John 14:6
Dive Deeper
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6
Behind the Scenes
This week we are looking at the sixth I AM statement that Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” This I AM statement comes after Jesus has been explaining to His disciples that He will be leaving them. Not fully understanding what Jesus is telling them, they ask Him a powerful question that will resonate through the ages, “how do we know the way?”
What a great question! Jesus has been telling them that He will leave to prepare a place for them. But what they don’t know yet is how to get to that prepared place. I love that Jesus meets them in this moment of confusion with a simple and clear truth. He tells them plainly “I am the way.” Jesus leaves no confusion in this statement. There is no one else through which we can receive the Father or enter into His house. Jesus is the only way. Period.
Jesus is not “a way” or “one of the ways.” He is THE way. And I love that Jesus doesn’t leave it at that. Just in case His followers (or us reading it over two-thousand years later) missed it, He goes on to enforce this statement by saying that He is THE truth, and He is THE life. It’s so important that we notice that Jesus leaves no room for partiality here. He states plainly, “no one comes to the Father except through me.” There is no other… ever.
Make it Real
There is a beautiful truth that resonates behind this exchange between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus talks about His Father’s house where there are many rooms. But, like the disciples, without a guide and a way to get there, we would be hopeless to find our way to the Father.
Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us ‘“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” God is so far above us, this amazing Creator God who is eternal and everlasting; if we searched for Him we would never find Him. If left to our own searching, we would search for all eternity and never arrive at His feet.
But, praise God, we serve a Creator who is not content to remain distant. He draws near so that we might glimpse Him. He comes close so that we might behold His glory! And He took on the form of a man so that we might be reconciled to Him. He did all the work! And through the person of Jesus Christ, we have our way to the Father.
Just sit in that this week. The God of the universe has drawn near to you and me, longing to be in relationship with us, and creating a way for us to be with Him for all of eternity. Jesus is the way, He is the truth of God, and He is the life that leads us to eternity with Him. What an amazing story! What an amazing God!
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Pastor
End in Prayer
Oh Lord! I am in awe of your goodness and mercy. You did not have to make a way, but you did. You did not have to draw near, but you did. You did not leave us wandering, helpless and hopeless. Instead, You come and meet with Your people. You draw near to us who could never draw near to You. You are amazing and I am in awe! Thank You for being so good! Thank You for caring so much! Thank You for making a way!
In the matchless name of Jesus Christ,
Amen!