Jesus: The Great I Am- The way and the truth and the life - Vogel SP

Jesus said in John 8:58: “before Abraham was, I Am.”

Such an extremely significant statement!

By making that statement Jesus is stating unequivocally that He is God.

Not like God.

Not equal to God — God.

So, in John 8:58 we have the foundation for another 8 “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John.

The “I Ams” of the Gospel of John:

Which total 9 when you count the original John 8:58 passage

The 9 “I AM” statements of John’s gospel are:

“I am” (8:58)

“I am the Messiah” (4:26 NLT)

“I am … the bread of life” (6:35).

4. “I am … the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5).

5. “I am … the gate” (10:7, 9).

6. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11).

7. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25).

8. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).

9. “I am the true vine” (15:1).

The way and the truth and the life

Today, let’s look at the 8th “I am” from John’s Gospel: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).

John 14:1–6 (LSB) “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How do 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 but through Me.

The fourteenth chapter of John begins with Jesus in a very serious conversation with His disciples.

Jesus tells them in verse 2: “I am going [away] …

I’m sure this is utterly astounding to them.

Wait! What!!!

Jesus is reemphasizing His death and departure.

He has spoken of it many times.

But now, here in the 14th chapter of John, Jesus is trying to give his disciples comfort and encouragement for the coming crisis.

He is pleading for the disciples to have the same faith in Him that they had in God.

He was assuring them that He was their forerunner.

His departure meant that He was going to prepare an eternal dwelling place for them with the Father — and with Him.

At least one of the disciples was confused about what Jesus had said.

There’s always one.

One ready to say: “Wait a minute, I didn’t get that. Could you say that again — only slower?”

And, the reality is, He is just asking the question the rest were afraid to ask.

Jesus had said to His disciples, “And you know the way where I am going” (John 14:4, NASB).

But Thomas responded to this statement by saying, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way” (John 14:5, NASB)?

Thomas raised this issue because he was not fully aware of the nature and mission of Jesus.

Despite having walked with Jesus for three years, Thomas still did not know Jesus for whom He was.

In response to the question raised by Thomas, Jesus spoke the words of our text.

Jesus said to Thomas and the other disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (NASB).

There are three things I want us to look at in this declaration.

The Way

Jesus said: “I am the way.”

The Greek word translated “way” (hodos) is a word which means road or path.

It is sometimes rendered “highway.”

It also has reference to a course of conduct or a way of thinking.

Jesus is the personified path of access to God.

When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, his free and open access to God was cut off and shut up.

And then, rather than WALKING in the way of God’s Presence, they sought to HIDE from Him.

Despite man being incapable of communion with God, in the fullness of time, Jesus came into the world and became the path by which man and God could be reconnected.

A “way” is that which connects the inaccessible.

When God was inaccessible, Jesus became the path man could travel to God.

Jesus said, “I am the way.”

When we follow Jesus, we cease from wandering and going astray.

If Jesus had not come into the world and become the mediator between God and man, man could never know fellowship with the Father.

Jesus is the path into a glorious, eternal destiny.

The Apostle Paul said concerning Jesus,

“For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18, NASB).

The word “both” has reference to the Jew and the Gentile.

Apart from Jesus Christ, man can never know the Fatherhood of God.

We are the children of God only when we are made new in Jesus Christ.

John said, “… as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even those who believe in His name” (John 1:12, NASB).

One very important thing about Jesus as the path to God is that you can travel the path without charge.

It does not matter about your position, possessions, pleasures, or powers, you can come to Jesus without charge.

The reason this is so is because we have no adequate exchange for what Jesus has to offer.

The path to God is open through Jesus Christ for all sinners, good, bad, and all that are in between.

For Jesus to say “I am the way,” He was suggesting His sufficiency.

He is not limited to the number of persons for whom he can provide a path to God.

The path is wide open to “whosoever.”

An old hymn says:

There is room at the cross for you,

Though millions have come,

There is still room for one,

There is room at the cross for you.

The Truth

“I am … the truth.”

The Greek word translated “truth” (aletheia) has reference to the clear essence of a matter.

Here in this text it has reference to the sincerity and integrity of the character of Jesus.

Notice where truth is placed in this verse. It stands between “way” and “life.”

This may suggest that the path to life is through the truth.

Why?

Because Jesus is the embodiment of the truth of God.

All that has ever been said about God that is true is embodied in Jesus Christ.

As the truth, Jesus recovers man from his Godless ignorance and error. We can only come to know God as we yield ourselves to the will and way of Jesus Christ.

All of Christianity is revealed in the person, teachings, and life of Jesus. He is all that he said, thought, and lived personified. This is why people could say that they had never heard a man speak like Jesus.

As the truth, Jesus is divine in his origin and saving in his results. God sustained Old Testament believers through nature, history, and the prophets, but he confirmed everything he said and did by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the garden of Eden, God promised to punish those who broke his moral law, but he also promised to spare the offender through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). This truth was embodied in Jesus Christ.

The Permanence

“I am … the life.”

The word “life” (zoe) is a word that suggests life as a principle as God has it and the Son made it known in the world (John 5:26).

John 5:26 (LSB) “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

We become partakers of this life through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:15).

As John 3:15 (NLT) [says]: … everyone who believes in [Jesus] will have eternal life.

Because of our relationship with Jesus, eternal life is the present possession of the Christian.

All things find their being and continuation in God.

When Jesus said, “I am … the life,” He was declaring His deity.

John had said of Jesus earlier in this book,

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4–5, NASB).

Only God can give and keep life.

Therefore, Jesus is the eternal God.

Jesus said in His intercessory prayer,

John 17:3 (LSB) “And this is eternal life, that they may know You [Father], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Knowing Jesus through a relationship with Him will guard our lives from the sting of death and the grave.

Jesus is the only path to God the Father.

He said of Himself, “No one comes to the Father, but through Me” (NASB).

Other religions and philosophies may claim to have a way to God the Father, but Jesus is the only way.

Peter once said to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, “… there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NASB).

Peter was talking about Jesus.

Remember: Jesus is, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

So, Jesus is …

the path for going,

the principle for knowing,

and the life for permanence.

Without a path, there would be no going.

Without truth, there would be no knowing;

and without eternal life there would be no permanence.

Jesus is the path we should follow, the truth we should trust, and the life we have eternally.

Those who come to Jesus are assured that they shall never be driven from his presence.

If you will notice this text, Jesus is more than a way to heaven, as good as heaven is.

He is the path into the eternal presence of the Father.

The presence of the Father in heaven is the reason for heaven being such a joyful and glorious place.

If you will notice this text, you will discover that Jesus put more emphasis on His works than His words.

Jesus did not teach long lessons on the way to God.

He said, “I am the way.” He showed it through the example of His life.

Many people ask what truth is.

Pilate did.

Jesus shows up and says, “I am the truth.”

There are many ways to define life.

But Jesus said, “I am the life.”

Jesus did not attempt to prove the existence of God.

He brought God to the world in His life.

Jesus did not argue that God answers prayer.

He prayed and God answered His prayers.

Jesus did not say much about the beauty of family and friends, and the need for human sympathy.

He wept at the grave of His friend Lazarus.

Jesus did not teach long lessons about humility.

At the last supper He girded himself with a towel and washed the feet of the disciples.

Jesus did not merely tell us to turn the other cheek when we are slapped on one.

He did not merely tell us to go the second mile when compelled to go the first.

He did not merely tell us to love our enemies.

He taught us to do those things in his person and practices.

Jesus was slapped on one cheek by the servants, and on the other cheek by the soldiers.

He was compelled to go from Gethsemane to the judgment hall.

He went all the way to Calvary.

His coat was taken away at the judgment hall and he gave up his seamless robe at the cross.

The Roman soldiers took away the freedom of his hands and feet by nailing them to the cross.

He gave up his life that sinners might be set free.

The lessons Jesus taught by his works also tell us that Jesus did not see death as a thing of controlling power.

He rose from the grave, and now the grave is flooded with light.