Read John 13:36-14:7
Questions for Littles: To whom does Peter speak in John 13:36? What does he ask Him? Does Jesus tell Peter where He is going? What does Jesus say that Peter cannot do now? What does Jesus say that Peter will do afterward? What does Peter ask in John 13:37? What does he announce? What does Jesus ask in John 13:38? What does Jesus announce—what will happen before a rooster crows? What does Jesus say immediately after verse 38 (John 14:1). In Whom does Jesus tell them to believe? In Whom else? Where does Jesus tell them there are many rooms (John 14:2)? Why is Jesus going there? What will Jesus do later (John 14:3)? Why? What two things does Jesus say that they know in John 14:4? Who says that they do not know either of these things (John 14:5)? What does Jesus say is the Way to where He is going (John 14:6)? What does Jesus say is the Truth about where He is going? What does Jesus say is the life by which they may follow to where He is going? When does Jesus say that they know the Father and have seen the Father (John 14:7)?This passage sounds like it is about a place. It’s a “where” question: “Lord, where are You going?” But this question doesn’t have just one “Who” answer, but two “Who” answers.
The first “Who” answer is Jesus’s Father. Peter, and all disciples, are entirely unreliable. They will abandon Jesus tonight. But His Father has never abandoned Him. Even before Jesus became a man, from all eternity, the Father and the Son have lived in mutual love. This is what is going to make the cross so devastating!
But the love of the Father and the Son for One Another doesn’t stop with them. The Father’s house doesn’t have one dwelling place but many. And, Jesus’s ultimate goal isn’t just to be with the Father. It’s to have the disciples with Him with the Father. Jesus is the second “Who” answer to the where question.
Thomas is pretty amazing. Jesus has just finished saying that they know both where He is going (the Father) and the way to get there (Jesus Himself) (John 14:4). Then, Thomas instantly says exactly the opposite of what Jesus says (John 14:5). This is what leads to one of the most memorized verses in Scripture.
But this verse is saying even more than “believing in Jesus is how to get to heaven.” Rather, it is saying that the Father is heaven. And Jesus is heaven. And Jesus is the way to the Father. Because Jesus and the Father are One. So, those who have Jesus do not have to wait until glory to have heaven. They have begun already to have their heaven!
No one has seen God at any time. Jesus, the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father—He has fully revealed Him (John 1:14)!
How can you have heaven now? In what moments do you most experience this?Suggested songs: ARP157 “Immortality & Resurrection” or TPH270 “At the Name of Jesus”
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