John 14:1-14…
Jesus had been speaking of many trying and troubling things on the immediate horizon. He now speaks these comforting words to their anxious hearts. In our day to day lives, we can be so inundated with concerns that our faith is out of focus in the right now. The big picture is that Jesus is God, so He can be trusted when we are tested.
I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus is not talking about finishing the job up in heaven. He is simply saying that through His death, resurrection, and ascension the way to heaven will be prepared completely for us. He is not making the room itself; He is making the way to it. The rooms are already completed, and He is making room for us. I will come again and will take you to myself. Our destiny involves both a place and a person.
How can we know the way? Jesus was going to the cross, and He was giving them assurance that His journey into death was all part of the plan. They still didn’t understand it. But He clarifies it. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the only way a person can have a relationship with God and spend eternity with Him (Acts 4:12 / 1 Timothy 2:5). He is our means of access (Hebrews 4:14-16). Still, they didn’t understand. They wanted to experience the reality of a revelation of God. Jesus clarifies further. He IS God, and to know Him is to know God (Hebrews 1:1-3).
He goes on to tell them that while His words and His works testify to His truth, they will personally be a testimony to the Truth also. Pentecost was the beginning of the greater works Jesus was speaking of. They were not greater in power (both raised the dead), but greater in extent. He was referring to the spiritual miracle of salvation. Jesus never preached outside of Palestine, yet His followers would spread the gospel throughout the world. The number of believers in Christ grew far beyond those that were numbered during His lifetime.
Jesus then promises His disciples that their prayers concerning fruit bearing would be answered because this would bring glory to God. Fruitful ministry by following Christ’s kingdom agenda is a means of comfort when we are struggling with heart trouble. When troubling times come it is time to take the mission of God out of our back pocket and put it onto the front burner. If we believe on the One who IS the Truth, then we will see the way and live the life (Galatians 2:20).
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