(REFLECTIONS ON John 14:1-14)

As Jesus shared with His disciples that He would leave them, we can imagine the panic, the concern, and even the disappointment that they felt. The teacher that provided them with the words of life, that is eternal life, the Messiah, the anointed one that would bring revival to the kingdom of Israel, said He was going away, and where He was going they could not follow.

The disciples left their lives for Jesus, and now was Jesus leaving them high and dry, with no hope, direction, or future? However, before Peter could fall into this despair, Jesus said to him,

1 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me, 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 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.

Jesus is leaving His disciples, to prepare a place for them, and their responsibility was to believe in God, and to believe also in Him. Rather than fall into despair, panic, without direction or hope, they were to have faith, to believe, and to trust in Him.

Isn’t that what we are faced with as well in our faith? Each day we are faced with despair, panic, hopelessness, and it is a test for us to fall into that trap, or to believe in God, and believe also in Jesus. Jesus assured His students that He was going to prepare a place for them, and that He would come back to receive them to Himself.

And that is the hope and trust that we also must have in the Lord as we wait for Him to come again to take us to the place that He has prepared for us. However, are we at times like Thomas that said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?“

Jesus said to Thomas and is reminding us today, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

How do we know the way? To know Jesus, is to know the way, because Jesus is the way. Jesus is the way to truth and life. The disciples were focused on where Jesus was going, and how to get there, but Jesus reminds us that our focus should be on Jesus, and it is through Jesus that is the way to the Father.

That is why we are to do as Jesus said, to believe in God, and to believe in Him. That is the way, and that is knowing Jesus. How do we know the way? Know Jesus, believe Him, keep His commandments, because He is the way, and the truth, and the life.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: John 14