“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ ” (Jn 14:6). In this one verse, we have a beautiful summary to the message of John’s gospel. Jesus said that He is the only way to God, His message is truth, and the reward for believing this is life eternal and abundant.
That Jesus is the only way to the Father is a theme throughout John’s gospel. In the middle chapters of the book, Jesus specifically reiterated this point over and over with various word pictures and direct instruction. In fact, the firmness with which Jesus identified Himself as the Christ, the Son of God, the only true path to life made such an impression on me that I wrote a book about it. Is Jesus the Only Way? is a verse-by-verse look at what Jesus claimed about Himself as the only way.
Another feature of John’s gospel is his focus on the truth. Quotes like, “I am the truth”, “You will know the truth”, “Full of grace and truth”, “He who practices the truth”, “Worship the Father in spirit and truth”, “There is no truth in him [the devil]”, “I speak the truth”, “When the Spirit of truth comes”, “Sanctify them in the truth”, “Your word is truth”, “The truth will make you free”, and finally, “What is truth?” asked by Pilate.
John makes clear that Jesus’s message should be believed because it is true. There is no social agenda, no political agenda, not even a theological agenda in Jesus’ words or John’s writing. The appeal is always to the truth and to the idea that we should believe and embrace the gospel message of Jesus Christ because it is true.
And finally, Jesus is the life; the perfect conclusion to this triplet in John 14:6. If you believe the truth about Jesus, about Jesus’s identity as the Son of God, about Jesus being the only way to God, you will inherit life itself. This message is so straightforward and one that we have heard over and over in John’s gospel. Because it really is the good news, the message of the gospel.
If the idea of believing the gospel message of Jesus is new to you, let me close with this offer. When Jesus came to earth, He initiated a new arrangement between God and man. His message of release from the penalty of our sin was totally founded upon His death, as a substitute for each of us, on a cross. Under God’s old arrangement, the default arrangement for the whole human race, we stand guilty of breaking His moral code. But that all goes by the wayside when we agree to God’s new arrangement by acknowledging our guilt, accepting the free gift of Christ’s death in our place, and believing what Jesus says is true. If you wish to say “I’m in” with this new arrangement, tell God in prayer about your decision. Then, talk to someone about it. If you would like to know more about God’s offer or talk with us about a decision you’ve made, drop us a line at jrlehman@att.net.