“I feel empty, I don’t know what it is, but I just feel as though something is missing”. (Mankind)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
In the previous chapter, Jesus had been preparing his disciples for his departure.
Chapter 14 then starts with: “Let not you heart be troubled; you believe in God believe also in me”.
I would think that the disciples had reason to be troubled. Jesus just told them that one of them was a traitor, that one would deny Him, and that He would leave them that night. All of this would legitimately be troubling to the disciples, yet Jesus told them, do not be troubled.
Vs. 2 – In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you
I could imagine the disciples looking at each other thinking that Joseph’s house could not possibly hold them all. They did not understand that Jesus was going to the heavenly Father to prepare for them (and all believers). Why though, why would Jesus even prepare a place?
Because Love prepares a welcome…
With love, expectant parents prepare a room for the new baby. With love, the hostess prepares for her guests. Jesus prepares a place for His people because He loves them and happily prepares for our arrival. Jesus made it clear that the disciples would not be forgotten nor forsaken, but rather, that he was going to another place to prepare for them and furthermore, Jesus himself would be coming back to receive them.
Vs. 4 – And where I go you know and the way you know
Thomas asked an important question, “Lord we do not know where you are going and furthermore, we do not know how to get there”.
Because Jesus was going to God the Father, he answered and said:
I am the way
I am the way to God. Jesus did not say that He would show us a way; He said that He is the way and without him there is no restoration with God.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
John 10:9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
I am the Truth
I am the truth of God. He did not promise to merely teach us a truth; He said that He is the truth and without the truth there is no knowing God. He is the truth in whom we must believe.
John 1:17 - For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 8:31,32 - So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
I am the Life
I am the life. Jesus is the Author and Giver of eternal life; the redeemer of life by his death and resurrection. Jesus did not offer us the secrets to life; He said that He is the life and without this life we are not truly living.
John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 6:48, 51 - I am the bread of life. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.
John 6:58 - This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.
John 11:25,26 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die”.
1 John 5:11-12 - And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me
To come to the Father is to obtain his favour, to have access to his throne by prayer and to be an heir of his kingdom. No man can obtain any of these things on his own merit, it is only by the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming to God through Jesus, means coming in His name, believing in His sacrifice and depending on His finished works. We are finite and he alone can guide us; we are sinful and he alone can save us; we are blind and only he can enlighten us. God has ordained that salvation, blessings, grace and eternal life shall descend to this world through Jesus.
One never has to feel alone or empty, God in his love prepared the way to wholeness, repletion and restoration in Him, through His son Jesus the Christ.
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