Jesus is leaving his disciples; he will be with them only a little while longer – and that departure has a two-fold meaning. He is going to be taken from them violently, crucified and buried; then he will be taken from them in his exaltation.
Having announced his departure, he is seeking to comfort them and in vv.1-3 urges them to trust in God and to trust in him – his going away is in order to secure a permanent place for them in the Father’s household – starting now and gloriously completed when he returns.
In vv.4-11 that discussion is furthered in how it directly relates to the disciples. They are not simply bystanders; they (and we) must respond to what Jesus is teaching.
1. The way of Jesus and Jesus the Way
In v.4, Jesus tells them that they know the way to where he is going – after all, he has explained to them that he is going to be lay down his life for his sheep, that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it cannot produce other seeds. And, without metaphor, he has told them he is to be betrayed and will be lifted up from the earth.
In many ways, Jesus has opened for them the way he is about to take. But, just like you and me, they are slow learners. Here it is Thomas who demonstrates that when he replies to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going so how can we know the way?” (v.5).
He is assuming that the way Jesus is about to take will also form the way for the disciples to take and, partly, he is right to assume that (in that all disciples must go the way of the cross – Jesus himself says so). And yet in a very important sense, he is badly mistaken, as Jesus’ famous words make plain.
In response to the slowness and confusion shown by Thomas, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (v.6). There are massive implications in those words. Jesus is here proclaiming an exclusive way to God; all roads do not lead to God – there is one way only.
That doesn’t sit comfortably with most people today and it is certainly true that we need to be careful how we convey this claim but we must never go soft on it – there is no hope for anyone outside of Jesus – that’s what he says here, plainly and clearly.
But, important as that is, what we must also see is that Jesus is not saying that the way to God the Father is by following his way; it is by following him – he is the way! Don Carson has expressed this truth memorably in a sonnet…
The way Jesus took was a unique way, a way that we are not called to travel. His was the way of utter loss and rejection; his was the cup full of woe for our sins; his was the unimaginable anguish and pain of separation from the Father. Our way is not that way but the Jesus who went that way for us.
This is dazzlingly important for his disciples to grasp – then and now. The only way to the Father is by the Son, not by any sacrifice or pain that we might endure. Yes, we are called to serve sacrificially; yes, we will have to endure pain and sorrow and maybe much more. But none of those are in order to secure us a place in the Father’s family; none of those are to atone for our sins – Jesus, Jesus is the way.
2. Why Jesus is the Way (vv.7-10)
But some may ask us why it is that Jesus is the way – it is clear that he says he is but why is that so? The answer to that question is found in vv.7-10.
There is a textual issue in v.7 which it might be helpful to clear up. The NIV wording seems to suggest that the disciples might not really know Jesus because they don’t seem to know the Father, but there is another possibility, reflected in the TNIV: “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”
Whichever text is correct, the implication is the same in both and is drawn out by Jesus: from now on, they do know the Father and have seen him. To which Philip replies, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” – he hasn’t yet grasped what Jesus is saying and so Jesus makes it as plain as can be: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v.9).
That claim is utterly astonishing and could not be taken any higher. Jesus is aligning himself with God the Father in the closest possible way – he isn’t saying he is a bit like God; he is without doubt saying that he is God, come in the flesh.
The words of Philip almost echo those of Moses when he asked the Lord to show him his glory; you’ll remember that the answer he was given is that it is impossible for man to look at God but the Lord would show him something of his glory. Well, as this gospel has already made plain in 1:14-18, especially v.18: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
Why is Jesus the way to God? Because he is the Son who fully reveals the Father; he is in the Father and the Father is in him (v.10); it is the Father who is at work in and through him.
In the OT, the law revealed much of God to the people – it revealed his ways, it disclosed his truth, it held out the promise of life – but all those things are found fully and finally not in the law but in Jesus the Son of God: he is the way, the truth, the life, because he is the true and full revelation of God.
The claim to be the exclusive way to God makes complete sense when we grasp who Jesus is. If to see him is to see the Father, what other way could be needed to come to God? Every other claim to truth is then, of necessity, lesser and under suspicion – the benchmark for God is Jesus.
This explains why Jesus is the way but it also shows us why we must hold onto that declaration in days that despise such claims – the Father has been fully and uniquely revealed in Jesus his Son; to go soft on that claim is to rob God of his glory and it is to endanger the lives of those we share the message with. The claims of Jesus are stark and bold – but nothing less will do as we engage a lost world with the message of the gospel.
3. Why you should believe Jesus reveals the Father (v.11)
But large claims need strong evidence to back them up – why should anyone believe what Jesus is claiming here?
In v.11 Jesus calls for belief in what he says – in a very real sense, if he says it then it’s enough for his disciples. But Jesus realises that might be problematic for them and so he adds, “or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves”.
John has catalogued in this gospel 7 signs from the many that Jesus performed; his purpose in doing so for his readers is put in these terms: “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (20:31). Jesus is saying just that to his disciples here – the works he has performed stand as powerful testimony to his claim that he is in the Father and the Father is in him.
Although he calls them ‘works’ here, elsewhere they are called signs and that is precisely how they function – pointing us to the reality that, in Jesus, the Father is active, bringing about a new creation, overcoming sin and death, uncorking the blessings of the last days, drawing near in saving and healing power.
The evidence is there for all to see – for those who have never come to faith in Jesus and also for disciples whose hearts are heavy and troubled for whatever reason.
Is it right and wise to trust Jesus? The answer is clear: yes, he alone is the way to God, to becoming a child of God, having been born again; he is the way to God because he alone fully reveals God; and the evidence for that is in the works he has done – they will bear continued meditation and will yield much comfort and strength as we do that.
We know where he has gone; we know he is himself the way there for us; we know that in him we have seen the Father. Those are realities to sustain and strengthen our daily living and to bear a keen testimony to others of the precious person of Jesus.
