There Were Two Messages Of Reassurance for the eleven remaining apostles in the words of Jesus, as there are for us. First, there are many abiding places in God’s house (John 14:2). We are not competing with one another for a limited number of places. There will be room for all who satisfy God’s requirements and this means “doing nothing through faction or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself” (Phil. 2:3 RV as all quotes unless noted).
Preparing to be part of God’s house
The task of preparation is here and now, and the Lord Jesus, as his words indicate, is involved in the work. He has given us clear guidelines by word and example. He has gone before us to show us the way. We will see how frequently he insists upon total obedience to his teaching. Already in John 13:17 he has told us: “If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.”
The statement, “I go to prepare a place for you,” is wonderfully reminiscent of some words in Exodus 23: “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared” (Ex. 23:20). The Septuagint version of this passage has the same Greek words for “prepare” and “place” that we find in the Lord’s words in John 14. We note that the place in Exodus was the land and had been prepared by God to receive them.
Thus the angel in whom Yahweh had placed his name (Ex. 23:21) prefigures the Lord Jesus. At the time appointed by the Father, Jesus will say to his faithful followers, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34).
Briefly, then, we must prepare ourselves for our place in the kingdom by being obedient to the teaching of our Lord, as the Israelites had to be to the commandments communicated to Moses by the angel in the wilderness. Moreover, in the case of the new covenant, as already intimated, the Lord Jesus does not only give us instruction, but, in his own actions, he is the embodiment of his own teaching.
At the coming of Christ
In view of the foregoing reflections, only one conclusion seems possible. When we read the words, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again (I will come back, NIV) and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (v.3), reference must surely be to his return in the total sense of the word.
The words “receive you unto myself” indicate the establishment of a permanent relationship between the Lord and his disciples. We recall the words of the great Apostle as he contemplated the blessing the Lord would bring with him at his coming: “and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:17). This can only be possible when a place in the kingdom, and immortality, have been conferred upon those who wait for him. The expression, “That where I am, there ye may be also” had something more than a local meaning: it involves sharing the Lord’s exalted status. The redeemed are the bride of Christ (cf. Rev. 21:9-10); and when the marriage is consummated, they will be permanently united.
The way
Now we come to the consideration of John 14:4: “And whither I go, ye know the way.” The import of these words has already been considered; what the Lord has done in his example of humbly and lovingly washing the apostle’s feet is the way to the Father (see once more 13:1-4), though clearly he had been showing the way throughout his association with them. There is no other way than that of following the Lord’s example, and whenever an alternative is advocated, we should be on our guard.
The truth enunciated by the Lord was so unexpected that it was beyond the comprehension of Thomas, and indeed of the others. Alas, this might also be true of us. As for Thomas, he was an honest disciple, and he did not hesitate to confess his difficulty: “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way?” (v. 5). His problem was shared by the others as we note Thomas’ use of “we” (but the others kept quiet).
In response to Thomas’ question, the Lord pronounced the great truth: “I am the way, and the truth and the life” (v. 6). There could surely be no more comprehensive declaration of the unique status of our Lord. It is followed by the words: “no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.” It is a truly tremendous claim to make, but it was constantly endorsed by his Father (see for example Matt. 3:17; 17:5; John 12:28).
Man has from the start been in need of instruction in the way of righteousness. Some have responded, like Enoch and Noah who both walked with God (see Gen. 5:22; 6:9). Moses, with characteristic humility, pleaded with his God: “shew me now thy ways, that I may know thee.” In response he received the great theophany of Exodus 34 in which the angel proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (v. 6).
The theophanies granted to Moses are all important for our understanding of God’s nature. A fire which could not be extinguished at the burning bush speaks of God’s eternal and underived being: the one who is, who was, and is to come (see Rev. 1:4). The complementary theophany of Exodus 34 spells out God’s moral nature as being compassionate and full of mercy and truth.
Walking in the way
For the moment, we pursue further the concept of the “way.” In a prophecy which is transparently messianic, Isaiah speaks of “a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness” (Isa. 35:8). Associated with this way is the opening of the eyes of the blind, and the giving of hearing to the deaf (v. 5). This the Lord did during his ministry by the miracles he performed. The prophet also speaks of the lame man leaping as a hart (v. 6). This the Lord did at the pool of Bethesda (John 5). But there is a more apparent fulfillment of the prophecy in Acts 3. There Peter at the beautiful gate of the temple said to the man lame from birth, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). The miracle was the more dramatic for the man did not merely rise to his feet, but he entered the temple with Peter and John, “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (v. 8). The link with Isaiah 35 is obvious, especially when we note how in verse 14 Peter speaks of Jesus of Nazareth as “the holy and righteous one” (see also 2:27). It is surely significant that in the Book of Acts salvation in the Lord Jesus, with all that implies, is consistently referred to as “the Way” (see for example 9:2; 24:22).
Thus the lame Jew, and later the gentile at Lystra, also lame from birth (Acts 14:8), represent the two divisions of humanity equally incapable by nature of walking in the way of salvation, but granted that privilege by God’s grace in the Lord Jesus. Peter, who humbly learned so much from his Lord, speaks of him as the one who has left us an example that we should follow his steps (I Peter 2:21). As for John, who was present with Peter in the upper room, he declares: “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7). Then in the great picture in Revelation 14, the redeemed are represented as those who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes (v. 3).
The truth linked with mercy
The Lord also speaks of himself to Thomas as “the truth” (John 14:6). Our exploration of the concept of “true” and “the truth” could be wide-ranging. Much is true in the sense of being correct or accurate but it can have the most unpleasant association. Thus it is true that terrorism is becoming an increasing feature of our times. Yet God’s truth has nobler associations.
When the Lord God revealed His Name to Moses, it was as “a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Ex. 34:6). Associated with “truth” is “mercy” which is from the Hebrew chesed (rendered “goodness” in the AV, “steadfast love” in the NRSV). Chesed occurs a great number of times in the Old Testament and, when used of the Lord God, is associated with His “kindness,” and “loving kindness” (Young’s definition of chesed). It is especially prominent in Psalm 103, which recalls so eloquently the theophany of Exodus 34. Thus in Psalm 103:7 we read, “He made known His ways unto Moses, His doings unto the children of Israel.”
It is a profitable exercise to trace the influence of Exodus 34 in various parts of the Old Testament (for example Psa. 25:10). Particularly noteworthy is the passage in Micah 6: “And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy (chesed), and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic. 6:8). Moses never forgot the great revelation he received and, at a critical moment in Israel’s history, he invoked it, pleading for the forgiveness of the wayward people he led (Num. 14:17-19). His plea was not in vain (v. 20).
God is true, He is faithful
We must also take note of the fact God’s mercy is linked with the notion of truth. What then are we to understand by God’s truth (Hebrew emeth)? The word is defined by Young as “stedfastness,” as well as “truth.” This definition is supported by the NRSV which translates the Hebrew as “faithfulness.”
There can be little doubt the word is intended to bring out God’s undeviating consistency. He is always true, invariably carrying out His promises. He is the God who cannot lie or mislead us (cf. Titus 1:2; Heb, 6:18). We can have total confidence in His word. It is no accident that God’s truth is so often linked with His mercy, indicating it is an essential aspect of His being.
James brings this aspect out when he talks of every good gift “coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning” (1:17). There is an especially glorious association of the two words chesed and emeth in Psalm 85: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springeth out of the earth; and righteousness hath looked down from heaven” (vv. 10-11).
With these thoughts in mind, we come to the consideration of the Lord Jesus as “the truth.” In the prologue to the gospel, John has already told us he and his fellows had beheld his glory, “full of grace and truth” (1:14). The reminiscence of Exodus 34 seems all too obvious. God’s mercy, His lovingkindness, His goodness (all words used in the AV to render God’s chesed), tabernacled in the person of His Son. Just as God’s mercy is declared in the Old Testament to characterize, unfailingly, the LORD God, so our Lord claims he is likewise the expression of his Father’s truth, His faithfulness.
This feature of his character is mentioned in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever.” Paul, who enjoyed such grace from his Lord (see I Tim. 1:13-14), says of the Son of God, “For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God” (II Cor. 1:20 NRSV).
This use of “Amen” provides an illuminating link between the God of the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. Isaiah refers to Yahweh as “the God of truth” (65:16). While the context of this verse is in itself illuminating, for our immediate purpose we note the Hebrew word for “truth” is “Amen” (see the marginal note in the RV). The NRSV renders it as “faithfulness,” providing thus a connection with Exodus 34:6. In the book of Revelation, the Lord speaks of himself as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” (3:14). So indeed he is, and we recognize him as the embodiment of God’s truth in every respect.
In our next study we hope to consider the Lord Jesus as “the life.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One