“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

This series of devotions has been focused on Jesus’ “I AM” statements. There are seven in the gospel of John:

If, when you were a child, your mom or dad had told you that they were leaving (and maybe they did), you would have been distraught. Hopefully they told you they would come back to get you. You would have done anything to find a way to be reconciled to them. During the Last Supper, after Judas had been dismissed, Jesus told the remaining disciples that he was going away. He told them they couldn’t follow him this time, but that they would be able to follow him later. The disciples were indeed distraught; Jesus then comforted them with these words:

“’Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:1-6).

According to the Oxford Dictionary, as a noun, the word “way” can mean either (1) a method, style, or manner of doing something, or (2) a road, track, path, or street for traveling along.

Jesus is THE WAY – Thomas was honest when he told Jesus that he was confused about where Jesus was going and the way to get there. Jesus told Thomas and the others that he was going to His Father’s house, and that he would take us to be with him. Today, we use our various navigational systems as the method for figuring out how to get somewhere, and they usually tell us the best road or path to take. Jesus is our navigation system and the path we take—following Him is how we will get to that wonderful heavenly mansion with our name on it.

Interesting side note: Early Christians identified themselves with Jesus by calling themselves the Way.

• “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priestand asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2).
• And in Acts 19:23, in Ephesus, “About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.”
• In Paul’s testimony to Felix, the Roman Governor: “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14).

Navigational systems sometimes give us alternative ways in the event of traffic. Sometimes you can choose your path—fastest in time or shortest in distance. Do not be misled into thinking there are multiple ways to heaven. Jesus is the Way; the Word is our navigation system and the path by which we will achieve eternal life with our heavenly Father. Jesus is THE WAY, not the shortest, the fastest, the best; He is the ONLY WAY. Let us continually seek him as David did when he wrote “Teach me your way, Lord” (Psalm 27:11).

In Christ,

Judy

Psalm 19:14