Do not let your hearts be troubled? (Vs. 1)
• Why did Jesus say this? Why were the disciples troubled?
o Jesus said He was going away and they couldn’t follow (John 13:33).
o That one of the 12 disciples would betray Him (John 13:21).
o That Peter would deny Him (John 13:38).
o That Satan was working against them (Luke 22:31–32).
o That all of the disciples would fall away (Matthew 26:31).

The Reason to Trust Jesus (Vs. 2–4)
• Jesus must go so He can prepare a dwelling place for them in His Father’s house.
o “Father’s house” refers to Heaven, not the Temple.
o When will Jesus come to receive the disciples and take them to their dwelling places?
- He will come at the rapture of the church.
• Jesus tells the disciples that they know the way.

Thomas’ Question (Vs. 5)
• Jesus’ statement in vs. 1–4 provokes a series of questions from three obscure disciples.
o Thomas asks a question (John 14:5).
o Philip asks a question (John 14:8).
o Judas, not Iscariot, asks a question (John 14:22).
o Mentioning thee three lesser-known disciples reflects eyewitness testimony.
- If someone was making up this story, why throw in random disciples to ask these questions? It seems more like a precise, detailed account of what actually happened.
- John 21:24
· This may show that Thomas, Philip, and Judas, not Iscariot, helped John with this Gospel.
• What is Thomas’ question?
o Thomas asks that since they do not know the destination of where Jesus is going, how can they know the path to the unknown destination?

The Way, the Truth, and the Life (Vs. 6–7)
• The Way
o Jesus is not encouraging His disciples to follow the trail that He is blazing. He is claiming to be the trail.
o This was such an influential teaching, that the earliest followers of Jesus referred to their beliefs in this manner.
- Acts 9:2, 19:9, 22:4, 24:14

• The Truth
o Jesus is the truth because He embodies the message that God sent to the world.
o The Greek word for “truth” in this verse is aletheia.
- Aletheia means: the quality or state of being real, verifiable reality.
o Jesus has been explaining that He is the truth all the way through the Gospel of John.
- John 1:17, 1:18, 8:31–32, 8:40, 18:37

• The Life
o Jesus has been explaining that He is the life all the way through the Gospel of John.
- John 1:4, 3:15–16, 5:26, 11:25–26,
- 1 John 5:20

• Exclusivity
o “No one comes to the Father but through Me.” -Jesus
- More exclusive claims: John 17:3, Acts 4:12
o People take offense at the exclusivity of Christianity because they believe in Religious Pluralism.
- Religious Pluralism: All religious views are equally true and valid.
o Apologetics Tip
- Self-refuting statements: A statement or truth claim that undermines itself.
• Examples:
o “My brother is an only child.”
o “I cannot speak a word of English.”
o “There are no sentences more than five words in length.”
o “There is no truth.”
• You can tell if a truth claim is self-refuting if the claim does not apply to itself.
o Ask
- “Your brother has no siblings?”
- “Was that in English?”
- “Was that 10 words in length?”
- “Is that true?”
o Let’s see if Religious Pluralism is self-refuting.
- Are all views equally true and valid?
• They can’t be, because they contradict each other in the content of their beliefs.
o Religious Pluralism makes a claim, that upon investigation, proves not to be true.

- Religious Pluralism self-destructs.
• If all views are equally true and valid, then Christianity is true and valid. If Christianity is true and valid, all views are not true and valid because Christianity teaches exclusivism.
• Your pluralist friend may say, “Well, all religions are equally true and valid, except Christianity.”
o Then they are an exclusivist too and shouldn’t be mad at you for your exclusivism.
o They are making a claim to be the only truth… and that truth is that all religions are equally valid.

Application
• Why did Jesus make this exclusive claim?
o Jesus claimed to be the only way to God because He is the only one who fixed our deepest problem.