PORTRAITS OF JESUS – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Greetings to you and welcome to another installment of our devotionals looking at the “7 I AM” statements recorded in the Gospel according to John. Today we will reflect on the statement that I think is both profound and provocative. Please turn to John 14 and we will read vv1-6 Jesus said:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:1-6
What makes me think that the statement is profound and at the same time provocative, is because here, Jesus clearly and unequivocally proclaim his nature, his identity, and the human predicament. And then sets out his ultimate mission. Effectually, in this few words, he is saying, “I and I alone can accomplish this task God the Father has assigned me! Bringing humanity to glory.
In this passage we meet the troubled and perturbed, anxiety-filled disciples. They were in this state because Judas was going to betray him, Peter was going to deny him and more seriously, Jesus was going to leave them – you could say, he was going to be isolated from them.
There is a sense in which many of us, today, share the same feelings like the disciples then. And Jesus stands in our midst and says: Let not your hearts be troubled, or agitated, anxious, edgy, bordered. Do not be disturbed, or apprehensive, fearful, distressed, nervous or worried sick. Have faith in Jesus, believe in God.
We may not know what is going to happen beyond COVID-19 pandemic. From the look of things, life is going to be hard for many of us. Jobs are threatened, our health system is challenged, and the economy is under duress. The nation is in distress! It is under this kind of circumstances we are called to look to Jesus and see him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
When life here on earth deals us a bad hand, Jesus is the Way – he does not merely show us the way; he himself is the way to God – through him we have access to all that his Father offers. He leads the way, he guides us as we follow him and has dedicated for us a new and a living way.
The human predicament I alluded to earlier is that we are lost, that is the starting point of our reality. As a matter of fact we, are on a way to destruction. In Proverbs 14:12, the writer says:
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12
But our faith in him shatters the barriers of sin and death, and blasts open the road to eternal life of the kingdom of God. He is that path that leads to life. Jesus is the only way for any person to have a relationship with God. Not only did Jesus said He is the way. Jesus also said He is the truth.
No one expresses it better than the Psalmist when he says: Teach me your way, O Lord that I may live according to your truth (86:11 NLT). Jesus Christ is the very embodiment of the truth. He is the truth in person; and the reality and truth of God are incarnated in him. All that we need to know and believe about God is found in him.
We live in a generation where truth is relative. Your truth is your truth – believe and believe in whatever suits you. In other words, there are no absolutes in this system of thinking. Because Jesus is the Truth, we can know God and experience him intimately and personally.
Jesus is the Truth because he is the dependable source of the redemptive revelation – he is the word that became flesh, with view to reveal God to humanity.
Lastly, Jesus is the Life – he’s the source and giver for all who trust in him. Remember, the Devil has come to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus came so that we have life and have it in abundance.
I leave you with this quote said so beautifully by Thomas à Kempis,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou should pursue; the truth which thou should believe; the life which thou should hope for.” will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Thomas á Kempis
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