Father we love You.  We praise You.  We adore You.  Glorify Thy name in all the earth. Glorify Thy name. Glorify Thy name. Glorify Thy name in all the earth.

Donna W. Adkins.

I wonder why Jesus said these words:

“I am the way, the truth and the life…”
John 14:6

Jesus said many things during His ministry on earth. He told the world that He had come as a Savior in order to make the Father known. He also made one of the most profound statements that would ever be uttered; that He is the way, the truth and the life. I want us to dissect the text a little bit.

First, take note of the use of the definitive pronoun. “I” in the statement. In a world where pronouns are starting to lose their meanings and any standard definition is begginning to lose firm ground, this word, “I” is important. It was and is not meant for just anyone. It did not refer to a random person. Not you. Not me. Not they-them. Not any of the disciples with Jesus Christ. Not a group of people. Not the religious leaders. Jesus was referring to Himself. As what? As the way, the truth and the life. Now, the emphasized word “the” is another important use of reference. It is a definite article, and also notable. According to the dictionary, is denotes that there is *only one*. Just one!

Considering these words Jesus uttered, anyone listening to Him must have thought “Whoa! This man is crazy”. No wonder the Bible says that some of His sayings were so hard to accept that many abandoned Him (John 6:60). What audacity must cause a man to claim not only to be the way, but the truth and then the life. So what about every other way people knew of? What about their personal perceptions of truth? What about ways they had carved out for themselves? What about their human lives? Did it matter at all? Jesus was essentially saying to them that all of that was nothing. “I am the embodiment of life”

What discussion led to Jesus make this statement? Jesus was telling those who followed Him about a place beyond the existence of the earth (John 14:1-5). He was telling them that life after death existed, and that life after death was controlled by God. He was telling them that after death, there was a reward for His followers. He informed His followers that there was life after death for them.  However, His followers at the time wondered how they could go where Jesus spoke of to collect the rewards that He had mentioned. They asked Jesus to show them the way. Jesus told them that they knew the way because He was the way.

Interestingly throughout this discourse, the use of the definitive article is used. This leaves one wondering why Jesus and His disciples spoke as they did? As though nothing else matters but this end. Jesus called God the Father. Meaning there is truly only one Father. He continued then declaring who He is. Although the conversation with His followers was about going somewhere it ended up being about who Jesus is. Jesus did not end by saying He is the way leading to the place He had spoken of. He continued further to say two other things. That He is the truth. And that He is also the life. The way, the truth, and the life is a person.

Why go a step further? I always believe that Jesus is always a step ahead. I want to zoom onto His second statement that He is the truth.

We live in a world now where truth is pushed into subjectivity. Now more than ever, these statements are common: ‘This is my truth’. ‘Know your truth’. ‘My truth is what I think about me’. ‘You determine your truth’. ‘No one can tell you what your truth should be’. ‘Speak out your truth’. ‘I determine what is true’. Truth has become fickle.

Truth according to the world is now subject to everyone’s whim and desire. The world wants a fluid truth. ‘Don’t tell me what is right or wrong. I determine that for myself’. ‘I am my own truth’ is the gospel of the world to itself as it continually elevates self-worship, self-adoration and self-glory over God. ‘The man sitting in the sky cannot come and tell me how to live my life’. ‘If He loves me or even exists, then He has to love what I do, support all my sins, and handle my truth’. ‘Who has the right to say that what I do is a sin anyway?’

There’s is a part is the passion of Christ movie that is unforgettable to me. In a discourse between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, Pilate had qualms about crucifying Jesus. He asked Jesus, “What is truth?” The people who wanted Jesus Christ crucified had said so many things about Him. And Pilate wondered what the truth was.

Today, that is the critical question of this age. What is truth? What is the truth that transcends all generations no matter the shifting shapes of time? Jesus makes it clear. It is Him. Truth is a person. And that person is Jesus Christ.

Jesus reveals to His disciples something so critical to life. Which is, despite the many ways of the world, there is one way that really matters. It is the one that leads to the Father. There are many good and bad fathers. There are many relationships that exist but the one that is important is the one with the only true Father and only that really matters. There is only one truth. And that is Him because He leads to the Father. There is only one life to live and that is His life (Galatians 2:20).

Taking us down history, we learn that centuries ago in a world of polytheists the Israelites believed in one God. They were what we call monotheistic.  They were hated for that. All the nations that surrounded them were polytheists.  Believers of many ways. Many gods. Many truths. And even many lives. No definite standard.

Christians today are hated and rejected for believing in one way, one truth, one life. One God. One salvation. One faith. One baptism. One way to heaven. Rejected for saying Jesus is the truth like He said. The world wants a polytheist many ways to many gods where their personal truth leads them to themselves. And they have crowned themselves as their owns gods. They do not want to be confronted with accountability to someone who demands a higher standard. They do not want a definite place after death to be held accountable. They would rather turn into a plant or dirt when they die.

Truth, subject to the world has changed so much.  In a world where stability is almost non-existent, Jesus is the truth. He brings stability. He is the life. The only life worth living is the life of Christ. One would ask how? Jesus said said it, “Believe in Me.” When you believe in Him, He prepares a place for you in the House of His Father. When you believe in Him, you begin to live His life. Because you give up yours for His.

Do you have your truth? Your own standard? It is unwise to measure yourself by your own self and your own standard.

Yes, you can ask me, “how do you know that what Jesus said is true?” History testifies. Truth endures. I believe it to be so. I believe that He came from God and that He is God And when I believed, He has by many ways confirmed to me that I have chosen the truth.

I cannot defend God. He needs no  defender. But I can testify of Him. And that is what I can offer you.

We all believe in something. Some believe in God. Some also believe in self. Our own standards. Our own good works. Our own abilities. Our own truths. Some believe that we are our own gods. Our own masters. But even though that may present itself as true, it is grossly false. It is so interesting that in Genesis 3, the only time man by his judgement considered something to be good was right before eating the fruit in the garden. He judged the fruit by how pleasant it looked to his eyes and the godhood it promised him. But his own judgement led to his fall.  He moved from God’s higher standard to create His own standard.  His own concept of what was good in direct contradiction to the direction of God. A wrong one. How does the creation determine good and bad?

We all came from someone. None of us made ourselves. We were born. There is no one in the world right now who was not born. We do not pre-exist and that proves our inherent weakness. Our inherent shortcoming. We are created. And where there is a creation, then there is a creator who cannot be denied. And the creator sets the standards. The creator determines the truth. The way. And the life. Submit yourselves to God and be saved. Seek the truth while He may still be found. The truth will set you free from yourself.

The path to the truth is the knowledge of Jesus. The knowledge of the truth through belief gives you life. The life you receive is Jesus Christ who is the eternal God. The eternal life you’ll live is Christ. So many things have been said about Jesus but believe what He says about Himself. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Veritas. Jesus is the objective Veritas.