Jesus....The Way, The Truth, The Life.

Jesus said to [Thomas], “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” John 14:6 

A tension pervaded the atmosphere at the Passover meal. Jesus had made it clear to His disciples that He would be soon leaving them and that the Father would be glorified through what was about to happen. Jesus told them that He would leave, but they could not yet follow Him. This tension prompted Peter to ask, “Lord, where are you going?” Thomas followed with, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going so how can we know the way?” 

Jesus’ answer was straightforward. He answered with a testimony demonstrating how He is the chief cornerstone upon whom the Church will be built. “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” Our Lord had taught His disciples that the way to the Father was a narrow way that few would pass through. He would soon open the way to the Father, tearing the temple curtain, through His sacrificial death. Peter and Thomas could not yet enter heaven. They still had to remain to build the Kingdom of God. But almost all the apostles would follow Jesus after dying a martyr’s death. They could enter because Jesus, the way, had entered before them. For believers of all time, faith in Jesus was, is, and always will be the only way to enter heaven. 

But Jesus is not only the Way, He is also the Truth. When questioned by Pilate as to whether He was a king, Jesus responded that He had come into the world to testify to the truth. Jesus had come to bring the words the Father had sent Him to speak. He promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. That promise would be fulfilled at Pentecost. His word serves as the rule and guide for our lives, keeping us straight on the narrow way as a cornerstone sets the line for stones built around it. 

And Jesus is the Life. Jesus came into this world to do the Father’s will, to redeem and save, so that we might have life. He did not come so that we could live a life of earthly opulence or ease. He came so that we might have eternal life in His name. He came so that once we have left this 

vale of tears and sorrow and death we would have a life with Him of joy and praise and eternal life. He has promised us an abundant life, a full life. He has guaranteed us this life through His resurrection. 

Praise Jesus that He has left this testimony in the gospels. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He is the only Son sent from heaven to restore our relationship with the Father and rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. May this be the only cornerstone on which you center and build your life. Blessings. 

Frank Van Brocklin 

Principal/Staff Minister 

Coming up in the near future: 

❖ Our final ILSA meeting for the school year will be tonight, Wednesday, at 6 PM.

❖ The next meeting of the Immanuel Lutheran School Board will be on May 9, 2023. The meeting will begin with representatives from the School Choice meeting speaking before the Board and anyone else interested in information. 

❖ Confirmation Sunday for our two ILS confirmands, Kylie Niehausen and Savanna Bucki, will take place on May 14, 2023. A student art fair will take place in conjunction with the confirmation celebration.