I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
This is the 6th I AM statement made by Jesus as He makes bold claims to be both the Promised Messiah and the God of Israel. When Jesus says He is the Way, He makes claim to be the only way to God the Father. When He says He is the Truth, Jesus makes claim to be the only truth from God. And when He says He is the Life, Jesus makes claims to be the source of all life. In this article, we will break this verse down and give a case using scripture to say why Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life.
The previous 5 ‘I Am’ statements made by Jesus were made to the crowds. The last 2 ‘I Am’ statements are made only to His disciples on a Thursday night. On this Thursday night, Jesus celebrates the Passover with His disciples and washes their feet, He tells His disciples that one of them will betray Him, and now He prepares His disciples for His departure. It is on this Thursday night, Jesus makes His claim as ‘I AM the Way, The Truth and the Life.’ For Friday, Jesus will die a gruesome death, He will be crucified as a criminal on a cross. It’s interesting to think that at the start of the week, Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem with the crowds cheering ‘Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.’ (Luke 19:38). Compared to the Friday of His death, where the people will turn on Him calling out “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21).

The Way:
When Jesus says ‘I Am the Way’ He is making a very exclusive claim that he is the only road / path to God in Heaven. All religions will say they can show you a way to God, But Jesus is saying He is ‘the way’, or ‘the only way to God.’ If it were possible that Jesus didn’t have to go down the way of dying on the cross, He never would have done it. He says, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). Jesus knew the path He had to take meant a path towards His death on that dreadful cross where the cup of God’s wrath would be poured on Him. Yet, because of His love for us and His faithfulness and obedience to God the Father, He gave up His own life and took upon Himself the wrath of God, to make ‘the way’ possible for us to God the Father. Jesus taught that this one way to God the Father is a very narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14) The word narrow in this verse is the Greek word ‘thlibo’ meaning ‘to be pressed upon, to suffer or afflicted.’ Jesus never promised an easy prosperous life for those who will follow Jesus as ‘The Way’ to God the Father, but He did promise persecution if we are to follow Him as ‘The way’. (John15:20-21). Jesus also taught that He is the gate for His followers. Meaning that you can only enter through this gate one by one. You cannot rely on the faith of others to get you into Heaven. Only those who become followers of Jesus and are obedient to His teachings can enter through this gate. Those who don’t belong to Jesus will be denied entry through this gate to Heaven through this way. Those who do not belong to Jesus will hear the harsh words, ‘‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matt 7:23b).
It’s also interesting to note that early Christians were called people of ‘the way’ and this was based of this ‘I Am’ statement made by Jesus. (Acts 19:23,22:4,Acts 24:14,22 etc). Again we repeat, there is only one way to God the Father, and that is by faith alone, through Grace alone in Jesus Christ alone.

The Truth:
Not only is Jesus ‘the way’ to the Father, But He is also the Truth from God the Father. The verse reads, ‘I AM the way, and the truth, and the life…’ The word ‘and’ here is important because it binds the words ‘the way’ and ‘the truth’ and ‘the life’ together. You cannot have access to ‘the way’ unless you receive and believe ‘the truth’. So, what is ‘the Truth’? Pilate had asked this question to Jesus in John 18:38. Jesus had told Pilate, ‘…I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.’ (John 18:37)
Jesus says in (John 17:17) ‘Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth.’ ‘Your word’ is reference to God’s Word. John’s gospel tells us who God’s word is, in John 1:1 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ Jesus is saying He is God’s word revealed in John 1:1. And since this word is revealed to us through Jesus, and since John 17:17 is saying God’s word is truth, He is telling us that He is ‘The Truth’. And because He is ‘the truth’ those who are of ‘the truth’ are sanctified / set apart from the rest of the world for God the Father.
Jesus tells us in John 8:32, ‘and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ Unless you know Jesus as ‘The Truth’, you will not be set free from sin. And the wrath of God due on sin is still upon you.

The Life:
Again I take us back to the word ‘and’ in this verse and how it binds the words, ‘The way,’ ‘The truth,’ and ‘The life’ together. We made mention, that if we know the truth, we will find and know ‘the way’; and if we find and know the way, we will find and know ‘the life’. ‘The life’ is Jesus claim to be the gatekeeper to eternal life; Jesus is the bearer of Eternal life; He is the source of Life. To find out more on why Jesus is ‘The Life’, Have a read of our I Am the resurrection and the Life article.

To conclude, to believe and follow Jesus, one must believe that He is who He is claiming to be. The eternal God who is the giver of life Himself in the flesh. Jesus is the Source of Life Himself. To believe in Jesus as ‘The Way’ one must believe that He is the only way to Heaven. He is the only way to be made right with God. To believe in Jesus as ‘The Truth’ one must believe that He wasn’t just speaking truth, but He is the embodiment of Truth sent down from Heaven. The consequence of not believing in Jesus and His claims is ‘…you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am (Jesus), you will die in your sins.’ (John 8:24).
Are you on the way? Do you know Jesus as the Truth? Have you received everlasting life? If you want this, then believe in Jesus.
If you want to know more, please reach out to us here on Fresh Truth.

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