The hour has come and the Lord Jesus Christ was about to be betrayed with a traitor’s kiss to be delivered to wicked men. It was that time that the Feast of the Passover was at hand so He and His disciples went to an upper room. There the Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper. There He ate with them. There He washed the disciples’ feet. There He gave them a new commandment to love one another. But there was also the place where His betrayer, Judas Iscariot, lifted up his heel against Him (John 13:18). It was after the traitor had left that Jesus spoke the following words:
Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. (John 13:33)
This must be saddening for the disciples. Having been with the Lord during His earthly ministry, the Lord knew that they would be exceedingly troubled and their hearts would be filled with grief at the thought of His departure. But the Lord spoke to them words of assurance and comfort:
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 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. And where I go you know, and the way you know. (John 14:1–4)
Sorrow might fill their hearts but the Lord Jesus Christ spoke words of comfort to them. The Lord’s words are comforting because they gave the disciples solid hope on which they could really rely. The Lord’s words are marked with utmost sincerity, faithfulness, assurance, and love.
Now, the Lord made it clear that He would go to the Father but somehow Thomas, or even perhaps most of them, was bewildered. He was confused that he asked the Lord, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? (John 14:5)”. It was at this moment when the Lord uttered one of the most popular statements concerning Himself:
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
Jesus is the Way
Thomas said that they did not know where the Lord was going and the way to get there. So Jesus said that He is the way and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Now, what does it mean for Jesus to be the way to the Father?
The way to be with the Father. The most popular meaning is that He is indeed the way to heaven. He is the road or the pathway through which people must come in order to get to the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a way, He is the way and any other way is no way at all. This truth about Christ is a hard blow to the philosophical notion of pluralism. Pluralism asserts that every religion is valid and everything can be regarded as truth. By that assertion alone, pluralism tries to put an end to truth by accepting all to be true. But in the Christian faith, Christ alone is the way to heaven. Christ alone is the means to get to the Father to be with Him forever.
The evangelical world today is infested with many ideas which contradict the biblical doctrine of Christ being the only way to heaven. Some professing Christian ministers deny this truth in an attempt to promote unity among the diverse religions but compromising what Jesus said about Himself for the sake of unity is a total negligence of truth. Jesus Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13) and without Him, no one can come to the Father and every one will be damned in hell for all eternity.
The way to know and see the Father. The Lord Jesus followed His statement with this:
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:7)
But Philip replied,
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” (John 14:8)
To which the Lord replied,
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9)
The way to know the Father is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. The way to see the Father is to behold the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate revelation of the Father. He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3). The glory that has been withheld to the Old Testament people such as Moses (Exo. 33:18, 20) was revealed through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, it is quite fascinating to know that Christ is not only the way to heaven, He is also the way for us to know and see the Father. In fact, heaven itself is just a consolation prize, the knowledge of God Himself is the greatest reward for the elect of God.
Jesus is the Truth
The Lord Jesus Christ is the very embodiment of truth. He is absolute truth. No lie can come forth from Him. This also proves His deity for God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and since Jesus is truth, He is God. He is also the very source of truth. Every lie is a departure from the truth. So, if you want to live according to the truth, you must know Christ and abide in His teachings. He is the absolute aid to all sorts of confusion and deception caused by the devil.
Jesus is the Life
Christ not only gives and sustains life, He is life Himself. From His being springs life. In Him is life — not only biological life but also eternal life or the God-kind of life. There is no life outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we understand that Christ is life, we would surely stay with Him for the thought of being without Him must be horrifying. He is the essence of life and His elect are blessed indeed to be given the life that is in Him alone.
