It's "Who" You Know

In the gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus is teaching His disciples during what we call the “Last Supper”. He gives them some encouraging words about the hard times they are all about to go through and He says these words, “...if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, questions Him, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” The disciples were fixated on following Jesus, as they had been doing for the previous three years. It was important to them to know their master's plans so they could follow Him, but Jesus had just told them He was going to prepare a place for them in heaven so they could be with Him. Thomas' question really expresses the thought that is on many peoples' minds. What do we need to do, how do we get there, what is the proper procedure?

Jesus turns the tables and makes this statement, one of his most famous quotes in the Bible, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In other words, according to Jesus it's not what you know, but Who you know that makes the ultimate difference. Thomas was looking for a process, Jesus told him to look for a person. And that person was Jesus himself.

The same principle is true for us today. We may find ourselves with our own checklist of all of the good things we believe we must do in order to gain salvation, or we may find ourselves honestly asking, 'How can I be right with God?' While it may be tempting in such a hard working culture as ours to rely upon our commitment to excellence to prove our worth to God, the answer is found in Jesus Christ who knew no sin, but instead became sin for us and died for us so that we could have a clean record with God the Father. Jesus saves, Jesus forgives, Jesus makes old things new. What about you, do you know Jesus?