I am the Way the Truth and the Life, No-one comes to the Father but by me. John 14:6
These words are amongst the most well-known and troubling in Scripture…You would probably have heard these words read at most funerals you have attended. And at most funerals these words would most likely have been used as a kind of religious weapon, a an emotional blackmail to try scare people into making a Christian commitment. I am the Way the Truth and the Life… No-one comes to the father but by me. At first reading it would suggest that Jesus is kind of like a heavenly gate-keeper… God’s bouncer in the sky determining who will get into heaven. The implication in funerals is often made explicit by some preachers… if you don’t accept Jesus you won’t get into heaven and will face the danger of a life lived in hell for the rest of eternity.
The spiritual logic of that approach is interesting: Jesus loves you… but if you don’t accept Jesus he will condemn you to an eternity of suffering.
And it raises all sorts of other questions, especially about people of other faiths and those who have had the hard luck of being born into a culture where they may never have had the opportunity even to hear the name of Jesus… Many have asked the question: what happens to such people when they die?
And so that is the exclusivist way in which those words have been been interpreted especially in evangelical circles. But is that the only way of understanding and interpreting those words or is there another perspective?
The first things to notice is that these words are spoken by Jesus not as a threat,, but in fact as words of comfort to disciples who are confused and afraid. Within the context of John’s Gospel Jesus has told his disciples that he will be leaving them (John 13:33, 13:36). They do not understand. They are filled with grief (John 16:6). They are confused. And into this situation according to John, Jesus speaks these words as part of a message that is meant to comfort them, not as a threat of exclusion.
The passage begins with these words: Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me (John 14:1).
Jesus is not trying to trouble them more by giving them some kind of a threat as to what will happen to them if they do not accept him, he is seeking to alleviate their troubled hearts.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God. Trust also in me (John 14:1).
Many translations use the word believe: Believe in God, Believe also in me… as though what is being asked for is a kind of signing up to some kind of doctrine, dogma or belief system (John 14:1). But the NIV translation is right in using the word Trust rather then Believe. What is being called for here is not some kind of belief with our intellect… the invitation here is to a life of deeper trust… trust that there is a hidden wisdom and compassion behind all of life that we can entrust ourselves to. The Christian faith is ultimately not about believing certain things it is an invitation to a life of deeper trust – a trusting ultimately in a goodness and a wisdom that underlies all of life.
When the disciples find themselves troubled, Jesus invites them to a life of deeper trust.
But Thomas is still confused… Lord we don’t know where you are going? How can we know they way (John 14:5).
And in response to Thomas’s confusion and his troubled heart, Jesus speaks these words to reassure him…
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The first thing to notice is that Jesus begins with the words ‘I am’ (John 8:58).
John’s Gospel as 7 I am sayings of Jesus.
I am the bread of life (John 6:35) -
I am the light of the world (John 8:12) -
I am the door (John 10:9) -
I am the good shepherd (John 10:11) -
I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) -
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) - I am the true vine (John 15:1)
These are a particular feature of John’s Gospel. You don’t find them in any of the other Gospels. And so it is very unlikely that they are words spoken by Jesus himself. They are far more likely to be a literary and teaching device used by the writer of John to help his readers come to a deeper understanding of Jesus.
And the deeper truth John wants us to see in Jesus is that the Jesus makes known the Eternal I am to us (John 1:18). The phrase I Am was the name of God given to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). John’s Gospel asserts that this Eternal I Am is now revealed in and through the humanity of Jesus (John 1:14).
Jesus reveals the Eternal I Am in and through his life, and as such he is the Way that leads us back to the ‘Father’, in other words, to the Loving Source from which we have all come (John 1:12-13). Jesus is the Way that can show us back home to the one who is our original Source.
The words ‘The Way’ is very significant here. He is not saying, ‘I am the password’ that will get you into heaven, rather he says I Am the Way… Jesus is pointing us towards a Way that is to be lived and embodied, a Way that will lead us back home to the Source of al life, love and joy.
What does this Way of Jesus look like in John’s Gospel:
It is the Way of Love that turns the water of religious legalism into the wine of love and joy (John 2:1-11).
It is the Way of Love that meets Nicodemus in the night-time and darkness of his ignorance and invites him into a transformed way of being that will feel like a rebirth into a whole new form of existence (John 3:1-8).
It is the Way of Love that meets the Samaritan woman at the well, affirming her and accepting her despite her chequered moral past and despite her being a distrusted and heretical Samaritan (John 4:4-26).
It is the Way of Love that invites those paralysed by guilt and shame to pick up their mats and walk again (John 5:8-9).
It is the Way of Love that invites us to open our deeper spiritual eyes to see the deeper truth of existence (John 9:39), that not only is Jesus the son of God (John 9:35-37), but that as Jesus points out: Do not your own scriptures say you are gods (John 10:34)… in other words in your essence You too are Divine.
It is the Way of Love that invites those who live in Bethany the house of poverty to come out of their tombs of death and to be raised to newness of life (John 11:43-44).
It is the Way of Love that gives up the way of violent domination so popular in the world today and takes a towel, wraps it around his waste and washes his disciples feet – even the feet of the one who would betray him and those who would within hours abandon him (John 13:4-5).
It is the Way of the seed that gives up its small ego self, and falls to the ground and dies in order to discover it’s more expansive Divine Self (John 12:24).
It is the Way of Love that is willing to lay one’s life down for one’s friends, and in fact even one’s enemies, in order that All people might be drawn back home to the Divine (John 10:11, John 12:32).
Jesus is the embodiment of the Way that leads back to the Father, back home to the Divine Source from which we have all come.
When Jesus says: No-one comes to the father by by me, what he is saying is that no-one comes back home to the Father except by this Way that Jesus embodies. If God is the source of Love, then no-one comes back to the Father except by this Way of Love that we have seen embodied in Jesus.
And according to John’s Jesus, it is ultimately the Way that will draw all people back home to their source. When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself (John 12:32). (Not some people – All people).
These are the words not simply of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, these are the words of the Eternal Logos speaking through the human Jesus, the eternal Wisdom through which all things have come into being and which enlightens all people coming into the world (John 1:1-9).
IF God is Love, as is made plane in 1 John 3:16, then the Way back to God can only be by the Way of Love embodied in Jesus. No-one comes to the God of Love except by the Way of Love… and that Way of Love seen so clearly in Jesus is silently at work drawing all people back to that Infinite and Eternal Source of Love, referred to by Jesus as Abba, ‘the Father’.
And this Way of Jesus can be found in people of other faiths… Indeed there are people of no faith at all who have also discovered this Way of self-giving Love that leads to life and wholeness. As Jesus says in John 10:16 “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also…” Whoever walks this Way of Jesus, this Way of Self-giving Love will find their way home to ‘the Father’.
I grew up with my own father reading CS Lewis’s Narnia series to me and my brothers before we went to bed at night. In the final book of the Narnia series, entitled the Last Battle, when after the final and terrible battle the Old Narnia disappears and there is a New Narnia, Emeth, a worshipper of the terrible and fearsome god Tash finds himself in the Land of Aslan, the great Lion who is a symbol of the Christ. As Emeth stands before Aslan, he is confused and says… “All these years I have served and worshipped Tash and yet now I find myself accepted in the Land of Aslan, how can this be?” To which Aslan replies: “Whatever acts of love, kindness and goodness you have done in the Name of Tash I have credited as having been done to myself."
And so as Jesus says a few verses later in John 15, may we abide and rest in the Infinite, Eternal Love of Christ (abide in me and I in you) (John 15:4) that this Way of Christ maybe opened up within us too that we may discover the Father, the Source, who dwells within us: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” (John 14:10), “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20) Amen.
These words are amongst the most well-known and troubling in Scripture…You would probably have heard these words read at most funerals you have attended. And at most funerals these words would most likely have been used as a kind of religious weapon, a an emotional blackmail to try scare people into making a Christian commitment. I am the Way the Truth and the Life… No-one comes to the father but by me. At first reading it would suggest that Jesus is kind of like a heavenly gate-keeper… God’s bouncer in the sky determining who will get into heaven. The implication in funerals is often made explicit by some preachers… if you don’t accept Jesus you won’t get into heaven and will face the danger of a life lived in hell for the rest of eternity.
The spiritual logic of that approach is interesting: Jesus loves you… but if you don’t accept Jesus he will condemn you to an eternity of suffering.
And it raises all sorts of other questions, especially about people of other faiths and those who have had the hard luck of being born into a culture where they may never have had the opportunity even to hear the name of Jesus… Many have asked the question: what happens to such people when they die?
And so that is the exclusivist way in which those words have been been interpreted especially in evangelical circles. But is that the only way of understanding and interpreting those words or is there another perspective?
The first things to notice is that these words are spoken by Jesus not as a threat,, but in fact as words of comfort to disciples who are confused and afraid. Within the context of John’s Gospel Jesus has told his disciples that he will be leaving them (John 13:33, 13:36). They do not understand. They are filled with grief (John 16:6). They are confused. And into this situation according to John, Jesus speaks these words as part of a message that is meant to comfort them, not as a threat of exclusion.
The passage begins with these words: Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me (John 14:1).
Jesus is not trying to trouble them more by giving them some kind of a threat as to what will happen to them if they do not accept him, he is seeking to alleviate their troubled hearts.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God. Trust also in me (John 14:1).
Many translations use the word believe: Believe in God, Believe also in me… as though what is being asked for is a kind of signing up to some kind of doctrine, dogma or belief system (John 14:1). But the NIV translation is right in using the word Trust rather then Believe. What is being called for here is not some kind of belief with our intellect… the invitation here is to a life of deeper trust… trust that there is a hidden wisdom and compassion behind all of life that we can entrust ourselves to. The Christian faith is ultimately not about believing certain things it is an invitation to a life of deeper trust – a trusting ultimately in a goodness and a wisdom that underlies all of life.
When the disciples find themselves troubled, Jesus invites them to a life of deeper trust.
But Thomas is still confused… Lord we don’t know where you are going? How can we know they way (John 14:5).
And in response to Thomas’s confusion and his troubled heart, Jesus speaks these words to reassure him…
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The first thing to notice is that Jesus begins with the words ‘I am’ (John 8:58).
John’s Gospel as 7 I am sayings of Jesus.
I am the bread of life (John 6:35) -
I am the light of the world (John 8:12) -
I am the door (John 10:9) -
I am the good shepherd (John 10:11) -
I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) -
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) - I am the true vine (John 15:1)
These are a particular feature of John’s Gospel. You don’t find them in any of the other Gospels. And so it is very unlikely that they are words spoken by Jesus himself. They are far more likely to be a literary and teaching device used by the writer of John to help his readers come to a deeper understanding of Jesus.
And the deeper truth John wants us to see in Jesus is that the Jesus makes known the Eternal I am to us (John 1:18). The phrase I Am was the name of God given to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). John’s Gospel asserts that this Eternal I Am is now revealed in and through the humanity of Jesus (John 1:14).
Jesus reveals the Eternal I Am in and through his life, and as such he is the Way that leads us back to the ‘Father’, in other words, to the Loving Source from which we have all come (John 1:12-13). Jesus is the Way that can show us back home to the one who is our original Source.
The words ‘The Way’ is very significant here. He is not saying, ‘I am the password’ that will get you into heaven, rather he says I Am the Way… Jesus is pointing us towards a Way that is to be lived and embodied, a Way that will lead us back home to the Source of al life, love and joy.
What does this Way of Jesus look like in John’s Gospel:
It is the Way of Love that turns the water of religious legalism into the wine of love and joy (John 2:1-11).
It is the Way of Love that meets Nicodemus in the night-time and darkness of his ignorance and invites him into a transformed way of being that will feel like a rebirth into a whole new form of existence (John 3:1-8).
It is the Way of Love that meets the Samaritan woman at the well, affirming her and accepting her despite her chequered moral past and despite her being a distrusted and heretical Samaritan (John 4:4-26).
It is the Way of Love that invites those paralysed by guilt and shame to pick up their mats and walk again (John 5:8-9).
It is the Way of Love that invites us to open our deeper spiritual eyes to see the deeper truth of existence (John 9:39), that not only is Jesus the son of God (John 9:35-37), but that as Jesus points out: Do not your own scriptures say you are gods (John 10:34)… in other words in your essence You too are Divine.
It is the Way of Love that invites those who live in Bethany the house of poverty to come out of their tombs of death and to be raised to newness of life (John 11:43-44).
It is the Way of Love that gives up the way of violent domination so popular in the world today and takes a towel, wraps it around his waste and washes his disciples feet – even the feet of the one who would betray him and those who would within hours abandon him (John 13:4-5).
It is the Way of the seed that gives up its small ego self, and falls to the ground and dies in order to discover it’s more expansive Divine Self (John 12:24).
It is the Way of Love that is willing to lay one’s life down for one’s friends, and in fact even one’s enemies, in order that All people might be drawn back home to the Divine (John 10:11, John 12:32).
Jesus is the embodiment of the Way that leads back to the Father, back home to the Divine Source from which we have all come.
When Jesus says: No-one comes to the father by by me, what he is saying is that no-one comes back home to the Father except by this Way that Jesus embodies. If God is the source of Love, then no-one comes back to the Father except by this Way of Love that we have seen embodied in Jesus.
And according to John’s Jesus, it is ultimately the Way that will draw all people back home to their source. When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself (John 12:32). (Not some people – All people).
These are the words not simply of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, these are the words of the Eternal Logos speaking through the human Jesus, the eternal Wisdom through which all things have come into being and which enlightens all people coming into the world (John 1:1-9).
IF God is Love, as is made plane in 1 John 3:16, then the Way back to God can only be by the Way of Love embodied in Jesus. No-one comes to the God of Love except by the Way of Love… and that Way of Love seen so clearly in Jesus is silently at work drawing all people back to that Infinite and Eternal Source of Love, referred to by Jesus as Abba, ‘the Father’.
And this Way of Jesus can be found in people of other faiths… Indeed there are people of no faith at all who have also discovered this Way of self-giving Love that leads to life and wholeness. As Jesus says in John 10:16 “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also…” Whoever walks this Way of Jesus, this Way of Self-giving Love will find their way home to ‘the Father’.
I grew up with my own father reading CS Lewis’s Narnia series to me and my brothers before we went to bed at night. In the final book of the Narnia series, entitled the Last Battle, when after the final and terrible battle the Old Narnia disappears and there is a New Narnia, Emeth, a worshipper of the terrible and fearsome god Tash finds himself in the Land of Aslan, the great Lion who is a symbol of the Christ. As Emeth stands before Aslan, he is confused and says… “All these years I have served and worshipped Tash and yet now I find myself accepted in the Land of Aslan, how can this be?” To which Aslan replies: “Whatever acts of love, kindness and goodness you have done in the Name of Tash I have credited as having been done to myself."
And so as Jesus says a few verses later in John 15, may we abide and rest in the Infinite, Eternal Love of Christ (abide in me and I in you) (John 15:4) that this Way of Christ maybe opened up within us too that we may discover the Father, the Source, who dwells within us: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” (John 14:10), “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20) Amen.
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