Understanding the Red Letters Part 29
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me“ (John 14:6).
John 14:6 is one of the most succinct descriptions of who Jesus is in the entire gospels. There is so much depth in each of these descriptions that Jesus applies to Himself; “the way, the truth, and the life.”
The Way: The disciples quizzed Jesus regarding where He was going and the way to get there. Of course, we understand this “Jesus is the way” much better than the disciples ever could have at this point because we are looking back to the cross. We are looking back to exactly what Jesus meant by Him being the way. His death, burial, and resurrection are the way to eternal life. He is the way to the Father. Jesus is the way to a right relationship with God. Jesus is the way to heaven. Jesus is the only way to dwelling forever with the Father and the Son.
The Truth: Jesus made clear throughout His earthly teaching that some things are true and others are false. Jesus’ words were always true. Jesus’ message was always true. In fact, Jesus was so much the epitome of truth that He could simply be called The Truth.
Jesus, in His own words, is the truth. There is no falsehood in Him. We can trust what Jesus says to be true. So when Jesus speaks of Himself as the Way, the way to eternal life, I know He is telling us the truth.
The Life: This is such a prolific message throughout the gospel of John. Jesus came to bring us life. Abundant life in the here and now (John 10:10), resurrection life (John 11:25) in the here and hereafter, and eternal life in His presence (John 6:40, 14:3).
Jesus’ ministry was consumed by bringing what Peter called “words of eternal life” to situations and places and people who were “dead”. Life in place of death is a gift that Jesus brought to His time on the earth and continues to give to people all over the world. Jesus is life. Jesus is The Life. And as we will learn in our upcoming posts, Jesus gave us His life.
The Way, The Truth, The Life; an all-encompassing description of Jesus. God, the Son, come to earth to show us the way, the truth, and the life.