1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 2 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: more about God and his will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one 5 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with today's verse. Today's 6 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: verse can be found in John chapter fourteen, verses five 7 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: and six. Thomas said to Jesus, Lord, we do not 8 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: know where you are going, so how can you know 9 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: the way? Jesus answered, I am the Way and the 10 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father 11 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: except through me. Did you know that within the Gospels 12 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: there are roughly one hundred eighty three questions asked of Jesus. 13 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,119 Speaker 1: This fact gives me tremendous comfort. It tells me that 14 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: it's okay to have questions. It's okay to be confused 15 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: about matters of faith. It's actually okay even to have 16 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: some doubts. We are invited to bring all of these 17 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: things to the Lord. Here's the kicker. Guess how many 18 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: of these questions Jesus answered directly. Three. Now that's not 19 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: to say that Jesus didn't respond, of course he did. 20 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 1: He just answered the questions differently. Than many would have expected. 21 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: A great example of this is the verses that were 22 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: read above. To put these verse in context, this is 23 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: John chapter fourteen, which is part of John's version of 24 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: the dialogue surrounding the Last Supper. Jesus had previously washed 25 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: the disciples feet and shared in the passover meal, and 26 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: he now spends significant time talking about his upcoming death 27 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: and what that means for the disciples. Jesus tries to 28 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: comfort them. He says, don't let your hearts be troubled. 29 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: Believe in God, but believe also in me. He then 30 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: tells the disciples that he will go and prepare a 31 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: place for them, that he will come back, and he 32 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: will receive them so that they can be where he is. 33 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: And then out of this conversation, Thomas responds. Now, his 34 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: response is both practical and logical. Although Jesus was playing 35 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: and speaking about his crucifixion and resurrection, Thomas and the 36 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: rest of the disciples didn't fully understand, and so he says, Lord, 37 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: we don't know where you are going, so how can 38 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: we know the way? In other words, Thomas asks Jesus, 39 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: how do I get to where you were going? If 40 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: the dwelling place prepared for us is our eternal life 41 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: in heaven? Then how do we get there? How do 42 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: I know that I will get to heaven? Have you 43 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: ever asked that question? You know, many of the deepest 44 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: questions about our faith pertain to the what and the why, 45 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: the where or the how of our salvation? What is 46 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: the way to heaven? How do we get there? Why 47 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: does Jesus save us? But what Jesus reminds us of 48 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: in this passage is that the ultimate answer to the 49 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: questions of salvation is never a how or a what 50 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: or a why. The answer is always a who. Thomas 51 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: asks how do I get to Heaven? What is the 52 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: way of salvation? And Jesus answers by pointing to himself. 53 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: I am the Way, He says, I am the Way, 54 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: the Truth, and the life. Jesus points to himself as 55 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: the way to full immersion in God's Kingdom, in this 56 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: life and in the next. Now. Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, 57 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: God's way was very, very important. This stems all the 58 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: way back to the Exodus. As the Israelites walked in 59 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: the way of salvation. We hear prophets talking about prepare 60 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: the way of the Lord, so knowing God's ways and 61 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: walking in God's ways was a huge focus for Israelite faith. 62 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: But here Jesus repackages that language and points to himself 63 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: and says, I am the Way. Jesus embodies the way 64 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: to God because he himself is God with us. Jesus 65 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: is the infleshment of God, or, as the Book of 66 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: Hebrew says, the unique expression of God's glory and the 67 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: perfect image of God's being. But Jesus isn't just the 68 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: way to God. He is also the tr truth of God. 69 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: So all the questions about who God is, or what 70 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: God is like, or where can I see God, the 71 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: answer is found in Jesus. Jesus says, don't believe just 72 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: because I've said it, but believe because of the miracles themselves. 73 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: The miracles and the majesties of Jesus are never just 74 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: ends in themselves. They are always performed to show that 75 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: Jesus is who he says he is. Jesus is the 76 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: truth of who God is for us. Lastly, Jesus says 77 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: that he is the Life. He is the life of 78 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: God lived on earth. Jesus is the expression of eternal life, 79 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: abundant life that comes to us now in the Greek language. 80 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: The Greek language has two words for life. The first 81 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: is bios, where we get the word biology or biography. 82 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: Fund second is zoe, which means abundant life, life in 83 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: all of its fullness. Jesus is the full and abundant 84 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: life of God, the abundant life of God lived amongst us. 85 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: But because Jesus is also fully human, he is also 86 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: the abundant life of humanity, lived in faith before God. 87 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: And so in that regard, Jesus displays for us what 88 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: abundant life can actually look like. It's okay to have questions. 89 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: It's okay to have deep questions, and maybe you have 90 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: some yourself. Maybe the question that you are wrestling with 91 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: is a prayer question, or maybe a Bible verse type question, 92 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: or maybe it's a Heaven and Hell forgiveness type question. 93 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: A lot of times we try to answer our questions 94 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: by figuring out what we have to do or how 95 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: we are to behave. But answering this way will always 96 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: lead us to a certain amount of frustration, and it 97 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: never will provide the full satisfaction and restedness that we 98 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: long for. So in grace, Jesus provides for us the 99 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: ultimate answer, the answer which is rooted not in how 100 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: we respond or how we behave, but in who He is. 101 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: When we embrace Jesus, we find that all our questions 102 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: about the way to heaven, the truth of God, and 103 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: the life that we are to live, they are naturally 104 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: answered because they are bound up in who Jesus is. 105 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 2: For us, looking for a peaceful way to end your day, 106 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 2: our new sister show. Your Nightly Scripture guides you each 107 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 2: night through a passage of scripture along with a calming 108 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 2: devotion and evening prayer. It's the perfect way to end 109 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 2: your day and help you sleep in peace. Your Nightly 110 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 2: Scripture is now available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you 111 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 2: listen to podcasts.