can grant me access to a military base, but Jesus is the only one way to the Father. He grants access to the Father – and His house and His current and future kingdom.
Prayer for the Day
Jesus, You are essential – to me, to life itself. Thank You for being the Way, for showing me the way to the Father, for directing me along the way by Your Holy Spirit and word, and for the access it is giving me to my Father's house. Already at this point I am grateful for being a part of is His kingdom now and look forward to His kingdom coming and His will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.
[Eugene Peterson] once wrote this about Jesus’ metaphor of the way: “The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life... But Jesus as the truth gets far more attention than Jesus as the way. Jesus as the way is the most frequently evaded metaphor among the Christians with whom I have worked for fifty years as a North American pastor.” Apparently, my church wasn't the only one to de-emphasize the way of Jesus as a lifestyle. What a tragic misstep.
J.M. Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p. 84, 85