John 14:1-6 (NIV)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
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.”
To really understand these verses, it is important to read through the chapter break between chapters 13 and 14. Jesus had just indicated that He was going somewhere that His disicples would not be able to follow, but that they would follow Him later. He is not talking about death, but about heaven, about living in God’s presence.
Jesus had come from God’s tangible presence, His throne, and would soon be returning permanently upon His ascension forty days after the resurrection. And in Jesus’ return lay the hope of all His disciples.
Jesus wasn’t promising the disciples a theoretical heaven that He had reasoned out theologically. He was promising them a real place that He knew first-hand. In His promise that He was going to heaven to prepare a place for each of them so that they could be with Him always, he was giving them a sure hope that would see them through all the hardships and persecutions that would occur throughout the rest of their lives.
Thomas gave voice to what several of the disicples were thinking. They had no idea where this “heaven” that Jesus was describing was, so they had no idea how to get there. Jewish theology knew of God’s dwelling place, the “third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4), beyond the edges of space and time, but the idea that people would go there to live forever was not clearly stated. So, Jesus’ followers had little context for understanding His description.
But Jesus’ answer provides some essential clues and information. Thomas asked Jesus to show them the way, and Jesus immediately claimed that He Himself was the only way that a person could gain entry into God’s presence. (Also see John 10:1-18.) In addition, Jesus claimed to be the embodiment of all truth, so that His followers could absolutely trust what He had told them, and what He was telling them now. And He claimed to be the embodiment of life itself, and thus the only source of eternal life.
None of this was new information that Jesus was presenting for the first time. But now, at the end of His time with His closest followers, He was providing them with an excellent encapsulation of many of the truths He had taught them over the years, and one that they would easily be able to remember.
Father, thank You for the reality behind these statements. Through Jesus (and through Him alone) I have a place in heaven that has been prepared for me by Jesus Himself where I will be able to live in Your presence forever. Help me to live each day with that truth in clear focus. Amen.
If you are enjoying my blog, I invite you to check out my new book, When We Listen, A Devotional Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Just follow this url: http://eagerpress.webstarts.com/ Thanks, and God bless you all!