“I am the way, the Truth, and the Life” what did Jesus really mean?

A lot of Christians are familiar with this statement spoken by Jesus in John 14:6

” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

But what does it really mean? To be able to understand what this scripture really means, we would need to understand where and how the event took place.

This event took place a night before the crucifixion of Christ, at the Passover.

Jesus kept emphasizing the fact that he was going to a place, the truth is that the knowledge of who Jesus was, and his coming was yet to hit the disciples.

They had heard the news and prophecies about the coming of Jesus, but they all had a different perspective on it. Most of them had thought that he came to deliver them from the Roman empire.

They barely knew that it was way bigger than that, the person with which they had spent the last two to three years of their life was the savior of the world, this they didn’t understand.

This was why they had difficulty understanding all that Jesus showed to them during his walk on earth. It was after his death and resurrection, and when the Holy Spirit had come that they had a clearer view and picture of why Jesus had come.

Jesus had said this in John 16:5-15

 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

You wouldn’t blame the disciples that much? would you? They had a vague understanding of what they were doing because the Spirit of truth had not yet come, even Jesus said “it is to their advantage” that he leaves because if he doesn’t, they wouldn’t have a perfect picture as to why he came.

But what does “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life means? What was Jesus trying to teach or tell the disciples?

To be able to clarify these, let us define this three in one statement individually.

Related search:  Why Jesus wept in John 11:35?

what is the meaning of I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life?

I am the Way

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14: 1-5)

From the verse above, we can see that Christ was returning to a place, and he was giving an overview of what that place looked like to his inquisitive disciples.

First off, he tells them they know the way to the place he is going.

Secondly, confused Thomas speaks for the rest of the seemingly confused disciples, insisting that they don’t know where he was going and that he shows them the way.

Additionally, Jesus then tells them that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. but, what does this tells us?

Jesus had introduced where he was going to his disciples, which was his Father’s. He went further to give details about his Father’s house. But the overwhelmed disciples still could not understand, which led to the question about where he was going, and the way to the place.

One thing I can categorically bring out of the entire statement is that Christ is the way to God the Father. They are One, they are not separable or divided, if you see Jesus in his true form, you will see the fatherhood of God displayed.

Let’s take a look at something from the subsequent verses;

 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

‘If you really know me‘ This all boils down to the fact that if you know Christ experientially not based on what someone told you about him, you will realize that he is the fullness of God.

The father is in him, he is in the father, and he is the way to all the riches in God.

Let’s have another view of this by looking at the word made flesh.

Must read: The significance of the transfiguration of Jesus

The word made flesh

In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

God is the word that was made flesh, why did God become flesh?

It’s so that he can feel what the man feels, God could have easily forgiven the fallen man and moved on, and that would have come so easily, I think God isn’t so interested in things coming so easily. He loves to follow the process.

Hence he came onto the earth as a man so that he can feel what the man feels, hence when you want to accuse him of not understanding how you feel, You will remember the man “Jesus”.

God loves justification. He doesn’t jump process.

I hope this actually clarifies that Jesus and God are one and that they aren’t different.

what does this teach us today?

As believers of the new covenant, we must understand that whenever we are talking to Jesus, we are talking to God as well, Also, we must understand that Jesus is the only way to all the blessings of the new covenant. He is the mediator.

There is no other way.

I am the Truth

What does this statement by Jesus means in the context of him speaking to his disciples and to those of us that have read this scripture?

Let’s take a look at another verse.

 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

John 14:13-15

The Holy Spirit is God’s spirit of adoption to bring Sons into truth. He is one with his Spirit.

When we take a look at what the Spirit did in the life of the Apostles, we will tend to appreciate God more.

The Spirit of truth is one with Christ and it unveils deep mysteries about all that pertains to life and Godliness.

Jesus is one with this Spirit. It is when you have accepted him that you can have access to his Spirit of truth.

What lessons can we learn from this?

As humans, a typical way to access the truth in God’s word is by knowing the person of truth himself. it’s that simple.

I am the life

Jesus says in the latter part of John 14:6 that ‘he is the life”.

Eternal life is what Jesus came to give us, Christ is the giver of life, he gave life to every proceeding of God.

The law brought death and condemnation, But Christ came as a pathway to everlasting life which is freedom from death.

Granted that generations will still be after this generation, Jesus still stands as a life-giver to this future generation. He is forever a life-giver. Nothing can change that.

Life is what we get when we come to know Jesus, he delivers us from condemnation, sin, and guilt.

When Jesus told his disciples that “he is the way, the truth, and the life” he was simply telling them that a new pattern that is different from the usual is being enacted.

Man now has access to God through him because he is one with God.

so as believers of the new covenant, we now have an understanding that we are one with Christ in God.

Hence we are a template to unbelievers, they look at us and the life we live.

The question now is; “Is your life a way to God? does it show the truth you are unified with? and is the life of God being revealed in you and through you”.

Ponder on these things.

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