Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:
John 14:6: “Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me.”
As a 12 year old child I recall attending the Billy Graham Crusade in Chicago.  We attended every night of the crusade and each night above the 3,000 voice choir there stood a banner proclaiming the words: “Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me.”  I made no conscious effort to memorize this verse; it just embedded itself in my memory as I observed this passage of Scripture every night for the two week duration of the crusade.

It is no wonder that I have been fascinated with the words way, truth, life and Father all my life.  Yesterday I did a study on the word truth or sharar.  I indicated that the word sharar means to be firm by twisting and tightening.  It also means to rule or command.  I pointed out an ancient teaching about leadership that still exist today as being able to make a decision, stand firmly and tight by that decision and accept responsibility for that decision. What Jesus is saying when He says He is truth, is that He is the commander of what is and what is not, He will not change, nor alter his position and he accepts full responsibility for the consequences of his instructions or commands.   I would like to add that this truth is spelled with a Shin which tells us that truth contains the power and passionate love of God.  The double Resh indicates that truth is the ultimate in leadership or headship. If a leader is not totally honest with those who follow his leadership he will lose their respect, their loyalty and their devotion and when the time comes they will question his commands and decisions.

Jesus also says He is the life.  In the Aramaic the word used for life is identical to the Hebrew word chi which means a physical life, quality of life and a spiritual life.  The word in Aramaic ends with an Aleph which indicates a definite article.  Hence He is the life.  He is the controlling factor in not only our physical life, when it begins and when it ends, but the quality of life as well.  Not only that He is the controlling factor in our spiritual life and the ultimate destination or destiny of our spiritual life.   To say He is chi’a (the life) is a claim no one, not even the angels in heaven can make.

Finally He says that He is the way. The word in Greek is hodos which means way, road or path.  Yet, Jesus spoke the words in the Old Galilean dialect of Aramaic and the word used has a little twist in it that the Greek does not or cannot give.  The word in Aramaic is urcha.  Hodos is the closest Greek word you can get to it, yet no word in Greek can convey the one other rendering or use of the Aramaic word urcha which would more easily fit the context of this verse.  That is the word religion.    Religion is after all nothing more than the way to the Father, which is the context of this verse.  Hence Jesus is saying that He is the religion.  That little Aleph at the end of that word destroys any notion that Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and yes even Christian is the true religion.  There is no religion in the world that is the true (sharar) religion.  Jesus is plainly saying in Aramaic that He is the only one and true religion, the only way to the Father.

This brings us to the last word of interest in this verse, Father. The Greek uses the word patera, which means a father, elder, or senior.  Again the Aramaic word avi can mean father, elder or senior, but that little Yod at the end of the word, that personal pronoun adds a little dimension to the word that you will not find in the Greek.  Avi is used in the Old Galilean dialect by one who wishes to address another as “my beloved.”   All fathers, elders or seniors may not be “beloved.”  I spoke with someone the other day whose father abused him and then abandoned him. He would scoff at the notion of calling his father an avi (beloved).

So Jesus is saying that He is the truth commander of our faith who will never change and who will bind Himself to use such that He will be the controlling factor in our physical and well as spiritual life and destiny and that He and He alone is the true religion, the only religion that will lead us to our beloved God, the God we wish to be with not for a better life, but simply because we love Him.

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