Daily Prayer Devotional for Women and Men | OnlinePrayerJournal

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For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

Jesus Comforts His Disciples 14  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” Jesus the Way to the Father 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone 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 that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.  12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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When I was a child, and after I’d left home, my parents moved several times. I discovered that wherever they moved, it was always ‘home’ for me because they were there. They made me feel secure, known, and loved. The house itself was far less important. Having told his disciples that he is going away, Jesus now reassures them that he will make room for them in his ‘Father’s house’ (v. 2). What’s important is not what the house looks like but the fact that Jesus is there: he will ‘take you to be with me that you also may be where I am’ (v. 3). These verses are often used at funerals, as they provide comfort that our loved ones will come home to God. However, Jesus isn’t referring only to what happens when we die. His ‘Father’s house’ is also a way of talking about God’s closeness now. It’s what Jesus called the temple, where the Jews thought God’s presence was mainly focused.1 Through and in Jesus (who also described his own body as a ‘temple’2), his disciples will find that presence. Jesus reassures Thomas that knowing him is all he needs to get there, as Jesus himself is ‘the way’ (vv. 5, 6). I used to worry about whether I ‘really’ knew Jesus (v. 7). It was a relief to discover that the word ‘really’ isn’t in the Greek. Of course, I know Jesus: I have met him in the Gospels and through his Spirit; I trust in his love; I love him and try to follow him. If you are anxious about your faith, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’ (v. 1). Jesus is very close and is your path to life.

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