February 26 I Sunday

Numbers 12-14

Mark 5:21-43

“‘You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to [Jesus], ‘Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?’”     —John 14:4-5

From the opening verse of this devotion, Thomas asked a great follow-up question after Jesus told His disciples that they know the way to the place where He is going: “We don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus straightforwardly responded, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

       Firstly, when Jesus said He is the way, He was using a common Greek term literally meaning “the path” or “the road.” Succinctly, Jesus was stating, “I am the only path. I am the only road to God.” Jesus knew He was about to go to the cross because He knew God’s will for Him was to lay His life down willingly for the forgiveness of sins. Yet, the disciples did not know that this was what Jesus was going to do. It was only later that the disciples came to understand the reality that Jesus was the only way to God. On the Day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching to the multitudes in Jerusalem, he said, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). What Peter preached was what Jesus just said in John 14. Jesus is the only way for our sins to be forgiven.

       Secondly, Jesus said He is the truth. This aspect relates to what Jesus said afterwards: “The words I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work” (John 14:10). Jesus is God’s final word to humanity. His is the complete fulfilment of God’s revelation to us. If we want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 tells us, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.”

       Lastly, Jesus said that He is the life. John 1:4 tells us, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” In Jesus is not just life, but eternal life. Yet, there is an obligation as John points, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). Jesus is the only source of eternal life but we need to believe in Him to receive it.

       Altogether, Jesus is not some spiritual guru or advisor amongst other advisors, a pathway of understanding or simply an example to be followed; rather, He is the very substance of who God is: Jesus is the only way, truth and life.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You are the only way for my sins to be forgiven, You embody truth and You are the source of eternal life. Thank You, Lord.