John 14:1-12
Chapter 14
Jesus, the Way to the Father
“Do not let your hearts be troubled! You have faith in God; have faith also in me!In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places; otherwise, I would not have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you.
After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be.
And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him:
“LORD, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Jesus said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him, and you have seen him.”
Philip asked him:
“LORD, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him:
“I have been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? All that I say to you, I do not say of myself. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.
Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do. They will even do greater things than these because I am going to the Father.
Commentaries
Jesus, the Way to the Father
This chapter explores a mysterious pattern of Jesus going and returning: going to the Father only to reappear to his disciples and stay with them forever. The text in the Fourth Gospel reveals that Jesus never truly leaves or disappears; his going to the Father symbolizes a fuller return to his followers. Verse 23 is the chapter’s central point. God’s dwelling among his people, which the Old Testament describes in a cultic way (Ex 25:8; 29:45; Lv 26:11), was promised for the end times (Ezk 37:26ff; Zec 2:14; Rev 21:3, 22ff), and is now fulfilled within the community. It is the presence of the Holy Trinity in the heart of the Christian, who is transformed into a living temple of God! Amidst the desert and the exodus of our history, God truly dwells in the tent and temple of the believer.