John 14:1

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

1 “Let ^anot your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so,² I would have told you. ^aI go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, ^aI will come again and receive you to Myself; that ^bwhere I am, there you may be also.

4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

5 ^aThomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am ^athe way, ^bthe truth, and ^cthe life. ^dNo one comes to the Father ^eexcept through Me.

The Father Revealed

7 ^a“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? ^aHe who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

10 Do you not believe that ^aI am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you ^bI do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, ^aor else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

The Answered Prayer

12 ^a“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

13 ^aAnd whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be ^bglorified in the Son.

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises Another Helper

15 ^a“If you love Me,¹ keep My commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and ^aHe will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

17 ^athe Spirit of truth, ^bwhom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you ^cand will be in you.

18 ^aI will not leave you orphans; ^bI will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son

19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but ^ayou will see Me. ^bBecause I live, you will live also.

20 At that day you will know that ^aI am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

21 ^aHe who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and¹ manifest Myself to him.”

22 ^aJudas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, ^aand We will come to him and make Our home with him.

24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and ^athe word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

The Gift of His Peace

25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does John 14:1 Mean?

On the evening of the Passover, the night before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, Jesus prepares His disciples. He tells them He is leaving for the Father's house in heaven, where He will prepare places of authority and service for them, readying a people for God and assembling His team to govern the world after His return. He sets eternal life in God's house as the goal. The disciples, confused, do not grasp where He is going, and Thomas asks how they can know the way. Jesus answers, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," meaning no one reaches the Father's house except through Him. The only road to the Kingdom is the one Christ trod.

John 14:1-6

During the Passover service, we always read John 14 in its entirety. It is chock-full of insight and instruction that we, as Christ's disciples, need to live fully as Christians and to prepare for eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus sets the goal before us, eternal life in God's house. He says that He will soon be going to that same goal, where He will be in a better position to prepare us to reach it. Then He says, "You know the way there," which has Thomas scratching his head. "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" (verse 5). In other words, if we do not have a clear idea of the goal, how can we find our way there? It is impossible. A person must have a destination in mind before he can map out the route.

In verse 6, Jesus provides the answer: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus' emphasis is on "the way" since that is the force of Thomas' question. Some commentators have even gone so far as to say that the real sense of His statement is, "I am the true and living way"—that is, the words "life" and "truth" modify "way."

He implies that the Father will only accept as His children those who imitate the character and process of salvation that Christ pioneered. He is called the Captain or Author of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus has blazed the trail before us, showing us the way to go—and the way to go is to follow in His footsteps, to imitate Him (I John 2:6). There is only one road that leads to the Kingdom of God, the road that Christ Himself trod.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Christ, the Way

John 14:1-2

It is the night before the crucifixion. Jesus knows what is going to happen, so He prepares His disciples by telling them that He is leaving to travel, as it were, somewhere else. When He gets there, He will prepare a place for them.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Two)

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing John 14:1:**

John 14:6

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