God’s Mission
John 14:1-14
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
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.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Pondering Point
Spend some time pondering the depths of this truth: Jesus is THE Way to God the Father; no other way exists to access God other than through Him. According to Jesus – the One who said that He would die and rise from the dead AND did it – this is reality.
Some rebuff this declaration and call it exclusionary and harsh. But if Jesus is right about this being the only way (and IT IS according to Jesus!), it’s actually the only way to be inclusionary. Sin’s deadliness had to be dealt with – and God used His own Son Jesus to handle that sin so that anyone who believes could be included.
Prayer For The Day
Father God, I come to You in the name of Jesus, the only way that I can legitimately come and expect grace and mercy. But I come confidently because You promise that I am included in His name. I want to know You and Jesus Your Way; I want to know Your Word and Your ways within Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.