What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)?

What did Jesus mean when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life? We're going to answer that question. I am the way and the truth and the life is one of the seven I am statements of Jesus. For over three years the disciples had been following Jesus and placed their hopes in him as the promised deliverer.

Yet they still didn't understand how he was going to accomplish that deliverance. After the last supper, Jesus began speaking about his departure, which led to questions from his disciples. In John 13 .33, Jesus said, My children, I will be with you only a little longer.

You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now. Where I am going, you cannot come. This prompted Peter to ask where he was going. Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.

He began speaking more plainly about heaven, describing the place he was going to prepare.

For them.

Then Jesus said, You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said that they did not know where he was going, so how could they know how to follow.

Him there?

Jesus as the Great I Am

It was in answer to this question that Jesus uttered one of the seven famous I am statements.

I am.

In the Greek language, I am is a very intense way of referring to oneself. It would be comparable to saying, I, myself, and only I, am. Several other times in the gospels, we find Jesus using these words.

These words reflect the very name of God in Hebrew, Yahweh, which means to be or the self-existing.

One.

It is the name of power and authority, and Jesus claimed it as his own.

The Way to the Father

The Way.

Jesus used the definite article to distinguish himself as the only way. A way is a path or a route, and the disciples had expressed their confusion about where he was going and how they could follow. Jesus was again telling them and us, follow me.

There is no other path to heaven, no other way to the Father. The exclusive nature of the only path to salvation is expressed in the words, I am the way. The Truth. Again, Jesus used the definite article to emphasize himself as the only truth.

Psalm 119 .142 says, Your law is the truth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equated himself with the law of God as the authoritative standard of righteousness. In fact, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

Jesus, as the incarnate word of God, is the source of all truth.

The Life That Overcomes Sin and Death

The Life.

Jesus had been telling his disciples about his impending death, and now he was claiming to be the source of all life. He spoke his authority as being granted to him by the Father. In John 14 .19, he gave the promise that, Because I live, you also will live.

The deliverance he was about to provide was a true deliverance from a life of bondage to sin and death, to a life of freedom in eternity. In these words, Jesus was declaring himself the great I am, the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life.

He was staking his claim as the very God of creation, the Lord who blessed Abraham, and the Holy One who inhabits eternity. He only did this so the disciples would be able to face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to the world.

Once they understood the truth of his words, they became changed people, and the world has never been the same. So how do we follow him today? The same way the disciples did long ago. They heard the words of Jesus and believed them.

They took his words and obeyed them. They followed his example and command to tell others the truth about sin, righteousness.

And judgment.

Following Jesus All the Way to Heaven

When we follow him in the way, we can be assured of following him all the way to heaven. That answers the question, what did Jesus mean when he said, I am the way, the truth.

And the life?

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