Take Comfort In Jesus
Take Comfort In Jesus
Jesus and His disciples are at the last supper. Jesus washes all of the disciple’s feet, Jesus predicts His betrayal, Judas Iscariot leaves to betray Jesus, and Jesus starts talking about how He is going to leave them. Simon Peter announces in true Simon fashion that he would follow Jesus and Jesus predicts that Simon will deny Him three times. In the conversation, Jesus see’s that His disciples are troubled.
John 14 is a dialogue between Jesus and His disciples that has Jesus trying to comfort His disciples. John 14:1 says, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.” Jesus then goes on to explain what He means by this in the next 31 verses. This dialogue extended past John 14 into the chapters before and after with John 14 containing some rich conversation between Him and his disciples. John 14:6 is a popular verse that we see often and also can be controversial as it describes the exclusivity of Jesus Christ in that He is the only way to have a relationship with God. To a believer this verse can bring us great comfort as Jesus intended it to be for His disciples.
Jesus is the main subject of the verse and He is describing what His purpose is. He begins His answer to a question posed by Thomas by saying, “I am.” This is how the Lord proclaimed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.” To the Jews this should have been a source of great comfort as they were very aware that the term, “I am,” was referring to God Himself.
The way, and the truth, and the life can be taken as stand-alone authoritative statements in themselves. Each one with the words “and” and “the” are hammering home the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to know God. Jesus then reemphasizes His exclusivity in the phrase, “no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:7 helps us understand 14:6 when Jesus says, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
The way: Jesus describes how God’s works. Jesus describes the Fathers ways.
The truth: Jesus describes all the facts about God. Jesus is all that is right about God.
The life: Jesus is all that God loves to do. Jesus does everything that God enjoys doing.
This is not an exhaustive teaching on the text but the main mission in this dialogue between Jesus and His disciples was to comfort them and encourage them by explaining that He and God are one. Again, John 14:7 uses the word, “known.” This is more than to know about someone or know they exist. It is to be intimately acquainted with all that they are, how they act, what is their beliefs, and what brings them joy. This is what Jesus was describing in this verse and the conversation in John 14.
Jesus says in John 14:11, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” His actions speak louder than His words if you are listening to His actions. The selfless nature of our Father is on full display in this dialogue. He is only moments away from what He knows is going to be a horrific death and His mission is to comfort the disciples. This is the selfless nature of our Father in action! He is declaring that He is the way, and He is the truth, and He is the life, just in how He is comforting His disciples.
John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” The knowledge is of God and Jesus Christ is the only vehicle in which we receive the knowledge of our Father. Eternal life is seeing and savoring this relationship both now and forever.
