“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:5,6 (NLT)
In this passage Jesus says that he is the way, the truth, and the life. As we were discussing the meaning of truth in class and Tim brought this passage up I started wondering. Was Jesus was making three independent, declarative statements or was he just clarifying his statement with each word? He could have been telling us that he is three completely different things, or one thing in three different forms. To explain my point lets look at it in terms of elements. He could be telling us that he was water, fire, and dirt. Or he could be saying that he is one element expressed in three different ways: water, also ice, and also steam.
So does this mean that the way is also the truth and the life; and the truth is also the way and the life; and the life is also the way and the truth? Or are each of these independent of each other?
This provokes much thought. My thing is that this is a composite statement. I don't rally feel as if you can separate these three principles. Maybe my approach is a bit different, but I am of the slant that Jesus here declares that He is the only way to the father, and as we are convinced of this truth and our lives reflect this, then and only then can we see the father. I know it sounds a bit too simplistic and I may have a little too much of a faith slant in this thing, but that is just what I think.
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