I am the Way the Truth, and the Life.

Understand Jesus' exclusive claim as the only path to the Father, embodying the truth and life we seek in a world of uncertainties. 

Transcript

Growing up, one of the most desired things I wanted to do as a kid was to sleepover at my cousins’ house. It didn’t happen often, but when it did it was the BEST thing ever. I enjoyed coming up with fun things to do with each other, staying up late and goofing off, or simply being with each other. Whatever it was, sleepovers with the cousins’ house was the best, but there was always the one obstacle that we needed to overcome. The one thing that almost everyone dreaded. It was the one thing that would make it or break the opportunity.

Who was going to ask the parents for permission? This definitely took some strategy and finessing. You needed a someone to orchestrate it to make it work. For starters, this person definitely wasn’t going to be the person who wanted to spend the night. There was zero chance that would work. It wasn’t proper to invite yourself over. You’d have to find someone who was brace enough to ask the parents. They had to be willing to convince the parents to a sleepover. They had to be responsible and in good standing with all the adults. You had to find the right person to ask, otherwise there was no chance a sleepover could work. You needed to find someone who could deliver to achieve the goal.

Similarly, our faith is about getting us from a life without God to a life with God and we do this by following the right path to get to where we want to. Jesus is the path who takes us to be with God. [2] This morning, we’re going to look at the 6th “I Am” statement in John 14 where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. Each “I Am” statement reveals who Jesus is so this morning, let’s see what this statement has to do with his identity of being the path that leads us to God.

John 14:6 is a popular verse that is widely recognized as a summary of what it means to believe in Jesus. It’s like John 3:16. While these single verses help us understand our faith, it’s also important not to isolate it from its context. In To better understand John 14 and what Jesus means when he says “I am the way, the truth, and the life” let’s get an idea of what’s happening at this point of Jesus’ life.

FAREWELL DISCOURSES

Scholars generally agree that Jesus began doing ministry when he was 30 years old and was crucified at 33. The first 11 chapters of John are spent on Jesus’ first 3 years of ministry and the last 10 chapters focus on his last week of life leading up to crucifixion. Chapter 13-17 focus on his final evening with the disciples before being taken away to be crucified. These chapters are known as the Farewell Discourse because Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure. He will soon be departing from them in a few different ways. First, he will be arrested and taken away from them. Next, he will depart from them in life when he is crucified on the cross. And finally, after he resurrects from the dead, he will depart from them on earth when he ascends to heaven.

Farewell Discourses were a common practice in the Jewish community. In the Old Testament, we see it in Genesis 49 with Jacob and Deuteronomy 31-34 with Moses. These moments were a gathering around a loved one in the last moment of their life. Close family and friends surrounded and the person who is going to depart as they shared their final concerns and encouragements before leaving. In some cases, the person departing might hand off or pass their responsibility to another. We see this happen with Moses and Joshua in Deuteronomy 34 and with Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings 2. What Jesus does is no different.

Goodbyes are never easy, especially when it’s saying goodbye to someone you love. All the disciples had a difficult time accepting that Jesus was going to leave them. Peter expresses his commitment to be with Jesus even if it costs him his life. Jesus informs his disciples of his departure, encourages them to be faithful and obedient, and passes his authority to them. He informs them that he is going to God’s dwelling place to prepare a heavenly home for them and he plans to return to take them with so they can be with each other. He assures his disciples that they know where he is going. Thomas is concerned that they don’t know where Jesus is going nor do they know how to get there and asks for reassurance. Jesus responds with, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. This “I Am” statement reveals to us that Jesus is the path to God. Not just a path to God, but the path to God. Notice in Jesus’ “I Am” statement he says that, “I am the way and the truth and the life”. The is one of the most common words that we use, but it’s important because we use it to differentiate between something specific and something general. In this case, when Jesus says he is the way, he is communicating that it is exclusively him. Why is that?

The exclusivity of Jesus being the way

We believe that Jesus is exclusively the path to God because of who God is. We believe God is holy and separate from us. In order to be in God’s presence, we must be like him. We must be righteous, but Romans 3:10-12 reminds us this,

“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

In order to be with God, we have to be right with God and right like God. The only way we can be like him is through Jesus. In passages like 2 Corinthians 5:21, we’re told that Jesus took on our sin and evil and traded his righteousness with us. And when we believe in Jesus Romans 3:22 says,

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  

We can only be right with God and right like God through Jesus. That’s why he is the path to God.

Interestingly, when the first church gathered, they referred to themselves as “followers of the Way”. According to the NIV First-Century Study Bible,

“The image of a path or way in the Hebrew Bible often stood for keeping the commandments or teachings of God (see Ps 1:1; 16:11; 86:11). This was a common ancient metaphor for active participation in a set of beliefs, teachings or practices. The Dead Sea Scrolls community called themselves followers of “the way,” by which they meant they were followers of their own interpretation of the path that pleased God.”

And while Jesus says that he is the way, he also says that he is the truth, and the life. George R. Beasley-Murray suggests that it’s best to understand that the emphasis is on Jesus being the way, but truth and life are important because they help explain how he is the way. So let’s quickly dive into what it means when Jesus says that he is the truth and the life so it helps us better understand the main point, that he is the way.

I am the Truth

When Jesus says that he is the truth, he is saying that there is nothing false, misleading, or uncertain about him. Everything that he says and does is truth and true to God’s desire. Jesus embodies truth by obeying God’s desire to show us that in his obedience, God blessed him. Similarly, if we obey God’s desire to trust Jesus, we will be blessed by God. When Jesus says he is the truth he is saying that we can depend on him to be the path to God.

I am the Life

When Jesus says that he is the life, he is saying that he is the source of all life. Because God is holy, no one stands a chance to live if they are not holy. When people approached God, many of them realized how unholy they were in comparison, and they knew it would cost their life being in the presence of something so holy. Here, Jesus says he is the source of life, and he is able to give us new life, which allows us to be with God.

So both truth and life highlight that Jesus the way. Jesus is the path to God. We on our own cannot get to God, but we need Jesus to get us there and he gladly is the path that gets us there. [9] Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” If we try to do things ourselves, it doesn’t gets us anywhere. Instead, we need Jesus to be our path because he is truth and life.

APPLICATION

How do we know that Jesus is that path that we’re on? It is an exclusive path. In Matthew 7:13-14, we’re given an idea of what this path looks like. This is what it says,

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The gate that leads us onto the path is narrow and requires us to search for it. The gate leading us onto the path is Jesus and nothing else. If you or I think we can jump on any path to get to Jesus, chances are, we aren’t on the right path to life, but to destruction. In John 10:9 Jesus says,

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”

In your journey to be with God, have you accessed it through Jesus? If not, what gate are you trying to access through? Is it through the things you do? Your church attendance? Your offering? These things can sometimes be mistaken as things we need to do in order to get to God, but they aren’t. They are things that should come from our relationship with Jesus. When we love Jesus and follow him it should lead us to do these things that true and life-giving.