Jesus, the Way to the Father
1“Don’t let your fhearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?3When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.4And you know the way to where I am going.”
5“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.7If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”
8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.11Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.
12“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.13You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.14Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
Jesus is the way, the only way, and if you know him he will come for you some day and bring you to live with him forever. There is a lot of deep theology here and we could spend way too much time on it, but that is the good news. Take a breath and rest in that good news. We don’t need to know a lot or do a lot, we just need to know Jesus. If we know Jesus, we know God, and we have an eternal place with God. When the world is kicking you around and fear is pounding in your heart, try to remember who you know and where he is taking you.
Now I can’t just ignore the promise to give you anything you ask for in Jesus’ name. At that time someone’s name meant so much more than it does now. To do something in someone’s name was to do it as if they had done it themselves. With that in mind, to ask for something in Jesus’ name would mean you are asking for something in the person of Jesus so whatever you would ask for would be fitting his will, his love, his plan etc. etc. This isn’t just tacking “in Jesus’ name” on the end of a prayer, this is praying in total unity with Christ.
Lord, help me to live in unity with you and pray in unity with you, both here, and when you come to take me home. *obbs*