John 14:1-14.
And he said to his disciples, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. If you believe in God, you also believe in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would say unto you, I go to prepare a place for you. And though I go to prepare a place for you, yet will I come again, and receive you unto myself, that ye may be where I am. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know also. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye knew me, ye knew my Father also. And from henceforth ye have known him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it shall be sufficient for us. Jesus saith unto him, How long am I with you, and thou knowest me not? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father. How sayest thou then: Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself. But the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; if not, believe me for the works.
*) Held in Zwickau. D. Red.
for the sake of it. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do: for I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do.
The whole world strives to know God and the way to Him. However, those who want to discover Him through human diligence and reason encounter two things. Those who want to recognize God through reason in the Scriptures either avoid Him on the right or fall into despair on the left. This is how Adam recognized God in Paradise. These recognize God according to His righteousness and holiness; but they do not recognize Him as a mediator.
2. the true and divine way is only that which began with Christ, who became man. Here you see how Christ touches the thoughts of the disciples who wanted to know God the Father by reason. Here he speaks against them: Not thus, but "I am the way," namely through my death and resurrection; thus it must go Thomae, thus Philippo. These he has withdrawn from the Father to himself. And this is how it goes: I must imagine Christ with the eyes of faith, and see him in faith, not with the body. The gospel describes Christ to us everywhere in such a way that he came not for his own sake but for ours, and that he did everything for our sake; so that when we consider this about Christ, we are powerfully drawn to his and the Father's love. Should not this, that Christ has done all these things for our sake, make our hearts fervent? This is the true way to God, and no other. If I believe this and consider that the man Christ did these things for my sake, according to the will of the Father, then I will be drawn to the love and knowledge of the Father through Christ. Ps. 103, 13: "As a father has mercy on children" etc. For this does not mean to know God, if I recognize His wisdom, omnipotence and all His wonders through reading. For such a knowledge falls into despair. But that is to truly know God, when the Father is known through Christ, and through this knowledge all despair disappears.
For "if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8, 31.) Neither death, nor sin, nor hell can frighten me.
(3) Through this knowledge, those who want to understand God with their reason also fall to the right by another way. But now Christ is the spiritual way, if one considers that through Christ's bloodshed, death and resurrection everything has been made good, and I know that Christ has done all this for me, so that he did not need a thing. And if I therefore know Christ, then through this Christ I come to know the Father and am drawn to his love. Therefore he speaks here: "The Father is in me, and I in the Father." And: "No one knows the Father, except the Son"; and: "No one comes to the Father, except through me. And this is the true way, which neither Philip nor Thomas knew. It is illustrated in Gen. 28 by Jacob's ladder to heaven etc. For this ladder is Christ, on which God descends from heaven to earth, and the angels; for through Christ God has looked upon the earth with mercy. And on this ladder we must ascend to God; for he is the way and the truth. Therefore there is no deceit in this way, as in the other two ways, to the right and to the left. Ps. 25, 10: "The ways of the Lord are goodness and truth" etc. Christ, who is the way, is the truth.
4 Therefore he says, "Do not let your heart be troubled," as if to say, "All your troubles I have borne, that is, death, sin and hell. "If ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house" etc. Behold, here he promises heaven to those who believe in him, and not to those who magnify themselves with their works. Therefore it follows: "If it were not so" etc. If it were otherwise etc., "I will go and prepare the place for you." Notice here, the dwellings are prepared, but we are not yet sent to possess these dwellings; and
We are made capable of this through faith. For this reason Christ ascended into heaven and was appointed King and God over all things, that he might be able to give us all these things and to give faith to our hearts, so that through them we might attain to these dwellings.
5 Therefore now follows, "The way ye know," saith Christ, that is, me. Thomas answers: No; because though they saw Christ already, yet they had not known him as the way. For he who sees Caesar in lowly apparel sees Caesar, but he has not seen him as Caesar, because he has not regarded him as such. Therefore this bodily seeing does not help, but the seeing of the heart, which happens through faith. Therefore he also says to Philippo: "He who sees me", namely in faith, "sees also the Father" etc. All this teaches the gospel. It is followed by: "Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us," because further on to the Blessed
Nothing is required for the existence of God but that we know that God is a Father, and that He is our Father. Thus Christ said (John 20:17), "I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God." Behold, what comforting words these are! Whoever believes in Christ and thus embraces God the Father with love will also do the works that Christ does and has done. For I go to the Father and already have all authority with the Father, and every Christian has this same authority with Christ when he believes.
6 We will not speak of the miraculous works now, but only note this: Just as Christ did everything for the sake of his neighbor, so also a Christian does everything for the benefit of his neighbor. And where there is faith, works of love infallibly follow it. Now let each one compare his works with Christ's works, and he will know whether he has faith.