Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 288

THE PASSION SERIES – THE GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTERS 12-21
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Joh 14:1-7  . You believe in God, believe also in Me. Let not your heart be troubled (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.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.  (4)  And where I go you know, and the way you know.  (5)  Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You go, and how can we know the way?  (6)  Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.  (7)  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.

What a profound passage of Scripture! What words of life!

Jesus is asking them to have the same faith in Him, that they have in God! “You believe in God, believe also in Me.”  This would clearly be blasphemy - even if uttered by an Old Testament prophet! It is a direct claim to religious loyalty. Jesus is worthy of our faith - our ultimate trust.

The purpose of faith in Christ is peace in Christ. “ Let not your heart be troubled..” We are easily troubled by people, relationships, and circumstances. Dealing with bureaucracy or sitting in traffic can make us boil and fume. But faith in Jesus Christ can give us an inner peace that transcends human circumstances:
Philippians 4:6-7 MKJV  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  (7)  And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

For the disciples they were not to be anxious about the betrayal, trial and crucifixion of their Lord! They were to trust Jesus in even that! Jesus - even at His “weakest and craziest” (let me say that is from the world’s view of the cross) is worth trusting! 

Jesus was going to prepare a place for them - a new home in heaven where there are “many mansions”.  It means there is living space for the  righteous with God and that Jesus wants His disciples to be where He is - in Heaven. Thus God will not isolate Himself from us but dwell with us in love. God is saying “I want to have you around living in My Home.”

“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.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also. ‘’
God is a God of love and of fellowship. He invented family and warmth and friendship and Heaven will be accepting, joyful and our true home!

In verse 6 Jesus makes His famous statement about being the Way, the Truth and the Life. In our multi-cultural, inter-faith, post-modern age this is a jaw-dropper and conversation stopper.  It is viewed as intolerant or egotistical, but it is the truth!  Jesus is the only way to God because He is the only person to have provided an answer to the problem of sin. No other faith has an answer to the need for forgiveness with God and no other faith can give us a new nature - a born-again inner being.

Jesus then makes the point perfectly clear by adding: “no one comes to the Father but by Me.” This  has enormous significance for evangelism and missions.  All roads do not lead to the same God. In fact Paul says that the Gentiles “worship demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20) and that the unbelieving Jews are still in need of salvation through Christ. (Romans 10:1-6) If you want to be saved - then the only way is through Christ. We dare not make up our own system based on works or demonic counterfeits.

Salvation is not through a human system or a denomination - but through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  Religious knowledge or church attendance cannot replace the need for saving faith in Jesus. One test of saving faith is that state of your heart - is it trusting in God, or always troubled? Do you really believe in Jesus to the point of having a certain trust in His goodness and power - or is He just an idea?

Jesus is the way to the Father because He is the very image of the Father. If we have seen Jesus then we have seen the Father, if we know Jesus, then we know the Father. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. “  A few verses later Jesus says “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”.

In other words if we want to know what God is like - we should behold Christ!  The idea that the Father is very judgmental and Jesus is all mercy is nonsense. The character of the Father is perfectly expressed in the Son. God the Father is just as loving and kind and His Son, and the Son is just as holy and just as the Father. (see also Colossians 1:15-20, 2:9; Hebrews 1:1-3)

Jesus is the way to God because He is the truth about God and the very life of God. He is not just a prophet telling us about God - rather He is God telling us about God! Jesus is the image of God showing us God. He is the life of God showing us how God’s eternal life works. 

If Jesus is interested in healing us - then God the Father is interested in healing us. If Jesus is a friend of sinners, then God the Father is a friend of sinners. If Jesus cares about hungry crowds and gives them food - then God the Father is also the one who provides manna in the wilderness. Thus when we pray we should pray with confidence knowing that God cares for us and is interested in us.

Thus our hearts should not be troubled for to believe in Jesus is to believe in God and if God is like Jesus then the Universe is a fundamentally safe and good place. The Universe also contains many safe places which are far from this crazy world - our mansions in Heaven, so we will ultimately end up in  safe place with a safe God.

Blessings,

John Edmiston johned@aibi.ph

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