Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)
Jesus saith to him,“I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one doth come unto the Father, if not through me” (John 14:6, YLT)
I already wrote the other day about how I think John 14:6 is taken out of context: it’s sometimes used as a sort of litmus test for who is and isn’t a ‘true believer’. Who is and isn’t going to hell. Etc.
Whereas in context it is a verse describing Jesus reassuring and comforting his disciples. He’s literally answering Thomas’s question: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
With that in mind, what might Jesus actually have been saying? Perhaps, given the context and his words (above), what he actually meant was:
I am the Way – if you’re ever been stuck and lost, but then in desperation you mustered all your courage and took a tiny baby step in the right direction – that was a step closer to me
I am the Truth – if you’ve been surrounded by lies but finally you’ve found something at the core of your being that rings true and you’re doing everything you can to hold onto it and not have that taken away too – that truth was from me
I am the Life – if you’ve felt dead inside and then somehow some tiny thing gave you a bit of life and hope, maybe a rainbow, a sunset, a flower, one kind word – that was from me
No-one comes to the Father except through me – if you are my friends – and you are! – then you can’t possibly not be God the Father’s friend too. You can’t possibly be on my side and not on his too.
(So don’t worry!)