Only One Way! - December 8th, 2011

¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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; that where I am, there 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 are going, 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 except through Me."

John 14:1-6

History and Context:

The book of John is the fourth Gospel and it is believed to be the last written. John was one of the inner three of Jesus' disciples and referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". John seemed to have written his Gospel for those who had already known the story of Jesus. He focuses on the meaning of the events rather than the events themselves. There is also a strong focus on the words and teachings of Jesus, specifically on Jesus' claims about Himself. These claims are best known as the seven "I am" statements. John probably wrote this Gospel in Ephesus somewhere around 70 AD.

The Text:

In this passage Jesus is talking to His disciples and trying to prepare them for what is going to happen next. He knows that the time is coming soon for Him to die and He knows that it will be difficult for them, but He also knows that the end result is victory. He tells them that He is going somewhere and that they already know the way to where He is going because He is the way. He also promises them that He is preparing a place for each of them and will return to get them.

The Challenge:

Notice the use of the word the. Jesus is the way! Not a way of many but the only way. So many are saying that Jesus was a good teacher but not the only way to heaven. Both of those statements can not be true, because Jesus taught that He is the only way to heaven. So either He is the only way or He was lying and is therefore not a good teacher. Know that He is the only way and that He is a preparing a place for all of those who have accepted Him as the way. Be ready when He returns!

The Prayer:

Lord, thank you for making it clear that you are the only way to heaven! Thank you for preparing a place for me and I am very excited to see it and to be with you for eternity! In Jesus' name, Amen!