Father vs God…

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. (John 14:1-14, NRSV)

This text is the cause of many battles.

This text is heard at many funerals

This text brings comfort and fighting…

This is one of the many I Am statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. I would argue it is probably the most well known I Am statement.

This passage is also well known for it’s portrayal of the Father’s Mansion of many rooms… A dwelling place that is so large there is a room for all of us.

I want to say though that the dwelling place, or the Father’s Mansion is not a place at all, but an existence. It is not a physical location we will be transported to someday, but is a way to live, a dwelling of being.

And that leads us to the I Am statement.

This statement of Jesus. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This statement has been used as an exclusive statement, meaning it has been used to exclude people from those going to the place of the mansion… But what if the way, the truth and the life are a tautology? What if Jesus is saying the same thing 3 times in a different manor? Meaning the way, the truth and the life are all the same thing… In Jesus the way is clear, the truth is made known and we have life. Like the place of the mansion is not a physical one, but it is absolutely being in the presence of God! For you see Jesus Himself tells us in this verse, this I Am statement is not prohibition on who is not included, but a promise to those who are, He follows the above sentence with “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” From now on you do know and have seen.

We do know and have seen the Father, because in Jesus we have the way to the Father, the truth or our familial relationship with the Father and life in the Father.

And also notice that Jesus did not say “No one comes to God except through me.” He said no one comes to the Father… No one can have the familial relationship that I do with the Father, unless they come through me. You can have a relationship with God, as the Jews do, without having a Father/Son/Daughter relationship…

So is it an exclusive or inclusive statement? Doesn’t matter because for those of us with life in Christ we have the familial relationship and the promise. And that promise is for all who know and have seen. It is a promise and not a prohibition!