Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt there was no way out?
The news came suddenly to us. Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where we served as missionaries, was surrounded by rebel forces. The war had arrived at our doorstep, and the country’s leader at the time had closed all exits out of the capital, including the airport. We felt trapped in what was to be a vicious conflict. We almost felt helpless. Fortunately, however, one person knew a way out: an ambassador who befriended our family. He told us about a way of escape in which the port along the Congo River would open just for one day to let much-needed supplies in. Once those supplies had arrived, the port would close for the foreseeable future. We left that day early in the morning and escaped with our lives.
As Jesus looks to this world surrounded by sin and despair, He tells His disciples about His Father’s house in which there are many mansions, a better place beyond this world of sin. Thomas, who often dealt with doubt, asked a question—one most of us ask at some point in our lives: How do we get there? To which Jesus replies in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The Way
Notice that Jesus did not say I am one of the ways to the Father. He said, “I am the way”—the only Way. However, there is more to this first proclamation of Jesus, specifically in this conversation between Him and His disciples. In verse 1, just before this statement, Jesus tells them, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” In other words, following the Way requires “belief.” It requires faith. It requires a choice.
God gives us evidence of His divinity and power, even beyond the Scriptures. As Paul explains in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
Take, for example, the fine-tuning of the universe, the placement of Earth within our galaxy, and the complexity of DNA; all these reveal to us some of the ways in which intelligent design must have been involved in creation. And to John, the writer of this book, Christ made it all (John 1:1-3). He is the Creator, but faith must still be exercised despite all this evidence. We must choose to believe. Ellen White states, “While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. And those who refuse to accept and obey God’s word until every objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity for doubt, will never come to the light.”[1] Why? Because Jesus is interested in a relationship with us, not just a legal arrangement based on facts. He wants our trust, our love.
Jesus is interested in a relationship with us, not just a legal arrangement based on facts. He wants our trust, our love.
The Truth
When we choose to love Him, Christ’s second proclamation comes into play, for faith must be fed by truth, and Christ says He is the Truth. Three chapters later, in John 17, as Jesus prays to His Father, He expounds on what He means by stating, “Sanctifythem by Your truth. Your word is truth” (v. 17). Today, we live in a world that often seeks to confuse us for its own gains, and knowing what is real from fiction can prove challenging. We live in a world filled with noise, yet in the midst of it all, there is still a sure voice – the Word of God. And when we follow the Word, Christ promises that He will set us free from the lies of the devil and his confederacy and make us like Him (John 8:31-32, John 17:17,18). However, for us to experience that freedom, the truth must not only be heard but it must also be lived. Ellen Whites exhorts, “A mere profession of godliness is worthless. It is he that abideth in Christ that is a Christian.”[2] To abide in Christ we must spend time with the Word. We must exercise faith in the Word, and in return the Word will establish our faith.
The Life
And when we choose to have faith in the Way, and obey the truth, Jesus becomes to us “the Life.” This use of “life” in John can carry with it a triune meaning. One is the life Christ grants us to experience in Him as we follow His pattern, His teaching, His character, His way. As John states in John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” And this light dispels the darkness around us as we follow His life. But then, in John 1:12, he adds another dimension to the proclamation of Christ being the “life.” He expounds, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” And here it is: Through believing in Christ, we become sons and daughters of God. And if we are sons and daughters of the King, then we also become heirs of the Kingdom of God, heirs to eternal life. And thirdly, such a gift cannot be taken lightly, for the price Christ paid for us to attain such access was literally His life.
Hence, when Jesus was proclaiming this truth in the closing hours of His ministry, His answer to Thomas was not only a declaration of salvation but also a statement of utmost love for us all. Christ became the bridge between man and God, laid on a cross, and gave all for you and me. In response, may we believe Him, obey Him, and live through Him, for Jesus is truly the way, the truth, and the life.
[1] Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), 527.
[2] Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughter of God (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1955), 297.