Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. What does Jesus means when He declares, “I am the way?”
Jesus Christ Himself is the Way to God the Father; He, and He alone, has provided the means of reconciliation with God. The Bible defines our problem as being moral defilement, the breaking of God’s commandments and rebellion against God our Creator (note Isaiah 59:2-4). The Bible presents the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only solution (Isaiah 53:5-6; Galatians 3:13). Note, also, 1 Timothy 2:5; “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
2. What does Jesus mean when He declares, “I am the truth?”
Jesus Christ Himself is the Truth of God. In opposition to all the false prophets and false messiahs (whom Jesus warned would multiply in the days just prior to His return), Jesus brings the truth of God. The Lord Jesus is the ultimate prophet foretold by the Lord through Moses (note Deuteronomy 18:18) because He is the very Son of God Himself (note Hebrews 1:1-2). Furthermore, Jesus not only speaks the truth of God, He Himself is the embodiment of the truth.
3. What does Jesus mean when He declares, “I am the life?”
As the very Son of God, Jesus is the Source and Giver of life (note John 5:26). The Bible teaches that spiritual life and eternal life are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. As 1 John 5:11-12 declares, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
4. What request does Philip make and how does Jesus answer him? See John 14: 8-9 (printed below)
Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. (9) Jesus replied, I have been with you for such a long time, and you still do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me, has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? (John 14:8-9)
Philip requests Jesus to show them the Father. The fact that Philip makes this request of Jesus and that he refers to “the Father,” indicates that he and the other disciples acknowledged Jesus’ unique identity as the Son of God—they accepted what Jesus had taught about Himself (note John 10:35-36). But Philip still did not have a complete understanding of Jesus’ relationship to the Father. Perhaps what Philip and the other disciples were requesting was that Jesus would grant them a divine revelation similar to that granted to Moses when the Lord permitted him to see a physical manifestation of His glory as He declared to Moses His divine attributes (note Exodus 33:17-23 and 34:5-8). Jesus responds to Philip by declaring, “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” God the Father has revealed Himself—His character, His mind, His heart—in the Person of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Note, also, John 1:18.
5. What else does Jesus tell us about the relationship between Himself and the Father? See John 14:10 (printed below)
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of my own accord; on the contrary, the Father dwelling in me is performing his works. (John 14:10)
Jesus declares that there is an intimate unity between Himself and the Father. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. Furthermore, there is a divine revelation of God the Father that is given through the Person of Jesus Christ His Son—the Father has given Him the words to speak, He speaks the very word of God (John 12:49-50). These divine words are confirmed by the divine works that the Father Himself performed through Jesus Christ His Son (note John 10:37-38).
