John 14:6

What is truth?

/ EllieJ

Pilate looked at Jesus and said, “What is truth?”

As silence filled the room, Pilate went back out to where the Jewish leaders were waiting and said to them, “He’s not guilty. I couldn’t even find one fault with him.

John 18:38 (TPT)

What is truth? could very well be the most imperative question in society today. In a world of my truth and your truth, what is the truth?

TRUTH: Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be.

Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language

The fact that Pilate felt the need to pose his question before Jesus leads me to believe that truth was as difficult to find in ancient Jerusalem as it is today. Many people will tell you what they believe the truth to be, but how much of that believe system is actually true?

It is the personal responsibilty of each individual to discover truth for ourselves. We cannot depend on what others may know or think they know or even want to know. In the end, we are all accountable for what we know—intimately experience.

Truth goes beyond fact. Jesus declared Himself to be the Truth.

Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father except through union with me. To know me is to know my Father too.

John 14:6 (TPT)

The Passion Translation footnote says that the Truth is the True Reality. What we see and experience in this plane of existence isn’t Truth. It’s a shadow. Jesus, the Light of the World, is the lamp that guides the way to Truth—Himself.

Pilate may have been sarcastic in his question, he may have just thrown it out there, or maybe he really wanted to know. We cannot know his attitude, but we can (and should) know our own. Do we really want to know the Truth? Or are we content in our blindness? We need to be willing to let go of what we think we know if we ever expect to know the True Reality.

If anyone comes to Me (responds to the good news of the kingdom), and does not hate (release attachment to) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sistersm, yes, and even his own life (all the masks we cling to in relationship to others and ourselves), he cannot be my disciple. (Cannot follow Yeshua into an experience of the kingdom now present within all.)

Luke 14:26 (NASB), amplification by Ted Dekker, Rise of the Mystics

As a bit of a celebration for my first post in this new season, readers can download for free my visual commentary page for John 18:38. One day there may be a complete commentary, but for now, it’s simply verse-by-verse.

Visual Commentary – John 18:38Download

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Introducing Verse-by-Verse

/ EllieJ

Before diving right in to this new phase, I want to give an introduction of how and why this commentary has come about and will continue to come and evolve as it goes.

All that has come before has led to this.

The story begins in 2017 when I decided to read the Bible cover to cover in a year—not just read it, but get something out of it. Daily: A Year in the Word of God was born. What began as a new spiritual journey for me ended the year with a series of 13 four-week devotional books with my thoughts regarding some of the scriptures I’d read every day throughout the year. In 2018, my plan was to once again read through the Bible in a year, forcing myself to dig deeper. My original intent was to end the year with another publication.

Sometime in the spring of 2018, God finally got my attention. It turns out I’d been reading my Bible looking for my next blog post rather than the True Reality of Jesus Christ (John 14:6 TPT). So the posts ended and my reading continued. As summer hit, I hit my own block. I felt like I’d run into a wall. My spiritual well felt as though it had run totally dry. So I actually set my Bible aside and started picking up some other books hoping to jar myself out of the funk I’d found myself in.

Books like The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get it Back by Phil Cooke, Letters to the Church by Francis Chan, and Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola started to open my eyes to a version of Christianity I’d never even dared to dream about.

By the time 2018 ended and 2019 began, I was ready to embark on a new journey. Little did I know how deep down the rabbit hole it would take me. On January 19, 2019, I opened my Bible to John 1:1 intent on discovering for myself who Jesus really is and what He really said about His Church.

Nearly two years later, I’m still gloriously mired in John’s gospel. The road has been bumpy (bumpy like a Saskatchewan back road in spring) and it has been long. I’ve experienced more pain than I thought I ever would. But I’ve also experienced joy. Best of all, I’ve experienced Jesus. I’ve come to know Jesus in a light that all my years of church involvment and attendance never prepared me for or introduced me to. For many, 2020 has been a year of hardship and trial. For me, it’s been a year I’d never trade for anything. As I dig deeper into the scriptures I’ve found Jesus in every word of every verse of every translation.

Verse-by-Verse is my way of attempting to share some of what I’ve discovered on my own journey. Nothing I’ve discovered is linear. It’s not a road. It’s more like the Amazon River, running deep and wide while spreading out fingers into any place it finds purchase. Be patient. Don’t rush. And don’t get frustrated if nothing seems to be in order. An incredible thing about God is that He exists outside of space and time and everything fits together within Him. It really all work out in the end because it has already been worked out.

I invite you to join me in this amazing journey. Ask the big questions. Ask the strange questions. Don’t dismiss ideas because they might not align with what you’ve always been taught. You may be as surprised as I have been at the answers you receive.

True life

/ EllieJ

We’re all looking for something or someone. Everyone wants to find purpose or meaning in life. And most people go through their entire lives searching but never finding because they’ve been looking in all the wrong places.

The Sunday after Jesus died by way of crucifixion, the women who had been following him went to the tomb to anoint his body properly for burial. One would assume that the best place to look for someone who had died would be the tomb where their body had been placed, but when they arrived, there was no body to anoint. Just a couple of angels with a message.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Luke 24:5b (NIV)

In the entire account of the empty tomb, this one question stood out to me. In all of our searching for meaning and purpose in life, most often, we look for it among the dead. In John 14:6, Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” If there is life to be found, there is only one place to find it, and it’s not in the world.

The world, as hard as it may try, cannot replace or replicate the life that is found in Christ. Anything that is found outside of Christ can only mimic true life.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they make take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NIV)

Meaning and purpose cannot be found just anywhere. Paul wrote to Timothy to tell the people to do good, be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. That is where true life begins. It is not a selfish search for ourselves, but a selfless search for Christ.

And if there is any doubt at all:

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.”

John 6:35a (NIV)

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

John 6:63 (NIV)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12 (NIV)

You may be breathing. Your heart may be beating. But are you alive? Are you truly alive?

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26 (NIV)

Life is too short to waste looking for it among the dead. Life, true life, can only be found at the foot of the cross of Jesus.

Read: 1 Kings 10-11, Luke 24:1-35

Yea or nay

/ EllieJ

Read: Deuteronomy 17-19, Mark 14:1-25

I have a nephew starting tenth grade next year. He’s already had to select his courses for the fall. He has options. Lots of options. In a course guide of over seventy pages, he is already expected to know what he wants to do with the rest of his life so that he can choose the right classes that will properly set him on his life path. But choices are good. It means that he has opportunity. He can get ahead in life. He’s smart. He can take university level classes before he’s even out of high school, gain early admission, and apply for just about any scholarship he wants.

In secondary education, choices are great. Lots of options means nearly limitless career paths. Choices are also great when it comes to things like electronic devices, insurance, clothing, and a plethora of other things in life where we want something that suits us as individuals.

But this becomes an issue when we expect to have the same infinite choices in our faith.

While they were eating, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.

Mark 14:22-24 (NIV)

Jesus made one offer. He held the cup before his disciples and gave them the choice to drink it or leave it.

The word [covenant] refers not to an agreement between to equals but rather to an arrangement established by one party, in this case God. The other party—man—cannot alter it; he can only accept it or reject it.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary

Like checking out the list of options stuck to the window of a new car, we want to look at Christianity and pick the path that ticks most or all of the boxes on our list. But there is no list. Just two boxes. Yea or nay. Take it or leave it.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (NIV)

Whereas my nephew struggled to choose which options he would take to set him on the right path, we have no such struggle. It is simply a matter of yes or no. Will we accept the cup Jesus has offered and walk the path to the Father with him? Or will we deny the cup and stray from the path altogether?

When God set Israel on the path to the Promised Land, He set before them life and death, blessings and curses. Then he told them to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). How simple is that? God offers us two choices and then he tells us which one to choose—the one that leads to life.

My way

/ EllieJ

Read: Leviticus 20-21, Matthew 28:1-20

In 1969, Frank Sinatra made a hit out of the song My Way and still holds the record for most consecutive weeks on the UK Top 40. Since then, numerous singers and bands have covered the tune. It is the song most frequently played at funeral services in the UK. The lyrics belt out how, even when life got rough, I did it my way. For many, it has become their anthem, a song that carries them through every aspect of their life. Even faith. Or so they believe.

I love Frank Sinatra. He had one of the easiest voices to listen to and the prettiest blue eyes to match. But he was wrong. Doing things your way may be able to get you through a lot of things in life, but it can’t get you through all of life. Your way may not be the best way. It may not be any way at all.

Leviticus 20:8

Humanity strives to find meaning. We push ahead to be—or at least be seen—as more than we are. Many want to be something they are not and try to become so on their own terms. But there are some things we just can’t do on our own. We cannot save ourselves. Only Jesus can save us. We cannot make ourselves holy. Only God can make us holy.

All paths lead to God is a phrase I’ve heard from celebrities, new agers, mystics, and even Christians. Many have been made to believe that, no matter how they want to live their life, so long as they believe that they will get to God, that’s just fine. Nothing needs to change. Yet they forget where holiness comes from. They forget that there is only one way to salvation and it isn’t through themselves.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (NIV)

In Leviticus 10, Aaron’s sons decided to try things their own way. It didn’t end well for them.

So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Leviticus 10:2 (NIV)

We have all sinned. We have all fallen short. And none of us can fix that on our own. God knows that. It’s why He sent Jesus to make a way where there was no way. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples to go and make more disciples and to teach them to obey all that he had commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20).

If you want to do your own thing in life, that’s great! We need original people who aren’t afraid to put in some hard work to be successful. But in our search for success, we cannot forget that there are some things that are not up to us. When it comes to salvation and our approach to God, there is no my way. There is only The Way.

Terms and conditions

/ EllieJ

Read: Leviticus 1-3, Matthew 24:23-51

If you’re reading along in your Bible, you will have started Leviticus today. It’s a slog. Unless you’re really into the macabre, there isn’t much exciting about the first three chapters of the book. There’s a lot of killing of animals and gore. And some baking at the end. Don’t forget the salt.

We, having been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, have no need to make animal sacrifices in order to atone for our transgressions. So what is there for us in a book like Leviticus?

Let me explain.

Say you have an item of great value for sale. You’ve done your research and have had it appraised. You set a fair price and the item goes on the market. Someone approaches you and offers you an insulting price. They want to pay you half of what it’s worth. You immediately decline. But this person argues. They really, really need the item you have. You’re not convinced. The person making the offer becomes upset. Who are you to tell them what they can and cannot pay for an item they require? It’s not fair! It’s unjust! You shake your head. It’s your item, after all, and you have every right to decide it’s price based on fair market value. Heck, you can even decide to charge double fair market value if you want. It’s yours! The buyer continues to argue and you try to walk away. They chase after you trying one argument after another. The more they argue, the firmer you are in your decision not to sell to this person even if they ever decided to pay the price you set.

It all sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? When you’ve set the price on something you own, you are under no obligation whatsoever to accept anything but that price.

So why would we ever think that God should be required to accept anything less than what He’s required for the payment of our sin?

The book of Leviticus is God’s terms and conditions. They apply. Since He is the one who offers forgiveness, He is the one who gets to set the price. For those under the old covenant, some very specific sacrifices had to be offered in very specific ways. For those of us under the new covenant, it’s Jesus and Jesus alone who can (and already has) made the sacrifice for us.

John 14:6

There is only one term: Jesus. One condition: our acceptance of him. Anything else would be like the buyer offering half value. Since God is the one in possession of what we need, He is completely within His right to set the price and, if we truly want what He has to offer, we must accept His terms and conditions.

What is truth?

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Once upon a time, there was truth. And there were lies. A great wall stood between the two and that wall could not be broken down and it could not be scaled. No one questioned the existence of the wall because it had always been there.

But one day, someone decided to build another wall. Then another. These new walls were great, but not as great as the original wall. Soon more and more walls were being built and so many walls of every shape and size existed that the original wall was almost completely obscured.

When a very wise man claimed that he was Truth, some believed him. Others did not. Truth had set out to destroy all the other walls. Those who did not believe in the Truth liked their other walls better than the original wall and they set out to destroy Truth. They brought him to a powerful man who asked, “What is truth?”

The Truth had said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

The powerful man could find no fault in the Truth and sent him away. Those who did not believe in Truth eventually won their battle against him and put him to death. But they didn’t realise that Truth had already planned for this outcome.

When Truth died, the Spirit of truth came. And the Spirit of truth did not rest on just one person, but all those who believed in Truth. That Spirit of truth guided the believers into all truth. Their eyes were opened to see beyond all the other walls and the original wall became clear.

To this day, new walls are being built. The original wall still exists, but for those who do not have the Spirit of truth, it cannot be seen. The land is filled with walls and people on every side. Only the true believers still know which side is Truth.

Daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 32-33, John 18:24-40

The Light that leads to Life

/ EllieJ / 1 Comment

The more I read my Bible, the more I understand how pastors are always saying that everything in the Word points to Jesus—both Old and New Testaments. I’ve written much about John 1 and Genesis 1 and the many, many links between the two. Today, we’re going to expand that thought even further.

Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

John 8:12 (NLT)

When God first said, “Let there be light!”, it wasn’t the sun that appeared in the sky. It was Jesus who went forth from heaven to join the Spirit that had been hovering over the surface of the deep. Jesus truly was, is, and will forever be the light of the world. And that Light leads to Life.

Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.

Psalm 119:105 (NLT)

Your word. Jesus is the Word. A light for my path. Jesus is the Light.

The path is circular; when we accept Jesus into our lives, he fills us—the Spirit fills us. Jesus is light and he is life and he is truth. The light—Jesus—within us illuminates our path and that path leads to life—Jesus.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (NLT)

Jesus is the path. He is the lamp that lights the path and he is the life that the path leads to.

There is so much more to this than what I can type in just a few paragraphs. Read it for yourself. One verse will lead to another which will lead to another. And they will all lead you to Jesus.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 3-5, John 8:1-20

The choice

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

You make thousands of choices every day. Whether big or small, every choice has a consequence. If I choose to hit the snooze button one more time, the consequence it that I will have to rush to get ready to leave the house. If I choose to skip breakfast, the consequence is that my stomach will be growling long before lunch. If I choose to push through a yellow light, the consequences could be dire for myself or others. Every choice we make has the potential to alter the direction of our lives.

But there is one choice that Someone has already offered us a decision for.

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NLT)

Oh, that you would choose life! When given the choice between blessings and curses, I don’t know why anyone would ever opt for the latter. It should be an easy decision to make. Yet there are those who believe there is a third choice—that neither the blessings or the curses really exist and that they are exempt from the truth of these words and therefore no choice must me made at all.

Let none of those who hear the warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking, “I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.” This would lead to utter ruin!

Deuteronomy 29:19 (NLT)

Yes, I know that theses are Old Covenant verses—that God was speaking to Israel, but Jesus backs up the same idea.

Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (NLT)

There is one way. Life or death. Once you have heard the Gospel, even not making a choice is really making a choice. The concept is not difficult and the message is simple.

This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, “Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?” It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, “Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?” The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NLT)

If you have not already made the choice, oh, that you would choose life! You don’t have to understand it all to accept it. I doubt that anyone ever has. Make the choice for life and then you can spend the rest of yours seeking after the heart of God, discovering the blessings that wait for you there.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 29-30, Mark 16

Rules

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

I have been to and heard of many churches that have rules. Lots of rules: girls must wear skirts to cover their ankles, men must not associate with single women, no one can pierce their ears (or any other body part, for that matter), children can be seen, but must not be heard… The lists can go on and on and on. What I’d like to know is, where in the Bible is all of that?

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)

What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Let me tell you what I think this means.

A lot of Christians think that we still need to follow the letter of the Old Testament law. This just isn’t so. Jesus came to fulfil the law. He replaced it with a new one – love. If you think about it, all of the important things in the Old Testament can be summed up in that one simple word. God knew full well that we, as fallen man, could never keep the law. If we could, redemption wouldn’t have been necessary.

So what are our rules if not the law? Jesus gave us some examples:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 (NKJV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12

All through the Gospels, Jesus was giving examples of how He wants us to live. These are the new rules and, as I stated before, they are all summed up with that one word. Love.

Being good isn’t good enough. I can throw a football. I can catch a football. But that doesn’t mean that I will ever be the quarterback for the team that wins the Grey Cup. I know a lot of the rules of the game, but not all the rules of the game. I am not qualified to win (or even play) the game.

Being able to do some of the things Jesus commanded is not enough. Knowing the things Jesus commanded us to do is not enough. We have to know the rules and play the game. It’s the only way to win.