St John 14 (1-14) among other things is Jesus' preparing of his disciples for his going away both at Calvary but also post-Calvary. With regard to the first, they have just heard the distressing news that Peter will betray the Lord three times before the cock crows. No wonder their hearts are troubled!However, St John, by the Holy Spirit, is also telling his readers more about the uniqueness of Jesus, the 'road' to God. In a sense, this theme has dominated his work from chapter 1. "No one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (v 18).
Our Lord directs their faith, not to Peter's predicted failure but to God and himself, to the road He will travel in order to go and prepare a place for them. Beautifully the writer transitions from this going with the theme of Himself as the Road, the unique Road to God.
First, Jesus tells them to their consternation I suspect that they know this way he is about to take. Dear Thomas then asks the question on all of their hearts I suspect, "Lord, we don't know where you are going and how can we know the way?" Jesus answers, "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me" (v 6).
"I am the road" is the translation given by J B Phillips and I think it a singularly helpful one for it gives us a word-picture. Just as a pathway, a footpath, a road allows us to get somewhere, Jesus is the One who leads to the Father. This revelation is profound because it means that our whole lives need to be lived upon the roadway which is Jesus, who is truth and life.
