An Exploration of John 14:6

'Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." (John 14:6)

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" -- these are probably among the best-known words the Jesus ever spoke during His life. He uses simple words and a straightforward manner to tell His disciples (and us!) the most awesome secret ever -- how to be saved!

We all want to be saved. Who in their right mind ever said, "I want to go to hell!"?? However, many people do not know how to be freed of their sins and so cannot get to Heaven. Thankfully, in this verse Jesus is giving us the directions to Heaven.

But what exactly is Jesus saying? Using very simple words, Jesus is communicating some very deep and complex things. Here is my humble interpretation of these words lovingly imparted by our Savior.

The Way

Jesus is the way to -- where? To Heaven, and our holy Father God, who resides there. After believing in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and allowing Him to wash away our sins, He will lead us to Heaven. Our sins separate us from God -- although He loves us, our sins are disgusting to Him. While we carry the burden of our sins, we can never reach God, not matter how hard we try.

But there's another way, a way that does not involve striving or false hope, and that way is through Jesus. He is the only way to God. Jesus explicitly says, "No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6). Only by accepting Jesus the Christ as our Savior and as the son of God can our sins be taken from us. Once a person calls upon the name of Jesus, God says, "I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more" (Hebrews 10:7). Jesus is the way to God and salvation.

The Truth

Through Jesus, we learn of the secret truth concerning salvation. Before Jesus came, redemption was a mystery. When Jesus came to earth as a man, though, He brought with Him the key to salvation and gave it to His disciples and to the whole of humanity.

The mystery of the Kingdom is referred to often. Jesus says to His disciples, "To you is given the mystery of the Kingdom of God" (Mark 4:11). Paul writes to the Romans of this, saying, "For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery" (Romans 11:25), and later says what the amazing secret is: "'This is my covenant to them, When I will take away their sins'" (Romans 11:27). Later in the same book Paul writes of "the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages, but now is revealed" (Romans 14:23). He writes to the Corinthians, "But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden...which none of the rulers of this world has known. For if they had known, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

Jesus is the answer the the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven! Before Jesus came, people wondered how they would get to Heaven, and to God. Their sins were still upon them. They performed the ordained sacrifices, but the secret of the way to salvation was still unknown. If it had been known, as Paul says, perhaps Jesus wouldn't have died. However, it's good thing for us that Jesus did go to the cross, because in His dying and rising the secret and truth behind the mystery were revealed. How do we get to Heaven despite our sins? By believing in Jesus, by accepting the sacrifice of God's son and allowing our sins to be washed away. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we are baptized in the Holy Spirit and our filthy souls are turned to pure white as our sins are lifted away.

John also testifies to Jesus as being both truth and the one true way to the Lord:

"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.... No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.... And this is what He has promised us -- even eternal life" (1 John 2:21-25).

Jesus is absolutely the answer to the question of how we are to be saved -- who ever accepts Him accepts God!

The Life

Salvation is a paradox -- in dying, Jesus gave us new life, only to rise to new life Himself three days after the crucifixion. Jesus says,

"If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will loose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25)

To follow Jesus, we must deny our natural self-preserving way of living and turn our lives completely over to Him. Jesus also seems to be saying here that a martyr would be doubly blessed in Heaven. Jesus says in many other places that we must deny things of this world in order to enter into His blessed salvation:

"And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life" (Matthew 19:29); "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire" (Matthew 18:9); "For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36).

To enter the new life in Heaven which Jesus bought for us with His life, we must deny this world and our earthly lives -- the only life that matters to believers is the one lived in Christ, both in this life and in Heaven.

However, Jesus also exemplifies the perfect Christian lifestyle. Many people have heard the phrases "the Christian life" or "a Christian lifestyle." But what do they actually mean? What does it mean to live like a Christian? The answer lies in Jesus.

Jesus says that to live a Christian life (i.e., a life that leads to eternal life with God in Heaven) is to keep the commandments:

"If you would enter life, keep the commandments.... You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.... Sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow me" (Matthew 19:17-21).

Aside from believing in Jesus Christ the son of God as our holy Savior, this is how Jesus wants us to act while on earth. This is the blueprint that Jesus would want us to model ourselves by. However, these actions will not get us into Heaven -- nothing we do can. This is where the two greatest commandments come in:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39).

Above all, we must love and worship God with all that we have, with all that He has given us. And the best part of this commandment is that God is worthy! Jesus obeyed all these commandments, and especially these last and greatest. He loved and served God with all that He had, allowing Himself to die the most brutal of deaths because God willed it. During His life He gave glory to God, prayed to His father, and told others of God's love for them.

He also loved (and continues to love) others, especially the worst sinners. As people of the world we look down on thieves and politicians and other "less desirable" kinds of people. However, these are the very types of people that Jesus gathered to be His twelve disciples. When asked why He ate with the sinners and the tax-collectors, He replied:

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:12-13).

While on earth, Jesus ministered to prostitutes and slimy tax-collectors and other no-good sinners. Why, then, should we neglect to love one another? If Jesus, the holy son, and God, His perfect Father, can love us all unconditionally, why should we not be able to love our fellow sinners? For all sins are alike before God, and all are repulsive to Him -- big or small, sin is disgusting. But God loves us so much that He sent His one and only son to be murdered so that we might have eternal life. God is all-merciful!

If God, who has every right to turn His back on us and our sins in exasperation, can continue to love and forgive, then we, too, should be able to love and be merciful. Like Jesus, we should love all people because we are all equal before God and because God has ordained it.

It may not be easy to be so loving. In fact, it is definitely extremely difficult most of the time. We are imperfect creatures and simply do not have God's capacity for unconditional love inherent in us. However, by accepting Jesus' sacrifice and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us, we can begin to feel God's love for us overflow and allow us to begin to love one another more and more. With God, all things are possible, and He would not have given us commandments that were impossible to follow. Jesus came to earth as a man and loved -- let us follow in His footsteps as we live lives ever closer to God.