I AM The Way, And The Truth, And The Life

Howdy from the Panhandle. I pray you have had a great Lord's day. I know for some who may be reading this it is Monday already, so I pray you had a great Lord's day.

I am listening to a western music station and Roy Rogers and Dale Evens are singing … you guessed it “Happy Trails To You.” As I listen to that song I am reminded that there are a lot of people who believe that there are many trails to God. But, here in John 14:6-7 Christ Jesus leaves no doubt but that there is one and just one way or trail to God and it is through Him.

Former missionary and now Christian author, Nancy Rowland tells this story. One year when we were Malawi, Africa, we decided to drive out through a forest that provided trees for a lumber mill. The trees were very tall and there were hundreds of them. As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, we had no idea where we were and we were not sure what direction to go. We did not speak the language, so we were unable to communicate. It was a very strange feeling in a far and distant land. Doyal is more directionally oriented than I am, so he kept going in the direction he felt would take us to the other side of the forest. We drove for a couple of hours before we came to a paved road where we were able to find our way home. We definitely had lost our way when we entered the forest.

Christ Jesus made a very important statement about Himself that helps us know the direction in life that we need to take, (John 14:6). Many people wonder how they can find God. Christ Jesus with this statement shows the only way to a relationship with God.

In John 14:5 Thomas insists that they do not know where Christ Jesus is going and asks how they can know the way, Christ Jesus declares His great definitive “I am.” All of the “I AM’s” of the Gospel—”water,” “bread,” “light,” “resurrection and life”—are caught up in Christ Jesus’ saying, “I am the way” in verse 6. There is no other door to life with the Father. Christ Jesus is the one gate by which men may enter His Father’s fold. He is the Way because in Him the truth of the Father is revealed, not in concepts or ideals, but through coming to know Him. To know Christ Jesus is to know His Father. Life comes through this truth.

John 14:6-7

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

1. I Am The WAY - That Leads To The Father

When Christ Jesus came to earth, there were many who were willing to tell a person how to get to God. It is still the same today. There were the Pharisees, and Sadducees who insisted that the Law was the way. A person had to follow the regulations, offer the prescribed sacrifices, avoid working on the Sabbath, and keep away from the despised Gentiles. Between the two groups there were more rules and regulations than a body could possibly keep. 

Others said that it was a futile effort. God was remote, and the way to find Him was obscure. Further more the tragedies of life implied that God was at best indifferent to mankind's concerns. Many promises had been made about the greatness of Israel, but the fact was that in the eyes of most, Israel was weak. The Romans were in charge, and it did not look like that would change any time soon. Minus the Romans many people today still believe this way.

Then there were the followers of Christ Jesus. What did they believe, not believe? By the time John wrote his gospel around 60 A.D., there was no question in his mind who Christ Jesus is, He is the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah. But the conversation in John 13 and 14 took place about 30 years earlier just before Christ Jesus was crucified. In that conversation Christ Jesus knowing what lay just ahead spoke carefully, deliberately, and personally to these twelve men who had been with Him for three years.

However at that time in the disciples' spiritual walk they seem to be like the Oklahoma weather, wait a minute and what they believe will change. In John 13:36 Christ Jesus told his disciples that - "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later." Peter claimed that he was ready to follow Christ Jesus right then and there (13:37). Thomas on the other hand wanted some clarification, Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" (John 14:5). 

 

Unlike so many who opposed Him, Christ Jesus did not merely come to point the way to God and salvation. Christ Jesus came to be the very embodiment of the way. Christ Jesus' mission is not just one of information and direction on how to get to the Father. No! Christ Jesus came as the revelation of the Father, He came so that you can know God. He came so that you can have a relationship with God that makes God present, real, accessible, and relevant to you. 

 

“When Christ Jesus says, “I am the way,” He is not merely pointing in the right direction.” - Jesse Middendorf (Christian author and an executive director at Nazarene Theological Seminary). Christ Jesus came to take all of you who will call on Him by the hand, to strengthen you, to guide you, and to accompany you along your spiritual journey to the Father if you will let Him. 

 

In John 18:38, Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"

There are two things you can say for sure about human beings: our opposable thumbs make us great at using tools, and we are all big, fat liars. By age four, 90% of children have grasped the concept of lying, and it just gets worse from there. Just how bad is it? According to a 2002 study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of adults can’t have a ten minute conversation without lying at least once.

The fudge factor is exactly this notion: We want to benefit from dishonesty and we want to think of ourselves as honest people. What contributes to this are all the things that allow us to rationalize. Thinks like:

• Everybody else is doing it.
• I'm doing it for a good reason.
• I deserve it.
• It doesn't really hurt anybody.
  

Kathy Benjamin (article for MF Newsletter) May 7, 2012

2. I AM The TRUTH: That Leads The Way To God

Christ Jesus is the Truth, the illumination that leads to God. Christ Jesus is the embodiment of the truth proclaimed throughout John’s Gospel. Here verse 6, John is concerned with truth as it relates to salvation. John insists that Christ Jesus not only taught with great insight and power but that He is the “Truth” about which He teaches. Some people talk about or teach about truth, but that is just talk. Christ Jesus who is the “Truth” came with a better offer. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). 

The doctrine or teachings of Christ Jesus are true. In Christ Jesus, truth is not some high ideal, or a set of principles to be embraced. In Him truth is not a list of propositions to be memorized and believed. Truth is the holy love of God the Father by God the Son. “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20.

Truth - the state of being the case; the body of real things, events, and facts. The Greek word used is aletheia (al-ay'-thi-a) which comes from alethes (al-ay-thace') which means true (as not concealing). Christ Jesus is true to all that trust in Him. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24). As “truth” Christ Jesus makes a way to God the Father that is dependable and unfailing. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." Romans 10:12-13. What is truth? Christ Jesus is truth!

3. I AM The LIFE: That Only Comes From God

Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is-nothing exists that he didn't make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. (John 1:1-4).

Romans 6:11: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Life is more than a gift extended to us by Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the gift of life Himself. He is the life that not only saves you from death, but also destroys death. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.

"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS

YOUR STING?" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

As “the Life”, Christ Jesus is the author of your eternity. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21).

"No man can attain the Father except by perceiving the Truth and participating in the Life which is revealed to men in His Son. Thus, while being the guide. He does not guide to what is beyond Himself. (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)

Dew Evaporates
And all our world is dew...so dear,
So fresh, so fleeting”
― Kobayashi Issa, Japanese Haiku

The life Christ Jesus gives is not fleeting as some would have you believe, it is eternal. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Roman 6:22-23

4. But Through Me: Christ Jesus Is The Only Way To God

Christ Jesus can and will restore your relationship with God the Father. We are alive and in a relationship with God only in and through Christ Jesus. Acts 4:12 - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Christ Jesus does not say, "go" this way or that way and you'll get to the Father. No, Christ Jesus says the way, the only way to the Father is through Him. 

Christ Jesus is the true way to life, the only true way; other ways may seem right, but at the end of them is death. "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Conclusion: The Application Bible says in its comments on John 14:6: “As the Way, he is our path to the Father. As the Truth, he is the reality of all God's promises. As the Life, he joined his divine life to ours, both now and eternally.

The way of the cross is pictured with a very narrow road, a hard one to fine, and one with less traffic. The road to hell is a wide one, an easy one to find, and a well traveled road. But this time easier and bigger are not better, contrary to what the prevailing culture teaches, not all paths lead to God and salvation. Join yourself to Christ Jesus and He will show you and guide you on the narrow road. Except Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and He will restore your eternal relationship with God the Father. Ask Christ Jesus into your life now.