His father hesitated, “But it’s raining.”

Daniel replied, “People still need Jesus.”

Pastor John suggested, “Well … you go and I’ll stay and pray.”

After going door to door and getting soaked to the bone, Daniel had one tract left. He rang the last doorbell in the neighborhood, but no one answered. So he knocked loudly. Then he rang again. Finally an elderly woman opened the door and said, “Hello, Sweetie.”

The boy handed her the tract and said, “Jesus really loves you!” Pleased, he headed home.

The following Sunday Pastor John began the service by asking, “Who has a testimony they’d like to share?”

To Daniel’s surprise, the elderly lady walked forward and said, “Last Sunday I felt depressed enough to end my life. I was writing my farewell note. Before I could finish, my doorbell rang. Then I heard a knock. I thought, I’ll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away. But when the bell rang again I decided to open the door, and there stood Daniel, the pastor’s son. He handed me a tract and said, ‘Jesus really loves you!’ That made me feel like life is worth living. So here I am.”

This desperate woman gained access to the heavenly Father through the hands of the pastor’s son. In truth, Jesus the Son offers us access to God the Father. And He really does love us.

LIFT UP
Jesus, thank You for being so clear about how to get to the Father. You gave Your life so I could have fellowship with the Father and spend eternity with Him. I am so grateful for You. Amen.

LOOK UP
In John 14:1–3, Jesus revealed that He was leaving His disciples to prepare a place for them. The disciples must have been confused about the things that had happened in the Upper Room that evening. What began as a celebration had turned into a dissolution. One of their members had left for good, and now Jesus was saying that He, too, would be leaving for a while. Having heard the Good News about Heaven, the disciples didn’t understand how they would be able to follow Jesus there. Perhaps you’ve wondered if there are alternate ways to get to Heaven. Jesus didn’t leave much doubt when He spoke about the way to Heaven.

Read John 14:4–6
“And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

What two things did Jesus assure the disciples they already knew? If someone asked you where Jesus is and how to get there, what would you say?

In your own words describe what confused Thomas.

Do you think Thomas was the only one who didn’t understand what Jesus meant? Explain.

What do you think this question revealed about Thomas?

What profound statement did Jesus make about Himself? How would you explain the meaning of this statement in your own words?

What did Jesus reveal about the path to the Father?

LIVE OUT
There are many ways to attain and demonstrate knowledge. As Christians, we are to progress from being hearers of God’s Word, to learning more about God’s Word, to becoming doers of the Word. List three biblical commands that you really know (that is, you understand them and you obey them).

Thomas was willing to ask Jesus questions when he didn’t understand what the Lord meant. Look in the following Scriptures to discover others who questioned God and why: Matthew 18:21-22, Luke 1:34-35, Luke 18:18-23.

Today we saw Jesus proclaim that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Notice that He did not say He was “a” way or “a” truth. Journal about a time in your life when Jesus replaced a way, truth or a source of life with the correct one.

Jesus’ exclusive claims present problems for those who would reduce Him to a mere moral teacher. C.S. Lewis, in his book “Mere Christianity,” wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool … or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”