“I am the way, the truth, and the life”
This statement of Jesus’ is one of his “supreme affirmations” [1] that helps us to better understand who He is. Let us examine more closely each of the words Jesus uses to reveal Himself to us. Jesus tells us that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We must begin with the first two words, “I am.”
Why does “I am” matter? As we know, Jesus is God. In Exodus 3:14, Moses asks God what name he should tell the Israelites when they ask who sent him. God responds, “I am who I am. Tell the sons of Israel I am sent you.” This language of “I am” is repeated throughout the Old Testament and represents the only name given to God by the Israelites according to the Hebrew, Yahweh. In the Hebrew and the Greek, this notion of “I am” means more than simple existence in this present moment; this term transcends time and implies the meaning “He who was, is, and always will be.” Jesus speaks an absolute truth in a way that we are not able to, for example we might say “I am smart.” However, by saying this, we are not stating an absolute truth about ourselves. We are not smart 100% of the time. Jesus, on the other hand, is the bread of life all the time and at every Mass. He is also always the way, the truth, and the life. By Jesus saying, “I am” he is stating He is Divine, “the Word made flesh.” It is in the absolute truth that has been revealed to us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life that will lead to God because we know that Jesus Christ is God.
Another important part of this sentence is the repetition of the article “the.” Why did Jesus say “the” three times in His sentence? He was emphatically telling his apostles, along with us, that He is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. He is revealing more of His divinity to his disciples and to us. His way is the way to the Father, the way of perfection, the way of Salvation. By Jesus saying He is “the Truth,” He is showing Truth is not a thing or an abstract idea, but God who is Life itself. If Jesus Christ is saying He is the Truth, then Jesus is saying He is God.
Lastly, when Jesus says He is “the Life,” He is speaking of our eternal life. It is interesting to note here that there are two main Greek words for life, bios and zoe. Bios translates more appropriately as earthly life, livelihood, God’s gift of physical life. Zoe is the term used to describe both the physical and spiritual life that comes from and is sustained by God’s self-existent life. It is beautiful for Jesus to say that He is this eternal Life because it was just after He had told everyone that by eating His flesh and drinking his blood, all would have eternal life. Right after He speaks these words, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” what does Christ do? He celebrates the Last Supper and He tells them, “this is my body and this is my blood.” Christ gives us Life in the Father through the Sacraments. He gives us Life through the Holy Trinity at Baptism, forgives our sins at Reconciliation, and at Mass we receive “the Bread of Life.” Jesus himself, in the species of Bread, gives us divine life every Sunday.
Many things are necessary to sustain human life: food, sleep, water, shelter, health, etc. The Sacraments are the means of sustaining the divine life. Jesus is the Life, and He gives us His divine life through the Sacraments. As it says in the Communion Antiphon in this packet, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Without the Sacraments, we are like a branch without the vine; we are cut off from the source and have no life. See how the Sacraments sustain life. “In Baptism we are ‘born again’ to the divine life. Confirmation strengthens the divine life within us. Penance restores the divine life when it has been lost by mortal sin, or helps its growth, when it has been hampered by venial sin. The Eucharist supplies daily nourishment to the divine life. Extreme Unction [Anointing of the Sick] sustains the divine life within us in the hour of our death. By Holy Orders the line of those who transmit the divine life is maintained. By Holy Matrimony the line of those who receive the divine life is maintained.” [2]
In 1989, Saint John Paul II made the World Youth Day theme, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In his message to the youth and young adults of the Catholic Church, he broke down the three key elements: way, truth, and life.
“Have you already discovered Christ, who is the Way? Yes, Jesus is, for us, the only way that leads to the Father. Whoever wants to reach salvation must set out along this path. Young people very often find a crossroads, not knowing which path to choose, which way to go; there are so many wrong paths, so many facile proposals, and so many ambiguities. In moments like this, do not forget that Christ, with his Gospel, his example, his commandments, is always and alone the safest way, the way which leads to full and lasting happiness.” [3]
Is there any other way to be saved? No, there is no other way except Jesus Christ. In the second reading, St. Peter speaks about the stone that was rejected and is now the cornerstone that our faith is built upon. We should also build ourselves on that stone. [4]
Why is there only salvation through Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church? Many people ask, “What about practicing Muslims, Protestants, Hindus, etc.?” As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, there is no salvation outside the Church, the Catholic Church that Jesus Christ founded. [5] However, the Church does teach, if a person in good conscience has never heard the Good News, they can still be saved. “Although we are bound by God's Sacraments and His plan for salvation for man, He is not. God can choose to offer salvation to whomever He desires, even to someone who may never have heard the Gospel message but to whom Christ has revealed Himself some other way. Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience those too may achieve eternal salvation.” [6] So this means that even Buddhists, Hindus, or even Muslims can still be saved. However, if someone has heard of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Catholic Church and rejects it, their soul is in jeopardy because by rejecting the Church, they reject Jesus Christ.
The Church is the sacrament of salvation for the whole human race. Since Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus established the Church so that all people might have the ability to follow Him. The Church is His very Body and the Holy Spirit guides and inspires it. The Church exists because Christ is the way, the truth and the life. The Church is the means of salvation for every man. "In his desire that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, God spoke in former times to our forefathers through the prophets, on many occasions and in different ways." Then, in the fullness of time he sent his Son, the Word made man, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted as the physician of body and spirit and the mediator between God and men. In the unity of the person of the Word, his human nature was the instrument of our salvation. Thus in Christ there has come to be the perfect atonement that reconciles us with God, and we have been given the power to offer the fullness of divine worship. This work of man’s redemption and God’s perfect glory was foreshadowed by God’s mighty deeds among the people of the Old Covenant. It was brought to fulfillment by Christ the Lord, especially through the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead and ascension in glory: by dying he destroyed our death, and by rising again he restored our life. From his side, as he lay asleep on the cross, was born that wonderful sacrament which is the Church in its entirety.” [7]
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“We are saying that the Church, instituted by Christ, is the means through which He now pours out the blessing of salvation that He gained for us on Calvary. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, ‘The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible organization through which He communicates truth and grace to all men’” [8]
What follows from this marvelous fact? It follows that no less than Christ is our Way, our Truth, and our Life from whom we obtain all that we need to be saved. Through the Church are these divine gifts of mercy imparted to the human race.
Therefore, Christ is Truth because it is from His teaching of the mysteries hidden since the foundation of the world that we learn what God wants us to know in order to reach Heaven. He entrusted to His Church the preservation of these revealed mysteries to safeguard them from error and explain their meaning to the faithful. Since earliest times, the Church has provided a summary of the basic truths of our faith in what is called the Apostles’ Creed.
Moreover, Christ is the Way because He showed us by word and example how we are to behave in the world to come. Again, He gave His Church through the Apostles under Peter and their successors, the authority to govern and guide the People of God in their pilgrimage through time into eternity. Since the first century of the Christian era, the Church has identified our moral responsibility with the Gospel version of the Ten Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes.
Finally Christ is our Life because He instituted the seven sacraments and gave us the Lord’s Prayer by which we can share in His own divine life, thus glorifying with Christ the God for whom we were made. The Savior entrusted to His Church the care and administration of the sacraments as channels of grace at every stage of our earthly pilgrimage, from birth until death and into eternity. He also taught us to pray by His own example and teachings, most especially by giving us the model of Christian prayer in the Our Father. It is through the sacraments and prayer that we are reborn into that life which is ‘not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man, but of God Himself’ (John 1:13).” [9] The four pillars of the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church are built on the foundation of Christ. Part One: The Profession of Faith, which based on the Creed, is the Way. Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, which is based on the Sacraments and Part Four: Christian Prayer, which is based on the Our Father, is the Life. Part Three: Life in Christ, which is based on the Beatitudes and Commandments, is the Life.
[1] Jerome commentary pg. 453
[2] Roman Catholic Daily Missal [1962]; The Sacraments
[3] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/youth/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_27111988_iv-world-youth-day_en.html
[4] 1Pt 2:4-9
[5] CCC 845
[6] Vatican II, Lumen gentium 16, 1964
[7] From the constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 5-6)
Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. II, Office of Readings (Saturday, Second Week of Easter), p. 685-687
[8] Constitution of the Church, I, 8
[9] Fr. John A Hardon; Basic Catholic Catechism Course; Part I: Salvation History