“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”
- John 14:6 -
The Lord’s death is just hours away and there is a traitor in His midst. Here in the upper room, Christ quotes King David, saying: “He who eats bread with Me has lifted his heel against Me” (John 13:18). This will further convince the disciples that Jesus is who He claims to be - God incarnate - once Judas betrays Him. Jesus knows it is time to unmask the traitor; to send him out to do what he must. So Christ says the traitor “is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it” (13:26). He dips the bread and gives it to Judas. At that moment, Satan enters into Judas and Jesus says: ‘“What you do, do quickly”…So after receiving the piece of bread, Judas went out immediately. And it was night (13:27,30).
Judas chooses the cover of night for his evil deeds, but then again, it’s always dark when a person turns their back on Jesus. With the traitor gone, Jesus can address His true followers: “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory, and God will be glorified because of Him. And since God receives glory because of the Son, He will soon give glory to the Son” (John 13:31-32). The plan of salvation is coming to pass. Jesus’ death will result in glorification as He accomplishes what the Father sent Him to do. What Jesus wants the disciples to grasp is that His death won’t end in tragedy. In the eyes of God, there’s no greater glory than that which comes from sacrifice. For the believer, it’s those who make the greatest sacrifice who enter into the greatest glory.
Jesus utterly loves His disciples. If loving them means going to the cross, so be it. He’ll say: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). These words show Christ’s loveliness. He goes on: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (13:34-35).
Why is this called a new commandment? Well, because Jesus uses Himself to set the example of how we should love. Such Godly love was unknown until Jesus came on the scene, so He tells His own to be known by their love for others. Is that true for you? What comes to people’s minds when you’re mentioned? You call yourself a Christian, but actions speak louder than words (James 1:22). The lost curse Christ all the more when we act or talk in ungodly ways. Woe to believers that cause this to happen!
Peter lets Christ’s words go in one ear and out the other. He’s more concerned about Jesus leaving than about the command to love like Christ. He interrupts: ‘“Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward”’ (John 13:36). This is jarring. Three years ago, Christ told the disciples: “Follow Me.” But now He says they can’t follow Him; at least not for a little while.
Peter speaks up as always: “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake” (John 13:37). He’s more focused on his needs than the plan and will of God. Jesus appreciates Peter’s passion, but He gives a quick reality check, asking: “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times” (13:38). As Peter picks his chin up off the floor, Christ comforts His friend: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (14:1).
The disciples are confused, discouraged, and don’t know what to think. So - naturally - words of comfort and assurance pour out of Jesus: “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2-4). The Bible teaches that God takes His people to prepared places. The garden of Eden was planted, then God put Adam in it. The land of Canaan was filled with vineyards, wells, and houses before God brought His people in. Likewise, heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. It is a place of extreme joy and ultimate life. A place where ‘God will wipe every tear from their eyes’ (Rev. 7:17).
Thomas gets a bad rap, but in truth, he asks the very question that people the world over want to ask: “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Jesus answers in triumph: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (14:6). There is only one way to heaven, not many.
People wrestle with this. They accuse Christians of arrogance and narrow-mindedness. The world hates hearing right versus wrong. It wants grey; not black and white. But Jesus says that just doing your best isn’t good enough to get you into heaven. He says heaven is only entered through Him. He wants there to be no confusion as to who He is and where He came from. It’s no accident that He says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” This is a radical claim and He knows it.
How we respond to Jesus’ claim determines our eternality. You either crown Him King or nail Him to the cross. You worship Him or you don’t. There’s no middle ground. As God tells Moses: “You shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you” (Deut. 5:32-33). All Jews knew there was a way a man must walk, and Jesus was “the way.” The only way to get to the Father is by Him.
No other religion gets you there. Jesus eliminates all other possibilities. He’s the only option. Indeed, He is the only way. But what’s most amazing is that He gives an open invitation to become a member of His family. All who come to Jesus are welcomed. He lived the life you’re supposed to live, and, when you confess Him, in God’s eyes you’ve lived His perfect life. His goodness is your goodness. His life your life. He is the way, the truth, and the life!
Christianity isn’t a set of rules to follow. It’s the good news announcement that the works you should have done were done by Jesus. All you have to do is trust and believe in Him. When you do that, He gives a new heart and changes you from the inside out. Religion says: “Good people get in, and bad people are left out.” But the Bible says: ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3:23).
It’s the proud who are left out and the humble who are invited in. God wants those who admit they can’t make it on their own and happily accept the way of Christ. This is true humility. Not boasting in good deeds you did and looking down your nose at others. True Christians know they’ve been ‘saved by grace through faith’ (Eph. 2:8) and that Jesus is the only way to the Father. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
Bringing sinners back into relationship with the Father is the reason Christ came to the earth. He talks of the Father a hundred times in John’s Gospel, and over half of that is right here in the closing chapters. Jesus so perfectly images the Father that He can say: “From now on you know Him and have seen Him” (John 14:7). To ‘know’ Jesus is to ‘know’ the Father intimately. So when Philip asks: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us,” Jesus rebukes the disciple, saying: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:8-9). To these Jews, that may be the most staggering thing Jesus ever said, for God told Moses: “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Ex. 33:20).
Once again, Jesus is declaring His deity by the close union He has with the Father. This wasn’t news to the disciples, but Christ reminds them that His very works and wonders also prove His deity: “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves” (John 14:11).
Despite this evidence, Jesus knows the disciples are troubled and faint-hearted about Him leaving them. To encourage them, He says: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (14:16). Notice that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all appear in this one verse. Some translations call the Holy Spirit the Comforter, but in today’s world, a comforter is someone who sympathizes when we’re hurting. Yes, God is always near the broken-hearted, but the Holy Spirit far surpasses that.
The Greek word ‘parakletos’ (Comforter) means a person who is called to help in time of trouble. He is there not to give pity, but to encourage bravery against an adversity. The Holy Spirit empowers us (Acts 1:8) and helps us gain the victory in battles we face. Jesus promises that the Spirit will come and take His place: “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). Even better, believers will know the Helper the instant they are saved “for He dwells with you and will be in you” (14:17). Thanks to the Spirit, Christ says the Father and Son will make their home in our hearts: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (14:23).
Charles Spurgeon once said: “Little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will take heaven to your soul.” Our hearts become heaven on earth when we commune with God. By the Holy Spirit’s doing, we are empowered to worship God continually. Only then do we know with our heads and feel with our hearts that Jesus Christ truly is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him, so what are you waiting for? Come to Christ and gain true life.
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