Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

St. Nektarios of Pentapolis

From Part I, Chapter 1 of Christology:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" ( Jn. 14:6)

What joyful words! What authority is contained within them! How wonderful and laudable a message! What desirable good tidings for men!

These words are replete with life and fully satisfy the desires of the human heart. What a delightful sound! What gleeful news! Truly, how beautiful are the lips that preach the Gospel of peace, that bring glad tidings of good things! (cf. Rom. 10:15). How cheerful are the words of Him who announces to mankind the arrival of the expectation of the nations! What expressive words! How lofty and divine! "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn. 14:6). These words contain an entire treasure, a treasure that enriches all of humanity. These words contain the summation of all humanity's desires for all times.

Their beauty is heavenly, while the joy they contain is ineffable. Their resonance charms the ears of the listeners as a heavenly melody. As a ray of sunlight, they disperse the dark clouds of ignorance, they enlighten humanity (which sat in "darkness and... the shadow of death" [Mt. 4:16]), they awaken it from the sleep of indolence, and they lead it through the contest of life. They radiate the noetic eyes of the soul and render them powerful; they enable them to gaze upon the light of truth and to come to know the incarnate God, the expectation of the nations the Son of Man: Him Who confesses that He is the way; the truth and the life.

So then, the eternal desires of the human race have been fulfilled, the salvific grace has appeared, the light has dawned, the mind has been illumined, darkness has been driven away, the shadow has come to pass, and he who was sleeping has awoken. Man is now able to walk the straight path leading to salvation. He who was ignorant of the the truth is now capable of knowing its ineffable beauty and casting away the burden of ignorance that had weighed upon his chest for entire centuries and disturbed his thoughts. Ignorance of the truth was darkness and the shadow of death. Ignorance had diverted humanity from the road of truth, and, consequently, it became surrounded by gloom and darkness. This is why the prophet likens the revealed truth to a great light: "the people who sat in darkness saw a great Light" (Mt. 4:16; Isa. 9:2). Truly, a great light appeared. As the light of righteousness, it enlightened humanity, which beheld the expectation of the nations, the Savior of the world, the awaited Son of Man: the way, the truth and the life.

People sought the way, the truth, and the life. God fulfilled this burning desire of humanity by sending his only-begotten Son--Whom He announced to humanity when the first-created people fell. Man sought the road of truth leading to eternal life because he realized that he had strayed away from it. He sought the truth because falsehood had inundated the earth. He sought life because spiritual death had prevailed.

Humanity yearned for the advent of the announced Savior, Teacher, and Redeemer. The prophets and God-inspired men had pre-announced and presaged His coming, and they consoled humanity by exhorting it to expect the forthcoming Teacher Who would teach the entire truth. The Savior's statement: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" is a declaration of his arrival. It was a response to humanity who was awaiting Him. It testifies to the completion and fulfillment of the prophets' predictions. It was an appearance to them who sought His arrival. It fulfilled the desires and quenched the thirst of thirsting humanity. It alleviated the burdened souls, and it enlightened them in darkness. It was the hope of them in despair, the joy of the bereaved, the jubilation of the world, and the delight of the nations. It was the beloved sound that humanity had awaited for many centuries. It was the voice of the anticipated Redeemer. It was the voice of the expectation of the nations, the voice of the Son of Man.