Submitted
by Lara Cook
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are
going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:5-6
We have been
studying the seven “I am” statements of Jesus. The sixth statement of Jesus, I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, says everything we need to know. Jesus is talking to His disciples and is
telling them that He is going away. It
was the evening before all the events that led to His crucifixion began, and
Jesus was sharing the Last Supper with His closest friends – His Disciples. They did not realize that Jesus was talking
about His death, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven when He told them He was
going somewhere they could not come now, but they could follow Him there
later. Thomas asked Him How they would
be able to follow Jesus to where He was going if He didn’t tell them.
- I Am the Way…
Jesus responded to Thomas’ question about where he was going
by telling him that he already knew the way to where he was going. Jesus was referring to His own self being the
one and only way to God, heaven, salvation…to where Jesus was going.
- (I Am) the Truth…
Truth is not just the absence of error. These who heard Him knew He was talking about
that foundation upon which everything exists.
Truth is rooted in the eternal God who’s all powerful and unchangeable. Truth is far more than facts. It’s not just
something we act upon, but it acts upon us. We can’t change the truth, but the
truth can change us. As Christ the
living Word is truth, so his written word is truth. Though heaven and earth
will pass away, God’s truth never will. He
didn’t say He would show the truth or teach the truth or model the truth. He is
the truth. Truth is He is the only truth also, not a principle, but a
person.
- And (I Am) the Life… Jesus gives us life when we are dead in our sin. He only can restore to us the life we
have lost in sin and redeem us for eternal life in Heaven. This
is not life that only begins when we die.
This is life that begins immediately when we believe. This life gives us power and strength to
get through the days and face the challenges of life, big and small.
He follows up by saying, No one comes to the
Father except through me. Period. No exceptions.
In this statement, Jesus is also stating that He is the one and only path
to the Father. One way. Pretty simple. There are not enough good works or Sunday
school classes we can teach, or times we volunteer that will help us get to
heaven without going through Jesus.
Jesus is the way because the truth
of his way puts us in a life-
giving relationship with God and each other.
Rev. Kim James
giving relationship with God and each other.
Rev. Kim James
There is no need to make this some complicated
mystery. Jesus meant what He said, and
said what He meant. He is it. The one and only way to salvation and eternal
life, the perfect truth, and redeeming life from the death of sin.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
