The second provision of Christ for His
disciples is a personal path.
This path provides access to God for the disciples. The path is personal because Christ Himself
is the way.
There is a deep and difficult concept at work here, what the theologians call the “hypostatic union”. Jesus says He is the way to the Father (v6). Yet He says He who has seen me has seen the Father (v9).
The Bible Teaches that Jesus was…
– in the form of God, Phil. 2:6. God’s form is not physical but spiritual. Thus
Jesus had all the essential attributes of God.
– the image of the visible God, Col. 1:15. He was the visible representation
to the invisible God.
– the express image of His being, Heb. 1:3. He is the express image of
God’s essence. The Greek word for essence is hupostasis (from which
comes the term hypostatic union.) This union is an essential unity
that the Father and Son share.
The identity of the Father and Son extends to every word (John 3:34-35) and work (John 5:19-20) of Christ. And thus Christ is, in His essence, God; and at the same time He is the way to God.
While this is a deep and difficult truth it is by no means dark. Jesus calls us to believe it (v11a). If we are not sure then He calls us to believe it on the basis of His miraculous works (v11b) which were signs of His identity with the Father. To believe Christ and His word is to receive Him and thus to have immediate and intimate access to the Father.
And if they would believe Him they would find this to be a fantastic provision for the skeptic (like Thomas, v5) and for the realist (like Philip, v8).
What Christ is offering to His disciples is something He has enjoyed in His own life and ministry: access to and intimacy with the Father. He has told them they will someday be together again (v1-4). But they need not be strangers to God in the meantime. They can begin now to enjoy a personal relationship with God through Christ: He is the way!
By faith in Christ are you in this relationship with God?
There is a deep and difficult concept at work here, what the theologians call the “hypostatic union”. Jesus says He is the way to the Father (v6). Yet He says He who has seen me has seen the Father (v9).
The Bible Teaches that Jesus was…
– in the form of God, Phil. 2:6. God’s form is not physical but spiritual. Thus
Jesus had all the essential attributes of God.
– the image of the visible God, Col. 1:15. He was the visible representation
to the invisible God.
– the express image of His being, Heb. 1:3. He is the express image of
God’s essence. The Greek word for essence is hupostasis (from which
comes the term hypostatic union.) This union is an essential unity
that the Father and Son share.
The identity of the Father and Son extends to every word (John 3:34-35) and work (John 5:19-20) of Christ. And thus Christ is, in His essence, God; and at the same time He is the way to God.
While this is a deep and difficult truth it is by no means dark. Jesus calls us to believe it (v11a). If we are not sure then He calls us to believe it on the basis of His miraculous works (v11b) which were signs of His identity with the Father. To believe Christ and His word is to receive Him and thus to have immediate and intimate access to the Father.
And if they would believe Him they would find this to be a fantastic provision for the skeptic (like Thomas, v5) and for the realist (like Philip, v8).
What Christ is offering to His disciples is something He has enjoyed in His own life and ministry: access to and intimacy with the Father. He has told them they will someday be together again (v1-4). But they need not be strangers to God in the meantime. They can begin now to enjoy a personal relationship with God through Christ: He is the way!
By faith in Christ are you in this relationship with God?
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