The Book of John: God Became FleshSample

When the GPS says, “In 50 feet, turn left,” we do what she says. We trust that the GPS is properly aligned with the satellite and has been updated with all the construction zones and detours. We trust that it will guide us where we need to go.

We don’t follow Jesus because he simply shows us the way. He is the Way. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. What does that mean, exactly?

When we use the phrase “I am,” we can follow that up with any number of things: I am tired, I am a police officer, I am a student, I am a parent, I am studying Spanish. In these statements, we are identifying ourselves as that thing: tired, a police officer, and so on. Maybe the identification is permanent, like being a parent, or temporary, like being tired. Our English words don’t convey what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6 NLT).

In the language John used when he wrote this gospel, which was Greek, the phrase “I am” meant so much more. The Greek word is a very intense way of referring to oneself, as if to say, “I, myself, and only I…There is no other like me.” It’s the same word Jesus spoke when he said to the leaders in John 8, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58 NLT). It identifies Jesus as God.

So for Jesus to say this, he was making it clear: Jesus is not one of many ways to reach God or heaven. He is the only way.

He proved that when he died on the cross for our sins. Every other religion in the world requires some sort of work on our part. With these religions, we can only hope we’ve done enough, been good enough. But Jesus is the only one who came to seek and save the lost. We don’t have to do anything; Jesus has done it all already.

Pray: Dear God, I believe that Jesus is the only way for me to spend eternity with you. I can do nothing to earn my way to heaven, but I want to fully follow Jesus so that I can be more like him, so that others will know that he is the Way, the only way, to be saved. Amen.