JOHN 14:5-14 SOMEWHERE – BUT WHERE AND HOW?

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 knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Good old Thomas asks the question that had to be on the minds of all the Disciples, and in all honesty on ours as well. Jesus had spoken of going to the Father and preparing a place for his disciples and finishes with the comment, “You know the place where I am going” (v.4). We all know that Jesus was going to be with God, but where is that and how do we get there? After 21 centuries of Christian teaching and doctrine we think we know, but do we? The answer will become obvious all too quickly when you attempt to describe where God is to another person, let alone try to describe our transition from here to there. “No, Dorothy, there is no yellow brick road in Kansas.”

It takes humility and honesty to acknowledge that you do not know the answer to the teacher’s question in front of the whole class. In this case, Thomas serving his fellow disciples and us by asking his question. As a good rabbi, Jesus was making a statement that would raise a question so that he could teach them the answer. The “place” that Jesus is going is the presence of the Father and not a geographical location as in our understanding and experience. At best we can approximate the truth by saying that it is another dimension. But the new and important part of Jesus’ answer is that we can only get there “through” Jesus.

We can know the way because Jesus has shown us the way – obedience to the Father. His will and the Father’s will are identical, so he can say that if you know me you know the Father. And we can follow the way because Jesus has died for our sins, been raised from the dead and taken into the presence of the Father. No one else has ever done that. No one else is qualified to successfully accomplish what Jesus has done. He has given us access to the Father.

What is the way to the Father? It is the faithful answering of the call to follow Jesus. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus and do what Jesus did with the attitude that Jesus had.

Dear Jesus, I cannot know the way to eternal life because I am so distracted and weighed down by my sinful actions and attitudes. Renew my mind so that I might acknowledge how limited my knowledge is and ask you to enlighten me with your truth. I confess my arrogant reliance on my own mind and my need to depend totally on you. Amen.