“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6a NLT)
The quote above from John 14 was spoken to Thomas, one of the twelve disciples, shortly before Jesus was betrayed. Jesus was explaining to His disciples that He was going back to His Father, and in a matter-of-fact manner said in verse 4: “And you know the way to where I am going.” To which Thomas responded in verse 5: “’No, we don’t know, Lord,’ Thomas said, ‘We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?’” The truth is, they DID know the way, they just didn’t realize it.
There are many in our world today in the same boat as Thomas. They’ve heard of Jesus, they may attend church or read the Bible, they may even have a relationship with Him, but they, like Thomas, have never connected the proverbial “dots.” The reality is – to know Jesus IS to know the WAY! He IS “the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE! No one can come to the Father except through Me (Jesus).” (John 14:6b NLT) What does that mean?
Jesus, as the Baby in the manger and as the adult who was crucified on the Cross, rose from the dead and ascended back to His Father in heaven, was and is GOD in human flesh/form. What it means that He is the way, the truth, and the life, is He is the embodiment of all of what those terms mean. He, the Person of Jesus, IS the way. That means that if we are IN Christ, we ARE already on our way to heaven.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17: “At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view.” In other words, simply as a man, like any other human being. “How differently we know Him now!” Now that we know Him as God in human form. “This means that anyone who belongs to (is IN) Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Another way to think of it is, as a believer in Jesus we are now a member of His Body (the Body of Christ worldwide), which means, whatever HE is doing, that becomes our mission; wherever HE goes, we go with Him. He IS our WAY to wherever He is going, as His Spirit resides and works in and through our physical body. He IS truth, the embodiment of all that is true. He IS life, the embodiment of all life was intended to be.
We as human beings are made to be loved by God and have an eternal relationship with Him that begins in this life, but never ends. We tend to think of a “relationship with Jesus” as simply being forgiven, going to church, reading the Bible, praying, etc., and all those things are good and important. But He’s so much more than the things we do, even the good, “religious” things. He IS our life! Apart from Him we are dead, we have no life.
We may exist, like Adam and Eve after the Fall, but only Jesus is the Author and giver of life. Only Jesus can become our life and give us an understanding of what life lived to its fullest is intended to look like. The same is true of Jesus being Truth. He alone can lead us into what is true and show us what is not, because He alone is the embodiment of all that is true. It’s not, as I often hear: “Your ‘truth’ or my ‘truth.'” In other words, “truth is relative, what is true for you may not be true for me.” That’s a lie from the pit of hell. Truth is always measured by what Jesus says is true. If it’s not consistent with what Jesus says is true, it’s a lie! Remember who Satan is? The father of lies! Jesus cannot lie. Satan cannot tell the truth.
We don’t have to “search” for the way to heaven or for what is true or for what life is supposed to be. The miracle of God’s grace, His free, unmerited gift of Himself in the Person of His only Son Jesus, is as close as your willingness to believe Jesus is who He claims to be, and to receive Him as your life.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 