Sufficient Light for the Road Ahead


Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ John 14:6

Over the course of my life, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an interpretation of these words as anything other than an argument given by Jesus to be used in doctrinal debates – or as an item on some kind of answer key for a test yet to come. And while these words continue to inform my belief about who Jesus is, when I experience them relationally rather than doctrinally, I sense an invitation and a hope for communion rather than a threat and tool for exclusion. I hear a friend revealing a little more about himself to another friend named Thomas, who perhaps was struggling as I often do with doubt, cynicism, and fear on his journey. I hear a friend preparing another friend for both heartache and joy in the coming days.

When I’m in doubt about the way in which I am traveling – about the deeper motivations of my heart, when I’m groping for a hold on the route but the darkness and fog of chaos prevent me from seeing my hand in front of my face, when I’m beset by those who adhere to the cynical view that the end justifies the means… I hear Jesus say, “I am the way.”

When I’m lured by cynicism’s siren voice, whispering to me that no person and no thing and no event can ever be truly known, that life is a self-framed mirage of shifting perspectives emerging from chaotic desire, when I can no longer see beauty in the mystery and can only sense unknowability… I hear Jesus say, “I am the truth.”

When I awake to news of fear and destruction, when I think about the myriad of those oppressed by self-seeking powers, when I’m confronted by the empty allure of promises for ephemeral happiness, when I remember my dad who passed away not so long ago… I hear Jesus say, “I am the life.”

I no longer choose think of these words of Jesus primarily as an argument. I view them instead as an unveiling and a beckoning, and I say yes to these words… to the way, the truth, and the life. In other words, I say yes to the one who speaks them – who is them. And when my view towards home is darkened and dim, he provides sufficient light for the road ahead.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” ~ John 14:1-7