14.02.15 Jn. 14:5-7
THOMAS WANTS TO KNOW THE WAY
5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way?”
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.”
Great men of the Hebrew Bible often spoke of the way by which men ought to live and the ways of God.[1] Jesus used this illustration to declare that He is the only Way to be redeemed unto the Father. He is the only Resurrection that bridges the chasm between death and the new life. He is the only Truth (Ps. 86:11), that reveals to mankind the nature of his spiritual condition and how to deal with it and, thereby, only He offers eternal Life (Prov. 6:23) with the Father.[2]
“No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The difficulty of this statement lies in its simplicity. How could anyone misunderstand a statement of such immense clarity? Did Jesus really mean all those who lived before Him would never see the Father? Or how about those who live in distant lands, such as America, and would not hear the gospel until centuries later? Are they all lost through no fault of their own? Could a heavenly Father of love, justice, and mercy condemn both of these groups into an eternal lake of fire?
These theological questions are beyond the scope of this work, yet the phrase cannot go untreated. In essence, God expects people to respond to His calling and they will be responsible for the amount of knowledge they possess. Therefore, one who has heard the Word of God and has rejected it will be accountable for his decision, as opposed to someone who has never heard the Word, but realizes that there must be a God and lives accordingly. In this case, Jesus is speaking of those who had heard His message. Nowhere in Scripture is anyone condemned because they did not hear the Word of God, but they are condemned because they rejected it.[3]
[1]. For example, see Deut. 5:32-33; 31:29; Isa. 30:21; 35:8; Ps. 26:3; 27:11; 86:11; 119:30.
[2] For further study on the significance of the physical resurrection of Jesus, see Geisler, Norman L. “The Significance of Christ’s Physical Resurrection.” Bibliotheca Sacra. 146:582 (Apr-June, 1989). 148-70.
[3]. Kaiser, Davids, Bruce, and Brauch, Hard Sayings of the Bible. 500.