As a religious leader and keeper of sheep, I have the duty to educate my community in the faith in God. In our fast-paced society, finding time to go to church and dedicate to our Lord is nearly impossible for some people. I want to show how technology can be used in the service of God to strengthen our faith.
Ted Atkins
Contributing Writer
Explore the meaning behind the words “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life”, and how you can apply it in your Christian walk today.
In Christianity, there are many questions raised about the life and ministry of Jesus. Some like, “how old was Jesus when he died?”, have direct answers, while some others may require a deeper study to fully grasp their answers.
One of such questions is found in the book of John when the curtains are being drawn on Jesus’ ministry on earth.
He begins to talk to His disciples about going away, preparing a place for them, and in John 14:6, He tells His disciples that He, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Why say that at such a timing? What does it signify?
This article aims to shed light on the meaning behind these powerful words and how we can apply them to our lives today.
Meaning Of “I Am The Way, The Truth, And The Life”
To draw a complete picture of the meaning of these words, let’s take a look at the verse and the context in which it is used.
John 14:2-7 says,
“2. In my Father’s house, there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
4. And you know the way to where I am going.”
5. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
7. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14 begins with Jesus encouraging His disciples not to be scared because He was to leave the earth soon. He speaks to them about how He was going to prepare a place for them in heaven and bring them into His rest.
He also speaks about them knowing the way to where he was going. It was at this point that his disciples expressed their confusion about where He was going and how they could find their way there.
They didn’t quite understand the message He was trying to pass across.
It was then that He told them that He, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
What did He mean by this?
The Way
A way simply means a route or a path.
Jesus used this to describe Himself as the exclusive and only way to God or heaven, i.e the place He was going to prepare for them.
He didn’t use ‘a way’ which is an indefinite article to suggest that there are more ways to God apart from Him.
For His disciples at that time and for us today, He sums up all that salvation entails; access to God, His blessings, and His Kingdom through Himself.
The Bible in Acts 4:12 reinforces this point by saying about Jesus,
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.
The Truth
Jesus is not just true but truth itself. This simply means that to seek truth is to seek Him.
He was also blameless and that is why He was able to carry and die for the sins of the world.
It is this righteousness that 1 Peter 2:22 talks of when it says,
“He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
Even today, in a world filled with falsehood, we can measure what is true and what is not by what the Bible which is His Word says.
The Life
In calling Himself the life, Jesus points to Himself as the source of all life. At that time, the Jews had the law of Moses which, as celebrated as it was, could not bring them eternal life but condemnation and death.
He also points to His authority over life and death as was granted to Him by the Father.
Furthermore, in John 14:19, He promised His disciples that “they would also live because He lives.”
The life He speaks of isn’t unending mortal life, but a life of freedom from bondage to sin here on earth and eternal life in God’s kingdom.
True death is to live apart from Jesus who is the only way to life.
As the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus reveals Himself to them and us today as the only way to heaven, the true standard of righteousness, and the only source of eternal life.
With these words, He encourages His disciples for the hard days that were ahead of them by showing them His sovereignty.
He knew He was about to die and they would be without Him physically, so He re-enforces His power as the son of God before them, so that their faith would be strong enough to carry out the mission and assignment He had entrusted to them and every Christian today.
Bible Verses On Jesus Is The Way The Truth And The Life
“So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
Conclusion
The Bible conveys that Jesus is the sole path to God and eternal life, as well as the source of true fulfillment in this life. To have a relationship with the Father and receive everlasting life, one must have faith in Jesus and His sacrifice, confess their sins, and make Him Lord of their life. Emulating the actions of Jesus’ disciples and spreading the message to others is also an important part of the Christian faith. Only through Jesus can one truly understand the meaning of life.
