Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read John 14:1–12

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). If only we truly received this invitation.

We recently took a big leap and transferred our kids—in the middle of the year—to a new school. This decision was born from a hard season of watching our kids struggle, and was the fruit of very intentional prayer and discussion. Despite the Lord confirming in prayer multiple times that this was the move He wanted us to make, I found myself up for hours at night, turning every worst-case scenario over and over in my mind, worrying we were making a huge mistake, and that my little girls would be the ones to suffer the consequences. Just like the disciples in this Sunday’s gospel, I needed the reminder not to let my heart be troubled.

In John 14, Jesus mercifully reminds his disciples not to worry. This scene opens just after Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and then tells them that one of these brothers will betray Him. And then the unthinkable: Jesus tells them that He will be with them only a short time, and where He is going, they cannot follow. This ragtag group of twelve men who had dropped their nets, their money bags, and their expectations had been following Jesus for three years. They ate together, they ministered together, they walked close enough to their teacher to carry His dust on their robes. How could the God-man who had become everything to the disciples tell them He was going where they could not follow? 

Because Jesus knows the ending.

The antidote to a troubled heart, Jesus tells us, is belief in God and in Himself. And this next part is key, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). The disciples rightly wanted to stay close to their Savior, but Jesus is focused on His mission to bring each of His brothers and sisters to a closeness that will never end—heaven. Theologian Peter Kreeft puts it simply: Heaven isn’t what draws us to God; God is what draws us to heaven. As Kreeft writes, “We don’t love God because he’s in heaven; we love heaven because that’s where God is.”[1]

Despite having spent three years in Jesus’ shadow, Thomas doesn’t understand. The Lord indicates that He will come back for them, and that they know the way, but Thomas presses Him: where are you going, and how can we know the way? This is when Jesus gives us the thesis:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). 

There is no other way to the Father, to heaven, than through Jesus. No other name to call on that will calm the storm in our lives and in our hearts.

The name of Jesus unlocks doors.

The name of Jesus destroys strongholds.

The name of Jesus sets captives free.

The name of Jesus restores what was lost.

The name of Jesus saves.

And on the nights when our minds won’t quiet, and our hearts won’t settle, it is the only name to call.

Jesus is the ladder by which we ascend to heaven—not by our achievements, our notoriety, or our self-righteousness. But by our littleness, our meekness, and our willingness to humble ourselves and let Jesus do the heavy lifting. Jesus’ greatest desire is to lead us to the Father in heaven, where “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). It is a place beyond imagination, and Jesus is the only one who can lead us there.

This gospel passage contains the entirety of Jesus’ message to mankind: Do not worry. Have faith. I am going before you and will bring you to the Father. I am the Way. We can trust that our life here matters, that it is a gift to be used to glorify the Lord. And we can look with great anticipation to the life that is awaiting us on the other side of the veil.

And so, when my girls come home from school bursting to tell me how loved and settled they are in their new school, I smile to myself, whisper a prayer of gratitude, and remember that He knows what He’s doing, He’s drawing us to Himself, and He is the only way home.

Ascending the ladder with you,
Tierney

Food for thought or journaling …

Is there an area of your life you have been trying to find your own way instead of following His? How is the Lord asking you to surrender and trust?

Jesus, when my heart tries to take me down another path, remind me that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are enough, and I can trust You to lead me to the Father. Amen.

[1] Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul (Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire, 2023), 342.