Day 21: I Am

21st December 2018

John 14:6 English Standard Version (ESV)

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

In Mark 8:29 Jesus questions His disciples: - “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?”.
In contemporary society that is arguably the only important question. A radio discussion between artists – “People ask me what the work’s about; I say ‘whatever you want it to be about.’” Interviewer: “Response to art is solely about your truth after all as it should be.”
For atheists, who believe that God comes from man’s imagination, truths about the gods can only be a matter of private opinion and personal preference.
Many still provide their own answers to the question. In the lyrics of a David Phelps song:

“Was he a poet, turned
Radical politician
Trying to start a revolution
A preacher on a mission
Talkin’ ‘bout fishing
In a new kind of kingdom
Or a small-town wannabe 
Tired of carpentry
Carving out a little fame
John or Elijah, teacher,
Messiah
Or just someone trying to
Make a name.”

But in John 14:6 Jesus closes down the options: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”
It’s as though Jesus is saying “Enough of ‘Who do you think I am?’ I’ll tell you who I am. Forget the idea that there are many roads to heaven and that Christianity is just one of them.”

Andrew F