Lenten Reader | Day 31

March 20th, 2024

Way, Truth, Life

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

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.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

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’? 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. 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. 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. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

John 14:5-14

As we approach Easter, we should consider in our hearts Jesus' suffering upon the cross for our sin and the amazing glory of His resurrection for our life. Those in combination made the way for us to spend eternity with the Father.

The context of this passage follows the Last Supper where Jesus has just announced to the disciples a betrayal (Judas), a denial (Peter), and His own departure. His disciples were in shock. Jesus, recognizing their fear, says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Only BELIEVE! (John 14:1).

Troubled in their hearts, Thomas questions Jesus about where He is going and how to get there (vs 5) while Philip wants to dispense with the discourse and have Jesus reveal God by sight (vs 8). But Jesus knows that a simple glimpse of the Father would be inferior to genuine faith in Him in that moment (vs 9). For them and for us, it is faith that settles our troubled hearts regardless of the circumstances. It is faith that acknowledges that Christ Jesus is the way because He provides access to eternal life (John 10:9). It is faith that believes Jesus and the Father are God (vs 10).

Believing Jesus' words (He is truth - John 1:14) leads to believing that the way He is providing leads to eternal life (John 1:4). In John 11:25-26, Jesus tells Martha, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus asks Martha, and now you must ask yourself: Do you believe this? Does your faith lead to you to pursue an imitation of Jesus' ministry (vs 12)? Does your faith result in a prayer life that imitates the prayers of Jesus (John 17:1)? Does your faith long for God's glory by asking for such things that would glorify Him (vs 13)? Jesus is the way!

Chris Pridemore