John 14:6 & 9-11

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. 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.  

“I am the Way …”

Thomas’ question summarizes the desperate state of humanity without Jesus: we don’t know where we are going, and we don’t know which way to take. In our blind stumbling, Jesus comes as a ray of light: he shines in the darkness and guides our way. How could we know someone we have never seen? Our sins don’t allow us to be in God’s presence. Just after the Fall, Adam and Eve hide from the Lord, and then they are cast out of Eden. Ever since, our sins have hidden God’s face from us (Isaiah 59:2). Even Moses was not allowed to see it, only the high priest was allowed to enter God’s presence in the tabernacle, once a year.

It’s no wonder that this world does not know the Father. As we read in the beginning of John’s gospel (1:18) and in Jesus’s prayer before his crucifixion (John 17:26), it’s Jesus who has to make him known to us. How did Jesus do that? By living in obedience, letting the Father do his work through him and becoming one with him. During his ministry on earth, he talked about his Father and his kingdom. Everything he did showed God’s character: his glory, power, and love. As he said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Jesus’ example should serve as a reminder to us all about how we can best make God known to the world: simply through obedience and doing God’s will.

In his obedience Jesus introduced the Father to this world, and it was also his obedience that led him to the cross, where he really prepared the way for us. His perfect sacrifice allowed us to enter God’s presence once again. This was strongly symbolized, when the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). Jesus’s sacrifice not only neutralizes the Fall but calls us to become children of God (Galatians 3:26). When asked to teach his disciples how to pray, he tells them to call God “Our Father.” By him, we have a way to the Father. We are always welcome and can approach him without any fear. As Paul writes in Romans: by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you that you did not let us stay in the dark, but you have heard our cries, and sent your Son to open a way for us. Thank you that through Jesus, we can approach you, and that you call us your children and we can call you Father. Help us never to take this lightly and guide us on our way. Amen.