We’ve all heard it over and over again. But like many familiar passages we begin to unconsciously ignore it because we feel that we know it already. It’s John 14:6, which reads: “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Many arguments against universalism (the belief that all religions lead to Heaven or that God accepts sincere faith regardless of whether it’s in Christ or not) have been made from this Scripture but recently, I’ve seen this passage in a new light. That’s not to say that any previous understanding I had was wrong or that my current understanding is ultimate and exhaustive. It is simply a step in the beautiful journey as God reveals his Word to us.
In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Essentially he is declaring three distinct claims:
1.) Jesus is better than religion.
Jesus’ ministry is marked by frequent clashing with the religious elite over the law and what it means to please God. When Jesus claims that he is the “Way”, he is essentially declaring that he is all the religion we need. Jesus is the way to God, this renders all religious strivings, including Christian legalism, completely secondary and devoid of purpose. Christianity is not, at its heart, a religion but a relationship with Jesus himself. Religion is about what we do for God, the Gospel is about what God does for us.
2.) Jesus is better than dogma.
What does Jesus mean when he says that he is the “Truth”? According to the first chapter of John, Jesus is described as the Word of God; a living Word, a breathing Truth. All other “truths” are secondary. As Christians, even thoughtful Christians, we can be tempted to get caught up in dogmatic debates and hoist the truth about God above God himself. I firmly believe that apologetics is a noble discipline but I fear that it sometimes gets raised to an unhealthy level of importance. We must remember that man-made arguments will not save people, only Jesus can do that. Therefore, we observe that the sum of all truth is found in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Truth.
3.) The promise of eternal life is found in Jesus.
Jesus claims to be The Life. Of course, we know that he is the only way that sinners can obtain eternal life. But as I grow deeper in my relationship with Christ I realize that the promised “Life” begins on this side of eternity. The deepest desires of the human heart: love, satisfaction, hope, acceptance, are found in the grace of God towards us and are displayed in the relationship we have with Christ. He is the key to eternal life and our relationship with him is the most life-giving element of our current being.
All our faith, hope and joy is found in Christ Jesus. He is the Way to God, the Truth we live by and the Life, both promised to us in eternity and granted to us in the here and now.