The Way of Jesus (John 14:1-14)
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Here's what Brandon Robertson, author of Queer and Christian had to say about my upcoming book, the Edge of the Inside Releasing March 31st quote, Jeremy Jernigan has given us a gift with the edge of the inside, a tender, honest, and deeply thoughtful companion for anyone navigating the wilderness of deconstruction.
This is a guidebook for the spiritually disoriented and a balm for those who feel alone on the journey. If you'd like to read a copy before it comes out, we'd love to have you join our book launch team. You can find out more at edge of the inside.com or at the link in the show notes.
jeremy_1_03-17-2026_091310: Welcome to another episode of Rebuilding Faith.
These are 10 minute Bible messages for people with questions and doubts. Today I wanna look at a major confusion that we often see within Christianity, in particular, things that we sing about. In our worship songs, like what does it mean for us to praise Jesus?
Are we supposed to even do that? What does it mean for us [00:01:00] to worship the name of Jesus? What? What should we do with all of this? And if we wanna follow Jesus, what does it entail when it comes to how we think about these kind of things? Well, we're gonna explore this with one of the most famous things.
That Jesus ever said, and we're gonna look at it from maybe a different vantage point than you've seen it before. This is John chapter 14, beginning in verse one. Jesus says, don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my father's home, and if this were not, so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you.
When everything is ready, I will come and get you so that you will always be with me where I am. An incredibly comforting image here of Jesus, literally setting up home for us, getting everything ready. And I know a lot of Christians find a lot of [00:02:00] comfort in this idea. Now, I would imagine when Jesus is saying this to the original audience of the disciples.
They're probably envisioning a temple because that's where God's presence was in their day. So they're thinking, okay, is Jesus making like this really big temple that we're all gonna live in now? Or this is probably where their imaginations are going, which. It is interesting given what the New Testament writers do with the image of the temple.
So they do some things with the temple that we often don't realize how much they're, they're taking liberties with the idea of what was the temple and what will be the temple in the future as things are restored with God. When John, who's writing this gospel is going to write the book of Revelation, he gets a vision of the new Jerusalem.
He points out an interesting detail when he sees this. He says in Revelation 21, 22, I saw no temple [00:03:00] in the city for the Lord God Almighty. And the Lamb are its temple. So John is looking for a temple. 'cause obviously it's the new Jerusalem. There's got to be a temple except there's not a temple. And then he notices that God in the lamb.
Are the temple, which again, you can imagine to this audience that's, it's very metaphorical. What on earth does that actually mean that there is no temple? What do we do with that? But then the Apostle Paul elsewhere adds an interesting image to this temple illustration in one Corinthians three, verse 16.
He says this, don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the spirit of God lives? Now again, this is another twist. Okay? So John is realizing there is no temple, that God is the temple. And then Paul comes along and says, the way that God is going to be the temple is through all of you [00:04:00] that that believers together in embodying the presence of God, become the temple.
And so again, we go, what is Jesus referencing here when he talks about preparing a place? In light of what we see elsewhere from the New Testament writers. And then we get to John 14 verse four. And you know the way to where I am going, no, we don't. Lord Thomas said, I love Thomas. He's like, let's, let's call it out here.
No, no one knows what you're talking about. We have no idea where you're going. So how can we know the way? Jesus told him, I am the way the truth. Life. No one can come to the father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my father is. And from now on, you do know him and have seen him.
Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied. Jesus replied, have I been with you all this time, Philip? [00:05:00] And yet still, you don't know who I am. Anyone who has seen me has seen. Father, so why are you asking me to show him to you? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?
The words I speak are not of my own, but my father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. I tell you the truth. Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done. And even greater works because I am going to be with the father.
You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it so that the son can bring glory to the father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. Incredible teaching here from Jesus as his disciples are trying to figure out, what are you talking about? And then he drops this [00:06:00] on them to see Jesus is to see God.
As we've discussed previously, Jesus uniquely images what God the Father is like. And so Jesus is literally saying, if you have seen me, I have shown you exactly what God the Father is like. But if you look carefully at the language Jesus is using, he's showing us what belief in Jesus leads to. So this is the part that we often overlook, but if we have the right beliefs, what do those beliefs lead to?
We often think that believing is the point that we just have the right beliefs, we arrive and we're good. You just go, no, no, no. When you have the right beliefs, it should lead to certain things. There's a so what here? So what happens once we have the right beliefs? Notice the phrase, uh, the phrase is that Jesus just used here.
He said, we can do the same works that he has [00:07:00] done, which some of us might want to go. Uh, no, I, I don't think that's possible. He goes on to say Even greater works now. Just the same works, even greater works. Then he says, we can ask for anything in his name. Notice this is very much about what we do.
We think of belief as a very passive thing. I have the right beliefs, therefore I'm good. That's not the way Jesus is describing it here. When you have the right beliefs, it sets you up to do different kinds of things. Now, one of the more beautiful things I've ever heard about this passage comes from a Buddhist monk.
Which is probably not what you were expecting there. The zen master tick, not Han said this, and I love the way he puts this in perspective. He said when Jesus said, I am the way, he meant that to have a true relationship with God, you [00:08:00] must practice his way, his life, which is the way. If you do not really look at his life, you cannot see the way.
If you only satisfy yourself with praising a name, even the name of Jesus, it is not practicing the life of Jesus. We must practice living deeply, loving and acting with charity if we truly wish to honor Jesus. So it takes a Buddhist monk. For many of us to realize that we don't just believe in Jesus. We don't even just praise the name of Jesus.
We follow the way of Jesus, right? We look at what is Jesus doing? What did Jesus do? And then we go and do it. And this seems to be what Jesus was implying as well, that we can do the same things, even greater things when we believe. [00:09:00] Yet a lot of us have turned Christianity into just believing the right things and then you're done.
But as we're seeing here, what Jesus is talking about is a way of living that he modeled for us and then invites us to follow. So I think he's on to something here. The following Jesus is not just about praising him or even praising the name. It is about practicing the way of Jesus, embodying the way.
That Jesus lived. And so we take our cues from Jesus and we go out and we live it in our own lives, and only in this way as Jesus describes, can we truly know God. I'll see you next week on Rebuilding Faith. I.
