I Am The Way
Michael E. Phillips
In John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He made the point that there is no other Savior (i.e. Acts 4:12; Heb. 10:26), and only He could lead man to the heavenly Father. His promise was not restricted to His personal leading, for He would soon depart this earth (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). Jesus was the living Word (John 1:1, 14), thus, through the Will of Jesus, faithfully obedient souls would be led from this world of sinful darkness into the eternal light of heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ serves to mark “the way” toward eternal blessings, which fact is noted many times in the book of Acts.
As Saul of Tarsus persecuted the first century church, he sought authority from the Jewish high priest, “And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2). Christians were his target of persecution, for they followed “this way” of Jesus Christ.
In the city of Philippi, there was a “damsel possessed with a spirit of divination” who followed Paul and his missionary company, of whom Luke wrote, “The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Notice that the Scriptures never refer to the “ways” of salvation, for there is but ONE, which is the way of Jesus!
Apollos turned out to be a great preacher of the gospel, after it was taught to him more completely. At first, he knew only of the preparatory good news of the coming kingdom. He is described as being at Ephesus in Acts 18:25-26, where, “This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” He then knew that Jesus was “the way” unto heaven.
“The way” of Jesus faced persecution, as recorded in the Scriptures. Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in Ephesus: “But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus” (Acts 19:9). Opposition strengthened at this place, “and the same time there arose no small stir about that way” (Acts 19:23), which led to Paul’s departure after the uproar had ceased (20:1). Reflecting back on his own days of persecution against the way of Christ before his conversion, Paul (formerly Saul) stated, “And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4). In his own defense, this same apostle referred to the fulfilled prophecies in Christ, saying, “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets” (Acts 24:14). Some of the government officials obviously knew of the details of Christianity, as Acts 24:22 reveals at the time of the trial of Paul, stating, “And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.”
Jesus is the way, the Founder and Head of true Christianity, the Leader of God’s people from here to heaven. May all people seek to follow “the way.” -PO Box 176, Belington, WV 26250. (304) 823-1459.