2022-05-17 “we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way”

John 14:4  “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.  5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?  6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

The Lord had plainly told them what was about to happen and where He was going, but it had not registered and settled into their minds; so now, “Thomas” also responds as a little child: “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”!  Like the others, “Thomas” was truthful, he did not understand what he had heard from the Lord for it didn’t make any sense to Him; for, he was expecting his Lord to set up a mighty physical earthly Kingdom like the other kingdoms of the world, except that His Kingdom would be mighty and overpower all the other kingdoms.  But, they would soon be empowered by the Holy Spirit and then they would understand.  So, for the time being, the Lord plants the seed for the Gospel that they would soon begin to preach.  He uses a familiar identifier for the Sovereign God, “I am”; meaning, He is self-existent, is All Powerful, and He has no beginning or ending.  He declares “I am the way”; that is, the sole cause, course, method, and means by which a person can ascend into Heaven.  He declares “I am the truth”; that is, He is the very essence of “truth”, nothing but “truth” emanates from Him, all that He says and does is perfectly true and right, and all His prophecies come to pass perfectly.  He declares “I am … the life”; that is, He is the sole cause of our Spiritual Life, our life of joy and peace in the Church, and our Eternal Life with Him in Heaven.  Then, He emphasizes again, that to know Him is to know the “Father” and to “have seen him”.  It is clear that “Thomas” was confused and hurting, but they all pondered these things and “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication”, even after the Lord had ascended (Acts 1:14) until they were illuminated by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).  It should be the same with us, when we are in difficult and trying times, in which we have no clear answers, we should just spend our time “in prayer and supplication” and wait upon the Lord!