The Way, The Truth, and The Life
In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by me". Jesus made this bold declaration in the final hours leading up to his crucifixion.
He had just finished telling his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them in his Father's house, and he said to them, "where I go you know, and the way you know". John14:4
One of the disciples named Thomas said, "Lord, we don't know where you're going, how can we know the way?" And that's when Jesus gave them this revelation.
Now in verse 7 of chapter 14, Jesus goes on to explain, if they knew who he was, they would also have known that they had been spending time with the Father. He went on to say "From this point on you know him, and have seen him".
At this point Jesus wasn't referring to the flesh man but to God in him. He basically just said to these guys, God is in me, to which Phillip says, "show us the Father and we will be satisfied". Jesus said, "I've been with you all this time and you still don't know who I am, Phillip?"
This is God the Father standing there in the flesh talking to these men. He had been with them for several years and they were still unaware of who he was.
Jesus asks in verse 10, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?" In other words, don't you understand that what I've been preaching and doing is all directly from God?
In John 10:15 Jesus said, "As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father...". Jesus had told them he and the Father were the same. Again in John 10:30, "I and my Father are one", and in verse 36 he refers to himself as the Son of God.
Even earlier in John 8:58, Jesus said to the Jews, when they accused him of being a Samaritan possessed with a devil, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am". The Jews took up stones to kill him, because he said that he existed before Abraham, who had been dead for at least 2000 years at this point, but Jesus slipped away from them.
What do we believe?
What we believe determines how we respond to Jesus and his commands. Jesus had said in John 7:16, "My doctrine is not mine but his that sent me".
He had already explained that God was his Father and had sent him into the world, that the those who believed might be saved.
We know the devils believe that he is the Son of God. In fact, he had to silence them in Capernaum when they proclaimed to know who he was, as chronicled in the gospels of Mark and Luke.
Many people believe who Jesus is but not to the point of pure obedience to his commands. When Jesus said ,"I am the way, the truth, and the life", he was letting them and us know there's no other way to follow, no other truth to hear, no other life to live in order to please God the Father.
God himself took on the form of a man and came to us, while we were living in sin, and provided a means for us to walk and live righteously before him, so death would no longer be upon us.
If we don't believe God and his testimony of who his Son is, we won't listen with the correct understanding. We want hear what Spirit says.
If we don't hear correctly, we won't repent. We won't turn from our sin and walk in righteousness, which is the will of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul said in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If we hear this correctly, then we understand by the Spirit of God, that Paul was telling us that we must obey Jesus as our Lord, in order for us to overcome sin and death.
The gift is God in Christ establishing faith in us and teaching us how to obey his commands truthfully, rather than the obscured version that was available at that time.
The only way to truly atone for our sins, is to acknowledge them, confess them, and turn from them. This is what God in Christ taught, and this is why he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the Life".
Focus on Jesus, Amen.
