The Way to God Is a Person | The Gospels | John 14:1–14
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What story does Patrick use to illustrate the need for a person instead of a road?
Welcome to 10-Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work.
I'm Patrick Miller. Jan Balsrud was a low-level Norwegian resistance soldier during World War II. In 1943, after a sabotage mission went wrong, he found himself stranded in the Arctic wilderness of northern Norway. Nazi soldiers were on his tail, and he's running for his life. All he needed to find in the blizzard he was running through was a road, some path back to his home. But the snow made it impossible. There were no cleared roads, and he was now blind in one eye, suffering from severe frostbite and on the edge of death. Finally, he realized that his search for a road was a death sentence. What he did end up finding was a Norwegian cottage. The inhabitants took him into their care, and then they used their network of friends and family in different villages to carry him secretly by stretcher from one place to the next until, after months of agony, they successfully smuggled him back into Sweden.
Jan thought he was looking for a road. But in reality, he was looking for a person. His way out wasn't paved by asphalt. It was paved by the sacrificial love of people who carried him from place to place. In John 14, Jesus has gathered his disciples for a last meal before his crucifixion. He's told them that he's leaving them, and they simply can't conceptualize that. They've followed him for three years. So all they want is one thing, a road, a path, a way back to Jesus. Let's pick up in verse 1. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you may also be where I am.
You know the way to the place where I am going. The disciples are taking all this quite literally. Jesus is going somewhere and he says they already know the road. But Thomas, who's never afraid to ask a question, pipes up and he says, Lord, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way there? Thomas is saying, look, again, we don't know where you're going. So I mean, how could we possibly know the road that takes us to you? And Jesus responds by telling him that the way isn't a road. The way is a person. Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.
So Jesus answers both of Thomas' questions. Where is he going? Well, he's going to be with his father in heaven. In verse 12, he makes this explicit saying, I am going to the father. But of course, that answer doesn't do them much good because they don't know the road to God's heavenly throne room. There's no mountain path there or highway or trail. So what's the way to the father? What's the way to Jesus? Well, let's reread Jesus. Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
How does the Jan Balsrud rescue narrative connect to Jesus’ promise in John 14?
The way isn't a road. It's a person. The way to the Father is knowing Jesus. The way to Jesus himself is knowing Jesus. Because Jesus himself is the way, the truth, and the life. This message can be offensive to modern people. How could Jesus claim to be the way to God, the truth about God, and the source of life? Surely there's other ways. And you'd be right to point out that many people attempt those other paths. Some people believe that the way to the Father is through obedience. do enough good deeds, live a good enough life, and you'll find him. This is why we like the idea that all good people go to heaven. But the Bible takes a different view of humanity. It says that even the most upstanding people are, at best, good on the outside.
Inside, though, we are all sick with sin, pride, selfishness, greed, hate, and much more besides. Even the most upright person will do good deeds to be seen, to raise his reputation, to bolster his pride.
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