The Way, The Truth, The Life
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” (John 14.6-7)
From these words, people often take Jesus to mean that he is the only way to heaven. But, last night (or early this morning, however one wants to take it) in the sacred place between evening and morning, I saw this in a different way.
What if ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ refers to the image or understanding of God and not how to get to heaven? That is, what if Jesus was saying (and it seems to me that this could be the case), ‘God’s way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring, is seen through my way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring. God’s life is seen in my life; in the way that I treat others and love them and my ways of non-violence and justice and peace and reconciliation. God’s true image is seen in me - the way I live and act and am. If you have seen me, you have seen God!’ This would mean that their old ways of imagining and understanding God was limited or flat-out-wrong. Those images, I think, we can extrapolate to our time and say with all confidence that most of us have pretty messed up images of God. If our understanding of God does not look like the stories we read about Jesus in the Gospels, then we, like the disciples, have misunderstood. And, honestly, most of this misunderstandings probably come from our churches!
Further, what if this image / understanding is not just limited to God but how we are to live our own lives? That is, this ‘way...truth...life’ is also how we are to be? In other words, I don’t think this passage is talking about ‘belief’ at all but about a way of living. Jesus is calling people to live a certain way, act a certain way, and be a certain way. And He lived that way before us. Again, I think this is well grounded. There are several passages from the New Testament encouraging us to follow Jesus’ example (e.g. Ephesians 5.2; 1Peter 2.21).
What are your thoughts?
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Jack+, LC
From these words, people often take Jesus to mean that he is the only way to heaven. But, last night (or early this morning, however one wants to take it) in the sacred place between evening and morning, I saw this in a different way.
What if ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ refers to the image or understanding of God and not how to get to heaven? That is, what if Jesus was saying (and it seems to me that this could be the case), ‘God’s way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring, is seen through my way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring. God’s life is seen in my life; in the way that I treat others and love them and my ways of non-violence and justice and peace and reconciliation. God’s true image is seen in me - the way I live and act and am. If you have seen me, you have seen God!’ This would mean that their old ways of imagining and understanding God was limited or flat-out-wrong. Those images, I think, we can extrapolate to our time and say with all confidence that most of us have pretty messed up images of God. If our understanding of God does not look like the stories we read about Jesus in the Gospels, then we, like the disciples, have misunderstood. And, honestly, most of this misunderstandings probably come from our churches!
Further, what if this image / understanding is not just limited to God but how we are to live our own lives? That is, this ‘way...truth...life’ is also how we are to be? In other words, I don’t think this passage is talking about ‘belief’ at all but about a way of living. Jesus is calling people to live a certain way, act a certain way, and be a certain way. And He lived that way before us. Again, I think this is well grounded. There are several passages from the New Testament encouraging us to follow Jesus’ example (e.g. Ephesians 5.2; 1Peter 2.21).
What are your thoughts?
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Jack+, LC
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