Suppose you wanted to go into a beautiful building which was built high above you, and you could see no possible way to get there. Then someone showed you a path or door close beside you and said, “That is the way.” You would know what to do.
The Lord Jesus told the men who loved Him the way to God’s House in Heaven, just as plainly as that. He had told them He was to return to the Father and that they should be there with Him. He said they knew the way. But the men did not think they knew the way. They knew they could not take themselves, nor lift one another there. One of them asked, “How can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the Way.”
The Way, the Truth and the Life
The holy Person who was beside them was the way or door to heaven. They believed Him to be the Son of God and loved Him, so they “knew” Him. He was the true One and the Life, so could give life to them so they could be with Him. There was no other door or way to enter Heaven. Only He could take them there.
The Lord Jesus first would give up His life on earth on the cross, but the disciples did not then understand that. They also didn’t understand when He said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” But after He was risen from the tomb and they saw Him alive and gone up from them into the sky, they understood all His words. They did not forget that the Lord Jesus Himself was the only way to God. Peter afterward told the leading men of the temple that there was no other way; “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
Is there any other way now for us to reach God’s House? Could we lift ourselves there, or could our friends or parents take us there? Or could do many kind things would that make us a way to God? No, we must go the only way the disciples could go — by Jesus Himself.
If a person does not believe in the Lord Jesus, there is no way possible for him to reach God or the blessed place, heaven, for He said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”
The Holy Spirit
The Lord told the disciples that after He was gone the Father would send the Holy Spirit to teach them and to bring all things He had said to their remembrance. They would not see the Holy Spirit as they had Him, but He would be in them to comfort them.
Satan
The Lord had been talking with His disciples in the room where they ate the Passover meal. He said He would not talk much more with them because one He called “the prince of this world’’ was coming. A prince is a leader or ruler. This one was against Christ and “had nothing” in Him (v. 30). From other verses we know He meant the wicked spirit, Satan, who was there leading Judas to bring the soldiers to take Jesus.
Then Jesus said, “Arise, let us go hence,” so they must then have left the room to go to Mt. Olivet outside the city.
Further Meditation:
1. Why is faith in Christ essential for salvation?
2. In what way will the Holy Spirit act as a comforter for each believer as He did for the disciples?
3. Another Comforter by W. T. P. Wolston gives a simple and rather extensive presentation on the work that the Holy Spirit does. If you would like to study what the Bible has to say about the Holy Spirit in a lot more depth than this chapter provides you might find that book quite helpful.