Jesus: The Way, The Truth, The Life
By Jeff Cranston
The promise of heaven is an important one. It has brought comfort to multitudes as they have faced death, whether it has been on the blood-soaked battlefields of a distant land or lying in bed at home with the family gathered around and the final struggle with old age and disease is lost. The promise of heaven has also brought comfort to those left behind that death is not the final separation.
Speaking of heaven, in John 14:1-2, Jesus told us, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”
What Jesus was telling His disciples in these verses was not something new, but Thomas expressed confusion: “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?’” (John 14:5)
Thomas is devoted to Jesus and does not want to be separated from Him. If Jesus is going somewhere else physically, Thomas wants to make sure he knows the directions to take. If Jesus is talking about the departure of His death, then how were they to follow?
Jesus had just been talking about preparing a place in His Father’s house and that He would return to bring them there that they might be with Him. Jesus was going to His Father. They would come later through faith in Him. Jesus now responds with a statement that makes this very clear:
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” (John 14:6)
What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life"?
Let’s examine this incredible “I Am” statement. Jesus makes three statements about Himself and then makes the conclusion based on those facts. Jesus uses the personal pronoun to emphasize Himself and then in each of the statements He uses the article “the” to distinguish Himself from all others.
Jesus is not A Way, but THE Way. He is not A Truth, but THE Truth. He is not A Life, but THE Life. It is based on the exclusiveness of who He is that the conclusion is drawn that there are no other means by which to reach the Father. There is no other way that we can receive citizenship in Heaven.
Jesus is The Way.
The word “way” is used for a road or a journey and hence is used metaphorically to represent a manner of life or the means to a destination or goal. That is the sense it is used here. Jesus is the means to a destination.
For the vast majority of the world, Jesus is viewed as “a way,” but not “the way.” People often think of Jesus as a great teacher, or a good example of moral behavior, or even as the founder of a major world religion. But all of these fall short of what it means for Jesus to be “the way.”
Jesus was a teacher; even the Pharisees recognized that about Him. In Mark 12:14, they came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.”
Their thought was that Jesus was one of many teachers that taught the way of God in truth. But Jesus is much more than just a teacher of the way of God. Jesus was also a guide. In fact, Zacharias’ prophecy concerning Him in Luke 1:79 specifically states that Jesus was given of God “to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Most people who think of Jesus as a guide also believe there are many paths to heaven.
For them, the path that Jesus guides on is just one of many, and Jesus only helps a person along the way. He points out the direction and assists in the journey. But Jesus is much more than a guide into the way of peace.
Jesus was also an example. In John 13, we find that Jesus set Himself up to be an example of the humility He wanted His disciples to follow by washing the disciples’ feet. Many people think of Jesus as an example of proper ethical behavior, but for them, He is only one of many examples of the proper way to live. But Jesus’ claim here is much more than being an example of how to live.
Jesus is much more than someone who teaches the way, or guides in the way, or shows the way to live. Jesus says that He is The Way. The way to God the Father is not reached through having particular knowledge, or through walking a certain path of life, or by following the manner in which Jesus lived. It is not principle, force or example that brings us to God, but the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is The Way. He is the only way.
Jesus is The Truth.
Much of what has been said about Jesus being the way also fits with Him being the truth. He is not a truth, but THE Truth. Truth is that which conforms to actual reality, and Jesus is the final reality. Jesus is the truth because He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and the “radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3).
We live in an age when people no longer believe they can know the truth. They have been told so many lies and have told so many lies themselves that they do not believe it is possible to know truth. Add to this the philosophical underpinnings of our post-modern society in which a person can hold two contradictory points at the same time and not understand the incongruity in it.
We live in a day and age where the only absolute is that there are no absolutes, and people are absolutely sure about that. Truth has become relative in our day, but this is nothing new. Pontius Pilate asked that question of Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago: “What is truth?” (John 18:30). The answer is here in John 14:6. Jesus Christ is the truth. God’s Word tells us that it is the truth that sanctifies us, guides us and sets us free (John 8:32; 17:17). That truth is not an it, but the person of Jesus Christ. Any person that is serious about searching for truth will find that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that quest.
Jesus is The Life.
The word “life” here refers to the principle of life, that which is eternal—our souls. Jesus is the life because this life is in Him—and only found in Him. He is the source and giver of this life to those that believe in Him.
The life that Jesus gives is contrasted to being dead in sin. It is a life in which slavery to sin is broken, and righteousness is the new master for our old self dies, and we are raised to walk in newness of life with Him. The purpose of this life is to be conformed to the image of Christ.
The life that Jesus gives to His followers is not one of ease and filled with the pleasures of this world. It is a life of godliness filled with joy that transcends circumstances in which comfort is found by faith in Jesus and His promises for both this life and for eternity. Jesus is so powerful that He works all things together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purposes. Even our suffering ultimately has a good purpose in the sovereignty of God.
And even death, which remains our enemy in the present, is not one we have to fear any longer for Jesus has won the victory by conquering the grave and promises eternal life to us.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and because of that, His proclamation that “no one comes to the Father but through Me” is absolute. Jesus is the only way to God the Father. There are no other means by which you can be reconciled with God and forgiven. There is no other path by which you can avoid being judged and condemned for your sin and cast into eternal hell. Anything that is not in harmony with Him is a lie. Anything outside of Him is death.
That is why, Christ-follower, you are called to proclaim Christ to others. Every person you come into contact with—at Starbucks, at the dry cleaners, standing on the sidelines watching your child play sports, the people at work, other students in the hallway, the FedEx lady, the UPS man, all of these people—every single one—without Jesus Christ is separated from God because of their sin, facing the wrath and judgment of God, and eternal separation from Him.
It means the only hope these precious, dear people have is to hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have to open our mouths and provide them with all the information they need about what Christ has done for them on the cross and because of the empty tomb, so that they can go ahead and seal the deal with Jesus.
But we will never be the outspoken witnesses He wants us to be until we believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven … that there is simply no other way. Until we believe that, we won’t be willing to pay the price of rejection, the price of ostracism, the price of possible broken relationships—if we don’t believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Carolina.