Jesus says to him, \u201c<\/em>I AM<\/mark> the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through <\/em>ME.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord emphatically tells Thomas: \u201cI really\/truly AM the Way\u2026\u201d and so much more. Undoubtedly, the Lord again alludes to the divine name used in the Exodus passages we are now familiar with. This declaration is a very well-known saying of our Lord and countless written and video analyses and commentaries, both scholarly and popular have been made about it. Per our practice, we will again look at its grammatical ramifications and syntax and see its historical interconnections and parallels with other Scriptures. To do this, we shall highlight in different colors key phrases in this 23-word Greek sentence (and also in my formal translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03bb\u03ad\u03b3\u03b5\u03b9 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1ff7 \u1f41 \u1f38\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2\u00b7 \u1f18\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9<\/mark> \u1f21 \u1f41\u03b4\u1f78\u03c2<\/mark> \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f21 \u1f00\u03bb\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1<\/mark> \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f21 \u03b6\u03c9\u03ae<\/mark>\u00b7 \u03bf\u1f50\u03b4\u03b5\u1f76\u03c2<\/mark> \u1f14\u03c1\u03c7\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c0\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1 \u03b5\u1f30 \u03bc\u1f74<\/mark> \u03b4\u03b9\u1fbd \u1f10\u03bc\u03bf\u1fe6<\/mark>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus says to him, \u201c<\/em>I AM<\/mark> the way<\/mark>, and the truth<\/mark>, and the life<\/mark>; no one<\/mark> comes to the Father except<\/mark> through ME<\/mark>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting with the metaphors in nominative predicate part of the statement, we have the following word meanings from Thayer\u2019s Greek-English Lexicon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f21 \u1f41\u03b4\u1f78\u03c2<\/mark> \u2013 <\/em>(\u201chodos\u201d), with the definite article \u1f21 <\/em>means \u201cthe way\u201d; <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f21 \u1f00\u03bb\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1<\/mark> – <\/em>(\u201caletheia\u201d), with the definite article \u1f21 <\/em>means \u201cthe truth\u201d; and <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f21 \u03b6\u03c9\u03ae<\/mark> – <\/em>(\u201czoe\u201d), with the definite article \u1f21 <\/em>means \u201cthe life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since all 3 metaphors are prefixed with the definite article, the correct translation and interpretation should be that the Lord is not just showing any way, truth or life but the<\/strong> way, the<\/strong> truth and the<\/strong> life. The conjunction \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 (\u201ckai\u201d meaning \u201cand\u201d) is also used for connecting the 3 metaphors. Hence, it would seem the 3 are meant to be taken together: the Lord Jesus says that he is the<\/strong> Way and<\/strong> the<\/strong> Truth and<\/strong> the<\/strong> Life. This is its inseparable context. So one cannot take just one metaphor as true and discard the others. They all need to be taken as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These 3 Greek words have their equivalents in Hebrew and are extensively used in the Old Testament (OT). The Hebrew\u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0<\/mark> <\/em> (\u201cderek\u201d), with the definite article \u05d4 means \u201cthe way\u201d; this noun is used more than 700 times in the OT. Some examples include Exodus 13:21 (\u05d4\u05b7\u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0) where the LORD went before the Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night to lead them on the way<\/mark>\u2026 This context is reiterated in Deuteronomy 1:33 (\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0), speaking of the LORD who went before the Israelites leading them \u201cin the way<\/mark>.\u201d The Septuagint (LXX) versions of these OT verses use forms of the Greek \u1f41\u03b4\u1f78\u03c2<\/mark> (\u201chodos\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew \u05d0\u05b1\u05de\u05b6\u05ea<\/mark> (\u201cemet\u201d), with the definite article \u05d4 means \u201cthe truth\u201d (among other related meanings); and occurs more than 125 times in the OT. An example of this usage is in Genesis 42:16 (\u05d4\u05b7\u05bd\u05d0\u05b1\u05de\u05b6\u0596\u05ea) where Joseph, unrecognized by his brothers in Egypt, pretends to accuse them of being spies and tests them if they are telling the truth<\/mark> by bringing back Benjamin to him. In Psalm 119:142 (\u05d0\u05b1\u05de\u05b6\u05bd\u05ea) the psalmist says that the LORD\u2019s righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and his Torah is truth<\/mark>. The LXX version of Genesis 42:16 uses a verb cognate form (\u1f00\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u03cd\u03c9, \u201caletheuo\u201d meaning \u201ctell the truth\u201d) while the Psalm 119:142 LXX version uses the Greek noun \u1f00\u03bb\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1<\/mark> (\u201caletheia\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew \u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd<\/mark> (\u201cchayim\u201d), with the definite article \u05d4 means \u201cthe life\u201d; this is used in the OT more than 500 times. An example of this word\u2019s usage is found in Genesis 2:7 (\u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u0591\u05d9\u05dd) where it speaks of God giving the breath of life<\/mark> to the man\/mankind. Another example is found in Deuteronomy 30:19 (\u05d4\u05b7\u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05a4\u05d9\u05dd) where Moses urges the Israelites to choose between life<\/mark> and death, blessing and curse and to choose life<\/mark> in the LORD. The LXX versions of these Hebrew verses use forms of the Greek \u03b6\u03c9\u03ae<\/mark> (\u201czoe\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2nd<\/sup> clause part of John 14:6 is quite interesting as we see the word meanings: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03bf\u1f50\u03b4\u03b5\u1f76\u03c2<\/mark> – <\/em>(\u201coudeis\u201d), meaning \u201cnot one,\u201d \u201cno one,\u201d \u201cnone,\u201d \u201cnothing,\u201d absolute negating conjunction; rules out by definition; categorically excludes; invalidates all;<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03b5\u1f30 \u03bc\u1f74<\/mark> – <\/em>(\u201cei me\u201d), meaning \u201cif not,\u201d \u201cbut,\u201d \u201cexcept\u201d; and <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1f10\u03bc\u03bf\u1fe6<\/mark> – <\/em>(\u201cemou\u201d), meaning emphatic genitive form of \u201cme,\u201d hence \u201cME\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apparently, the Lord Jesus says that there is only one way to the Father; and that is through him alone. Note that in the Lord\u2019s context, in the 1st<\/sup> Century AD and even earlier, there were Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots and numerous other Jewish sects that had its own interpretation of the Torah and how to be right with the LORD God. Now, with this clause, the Lord is saying the LORD God, his Father, is stipulating that one can only come to the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ! Many people know very well the 1st part of this \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cIAM\u201d) declaration; but perhaps we are not giving the attention that the 2nd<\/sup> part demands. The grammar and syntax of the Greek makes it starkly clear that the Lord Jesus claims exclusive access to the Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we will take a brief look at a publication of \u201cThe Society for Distributing Hebrew Scriptures\u201d; an institution founded in England in 1940. Their mission is to translate from the Greek and publish the New Testament (NT) and make them available to the Jewish people. This is their form of gratitude to the Jewish people for giving us the Bible. The publication which I have is the \u05d4\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05d7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d4 (\u201chaBrit haChadashah,\u201d The New Testament). It is a version of the Salkinson-Ginsburg Hebrew New Testament completed and edited to correspond to the Greek Textus Receptus in 2000. So it is a translation of the original Greek manuscripts of the New Testament to Hebrew. Below is an image of the page containing John 14:6 with all the color-coded highlights added in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew can be translated formally as: And Jesus said to him, \u201c<\/em>I AM the way<\/mark>, and the truth<\/mark>, and the life<\/mark>; a man cannot come to the Father except upon my hand.\u201d<\/em> It may be that the translation to Hebrew is slightly different because of the source manuscripts. The Hebrew phrase includes the word \u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9 (\u201cyadi\u201d meaning <\/em>literally \u201cmy hand\u201d) but \u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b4 (\u201cyad\u201d meaning \u201chand\u201d) can be figuratively taken to mean by agency or instrumentality of, as \u201cby my power\/means\u201d (from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon as found in https:\/\/biblehub.com\/hebrew\/3027.htm<\/a>). Hence, the phrase \u201cupon my hand\u201d can be interpreted as \u201cby my means\u201d which would be functionally the same as \u201cthrough me\u201d in the Greek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, when our Lord Jesus declared: \u201c<\/em>I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through ME\u201d<\/em>, he assures us that God\u2019s promises (both in the OT and NT) come true. His word is reliable, trustworthy, faithful, because it is the truth. Life is truly God\u2019s gift. So let us choose life. From the Hebrew Scriptures (OT) and its mental pictures, and from the Greek grammar and syntax used, our Lord asserts that He is the only way to God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next week with another \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. We continue with the longest account of the Last Supper at the Upper Room in all the Gospels. With the last \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cIAM\u201d) declaration in John 13:19, the Lord Jesus continues to let his disciples understand that his betrayal was coming but his hour of glorification was also coming….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,16,18,17,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-i-am","tag-jesus","tag-john","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/flSV4Pzvwry8x8T6JVjKzT5Wut-YIokaKKMIJV1QG1b0n1vyfWBCVCLP66TzMS0TaDulwYA6xk2Iiaq3huY3lk4FUdTDc21BIFY1Qa-t9ZcSjwvJMegt16S7JtBtIO7q3Js69FDz\")