"The Way, and the Truth, and the Life"

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ESV)

Jesus said this while speaking to Thomas in the upper room. Can you even fathom what took place in that upper room, sitting with Christ for the Sabbath meal? Even more so because it was a doubly significant sabbath involving the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Friday sabbath. Yet after three years, the apostles still did not truly grasp who Jesus was or His purpose on earth. We know this because during this meal, “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”(John 14:8 ESV) But is that how some are, and we were?

Understanding that Jesus is everything is a tall order for the lost. Yet, Jesus is the center of all things. He gave us life, is the Word of God, the Truth, and He is the only source of eternal life. Further in this chapter, Jesus speaks of the two persons of the Trinity, the Father who is in the Son, and the Son who is in the Father. (14:10). The Trinity is easily described, but again for the perishing hard to understand, much less believe, yet they exist. They are alive and live in us believers.

John 14:6 proclaims an essential Christian doctrine: Christ is the only way to God. We cannot achieve salvation on our own. In fact, we can do nothing to be saved. We must have a Savior who is Christ the Lord. An incredible hurdle for the lost. However, this scripture contains three critical phrases.

First, “I am the way.” Jesus emphasizes Himself. There is no other way to God except through the Son. Peter echoes this very same principle in Acts 4:12, where he says, “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.” We are saved by Christ alone.

Second, I am “the Truth.” This reveals the embodiment of Christ in the Father and the Father in Him. In John’s prologue, he wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We know it is by grace that we come to faith in Christ. What is so special about God is that He is unchanging. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) This is what gives us assurances in our eternity.

Third, in life, Jesus speaks of our earthly and eternal lives. Jesus spoke of this often in His ministry. We see Jesus’s ability to give physical life in His raising of Lazareth and Jairus’s daughter. In John 10:28, Jesus clearly denotes His ability to give eternal life to those who come to Him.  ^“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  When we receive salvation through faith in Christ, we are no longer alive in this world but have passed from death to life. In John 5:24, Jesus said, ^“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” We live in the world, but we will not die a spiritual death. We will have eternal life in heaven with a realization and purpose given to us by God.

In today’s world, people deny their creator. They live their lives selfishly in search of self-satisfaction through whatever means, sinful or not. The Christian life has a purpose: to worship God. However, it cannot be realized until one comes to faith in Christ and passes from life in this world to a life born in the resurrection of Christ. He calls you, beckoning to you, ‘You do not have to go the way of hell, I died for you and your sins, turn back, turn to me.”  Will you not come to Him?

Seek Christ. He truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You cannot find salvation from your sins without knowing Jesus as your Savior.

Grace and Peace!