Volunteer to pray for the evening.

Introduction

In Chapter 12 Jesus predicts his death and reveals his fear – we get a
sense of His human character.

Chapter 13 is the Passover meal in Jerusalem where Jesus washes the

disciples feet, which is normally done by the lowest ranking
servant. Jesus starts to explain these powerful examples of
how the disciples should live when he departs. Jesus predicts a
disciple will betray him – and the disciples must have been
terrified and worried about the future and this is where we
pick up the story in John 14.

Read John 14 v.1-14

Q: One of the most common reasons that people reject Christianity is

because they see it as arrogant – claiming to be the only way
to God. Why do so many people think like this?

Q: What factors have caused this to be one of the prime reasons why
people dismiss Jesus?
Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am
going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 You know
the way to the place where I am going.”

Q:What response do you think Jesus intends this to bring and why?
Offering words of comfort – they are confused why Jesus is going away, even though
Jesus is distressed here he is comforting them.

Q: Why does the beginning of v2 provide comfort for the disciples

and you and me today? Lots of space in heaven – as believers we should not
be scared or fearful of limited place in heaven.
Jesus the Way to the Father

5
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we
know the way?”
6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as
well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Q: What effects do Jesus’ words have on Thomas? He is confused, no idea

what Jesus means!

Q; How does Jesus respond? I am the way the truth and life.

Q: How does Jesus statement give him grounds to answer such a

question? He says he is God (the Father is in him)…. Gives him authority to say
previous statement.

v6: Looking at the context of v6 – what some people see as arrogant, is actually said as an
encouragement. The disciples were scared and worried and Jesus said this to give
them 100% assurance that heaven exists and is clear about how to get there.

8
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9
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’? 10 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. 11 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.

Q: What does Philip want Jesus to do? Wants Jesus to show him God.

Q: What do Philips and Thomas questions revel about the disciples

understanding? They really don’t understand. They have seen all these miracles first
hand, and still have stumblimg blocks. On one hand alarming but on the other reassuring as its
ok for us to have doubts and questions too

12
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. 13
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Q: What else does Jesus promise for the future and who is this for?
Believers will continue to do Jesus work
Q: How can we do even greater works than what Jesus has done? The
key is in v12, ‘because Jesus is going to the Father ‘(i.e. dying on the cross for our sins) eternal
life is going to be on offer now that is great, even greater than what Jesus did on earth – for
example raising Lazarus from the dead.

Q: What does v14 mean – what kind of prayer will be answered?

Prayer will be answered in accorndance with God’s will not our earthly human will.

Read [impacting life] from book

Jesus Declares Himself to Be the Way to the Father

Jesus has spoken of going to his Father's house and has said the disciples know the
way there (14:1-4). Thomas, speaking for all the disciples, responds, Lord, we don't
know where you are going, so how can we know the way? (v. 5). Here is the response
of a true disciple. He asks rather than demands, which conveys a sense of humility (cf.
Chrysostom In John 73.2). He is also honest, admitting his ignorance. Without such
humility and honesty real discipleship is impossible. Thomas seems to understand
Jesus' reference to his Father's house on a "this world" level, not unlike the way others
in this Gospel, such as the woman of Samaria (chap. 4), have misunderstood. Thomas
says, in effect, If we don't know the address, how are we supposed to know the route?
Such a misunderstanding may seem amazing to those familiar with this Gospel, but all
of us continue to have patches of such dullness, no matter how far we have traveled
with God.

Jesus condemned the Jewish opponents' ignorance of his destination (for example,
8:19-27), but because these disciples have been loyal to Jesus even in their ignorance,
Jesus' response is encouraging. He does not upbraid Thomas but rather proceeds to
offer further enlightenment. Always in John the clue to Jesus' cryptic sayings is his
own identity and his relation to the Father, and this case is no exception: I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (v. 6). Here
we have "a culminating point in Johannine theology" (Schnackenburg 1982:65). All
of John's thought could be expounded from this one verse.

This "I am" saying, like the others, is grounded in Jesus' divine identity and expresses
something of his saving action. The three terms way, truth and life are simply linked
together with "and" in the Greek (kai). But the central term is way because that was
the subject of the question (vv. 4-5) and the second half of the verse speaks of coming
to the Father through Jesus. Throughout the Gospel we hear of Jesus' coming from the
Father, revealing God, bringing new life and then returning to the Father. But now the
focus is on Jesus' role as the one who leads people to the Father. The Father is seen as
distant; one must undertake a journey to reach him. Perhaps, then, the text should be
translated "No one goes to the Father . . ." For it seems the primary focus is still on
heaven and the future, though we will see a shift beginning to take place.

The other two terms explain how Jesus is the way; "Jesus is the way inasmuch as He
is the truth and the life" (Michaelis 1967:81). Truth and life correspond to Jesus' roles
in this Gospel as revealer and life-giver. God alone is truth and life, and when our
rebellion separated us from God, we plunged into ignorance and death. It follows that
the way to the Father requires both revelation, because of our ignorance, and life, due
to our death. This idea is clear in the Old Testament, and it was addressed by the
giving of the Torah and the activity of law-givers, prophets and sages. But this verse
brings out how Jesus' fulfillment of the roles of revealer and life-giver is unique.
Jesus' unity with the Father means he is not just a law-giver, prophet or sage who
conveys God's truth, but, like God, he is the truth. Similarly, he is not simply one
through whom God rescues his people. Rather, he was the agent of the creation of all
life (1:3-4), and the Father has given to him to have life in himself, like God himself
(5:26). Here Jesus, like God himself, is truth and life, and yet he remains distinct from
God and is the way to God. As a fourteenth-century writer put it, "He Himself is the
way, and in addition He is the lodging on the way and its destination" (Cabasilas
1974:48).

The second half of the verse clearly speaks of Jesus as the only way to the Father.
This fact simply flows from who he is and what he has accomplished through his
incarnation and upcoming death, resurrection and ascension. This verse scandalizes
many people today since it seems to consign to hell large numbers of people who
have never heard of Jesus, let alone those who have heard but have not come to
believe in him. There are a variety of views on this topic among Christians. Some
views deny the uniqueness of Jesus and have a too optimistic view of human nature,
while others have a too restricted idea of God's ways of dealing with this world,
which he loves. Only through Christ can we "apprehend God as the Father, and so
approach the Father. . . . It does not follow that every one who is guided by Christ is
directly conscious of His guidance" (Westcott 1908:2:170-71). This verse does not
address the ways in which Jesus brings people to the Father, but what it does say is
that no one who ends up sharing God's life will do so apart from Jesus, the unique Son
of God who is, not just who conveys, truth and life.

Jesus' next statement shifts from speaking of coming (or going) to God to knowing
God, thereby beginning the shift from speaking of the future and heaven to speaking
of God's presence here and now: From now on, you do know him and have seen him
(v. 7). This translation refers to future knowledge, but the words translated from now
on (ap' arti) can also mean "now already" or "assuredly." Such a statement of their
present knowledge of the Father would be more in keeping with how the conversation
progresses in the next section, for Jesus' affirmation that they have seen the Father
introduces a new term to the discussion, which triggers the next question and the next
stage of his teaching.