Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) Who is Jesus talking to in these verses?
2) What does it mean that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”?
3) How do we see the Father in Jesus?
John 14:6-11
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.
Original Intent
1) Who is Jesus talking to in these verses?
We find these verses in the middle of a discussion Jesus is having, so to fully understand what is taking place, we read the surrounding these verses. At the beginning of John 13, we find Jesus with His disciples washing their feet before the Last Supper. John is recounting the events of the Last Supper and then records the conversations Jesus had with His disciples in those last hours before His arrest. At this point, Jesus had already dismissed Judas to betray Him; He knew His time was short. Sitting before Him are 11 men Jesus hand-picked to pour into during His three public years of ministry. They are the men He walked daily with, who saw Jesus in a multitude of scenarios, experienced Him, and had come to know who He truly was: The Christ. (Matthew 16:16) Here, Jesus is taking His last opportunity to pour truth into their lives one final time before journeying to the cross. Jesus is leaning in, making sure they understand the importance of what is taking place, who He truly is, and what it means for their lives.
2) What does it mean that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”?
Jesus begins John 14 by telling the disciples where He is going and what His plans are. Thomas, one of the 12, responds to Jesus by insisting they don’t actually know where Jesus is going so how could they possibly know how to get there. This statement from Jesus is in answer to Thomas’ questions. Jesus is telling His disciples the truth salvation hangs on.
Jesus, and the work He will soon finish on the cross, is the only way to God. There is no other way to know God, no other way to Heaven, and no other way to restored relationship with Him that is broken because of our sin. Matthew Henry’s commentary says Jesus “answers both Thomas’ inquiries and makes good what He had said, that they would have needed no answer if they had understood for themselves; for they knew Him, and He was the way”. Each portion of this phrase teaches different components of the whole concept. Isaiah 35:8 tells of “a road and a way called the Holy Way”. Jesus is that road. It is the only road, or way, to God. Matthew Henry explains how Jesus is the truth by saying, “Christ is the substance of all the Old-Testament types, which are therefore said to be figures of the true”. All the symbols and figures of that were used in the Old Testament to point forward, are no longer needed because Jesus is the true and complete fulfillment of all of them. Lastly, Jesus is the life. Before Jesus, sin was atoned for through taking the life of an innocent lamb. Blood must be shed in order for forgiveness to be given. Jesus is about to give His life, shedding His blood, in the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all.
3) How do we see the Father in Jesus?
In John 14:9 Jesus is answering Philip’s question about wanting to see the Father. These disciples had walked closely with Jesus for three years and still, they did not completely understand Who they were with, so Jesus is once again explaining truth to them. Jesus and the Father are One. Jesus is God in the flesh, the visible image of God that lived just as we live. When we look at the person of Jesus, we see the Father, because the 2 are 1. Expositor’s Bible Commentary says it this way, “God has taken that form which is most comprehensible to you- your own form, the form of man.” When we look at Jesus, we see the Father in all we can understand and comprehend. Jesus is telling the disciples that they need to look no farther than Him to see what they are asking to see. There is no image or symbol that can show the Father better, because He is the Father!
Everyday Application
1) Who is Jesus talking to in these verses?
Though Jesus is specifically talking to His disciples in these verses, they still hold importance for Jesus followers today. These are some of the last words Jesus chose to communicate before beginning His final journey to the cross. Jesus knew where He was headed and the amount of time He had left on Earth. If I knew the end of my life was coming I guarantee you I would be extremely specific about who I chose to talk to and what I would convey to them in those final moments. Jesus is doing just that. He saw these words as significant, for the disciples then, and all disciples who would follow, to hear and understand as truth. He is conveying to all who heard these words, and all who read these words the reality of who He is and what that means for each of us. Because Jesus is God, we cannot afford to take His words lightly.
2) What does it mean that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”?
“I am the way, the truth, and the life” is the complete statement of salvation Jesus utters to His disciples in His final moments with them. He makes clear that regardless of what the world may say, there is only one way to God and to a restored relationship. The plan God began before time to save humanity, is fulfilled in the Person who completed the work, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus stands before the disciples clearly conveying, “It’s me! I am the only way to the Father!” The world has many ideas on the way to attain Heaven, but Jesus tells us there is no other way than Him, no other truth other than who Jesus is and what He did, and no other way to eternal life than by resting the full assurance of our faith on the full righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus has gone to prepare a place in His Father’s house for each of us, but the only way to get there is through the life-giving name of Jesus. Not a Jesus invented or modified by man’s idea, but the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus who is fully God and fully man. On our own, we can never be good enough to reach the Holy God. We can never work our way to Heaven, or make right the relationship broken in the Garden of Eden. Our souls long to be reunited to God, and the only way is through a relationship with Jesus!
3) How do we see the Father in Jesus?
Jesus is conveying the truth: He is the Father, they are One. Genesis 1:26 first picks up on the idea that Jesus and God are one in the same. In this verse, we see God refer to Himself as “we” and “our”. That doesn’t mean that there is more than one true God. Instead, it shows us there is more than one facet of God. Jesus is the physical representation of God that we can look to. John 1:1-2 also shows us that Jesus and the Father are One. Therefore, just as the disciples simply needed to look at Jesus to see the Father, we too simply need to look at the person of Jesus, and we will see the Father. Jesus took on human flesh so we can see and know the Father. We were created for fellowship with the Father and our souls are crying out for the intimacy that began in the Garden. Jesus is telling us to stop searching and look no farther because all we long for is standing in front of us in Him! Expositor’s Bible Commentary notes, “What do we find in Christ? We find perfection of moral character, superiority to circumstances, to the elements, to disease, to death. We find in Him One who forgives sin and brings peace of conscience, who bestows the Holy Spirit and leads to perfect righteousness. We cannot imagine anything in God which is not made present to us in Christ. In any part of the universe we should feel secure with Christ. In the most critical spiritual emergency we should have confidence that He could right matters. In the physical and in the spiritual world, He is equally at home and equally commanding. We can believe Him when He says that he that has seen Him has seen the Father.” In essence, we see all we need to see of the Father when we look at Jesus, we need no more!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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