Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Christ: The Way, Truth, and Life

1. The divine lessons lift us up so we're not broken by despair, yet they also caution us so we're not carried away by pride. Finding the middle path—the true, straight way between the left hand of despair and the right hand of presumption—would be most difficult for us if Christ had not said, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).

It's as if He had said, "By what way would you go? 'I am the Way.' Where do you want to go? 'I am the Truth.' Where do you want to stay? 'I am the Life.'" Let us walk with confidence in the Way, but let us beware of snares beside the way. The enemy doesn't dare set his traps on the way because Christ is the Way, but he certainly doesn't stop placing them beside the way.

This is why it says in the Psalm, "They have set stumbling blocks for me beside the way" (Psalm 140:5). And another Scripture says, "Remember that you walk in the midst of snares" (Ecclesiasticus 9:13). These snares among which we walk aren't in the way, but alongside it. What is there to fear as long as you walk in the Way? Fear only if you leave the Way. This is why the enemy is even permitted to set snares beside the way—so that the security of overconfidence doesn't lead you to abandon the Way and fall into the traps.

2. Christ in His humility is the Way; Christ in His truth and life is Christ highly exalted as God. If you walk in the humble Christ, you will reach the exalted Christ. If in your weakness you don't despise the humble Christ, you will stand exceedingly strong in the exalted Christ.

What was the purpose of Christ's humiliation if not for your weakness? Your weakness was so severe and beyond remedy that it required such a great physician to come to you. If your sickness had been of a kind that would let you go to the physician, it might have seemed bearable. But because you couldn't go to Him, He came to you.

He came teaching humility, by which we might return, because pride prevented our return to life—indeed, pride had caused us to depart from life. For when the human heart is lifted up against God, when in its healthy state it neglects His life-giving commands, the soul falls into sickness. Let the soul in its sickness learn to listen to Him whom it ignored in its strength. Let it hear Him to rise again, the One it disregarded and fell. Let it finally learn from experience what it refused to learn from instruction.

Experience has taught the soul how evil it is to turn away from the Lord. To fall away from that simple and singular Good into this multitude of pleasures, into the love of the world and earthly corruption, is to turn away from the Lord. He has addressed her as one would address an unfaithful spouse, to urge her to return. Often through the prophets He reproaches her as unfaithful, yet He never gives up hope, for the One who reproaches the unfaithful spouse also has the power to cleanse her.

3. He doesn't reproach her to insult her, but to bring her to a shame that leads to healing. Scripture's rebukes are forceful; it doesn't use soft flattery with those it seeks to heal and restore. "You adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:4).

Love of the world makes the soul unfaithful; love of the Creator of the world makes the soul faithful. But unless she is ashamed of her corruption, she has no desire to return to that faithful embrace. Let her be confounded so that she may return—she who was boasting that she would not return.

Pride hindered the soul's return. Whoever points out a fault doesn't cause the sin but reveals it. What the soul was unwilling to see is placed before her eyes; what she wanted to keep behind her back is brought to her face. Look at yourself in yourself. "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3).

The soul that went away from herself is called back to herself. As she departed from herself, so she departed from her Lord. She focused on herself, pleased herself, and became enamored with her own power. She withdrew from him and could not remain even in herself. From herself she is driven away, shut out from herself, and falls into external things.

She loves the world, loves temporal things, loves earthly things. If she had loved herself instead of these things, neglecting Him by whom she was made, she would already be less, already failing by loving something lesser. For she is less than God—much less—by as much as the created is less than the Creator.

God is the one who should have been loved. Indeed, God should be so loved that, if possible, we would forget ourselves. What then is this change? The soul has forgotten herself by loving the world; now let her forget herself by loving the world's Creator.

Driven even from herself, she has in a way lost herself. She has lost the ability to see her own actions; she justifies her wrongdoings. She is puffed up and takes pride in arrogance, in sensual pleasures, in honors, in positions of authority, in riches, in the power of vanity. She is reproved, rebuked, shown to herself; she dislikes herself, confesses her deformity, and longs for her former beauty. She who went away in excess returns in contrition.

4. Does he pray against her or for her who says, "Fill their faces with shame" (Psalm 83:16)? It seems to be the prayer of an adversary, of an enemy. Listen to what follows and see whether a friend can offer this prayer: "Fill their faces with shame, and they will seek Your name, O Lord."

Did he hate those whose faces he wanted filled with shame? See how he loves those whom he wants to seek the Lord's name. Does he only love or only hate? Or does he both hate and love? Yes, he both hates and loves. He hates what is yours, but he loves you.

What does it mean, "He hates what is yours, but he loves you"? He hates what you have made, but loves what God has made. What are your own things but sins? And what are you but what God made you—a human created in His own image and likeness?

You neglect what you were made to be but love what you have made. You love your own external works, yet neglect God's work within you. Deservedly do you go away, deservedly fall off; yes, deservedly even depart from yourself. Deservedly do you hear the words, "A spirit that departs and does not return" (Psalm 78:39).

Listen instead to Him who calls and says, "Return to Me, and I will return to you" (Zechariah 1:3). God doesn't actually turn away and then turn back; remaining the same, He rebukes. Unchangeable, He rebukes. He has turned away because you have turned yourself away. You have fallen from Him; He has not fallen away from you. Hear Him saying to you, "Turn to Me, and I will turn to you." This means, "I turn to you because you turn to Me."

He follows those who flee; He enlightens the face of those who return. Where will you flee in trying to escape from God? Where will you flee from Him who is contained in no place and is nowhere absent? He who delivers those who turn to Him punishes those who turn away. You find a judge by fleeing; have a Father by returning.

5. But the soul had been swollen with pride, and this swelling prevented it from returning by the narrow way. He who became the Way cries out, "Enter by the narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13). The soul tries to enter, but its swelling blocks it. The more it tries, the more harmful it becomes, as the swelling creates a greater obstruction. The narrow passage irritates the swelling, and being irritated, it swells even more. With increased swelling, how will the soul ever enter?

So the swelling must be reduced. How? Let the soul take the medicine of humility. Against the swelling, let it drink the bitter but wholesome cup—the cup of humility. Why does it squeeze itself? The size itself isn't the problem, but the swelling. Size has substance, but swelling has only inflation.

Let not the swollen soul imagine itself to be of great size. To be truly great, substantial, and solid, it must reduce its swelling. Let it not long for these present things; let it not glory in this parade of failing and corruptible things. Let it listen to Him who said, "Enter by the narrow gate," and who also said, "I am the Way" (John 14:6).

As if a swollen person had asked, "How shall I enter?" He says, "I am the Way. Enter by Me. You only walk by Me to enter through the door." For as He said, "I am the Way," He also said, "I am the Door" (John 10:9). Why do you seek the way to go, where to go, how to enter? Don't go astray—He became all these things for you.

Therefore, He simply says, "Be humble, be meek." Let us hear Him say this most plainly, so you may see what the way is, what the way is like, and where the way leads. Where do you want to come? But perhaps in your desire to possess everything, you would possess all things. "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father," He says (Matthew 11:27).

Perhaps you will say, "They were given to Christ, but will they be given to me?" Hear what the Apostle says; hear, as I mentioned earlier, so you won't be broken by despair. Hear how you were loved when you had nothing lovable about you. Hear how you were loved when you were ugly and deformed, before there was anything in you worthy of love.

You were loved first, so that you might be made worthy of love. For as the Apostle says, "Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). Will you say the ungodly deserved to be loved? I ask, what did the ungodly deserve? To be condemned. Yet "Christ died for the ungodly." Look what was done for you when you were ungodly; what is reserved for you now that you are godly? "Christ died for the ungodly."

You wanted to possess all things. Don't seek them through greed; seek them through godliness. Seek them through humility. If you seek this way, you will possess all things. You will have Him by whom all things were made, and with Him, you will possess all things.

6. I don't say this as mere reasoning. Hear the Apostle himself saying, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

Look, you who desire things—you have all things. All the things you love, despise, so that you won't be kept from Christ. Hold to Him in whom you may possess all things.

The Physician Himself, needing no medicine, yet to encourage the sick, drank what He didn't need. Addressing the one who refused it and raising him up in his fear, Christ drank first. "The cup which I shall drink," He says (Matthew 20:22). "I who have nothing in Me needing to be cured by that cup will still drink it, so that you who need to drink it won't disdain to drink."

Consider, brothers: should humanity still be sick after receiving such a medicine? God has been humbled, yet people are still proud! Let them hear, let them learn. "All things," He says, "have been delivered to Me by My Father." If you desire all things, you will have them with Me. If you desire the Father, through Me and in Me you will have Him. "No one knows the Father except the Son" (Matthew 11:27). Don't despair; come to the Son. Hear what follows: "And the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

You said, "I can't do it. You call me through a narrow way; I can't enter by a narrow way." "Come to Me," He says, "all you who labor and are heavily burdened" (Matthew 11:28). Your burden is your swelling. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me" (Matthew 11:28-29).

7. The Master of angels cries out; the Word of God, by whom all reasonable souls are unfailingly fed—the Food that refreshes yet remains whole—cries out and says, "Learn from Me." Let the people hear Him saying, "Learn from Me." Let them answer, "What shall we learn from You?"

We must be about to hear something extraordinary from this great Craftsman when He says, "Learn from Me." Who is it that says, "Learn from Me" ? He who formed the earth, who divided the sea from the dry land, who created the birds, who created the land animals, who created all sea creatures, who placed the stars in the heavens, who distinguished day from night, who established the sky, who separated light from darkness—it is He who says, "Learn from Me."

Is He perhaps about to tell us to do these things with Him? Who can do such things? Only God does these. "Don't be afraid," He says, "I'm not placing any burden on you. 'Learn from Me' that which for your sake I became. Learn from Me," He says, "not to create the world that was made through Me. I don't tell you to learn those things I've granted to some but not to all—to raise the dead, to give sight to the blind, to open the ears of the deaf. Don't think you should desire to learn these great things from Me."

The disciples returned with joy and exultation, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" And the Lord said to them, "Do not rejoice in this, that the demons are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:17, 20).

To whom He wished, He gave power to cast out demons; to whom He wished, He gave power to raise the dead. Such miracles were done even before the Lord's incarnation—the dead were raised, lepers were cleansed—we read of these things. And who did them back then, if not He who in later times was the Man-Christ descended from David, but the God-Christ who existed before Abraham? He gave the power for all these things; He did them Himself through people. Yet He didn't give that power to everyone.

Should those to whom He didn't give it despair and say they have no part in Him because they weren't considered worthy to receive these gifts? In the body are various members: one member can do one thing, another something else. God has joined the body together. He hasn't given the ear the ability to see, nor the eye to hear, nor the forehead to smell, nor the hand to taste. He hasn't given them these functions, but to all members He has given health, unity, and harmony. He has enlivened and united all members equally with His Spirit.

So here He hasn't given some the power to raise the dead, to others He hasn't given the power of eloquent teaching; yet to all, what has He given? "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). Since we've heard Him say, "I am gentle and lowly in heart," here, my brothers, is our complete remedy: "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart."

What good is it if someone performs miracles but is proud and not gentle and lowly in heart? Won't they be counted among those who will come on the last day and say, "Have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name done many mighty works?" But what will they hear? "I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:22-23).

8. What does it profit us to learn? "That I am gentle," He says, "and lowly in heart." He implants love—the most genuine love, without confusion, without inflation, without pride, without deceit. This is what He implants who says, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart."

How can someone proud and puffed up have genuine love? They will inevitably be envious. Perhaps one who is envious still loves, and we are mistaken? God forbid that anyone should be so mistaken as to say that an envious person has love. What does the Apostle say? "Love does not envy" (1 Corinthians 13:4). Why doesn't it envy? "It is not puffed up." He immediately added the reason why he said love does not envy: because it is not puffed up, it does not envy.

It's true, he said first, "Love does not envy," but as if you asked, "Why doesn't it envy?" he added, "It is not puffed up." If it envies because it is puffed up, then if it is not puffed up, it does not envy. If love is not puffed up and therefore does not envy, then He implants love who says, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart."

9. Let anyone have whatever gift they will, let them boast of whatever they will. "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1). What is more sublime than the gift of speaking in various tongues? It is "brass" or a "clanging cymbal" if you take love away.

Hear of other gifts: "If I should understand all mysteries." What is more excellent? What is more magnificent? Hear yet another: "If I should have all faith so that I could move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2).

He moves on to even greater things, brothers. What else has he said? "If I should distribute all my goods to the poor" (1 Corinthians 13:3). What more perfect action can be done? When the Lord commanded the rich man this for perfection's sake, saying, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor" (Matthew 19:21).

Was he perfect immediately because he sold all his goods and gave to the poor? No, and therefore the Lord added, "And come, follow Me." "Sell all," He says, "give to the poor, and come, follow Me." "Why should I follow You? Now that I've sold everything and distributed to the poor, am I not perfect? What need is there for me to follow You?" "Follow Me" so you may learn that "I am gentle and lowly in heart."

Can a person sell all they have and give to the poor without yet being gentle and lowly in heart? Certainly they can. "If I distribute all my goods to the poor" (1 Corinthians 13:3).

And hear further: Some people had left all they had and had already followed the Lord, but had not yet followed Him perfectly (for to follow Him perfectly is to imitate Him); they could not endure the trial of suffering. Peter, brothers, was already one of those who had left all and followed the Lord. For when that rich man went away in sadness, and the troubled disciples asked how anyone could be perfect, and the Lord consoled them, they said to the Lord, "Behold, we have left all and followed You. What shall we have therefore?" (Matthew 19:27). And the Lord told them what He would give them here and what He would reserve for them hereafter.

Now Peter was already among those who had done so. But when the test of suffering came, at the voice of a servant girl he denied three times the One with whom he had promised he was ready to die (Matthew 26:69-75).

10. Take careful note then, beloved: "Go," He says, "sell all that you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21). Peter became perfect when the Lord was seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father—then he attained perfection and maturity.

When he followed the Lord to His Passion, he was not yet perfect. But when there was no longer anyone on earth for him to follow, then he was perfected. You, however, always have someone to follow; the Lord has left an example on earth, in the Gospel He is with you. He did not speak falsely when He said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Therefore, follow the Lord. What does it mean to "follow the Lord"? To imitate the Lord. What does it mean to "imitate the Lord"? "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart." For even if I distribute all my goods to the poor and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3).

I urge your love toward this love. I would not be urging you toward love unless I had some love myself. I urge that what has been begun may be filled up, and I pray that what has been started may be perfected. I ask that you would offer this prayer for me as well, that what I advise may also be perfected in me. For we are all now imperfect, and there we shall be perfected, where all things are perfect.

The Apostle Paul says, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended" (Philippians 3:13). He says, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect" (Philippians 3:12). And shall anyone dare to boast of perfection? Rather, let us acknowledge our imperfection so that we may attain perfection.