Category: Jesus in the Upper Room

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father” (Jn 14:12).

This verse connects our faith to a stunning promise of Jesus.  Jesus says that if we believe in Him, we will do works such as His and in fact do even greater works.  How is this even possible?

The key is in the second prerequisite to the greater works after our faith; Jesus going to the Father.  Because Jesus is going to the Father, His followers will do greater works than He.

The fulfillment of the promise is clear to us now, but its first utterance had to be confusing to the disciples.  But it did not take long to be fulfilled.

Following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, His band of followers numbered around 120 people.  On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit – only available now because Jesus went to the Father (Jn 16:7) – fell as a rushing wind and indwelt Jesus’ disciples.  A Spirit filled Peter preached a message of repentance and forgiveness in the person and work of Jesus and 3000 souls were saved.  The church was born.

Jesus’ work on earth was limited to a specific time and place and reach that one man, even the Son of God, “could” (or more accurately “chose”) to accomplish.  This was part of God’s plan when He sent His Son in the form of a man.  But now, on the day of Pentecost and hereafter, God was no longer working on earth through one man, Jesus.  God was actually indwelling and working through 12 apostles, and 120 people, and 3000 new believers, and by today in the billions.

God can be a lot of places and be doing “greater works” when He lives and works through a billion believers.  Jesus said, “The works that I do shall you do also.”  These “greater works” are still the work of Jesus.  But they are no longer accomplished by His presence among us.  They are accomplished by His Spirit within us.

Take courage.  God is still at work in this world.  And you are a part of that work.  You are a recipient of the work of God and an agent of the work of God.  His work is all around and in you.  You are part of God’s “greater works”.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”  Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do 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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:7-11).

Jesus makes clear in this passage that He and the Father are one.  He goes so far to say that if you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father.  Or course, with only a hint at the concept of the Trinity, the disciples are scratching their collective heads.  Philip speaks for the group with what sounds like a reasonable request, “Show us the Father.”

Jesus states more than once in these verses that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him; that if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.  So the answer to “Show us the Father” is Jesus standing right in front of you.

But there is a requirement to see the Father in Jesus; faith in Christ.  Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? … Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.”  Faith is required to see the Father in the face of the Son.

Jesus goes on to give the disciples two avenues to exercise their faith.  They are to believe Jesus’ words about who He is; He is in the Father and the Father in Him.  But as they try to process what these words exactly mean, Jesus gives them an alternative path, “Believe on account of the works themselves.”

Jesus gives the disciples some space to come to grips with His statements.  “Look at the works themselves,” Jesus says.  “You will see that the Father abiding in Me is doing His work.  The works I do are the works of God.”  To extend Jesus’ thought, I think He is saying only God can do the works you have witnessed.  And these works testify that I and the Father are working in unison and it is the work of God that you have seen in these three years of miracles.  These signs and wonders can only be the work of God the Father; working through Me because I and the Father are one.

I love the compassion in Jesus’ words.  He is essentially saying to His friends, “If this concept of I am in the Father and the Father is in Me has your head spinning, focus on the works themselves.  They testify to who I am.  They testify that I am the divine Son of God.  I am doing works that only God can do.”

After Jesus explained the dwelling places that He is going to prepare for His followers and the promise to come again and receive us to Himself, He continued,

“And you know the way where I am going.”  Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how do we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (Jn 14:4-6).

John 14:6 is one of the most succinct descriptions of who Jesus is in the entire gospels.  There is so much depth in each of these descriptions that Jesus applies to Himself; “the way, the truth, and the life.”

Thomas is thinking of a route or path when He asked Jesus about “the way” that Jesus is going.  Jesus clarifies that He is the way, He is the path.  He is not a destination on the way.  He Himself is the way.

Of course, we understand this “Jesus is the way” much better than the disciples ever could have at this point because we are looking back on the cross.  We are looking back on exactly what Jesus meant by Him being the way.  His death, burial, and resurrection are the way to eternal life.  He is the way to the Father.  Jesus is the way to a right relationship with God.  Jesus is the way to heaven.  Jesus is the way to dwelling forever with the Father and the Son.

Jesus is also the truth.  Jesus made clear throughout His earthly teaching that some things are true and others are false.  Jesus’ words were always true.  Jesus’ message was always true.  In fact, Jesus was so much the epitome of truth that He could simply be called The Truth.

Jesus, in His own words, is the truth.  There is no falsehood in Him.  We can trust what Jesus says to be true.  So when Jesus speaks of Himself as the Way, the way to eternal life, I know He is telling us the truth.

And finally, Jesus is the life.  This is such a prolific message throughout the gospel of John.  Jesus came to bring us life.  Abundant life in the here and now (Jn 10:10), resurrection life (Jn 11:25) in the here and hereafter, and eternal life in His presence (Jn 6:40, 14:3).  Jesus’ ministry was consumed by bringing what Peter called “words of eternal life” to situations and places and people who were “dead”.  Life in place of death is a gift that Jesus brought to His time on the earth and continues to give to people all over the world.  Jesus is life.  Jesus is The Life.

The Way, The Truth, The Life; an all-encompassing description of Jesus.  God, the Son, come to earth to show us the way, the truth, and the life.

“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself: that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn 14:1-3).

In the gospel of John, Jesus consistently stressed the one requirement to obtain eternal life; believe in Jesus.  In fact, I have been so struck by this singular focus of Jesus’ message that I wrote a short book about it, Is Jesus the Only Way?.

What is new in this passage is the “where” of eternal life.  The disciples had become convinced that Jesus had the words of eternal life.  When many would-be followers withdrew from Jesus in John chapter 6, He asked His disciples, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”  Simon Peter answered for the twelve, “Lord, to whom would we go?  You have words of eternal life” (Jn 6:66-68).

But now, in these final hours, they learn the “where”.  Eternal life will eventually be lived in heaven, in the presence of Jesus in the place He has prepared just for us.  There is a lot we do not know about heaven.  But this one certainty we do know; that we will dwell in the presence of Jesus Christ; “That where I am, there you will be also.”  This is a promise that is ironclad.

And this promise is to all who believe (vs 1).  If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you can be sure that in God’s house there are many dwelling places.  Jesus is preparing one of these places for you.  Jesus will come again to receive you to Himself.  And you will forever be with the Lord.  It is a beautiful promise, here revealed clearly to the disciples for the first time, about the “where” of eternal life.

When we lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, we had many opportunities to visit with our Latter Day Saint neighbors.  One of the topics that would come up was the Mormon belief in three heavens; one heaven for bad people, one heaven for good people (like Rhonda and I, non-Mormon Christians), and a third heaven for Mormons in good standing.

Without trying to be sarcastic or flippant, I would take our conversation to John 14 and show our friends, “It doesn’t matter if there is one heaven or five heavens or a hundred heavens, I will be – based on this promise and my faith in Jesus – in the heaven where God and Jesus dwell.”  The promise is sure.  There is no ambiguity.  We will live forever in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus is calling.  Heaven is waiting.  Believe in Jesus and you will live forever with Him.

“Little children, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35).

On the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus delivered a last message to His disciples that is saturated with meaning, direction, and hope.  It is recorded for us in the gospel of John, chapters 13 through 17.  Jesus starts the conversation with “a new commandment” to love one another.  What makes this kind of love such a “new” commandment?

Previously in the gospels, Jesus had emphasized the two-part love of the greatest commandment; love God and love your neighbor.  And to explain who is our “neighbor”, Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan.  So to summarize, we are to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and love the neighbor/stranger that God brings into our lives.

But here in John 13, we have a third group of people to love.  In this preview of His coming church, the body of Christ on earth, we are called to love each other in a deep and special way.  The church, and the “one anothers” that we are to practice in the church, led by “love one another”, are a whole new ballgame.  “Love one another” is a brand new command, because it applies to a brand new entity; the church that is yet to come.

Jesus is giving us a preview of life in the Father’s love by appealing to us to love our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.  Three times in just these two verses, Jesus says, “Love one another.”

What this love looks like in practice is further explained by the apostles in their New Testament letters.  In them, we learn how to serve one another in love, encourage our weaker brother, preserve the unity of the body, and a hundred other ways to show love in the body of Christ.

Loving one another also demonstrates to the world our allegiance to Christ.  “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).  Love is the mark of a follower of Jesus.  We can wear a cross around our neck, we can get a scripture tattoo, we can belong to a certain church denomination; but the true mark of a believer – a mark that Jesus gives the world the right to judge our allegiance by –  is the mark of love.

“Love one another” is not only a new commandment for Jesus’ disciples.  It is the over-arching attitude that energizes all of our relationships in the body of Christ.  Let us truly love one another.