Way, Truth, Life
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
Be bold because of what Jesus is. He was.
Way, Truth, Life
by Warren Baldwin
Most of us travel with a road atlas. It instills
confidence in one's journey. Life as a journey
requires a road map, too, and for many of us Jesus
is our road map.
In John 14:6 Jesus makes a very bold statement
about his role in our journey of life, especially
in our journey to the Father. In response to one
of his disciples asking where he was going Jesus
said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No
man comes to the Father except through me." Jesus'
statement actually comprises three statements
about his nature or his role.
One, "I am the way." Jesus is claiming that of all
of the approaches people use to get to God only
one has any substance. Buddhism, Islam, modern-day
Judaism, and various new age, postmodern-type
approaches all fail to get us into a relationship
with God. Only Jesus is capable of ushering us
into the presence of the Father. That's bold.
Secondly, "I am the truth." I like this statement
because it personalizes truth. We often think of
truth as a proposition or as a concept, something
that we can give mental assent to. But Jesus says
truth is more than that. Truth is a person.
Earlier in John Jesus said, "You will know the
truth and the truth will make you free." We
typically look for truth in statements or ideas.
"Yes, that sounds true to me." And if it sounds
true, we acknowledge it as truth.
But truth as a statement can be rather cold and
sterile, don't you think? "Baseball is a sport
played on a field." Well, that is a truthful
statement, but it certainly doesn't capture the
emotion of being in the stadium watching the
Colorado Rockies whip up on the NY Mets, does it?
"My wife is the person I married." Well, nobody
would argue the truthfulness of that statement
either, would they? But does that statement
capture the emotion and love of twenty years of
being married? Having kids, buying your first
house, the love and comfort you share and receive
from one another ... statements of truth can't
capture all of that emotion or passion, can they?
And when Jesus says, "You shall know the truth and
the truth will set you free," I don't believe he
is saying to memorize a few facts, nod your head
in agreement to a few truthful statements, and
you'll be a free man ... free from sin, free from
guilt, free from oppressive religious systems. No,
what I think Jesus was saying is, "Enter into a
relationship with me and I will set you free. And
I can do that, because I am the truth send from
God. I am his son. Know me, and let me know you.
That will set you free."
Thirdly, Jesus says, "I am the life." Life here,
and life after here. Abundant life here, forever
life after here.
We live in an era today when people are searching.
Searching for meaning, for relationships, for
truth. And people are looking all over, at all
different kinds of ideas, experiences and
relationships. And they need to look no further
than to Jesus and the life he offers.
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