Scripture Reading: John 14:4-6
In this chapter we will consider the sign of the way, the reality, and the life as seen in John 14:4-6. In verse 4 the Lord Jesus said, “Where I am going you know the way.” I would call your attention to the words where and way in this verse. In verse 5 Thomas said to the Lord, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Here the words where and way are used again. According to verse 6, “Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” In verse 4 Jesus spoke of the “where” and the “way.” In verse 5 Thomas said that the disciples did not know where or know the way. Then in verse 6 Jesus said that He is the way and indicated that the “where” is the Father. Therefore, both the way and the where are living persons. The way is the Son, who is also the reality and the life, and the where, the place, is the Father. The Father is the “where,” and the Son is the way.
We have seen that in 14:4-6 the Father is the place and the Son is the way. But what does it mean to take the Lord Jesus as the way to the Father? It means that when we take Jesus, we get the Father. When we walk in Him as the way, we arrive at the destination, which is the Father. Hence, we take Jesus as the way, and we reach the Father as the place.
These three verses in chapter 14 are very deep, and the three matters in verse 6 — the way, the reality, and the life — are signs. We may say that, taken together, these are the third sign in chapter 14. The first sign is the Father’s house, and the second is the Lord’s coming and going. Now the third is the way, the reality, and the life.
For years I have been seeking to know the meaning of the way, the reality, and the life in John 14:6. We need to ask what is the meaning of way here. Furthermore, what does it mean to say that Christ is the reality? In most English versions the Greek word for reality is rendered “truth.” If the word truth is used, what does it mean here? Doctrine? Faithfulness? Sincerity? Is Christ doctrine? Is He faithfulness and sincerity here? It is not easy to explain the meaning of reality in this verse. Also, because life is mysterious, it is difficult to say what is the meaning of the word life here.
We cannot understand these matters properly if we consider these verses merely according to the black and white letters. We need to realize that the way, the reality, and the life are a sign. The way, the reality, and the life signify certain things. We may consider these three as one sign in three aspects, steps, or stages, or we may regard them as three separate signs.
Let us now consider the significance of the way. To make this matter easier to understand, we may use a jumbo jet as an illustration. The best and fastest way to travel from the United States to Europe is on a jumbo jet. A jumbo jet can easily overcome gravity and bring people safely and comfortably through the air to their destination. The passengers in a jumbo jet need not be frustrated by wind or rain, for the jet carries them through everything. Hence, the jumbo jet is their way of reaching a particular place.
This is a picture of how the Lord Jesus is our way to the Father. The Father is holy, dwelling in unapproachable light, and we are sinful. We are also involved with the world, Satan, and other negative things, all of which are obstacles that make it impossible for us to come to the Father. It is impossible for us to overcome these negative things and to clear the way. This is the reason Confucius says that we should not offend heaven (a term he used for God, similar to that used in Luke 15), for he claimed that if we offended heaven, there would be no way for us to be forgiven. This indicates that, for Confucius, there was no way for sinful human beings to contact God, because we cannot solve the problems of sin, the world, Satan, and all manner of negative things. Sin, the world, and Satan are three great obstacles that make access to the Father impossible. But praise the Lord that Christ is our way to the Father! We may say that He is “Jumbo Jesus,” the means by which we may come to the Father.
In the foregoing chapter we saw that, through His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus dealt with sin, the world, and Satan. This means that He has cleared away all the negative things, all the obstacles, between us and God. Now, having dealt with the negative things, the Lord Himself is our way to the Father. We simply need to enter into Him as our “Jumbo Jet,” and He will transport us to the Father. He is the way for us to enter into the Father. Through His death Christ has cleared the path, and now He Himself becomes our way into the Father. He is the real jumbo jet that brings us safely into God. How can we go to the Father? How can we contact Him? The only way is through “Jumbo Jesus.” He, and He alone, is the way into the Father.
As a sign, the way indicates that sin has been dealt with, the world has been judged, Satan has been destroyed, and the old creation has been terminated. Hence, sin, the world, Satan, and the old creation are no longer obstacles that hinder us from coming to the Father. Hallelujah, Christ has cleared away every obstacle!
Although we may have realized in the past that the Lord Jesus is the way to the Father, we may not have realized how much is signified by Him as the way. We all need to see that the sign of the way signifies that sin, the world, Satan, and the old creation have all been dealt with and that in the Lord Jesus we have a way to reach God the Father.
I hope that more of our Jewish friends may see the sign of the way in 14:6. Many Jews are God-fearing people. They respect God and in a sense they also love Him. However, I believe that most Jews would tell you that they actually do not have a way to contact God. Rather, they may sense that God is far from them and that they do not have a way to come to Him. This feeling of distance is the result of sin, the world, Satan, and the old creation standing as obstacles between them and God. Although the Jewish people may fear God, respect God, and love God, they do not have a way to reach God. Neither is there a way for God to visit them. For this reason, even when they are gathering in the synagogues on the Sabbath, they may have the feeling that God is far away in the heavens and that they are on earth. Not only is there a great distance between them and God, but there are also many obstacles keeping them from contacting Him. Therefore, they do not have the sense that they are one with God and that God is one with them.
Our situation is very different from that of the Jews. If we want to contact God, we simply need to say, “O Lord Jesus.” By calling on the name of the Lord, we “board” the “Jumbo Jesus,” who immediately takes us to the Father. Many of us can testify that through calling on the name of the Lord we are brought into God. We also have the sense that God is in us. We know that God is in us and that we are in Him.
The Jews who honor God and fear Him cannot testify from their experience that they are in God and that God is in them. The reason is that they are not willing to take the “Jumbo.” Even when they are offered a free “ticket,” they are not willing to use it. The Jewish saints among us have testified that when they were in Judaism, they did not enjoy God. But after they came into the church life and began to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, believing in Him, they knew that they were in God, that God was in them, and that they were one with God. This is possible only because the Lord Jesus is the new and living way into the Father (Heb. 10:19-20). Hallelujah, as soon as we board our “Jumbo Jesus,” we are one with Him and one with God. We are brought into the Father to enjoy Him. This is a fact, and this is our experience.
As Christians, we can testify that we have God, that we enjoy God, and that God enjoys us. Oh, how much I enjoy God through the Lord Jesus as the way! The Lord has taken away sin, He has judged the world, He has destroyed Satan, and He has terminated the old creation. Now everything is clear, and there are no longer any obstacles between us and God. When we call on the Lord, we are immediately in the presence of God. We experience the fact that God is in us and that we are one with God. Then God becomes our enjoyment.
The way by which we enter into the Father is the crucified Jesus and the resurrected Christ with His redemption (John 14:2b-3; Heb. 10:19). Once again we would emphasize the fact that the Lord’s crucifixion signifies that sin, the world, Satan, and the old creation have all been dealt with. All this is signified by the crucified Jesus. However, the way not only includes the crucified Jesus but also includes the resurrected Christ with His redemption.
Ephesians 2:18 says, “Through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” This verse indicates that through Christ as the way we have access in the Spirit unto the Father. When we call, “O Lord Jesus,” we have the sense that we are in the presence of God and that God is within us. Today the Triune God is the life-giving Spirit. Actually, this life-giving Spirit is the access for us to touch God and enter into Him.
According to Hebrews 10:20, the Lord Jesus as our way into the Father is a new and living way: “He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.”
In John 14:6 the Lord also said that He is the reality. Apart from the Triune God, the entire universe is vanity, having no content, no reality. The Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is the reality. Actually, the way is God Himself, and this way is the reality. If we were to call on a name other than that of the Lord Jesus, we would not have a way into God, because all other names are void of reality. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we are immediately on the way into God because the Lord is the embodiment of the Triune God. Therefore, when we call on the name of Jesus, we receive something real into us.
What is the reality that we receive by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus? This reality is the being and the doing of the Triune God. First, this reality is the incarnated God (1:1, 14). This reality is also the Son (8:32, 36) and the Spirit (14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:7). Hence, the reality is the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Furthermore, this reality includes what the Triune God has done. This is the gospel (Eph. 1:13). The reality, therefore, is the very being of the Triune God and what He has done.
In the universe only what God is and what God does is real. This means that the reality in the universe is God’s being and God’s doing. God’s being is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and His doing is redemption. In the gospel He is everything and has done everything necessary for us to contact Him. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we receive this universal reality.
The reality is actually the way, and the way is the destination. When we get on the way, we reach the destination. This means that when we receive Jesus, we have the Father. When we receive the Son as the way, we have the Father as the destination. Because the Son is the embodiment of the Father, when we call on the name of the Lord, we have both the Son and the Father. This is the reality becoming the way. This is the Son with what He has done becoming our way to the Father. How can we get on this way? Simply by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. When we call on the Lord’s name, we are on the way, and we have the Father.
In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus went on to say that He is the life. Reality is the divine life, and the divine life, which is eternal life, is the Triune God. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Triune God comes into us to be our life. Therefore, the life in 14:6 signifies the Triune God within us (Eph. 4:18; Col. 3:4a; Rom. 8:2a, 6b).
Many of us can testify that when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we sense that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are in us. We have something living, moving, and acting within us. This is the Triune God within us as the divine life. This life brings us the reality, and the reality is the way for us to enter into God. This is the way, and the way is the destination.
Whenever we call on the Lord Jesus, we experience the Triune God within us as life. This is the divine life that brings us reality, and this reality is the way. When we are on the way, we are also at the destination.
Do you know where we are today? We are where the Son is — in the Father. We may say that we are in the Son with the Father and also in the Father with the Son. This is the oneness between us and the Triune God. Jesus Christ is in the Father, and we are in Him also. Where He is, there we are also. He is in the Father, and we are in the Father by being in Him. This means that through Christ as the way we have been brought into God. The life brings us the reality, the reality is the way, the way is one with the destination, and this destination is God and the Father Himself.
Those who fear and honor God but do not believe in the Lord Jesus would have to testify that they never have had the sense that God is in them and that they are in God. Instead, they may realize that they are sinful and that they have the problems with the world, Satan, and other negative things. They may have a God who is in the heavens but not a God who dwells within them. Our experience as believers in Christ is absolutely different. We have the assurance to say with a pure conscience, “God is in me, and I am in God. God and I are one. All the obstacles between us have been removed. Sin, the world, Satan, and the old creation have all been dealt with. Now I have life and reality, and this reality is the way. I am on the way, and I reach the destination. I have God, the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.”
In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus clearly said, “I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Because Christ is the way, the reality, and the life, when we have Him, we have the life, the reality, and the way. When we are on the way, we are also at the destination. Our testimony and experience is that we are in the Triune God and the Triune God is in us.
