Friendship with God - Week 2

Notes

John 11:16 (ESV)

16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

John 14:5 (ESV)

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 20:24–28 (ESV)

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Keener

John 13:33 (ESV)

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

John 7:32–36 (ESV)

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

John 8:19–24 (ESV)

19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

The Way (odos)

BDAG

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὁδός

ὁδός, οῦ, ἡ (Hom.+) gener. an established ‘way’ or ‘course’ such as a road or channel of a river.

① a way for traveling or moving from one place to another, way, road, highway

② the action of traveling, way, trip, journey

③ course of behavior, way, way of life, fig. ext. of 1 and 2, but oft. w. the picture prominently in mind

ⓐ way εἰς ὁδ. ἐθνῶν μὴ ἀπέλθητε do not go in the way of the Gentiles i.e. do not turn to the Gentiles

ⓑ way of life, way of acting, conduct

ⓒ of the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint, the way, teaching in the most comprehensive sense

TNDT

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume ὁδός

3. Philo and Josephus. Philo makes great use of hodós in many senses, e.g., for the Red Sea “passage,”

Matthew 7:12–14 (ESV) (Narrow path)

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

14 For the gate (πύλη) is narrow and the way (ὁδός) is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The ESV Study Bible (Chapter 7)

7:13–14 narrow gate. The way to eternal life is “narrow” in that it is through Jesus alone (cf. note on Acts 4:12). Though the way is hard, those who choose the way that is easy (by seeking the approval of man rather than God) will find that the easy way only leads to destruction—ultimately to eternal punishment and separation from God.

Acts

Acts 9:2 ESV

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 19:9 ESV

9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

Acts 19:23 ESV

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

Acts 24:22 ESV

22 But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”

BEB - The “Way”

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Way, The

Way, The. One of the earliest names applied to the Christian community (Acts 9:2). It was apparently used by both the Jewish and the secular community and appeared in both positive and negative assessments of the church (19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). Paul’s use of the term in his defense before Felix suggests that the name had at least quasi-official acceptance (24:14, 22).

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Way, The

Though it was regularly used during the 1st century, it seems to have dropped out of general use shortly thereafter. Mohammed later appropriated the term in the Koran as a title for Islam.

Life

Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.