We are approaching the end of our discussion of the deity of Christ which he revealed through the I AM statements in the Gospel of John. Our discussion today will center on one statement that I believe to be most important in our understanding of the consistency of Jesus as God. This importance is recognized, not only in the message being stated, but also in the timing of the conversation in which the message is delivered.
As with the study of all Scripture, the context is important. Here, it is doubly so. We will consider the statement Jesus made in John 14:6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is the final week of the earthly life of Jesus. He has entered Jerusalem on that Sunday prior to his crucifixion. He has been offering his final words of teaching in the temple courts and has lamented the failure of the Jewish people to recognize him as the true Messiah.
As that fateful day of crucifixion draws ever nearer, Jesus focuses his interaction more directly on his disciples. He reveals to them for the third time that his final destiny on earth is to die at the hands of the Romans. This is upsetting to his friends, but he gives them a positive purpose in John 12:32, But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
Although they don’t realize it yet, Jesus is about to spend his final night with them. He invites them to an upper room to share a Passover meal with him. This celebration should have been a time of joy as they remember the faithfulness of God to them and their people over the centuries. However, the mood is soon dampened as Jesus reveals that one of them will betray him, selling him to the authorities for a few coins. To add to the grief of the evening, he tells them that they will all dessert him then reveals that one of his most trusted followers would deny he even knew who Jesus was.
It is in the context of this troublesome evening that Jesus provided the greatest hope ever. This is not simply hope for a group of uneasy followers, but for all mankind, including you and me. He begins by promising them that their future is going to be much better than their present. This is because Jesus is leaving them for the purpose of making a place in heaven available to them; a place he himself will prepare. When questioned by Thomas, the doubter, about how they will be able to find this place he is preparing for them, Jesus gives these amazing words we quoted above, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The message Jesus wants us to hear is not only clear, but full of hope and encouragement. I does not matter how low things get in this life. It does not matter how much fear Satan tries to press onto our lives. It does not matter if we find no hope in our circumstances and no assurances concerning our future in this life. Jesus has the solution for all of it. I AM! Jesus provides the Way for our eternity by brining us to the Father. This is based on the Truth that he and the Father are One. The result of believing this is the gift of Life for all eternity.
All we need to do to appropriate this assurance in our own lives is to believe. If you have never accepted the gift of eternal life, this is what you must do. Believing Jesus is who he claimed to be and has died in our place and risen to give us hope, you must simply ask for forgiveness of sin in your life and commit to pursuing Jesus. For you who have made this decision, but life has closed in, and you feel discouraged or hopeless, faith is still the answer. The promise Jesus made is still valid today. He is the only source of life on which we can depend. In an act of faith, commit your worries to his care and rest in the assurance that he will one day fulfill his promise and guide you to that eternal place he has prepared just for you.