November 3, 2025; John 14:1-14

Daily Dose of Hope

November 3, 2025

 

Scripture - John 14:1-14

 

Prayer:  Almighty Father, Thank you for a new day and thank you that your mercies are new every single morning.  How grateful we are that we can start afresh and anew each day.  Forgive us for the many times we fell short, for when we weren't loving, for when we were easily angered, for when our patience wore thin. Today, help us represent you well.  In all things, may we be reminded who and whose we are.  We are yours.  In Your Name, Amen.

 

This is the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts.  Today, we begin John 14. 

 

This is a phenomenal passage.  I know I say that a lot but it truly is.  It's a text we often hear read at funerals because it provides a tremendous amount of comfort that God has truly prepared a place for us in heaven. 

 

In this text, there is a great interaction between Jesus and Thomas.  The disciples are experiencing a lot of anxiety.  Jesus has just told them he's going away but he is trying to reassure them.  Jesus is like, I'm on my way to get your room ready.  I'll be coming back to get you, trust me.  But anyway, you already know the way.  And Thomas is like, "Umm…actually, I don't know the way, is there a map or something?"  And that's when Jesus says, "You do know the way because I am the way.  The only way to get to my Father is through me."  And he reiterated what he has been teaching them, "to know me is to know the Father.  If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father."  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  As the passage progresses, Philip is included in the conversation.  Again, there is this focus on, "If you know me, then you know the Father." 

When Jesus says, "I am the way," he doesn't say "I am a way." How the Greek sentence is constructed makes it absolutely clear and irrefutable that Jesus is making an exclusive claim here.   He is basically saying, don't go looking to anyone else to point you in those directions, because I am the only one who can!" 

Well, that feels pretty exclusive, doesn't it?  Yes, it is.  And exclusivity makes a lot of us feel uncomfortable.  So much so, that many people, including Christians, pastors, and scholars, try to find a loophole here.   People want to discount the validity of the Gospel of John, they want to find a problem in the Greek, you name it.  Yes, John was written later than the other Gospels but scholars believe that it is still accurate and authoritative.  John was written for the purpose of demonstrating that Jesus is the son of God and that is what he does.  Thus, he makes this very exclusive claim that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  But the Scripture I just read isn't the only one.

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