The Gospel of John: John 14.1-14

Read and meditate on John 14.4-6.
It’s not that Jesus wasn’t answering His disciples’ questions about where He’s going (Jn. 13.36; 14.5). He was. But He was stretching their thinking in some very new ways.

⁴“And you know where I’m going, and the way.”
⁵But Thomas, one of them, began to say,
“Lord, we do not know where You go; how can
we know the way?” ⁶Then Jesus said, “I am
the way, the truth, the life. No one can to
the Father come except by Me.”

- John 14.4-6

Reflect
1.  Clearly the disciples were puzzling about where Jesus was going. His comments in verses 1-3 probably muddied as much as they clarified things, since the disciples could conceive what He was talking about, but could only vaguely imagine what He meant. He confounded them even more by saying that they knew the way to where He was going. Why was Jesus doing this? Was He simply trying to get them to think? To stretch their minds beyond familiar patterns of thought, to embrace new possibilities? Explain. Complete this prayer: It’s very easy, Lord, for me to settle into routine thoughts, plans, and ways, rather than to seek the exceedingly, abundantly more of what You have promised (Eph. 3.20). Teach me to…

2.  In a powerfully mystical way, Jesus answered the disciples’ queries in verse 6. This beloved text is so familiar to us, that unless we slowly unpack it, we will miss the enormous significance of what Jesus says here. First, Jesus explained that He is the way. In the Greek, the word is hodos, from which we get the word, odometer. A way is the course one must travel to arrive at a destination, or the method one employs to solve a problem or create something new. A way is more than a door, and although Jesus has said He is the door of the sheep (Jn. 10.9), by describing Himself as the way, He is saying much more. Explain. What does Jesus mean by describing Himself as the way? The first Christians described themselves as followers of “the Way” (Acts 9.1, 2). What were they saying about themselves? Lord, You are my way, so as I journey through this day, You…

3.  But to what is Jesus the way? Where is He taking us? Where are we traveling in or along with or by means of Him? First, to truth. Jesus is the Truth. What are the implications of this for the plans, choices, decisions, and actions we make each day? What does Jesus mean by saying He is the truth? If we travel any way other than Jesus, are we traveling truly? Explain. You are truth, Lord; Your Word is truth. Each day lead me to You, intoYou, and from You to…

4.  Jesus is the way to truth because He is the truth. As we travel in Him, we travel in truth, and are shielded from the lies and deceptions of a fallen world (cf. Ps. 12). But Jesus is also the life. What does Jesus mean by this? What kind of life is Jesus? How much of life does He define, represent, embrace, and affect? Thank You, Lord, for the gift of life, the gift of Yourself! Let Your life be in me today…

5. Jesus was answering the disciples’ questions about where He was going and how to get there, by pointing to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life. Where are you going, Jesus? “To truth and life, to Me.” How can we get there? “I am the way.” What are we saying about discipleship when we confess Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote from questions 1-4.

Summary
We understand the ‘way’ to be the road to perfection, advancing in order step by step through the words of righteousness and the illumination of knowledge, always yearning for that which lies ahead and straining toward the last mile, until we reach that blessed end, the knowledge of God, with which the Lord blesses those who believe in him. For truly our Lord is a good way, a straight road with no confusing forks or turns, leading us directly to the Father. For ‘no one comes to the Father,’ he says, ‘except through me.’ Such is our way up to God through his Son.” Basil the Great (330-379 AD)

Jesus is where we’re going, and Jesus is how we will get there. Whatever in your life is not in Jesus,unto Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus should be surrendered to Jesus for His glory. How would you explain this to someone who asked you what it means to be a Christian?

Closing Prayer
Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
The words of the LORDare pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Psalm 12

Psalm 12 (Hamburg: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)
Help, Lord! The godly cease to be; they who believe in Christ are few.
Falsely the wicked confidently flatter, deceive, and mock Your truth.

Stop, Lord, the lips that utter lies, all those who speak with boasting tongue!
See how Your holy Word they despise, while their own praises they have sung.

Rise up, O Lord, and rescue all Your precious children sore distressed.
Save those who faithfully on You call; grant them deliv’rance, peace, and rest.

Your words are pure and proven true, like silver seven times refined;
You will preserve Your Word ever new, and keep the heart to You inclined.

Proudly the wicked strut and stand; Your indignation builds on high;
Men may exalt their wicked plans, but You will judge them by and by.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.