"The Way, the Truth, the Life"

Today we are reminded of this famous exchange in the Gospel in which Jesus begins: "'Where I am going, you know the way.' Thomas said to him, 'Master, 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'" (John 14:4-6).

It seems to me that there is an ever-increasing list of various "ways" to find fulfillment, meaning, purpose, and ultimately God Himself. But that's not what Jesus says. I've been thinking and praying an awful lot lately about the various "Jesuses" floating around out there in popular consciousness and in society. They can't all be true, though, and when we fall prey to the temptation of fashioning Jesus in our image rather than recognizing how backward that is, we run into some problems.

I would merely ask a question:  Why is it so hard for us to take Jesus at his word? Those who truly believe in him have professed all along that WHO Jesus is is exactly who he claimed to be, namely the only Son of the Father - God made man, in the flesh. And if we can accept that, countless doors will open. 

When we can stop worrying about finding "ways" or "truths" or the "life" that's just right for us, we can see with the eyes of faith that Jesus himself, in his person, IS the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE! It is precisely "through him, with him, and in him" that the full meaning of human life is perfectly expressed.

May we, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, learn to see the truth that we don't merely trudge along a lonely road with God as our ultimate goal, far off in the distance. Rather, He is with us every single step of the way, enabling us to see clearly each step of our lives in his matchless light.

Gang nach Emmaus, Robert Zünd (1877)