I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Seven times John records Jesus giving Himself an “I Am” name.  Each one describes an aspect of our relationship with Him; how we should view Jesus and relate to Him.  Each also provides a glimpse of what Jesus offers to all faithful and obedient believers.  May you be enriched and blessed as you study these names and discover what He offers to you each day.

The sixth “I am” name Jesus gave Himself is found in John 14:6; “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Each name Jesus gave Himself indicates a human need He alone can meet.  What do you think the human need is that He alone can meet as “the way, the truth, and the life” for mankind?

The scene for this statement was the Upper Room meal and discourse on the night of His arrest.  This event collectively is known as: The Lord’s Supper.

Soon He will be arrested and the trials and brutality will begin.  These are the final hours of His ministry.  Surely the Cross weighs heavy on His mind; and now, one last opportunity to share words of comfort, hope and exhortation with the disciples.

In the midst of this conversation, Jesus makes a three-part proclamation.

     

1. “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” (vs. 31b)

2. “Children, I am with you a little while longer.” (vs. 33a)

3. “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” (vs. 34a)

Peter is the first to respond.  “Lord…where are you going?” (vs. 36).  Can you tell which part of the proclamation caught Peter’s attention?

It was not Jesus’ first statement about God receiving glory.  Nor was it the third, which was a new commandment.  Peter honed in on the fact Jesus said He was leaving!  And Peter was concerned.

In response to Peter’s question, Jesus makes a promise (one of the most well-known in Scripture):

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you.  I going away to prepare a place for you.  If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.  You know the way where I am going.”  (John 14:2-4)

This time Thomas is first to respond, likely voicing the same thought the other disciples are thinking.  “Lord…we don’t know where You’re going.  How can we know the way?” (vs. 14:5).  Two things Thomas says the disciples do not know:

1. Where Jesus is going.

2. The “way” or path Jesus is taking.

In response to Thomas, Jesus gives His sixth “I am” statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (vs. 6).

Jesus is the path.  He confirms this clearly and beyond discussion with the second sentence of the verse.  No one can approach the Father in Heaven in any way, along any pathway, other than through the Lord Jesus. 

Paul later echoes this truth:

“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” (Romans 5:1b-2a)

“For through Him we [all] have access by one Spirit to the father.” (Ephesians 2:18)

As does the writer of Hebrews:

“Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He has inaugurated for us, through the curtain (that is, His flesh)...” (Hebrews 10:19-20; emphasis added)

Jesus made the path to God clear for the disciples.  He then made clear the destination.  When Jesus said, “I am the truth,” He used a phrase that the first century Jewish mind would have immediately understood as referencing God; more specifically, the place where God dwells.

Truth resided, and still does, with God.  It is a part of God, finding its existence in Him.  Thus, there never has been and can never be any truth apart from God.  When Jesus said, “I am the truth,” He was saying, “I am God; and I am going back to where God resides.”

The disciples would have understood that the destination was Heaven.

After telling the disciples the pathway and the destination, Jesus then reminds them of the blessings of making the journey.  “I am the life” has two applications:

1. I am the provider of your abundant life on earth; one filled with myriad blessings and opportunities.

2. I am the provider of your eternal life in Heaven.

Jesus embodies the way to God, the truth about God, and the life in God – both in this world, and throughout eternity.¹

This is an exclusive gospel message.  Jesus, the disciples, the early church and the New Testament know nothing of universalism – the idea that God will somehow save everybody, even those who reject Him in this life.

Rather, the clear teaching from His own lips is that Jesus is the way, the only way.  There is no other way to God.  There is no other path for finding peace, comfort, contentment, joy, life and eternal blessedness in Heaven with the Father, other than through Jesus.

There are two eternal destinations: one of pain, torment and suffering; and one of blessings, joy and happiness.  The first is called Hell, the second, Heaven.  All of mankind is quickly sliding down the slippery slope toward the gates of Hell; except for those who find the narrow and often difficult path that leads upwards.  And dear reader, that path is Jesus, and no other.

¹  Parts of this section taken from:  Gangel, Kenneth O.; Max Anders, gen. ed.  Holman New Testament Commentary: John  (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), pg. 197-199.