“And the lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken to him” (Gen. 18:17-19).
God had just reaffirmed the covenant with Abraham and confirmed it with the ritual of circumcision. The promise was to Abraham and his offspring; the sign God gave was the cutting off of the flesh. To receive the fulfillment of the promise, Abraham and his offspring must walk in the “way of the LORD.”
Both the Hebrew and Greek words used for the “way” signify “a course of life or mode of action” (Strong’s). The idea is used throughout the Old Testament; speaking of the kingdom age, the time will come when “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isa. 30:21).
Israel did not walk in the way
In the subsequent history of Abraham and his family, the way of the LORD played a significant role. When the nation entered the promised land, they corrupted themselves before God. Therefore He did not fully drive out the heathen that “I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not” (Jdg. 2:19-22).
Much later, Amon, king of Judah, was condemned because he chose to “walk in all the way that his father walked in, and served idols…he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.”
The way of the Lord was equated with the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 states, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” Verse 3 has, “They also do no iniquity that walk in his ways.” Verse 5 states: “0 that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.” In verse 33, the Psalmist implores, “Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.” Again, in verse 32 he states, “I will run the way of thy commandments.”
The Qumran community
This is the name given to a community which lived in the Judean desert and many of whose writings were included in the dead sea scrolls. It is interesting to see their linkage of the way of the Lord with the law of the Lord. Some examples follow which are taken from “The Manual of Discipline” which is included in “The Dead Sea Scrolls in English,” by G. Vermes:
“He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses…to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the covenant to separate from all the men of falsehood who walk in the way of wickedness.
“My justification is with God. In His hand are the perfection of my way and the uprightness of my heart.”
“I am the way”
Clearly, the “way of the LORD” involved the law of the Lord as given by Moses. Yet the law could not give life. It could lead a person to Christ in whom was life, but of itself, the law “was weak through the flesh.”
Before Jesus came as the word made flesh, those who came to God did so by keeping the law, by faith in His promises and by trust in God’s ability to bring them through any crisis. Hebrews 11 catalogs several who had done the best they could under trying circumstances. God brought them through trials through faith. None will enter life who have not sought to follow God’s laws, but it is not possible to be justified by works of law.
Now we have the blessing of access to God through Christ. John 1:17 states, “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Jesus pointed the way to the Father through the kind of life he lived. He forsook self, he was totally obedient to the will of his Father. The way speaks of a path traversed, a course taken, and Jesus took the way of the Lord at all times, in all circumstances.
Many Jews looked to the law as the source of life. They should have learned that because of the moral weakness of every man, it would be impossible to perfectly live the law. In fact, in the case of the Qumran group, one of their outstanding teachings was their acknowledgment of personal, individual failure and the necessity of God to bring them back into harmony with His principles.
Jesus not only showed the way, he was the way. He taught the way, guides us in the way and has dedicated for us a new and living way (Matt. 22:16; Mk. 12:14; Lk. 1:79; Heb. 10:20). We suggest that John 14:6 reflects this whole chain of usage of the imagery of “the way.” It originated in the Old Testament, was modified by sectarian Jewish thought as illustrated at Qumran, and was finally adopted by the Christian community as a self-designation (e.g. Acts 9:2; 19:9,23, etc.).
“I am the truth”
“Teach me your way, 0 LORD, that I may walk in truth” (Psa. 86:11). Truth, as such, is a sphere of action, as well as one of believing and knowing. The Pharisees admitted that Jesus taught “the way of God in Truth.” Jesus was the very embodiment of truth; he is the truth, in person. As such, he is the final reality in contrast with the shadows which preceded him.
“I am the life”
Jesus said, “I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The destination of the “way” is “life” with the Father.
Here in John 14:6, Jesus used the definite article before each of the three nouns: “I am the way; I am the truth; I am the life.” This implies that Jesus is the only way to the Father, he is the only truth, the only reality.
The way, the truth and the life -all three concepts are active and dynamic. The way brings men to God; the truth makes men free; the life produces fellowship with Jesus and his Father, forever. “I am the way, because I am the truth and the life.” “I am the way that leads to the truth (about God) and to the life (that God gives).” “I am the true way, the way that gives people life.”
When Jesus reveals God’s redemptive truth which sets men free from the enslaving power of sin, and when he imparts the seed of life which produces fellowship with the Father, then he, as the way, will have brought those who believe in him to the Father.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One