Question 1:
When has your life taken an unexpected turn?
THE POINT
We can trust Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life.
THE PASSAGE
John 13:36–14:6
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Ten years ago, my wife almost died. She was pregnant for the first time, and the baby was trapped in the wrong place, in a tiny tube. One morning my wife woke up screaming, paralyzed with pain. We didn’t know it, but that tiny tube had ruptured and she was bleeding internally. We were both terrified. I drove her to the hospital, where the doctors were able to save her life, but our baby never had a chance. It was a devastating day.
For the next several months, my wife was barely able to move, and we were both barely able to think. We wondered, What is God doing? Where are we going? Can He really take care of us?
That’s not the only season my family has struggled to trust God. You’ve likely had those seasons too, times when you seemed to have only questions. Thankfully, the work of Jesus is more powerful than our questions and our doubts. Jesus is demonstrably for us. We can trust He is with us, bringing us to the Father, no matter what we face.
JOHN 13:36–14:1
13:36 “Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”
37 “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.
14:1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
A lot of us can identify with Peter; he was a lot like us. Jesus had just delivered a profound statement about loving one another (John 13:34-35), but Peter was more interested in what Jesus said before that. He pushed right past the command to love and asked Jesus where he was going, which led Jesus to talk about His Father’s house. Peter was more focused on what he wanted to know about God than on what Jesus wanted him to do for God. That might feel familiar to us.
We also see Peter was like us in another way. Peter impulsively asked, “ ‘Lord, … why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ” Peter was recklessly confident in his conviction. Peter believed in His ability to hold firm to his faith—but Peter was wrong. We, too, often think more highly of ourselves and our strengths than we ought.
Jesus gave Peter’s self-confidence a good shake. “Jesus replied, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.’ ” Brutal. Peter honestly believed he would fight to the death if someone tried to take Jesus from him, but Jesus knew that when the pressure came, Peter would deny even knowing him.
When I was in college, I lifted a lot of weights. One day, though I’d been working out for many years, I made a rookie mistake. I decided I would “max out” on the bench press without anyone around to help me as my “spotter.” I was certain I knew how much I could lift, so I loaded up the plates, positioned myself on the bench, lifted the bar, and lowered it to my chest. And that’s right where the weight stayed. Thankfully, someone in a nearby dorm room heard my cries for help and rescued me. If it weren’t for that guy, I’d still be in that gym trapped under a bench press weight I was 100 percent certain I was strong enough to lift.
That’s what Peter was like, except he didn’t overestimate the strength of his chest and arms; he overestimated the strength of his trust. Peter believed he was strong enough, passionate enough, experienced enough, and dedicated enough to hold onto his faith in Jesus, no matter what. “I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus said otherwise—and Jesus was right. When the time came to stand up for Jesus, Peter fell down. He denied, denied, denied, and when the rooster crowed, he remembered that Jesus had told him this would happen. “And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75).
Who hasn’t been there? At some point, I’m sure we’ve all believed we were strong enough, good enough, brave enough, or wise enough; only to find ourselves trapped under the weight of our sin or fear when we were challenged. Our abilities and efforts aren’t enough. Just like Peter, we must learn, as Peter did, that we can’t trust in ourselves—but we can trust in Jesus.
Peter’s plan was that he would die for Jesus. But Jesus had the opposite plan. Verse 36 points to idea that Peter’s faith wasn’t strong enough to follow Jesus to death at that moment, though he would, indeed, do so later. Why? Because Jesus would soon take Peter’s sin on Himself, die Peter’s death on a cross, and raise Peter to new life through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus was strong enough to defeat death for Peter and everyone else. Jesus made it possible for Peter to follow Him to heaven later.
So, what should Peter do for the moment? Trust Jesus. The Lord had just delivered an unsettling prediction to Peter, but Jesus also called the apostle to trust. Peter would falter in his own self-confidence, but Jesus said, “ ‘Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.’ ” We need to learn, as Peter did, that any confidence we have is not in ourselves, but in the One we trust. Our hearts do not need to be troubled; even when we do not understand, we can believe in God. He’s got this.
Question 2:
When are you tempted to trust your own abilities over placing your trust in God?
ENGAGE
Identify the words that describe how you feel when you read that God asks us to trust Him, even in the hardest and darkest of times.
UnsurePeacefulHappyRelievedAfraid
NervousCuriousAngryHopefulResentful
When have you trusted God during a dark time in your life?
JOHN 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.
KEY WORD: Rooms (14:2)—God’s house (heaven) has plenty of accommodations. There is a place and space for everyone who believes. Jesus is preparing this space for all who believe.
The disciples had several reasons for their hearts not to be troubled. Believing in God could have been enough. And then there’s the added call to believe also in Jesus. God the Son was right there; they were in His presence!
But Jesus would soon be leaving. Yet as He prepared His disciples for His departure, He gave them another reason to not be troubled. He promised believers permanent residence in His “Father’s house.” He said His Father’s house contains “many rooms.” The phrase translated rooms is sometimes translated mansions, which often makes us think of huge houses with an emphasis on opulence and wealth. This misses Jesus’ true meaning.
The emphasis is on the location of the Father’s house—and that location is in God’s presence. God has an eternal place for believers with Him. The grandeur of heaven is the presence of God! Do not fixate on receiving your “mansion” with many “rooms,” as if some glorified version of a brick-and-mortar castle is what will make heaven special. Jesus is preparing a place for us to dwell with Him, to be in His presence for all eternity—and that is the ultimate benefit of heaven.
Jesus underscored this priority when He promised, “I will come again and take you to myself.” Jesus promised to come back for His followers, accompany them beyond death, and bring them into His presence as their eternal reward. No stately home—no matter how nice—could possibly be better than dwelling in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus pointed to His impending departure—and its purpose. He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you,” but in the next breath He assured them, “If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself.” These short sentences summarize His upcoming death, resurrection, ascension, and return—events that are essential in making heaven a reality for us.
Preparing a place does not mean Jesus is busily working as a heavenly carpenter, trying to finish a house for everyone before some cosmic construction deadline. Preparing a place has nothing to do with levels of reward in heaven, styles or sizes of houses based on our spiritual devotion, or any such earthly-focused misapplication of Jesus’ intent and work. Jesus’ redemptive work through the cross and resurrection was the way He was preparing a place for us.
Jesus also promised “I will come again.” Jesus likely meant His second coming, but it’s not unreasonable to think He may have been speaking of coming for every believer at the moment of death. Timing is not the main issue. The focus is on the person who accompanies believers through death, not the place where they are going or the time when they arrive. No servant, angel, or other intermediary comes for believers in the moment of death. Jesus Himself will come for His followers!
Jesus would make it possible for His people to be with God the Father. And that was His mission from the beginning. Since we were made for a joyful, forever relationship with God, Jesus’ assertion that He can bring people to God is the best news there is.
Question 3:
What do you find comforting about these verses?
JOHN 14:4-6
4 You know the way to where I am going.”
5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 is one of the more well-known passages in the Bible, but it is also one that causes a lot of conflict. When Thomas asked how the disciples could know the way, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ ” No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. That means no one finds full satisfaction except through Jesus, no one finds ultimate hope except through Jesus, and no one finds his or her way to heaven except through Jesus.
Question 4:
What are some ways people seek to be right with God, other than through trusting Jesus?
Unfortunately, not everyone accepts this truth. I have friends and family members—and you may also—who believe there are many ways to God. I recently spent a day with an old friend who doesn’t believe he needs a “way” to the Father, because he doesn’t believe there is a Father. In fact, he doesn’t believe there’s anywhere to go after death. For him, this life is all there is. We spent the day trying to convert each other—and neither of us was successful. I love this friend, and it breaks my heart to know that underneath all his activity and beliefs is an emptiness because he believes this life simply ends. Jesus says we have only one way for that emptiness to be filled. We have only one hope for life beyond this life. Only one truth gets people to the God they were created to enjoy.
This truth is heavy when we think of those we love who don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus, but it is a comfort when that truth is aimed at ourselves. Jesus made this statement to His disciples to encourage them. For them, as it is for those of us in Christ, this is a promise that we have what we most want and most need. “If you know me, you will also know my Father” (John 14:7).
DIGGING DEEPER
JESUS: THE ONLY WAY TO GOD
John 14:6 is one of the most frequently quoted verses in the Gospel of John. This is another egō eimi (“I am”) saying. In this case Jesus asserted that he is “the way, the truth, and the life.” John joins three powerful ideas of “way,” “truth,” and “life” to produce a classic statement concerning the significance of Jesus in providing salvation.
John concludes with an emphatic assertion that “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Any hint at universalism, syncretistic patterns of salvation, or reaching the Father through any other means than Jesus is here completely eliminated.
The issue of Johannine exclusivism is therefore placed squarely before the reader. The language and antisociety stance may seem to be completely out of touch with today’s adoption of pluralism. The Johannine concept of mission is uncompromising on the issue of the uniqueness of Jesus. For this assertion they were willing to die or be excluded from the synagogues.
Gerald L Borchert, John 12-21, vol. 25B in New American Commentary, E. Ray Clendenen, gen. ed. (Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2002), Logos.
There is no better news for any heart.
When we are connected to Jesus, we are going home—headed toward an eternal life with Christ. In one sense, we are already there. Eternal life with Christ is not just reserved for the future. We have it now! As Jesus said at the close of the Gospel of Matthew, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus is the only way to God the Father. The fact that He is the only way should motivate us to share the truth and love of Christ with others. The fact that the He is the Way who leads to the Father should cause us to celebrate.
Question 5:
How would you explain that Jesus is the only way to God to someone who doesn’t know Him?
LIVE IT OUT
We live in a time when trust is hard to gain and hard to keep, but Jesus is trustworthy in every way. Spend some time focusing on God’s character and how trustworthy He is.
Trust. Think of an area of your life in which you tend to trust your own abilities. How can you rely more on Jesus and less on yourself?
List. Make a list of times or events when you experienced the trustworthiness of Jesus. Place the list where you can find it when your heart is troubled.
Share. Meet a friend or family member who does not share your spiritual beliefs about Jesus. Pray for the opportunity to begin a conversation about Jesus as the only way to God. [Lifeway Adults (NaN). (p. 38). Bible Studies for Life: Senior Adult Personal Study Guide - CSB - Spring 2022. Lifeway Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]
When has your life taken an unexpected turn?
THE POINT
We can trust Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life.
THE PASSAGE
John 13:36–14:6
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Ten years ago, my wife almost died. She was pregnant for the first time, and the baby was trapped in the wrong place, in a tiny tube. One morning my wife woke up screaming, paralyzed with pain. We didn’t know it, but that tiny tube had ruptured and she was bleeding internally. We were both terrified. I drove her to the hospital, where the doctors were able to save her life, but our baby never had a chance. It was a devastating day.
For the next several months, my wife was barely able to move, and we were both barely able to think. We wondered, What is God doing? Where are we going? Can He really take care of us?
That’s not the only season my family has struggled to trust God. You’ve likely had those seasons too, times when you seemed to have only questions. Thankfully, the work of Jesus is more powerful than our questions and our doubts. Jesus is demonstrably for us. We can trust He is with us, bringing us to the Father, no matter what we face.
JOHN 13:36–14:1
13:36 “Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”
37 “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.
14:1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
A lot of us can identify with Peter; he was a lot like us. Jesus had just delivered a profound statement about loving one another (John 13:34-35), but Peter was more interested in what Jesus said before that. He pushed right past the command to love and asked Jesus where he was going, which led Jesus to talk about His Father’s house. Peter was more focused on what he wanted to know about God than on what Jesus wanted him to do for God. That might feel familiar to us.
We also see Peter was like us in another way. Peter impulsively asked, “ ‘Lord, … why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ” Peter was recklessly confident in his conviction. Peter believed in His ability to hold firm to his faith—but Peter was wrong. We, too, often think more highly of ourselves and our strengths than we ought.
Jesus gave Peter’s self-confidence a good shake. “Jesus replied, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.’ ” Brutal. Peter honestly believed he would fight to the death if someone tried to take Jesus from him, but Jesus knew that when the pressure came, Peter would deny even knowing him.
When I was in college, I lifted a lot of weights. One day, though I’d been working out for many years, I made a rookie mistake. I decided I would “max out” on the bench press without anyone around to help me as my “spotter.” I was certain I knew how much I could lift, so I loaded up the plates, positioned myself on the bench, lifted the bar, and lowered it to my chest. And that’s right where the weight stayed. Thankfully, someone in a nearby dorm room heard my cries for help and rescued me. If it weren’t for that guy, I’d still be in that gym trapped under a bench press weight I was 100 percent certain I was strong enough to lift.
That’s what Peter was like, except he didn’t overestimate the strength of his chest and arms; he overestimated the strength of his trust. Peter believed he was strong enough, passionate enough, experienced enough, and dedicated enough to hold onto his faith in Jesus, no matter what. “I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus said otherwise—and Jesus was right. When the time came to stand up for Jesus, Peter fell down. He denied, denied, denied, and when the rooster crowed, he remembered that Jesus had told him this would happen. “And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75).
Who hasn’t been there? At some point, I’m sure we’ve all believed we were strong enough, good enough, brave enough, or wise enough; only to find ourselves trapped under the weight of our sin or fear when we were challenged. Our abilities and efforts aren’t enough. Just like Peter, we must learn, as Peter did, that we can’t trust in ourselves—but we can trust in Jesus.
Peter’s plan was that he would die for Jesus. But Jesus had the opposite plan. Verse 36 points to idea that Peter’s faith wasn’t strong enough to follow Jesus to death at that moment, though he would, indeed, do so later. Why? Because Jesus would soon take Peter’s sin on Himself, die Peter’s death on a cross, and raise Peter to new life through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus was strong enough to defeat death for Peter and everyone else. Jesus made it possible for Peter to follow Him to heaven later.
So, what should Peter do for the moment? Trust Jesus. The Lord had just delivered an unsettling prediction to Peter, but Jesus also called the apostle to trust. Peter would falter in his own self-confidence, but Jesus said, “ ‘Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.’ ” We need to learn, as Peter did, that any confidence we have is not in ourselves, but in the One we trust. Our hearts do not need to be troubled; even when we do not understand, we can believe in God. He’s got this.
Question 2:
When are you tempted to trust your own abilities over placing your trust in God?
ENGAGE
Identify the words that describe how you feel when you read that God asks us to trust Him, even in the hardest and darkest of times.
UnsurePeacefulHappyRelievedAfraid
NervousCuriousAngryHopefulResentful
When have you trusted God during a dark time in your life?
JOHN 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.
KEY WORD: Rooms (14:2)—God’s house (heaven) has plenty of accommodations. There is a place and space for everyone who believes. Jesus is preparing this space for all who believe.
The disciples had several reasons for their hearts not to be troubled. Believing in God could have been enough. And then there’s the added call to believe also in Jesus. God the Son was right there; they were in His presence!
But Jesus would soon be leaving. Yet as He prepared His disciples for His departure, He gave them another reason to not be troubled. He promised believers permanent residence in His “Father’s house.” He said His Father’s house contains “many rooms.” The phrase translated rooms is sometimes translated mansions, which often makes us think of huge houses with an emphasis on opulence and wealth. This misses Jesus’ true meaning.
The emphasis is on the location of the Father’s house—and that location is in God’s presence. God has an eternal place for believers with Him. The grandeur of heaven is the presence of God! Do not fixate on receiving your “mansion” with many “rooms,” as if some glorified version of a brick-and-mortar castle is what will make heaven special. Jesus is preparing a place for us to dwell with Him, to be in His presence for all eternity—and that is the ultimate benefit of heaven.
Jesus underscored this priority when He promised, “I will come again and take you to myself.” Jesus promised to come back for His followers, accompany them beyond death, and bring them into His presence as their eternal reward. No stately home—no matter how nice—could possibly be better than dwelling in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus pointed to His impending departure—and its purpose. He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you,” but in the next breath He assured them, “If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself.” These short sentences summarize His upcoming death, resurrection, ascension, and return—events that are essential in making heaven a reality for us.
Preparing a place does not mean Jesus is busily working as a heavenly carpenter, trying to finish a house for everyone before some cosmic construction deadline. Preparing a place has nothing to do with levels of reward in heaven, styles or sizes of houses based on our spiritual devotion, or any such earthly-focused misapplication of Jesus’ intent and work. Jesus’ redemptive work through the cross and resurrection was the way He was preparing a place for us.
Jesus also promised “I will come again.” Jesus likely meant His second coming, but it’s not unreasonable to think He may have been speaking of coming for every believer at the moment of death. Timing is not the main issue. The focus is on the person who accompanies believers through death, not the place where they are going or the time when they arrive. No servant, angel, or other intermediary comes for believers in the moment of death. Jesus Himself will come for His followers!
Jesus would make it possible for His people to be with God the Father. And that was His mission from the beginning. Since we were made for a joyful, forever relationship with God, Jesus’ assertion that He can bring people to God is the best news there is.
Question 3:
What do you find comforting about these verses?
JOHN 14:4-6
4 You know the way to where I am going.”
5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 is one of the more well-known passages in the Bible, but it is also one that causes a lot of conflict. When Thomas asked how the disciples could know the way, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ ” No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. That means no one finds full satisfaction except through Jesus, no one finds ultimate hope except through Jesus, and no one finds his or her way to heaven except through Jesus.
Question 4:
What are some ways people seek to be right with God, other than through trusting Jesus?
Unfortunately, not everyone accepts this truth. I have friends and family members—and you may also—who believe there are many ways to God. I recently spent a day with an old friend who doesn’t believe he needs a “way” to the Father, because he doesn’t believe there is a Father. In fact, he doesn’t believe there’s anywhere to go after death. For him, this life is all there is. We spent the day trying to convert each other—and neither of us was successful. I love this friend, and it breaks my heart to know that underneath all his activity and beliefs is an emptiness because he believes this life simply ends. Jesus says we have only one way for that emptiness to be filled. We have only one hope for life beyond this life. Only one truth gets people to the God they were created to enjoy.
This truth is heavy when we think of those we love who don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus, but it is a comfort when that truth is aimed at ourselves. Jesus made this statement to His disciples to encourage them. For them, as it is for those of us in Christ, this is a promise that we have what we most want and most need. “If you know me, you will also know my Father” (John 14:7).
DIGGING DEEPER
JESUS: THE ONLY WAY TO GOD
John 14:6 is one of the most frequently quoted verses in the Gospel of John. This is another egō eimi (“I am”) saying. In this case Jesus asserted that he is “the way, the truth, and the life.” John joins three powerful ideas of “way,” “truth,” and “life” to produce a classic statement concerning the significance of Jesus in providing salvation.
John concludes with an emphatic assertion that “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Any hint at universalism, syncretistic patterns of salvation, or reaching the Father through any other means than Jesus is here completely eliminated.
The issue of Johannine exclusivism is therefore placed squarely before the reader. The language and antisociety stance may seem to be completely out of touch with today’s adoption of pluralism. The Johannine concept of mission is uncompromising on the issue of the uniqueness of Jesus. For this assertion they were willing to die or be excluded from the synagogues.
Gerald L Borchert, John 12-21, vol. 25B in New American Commentary, E. Ray Clendenen, gen. ed. (Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2002), Logos.
There is no better news for any heart.
When we are connected to Jesus, we are going home—headed toward an eternal life with Christ. In one sense, we are already there. Eternal life with Christ is not just reserved for the future. We have it now! As Jesus said at the close of the Gospel of Matthew, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus is the only way to God the Father. The fact that He is the only way should motivate us to share the truth and love of Christ with others. The fact that the He is the Way who leads to the Father should cause us to celebrate.
Question 5:
How would you explain that Jesus is the only way to God to someone who doesn’t know Him?
LIVE IT OUT
We live in a time when trust is hard to gain and hard to keep, but Jesus is trustworthy in every way. Spend some time focusing on God’s character and how trustworthy He is.
Trust. Think of an area of your life in which you tend to trust your own abilities. How can you rely more on Jesus and less on yourself?
List. Make a list of times or events when you experienced the trustworthiness of Jesus. Place the list where you can find it when your heart is troubled.
Share. Meet a friend or family member who does not share your spiritual beliefs about Jesus. Pray for the opportunity to begin a conversation about Jesus as the only way to God. [Lifeway Adults (NaN). (p. 38). Bible Studies for Life: Senior Adult Personal Study Guide - CSB - Spring 2022. Lifeway Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]