Lost In Translation: John 14:6 "The Way"

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Before John 14:6, Jesus tells his followers that there are many rooms in his father’s house, that he goes to prepare a place for them, that he will go and them come back for them, and that they know the way to the place he goes. This is confusing, but then he explains in John 14:6:

NIV: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Listeners Heard: I myself am the way, the truth, and the life. No one shows up before the Father except through  me.

His followers know the way because he is “the way.” The verse is accurately translated in the Bible, which is why what the listeners heard version is so similar. The only change in what Jesus’s listeners heard is the way the verse doesn’t start with a simple first person verb. Jesus also uses the pronoun that emphasizes himself. He says, “I myself am the way…” English translators seldom capture this emphasis (see this article), but it is far from uncommon. Jesus uses this emphasizing first-person pronoun in a hundred and sixty-two verses.

The real depth of meaning here, however, is in the three key words, “the way,” “the truth,” and “the life.” All three are feminine words as are most nouns describing concepts. The depth of meaning in these words is mostly lost in English. Of these words, only “the way” has many of the same shades of meaning to us as it did to Jesus’s listeners. These shades of meaning may have come down to us through the Bible.

The Way

"The way" is from a Greek word that means literally “the path” or "the road." More generally it means "a way of doing things" or "a philosophy of life." It is interesting that the word that means both “a path” and “a philosophy” exists in many unrelated languages. “The way” in Chinese is a familiar term, tao. It is used extensively as a core principle in both the Tao Te Ching and in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Tao also means “the path,” “the philosophy,” or “mission.” In the Tao Te Ching, it is the deep, hidden nature of all things.

In the verse before this one, Jesus tells us that we can see the path by following him. Here, he takes the idea one step further, describing himself as “the Path. The early Christian religion wasn’t known as “Christianity,” it was known as “the Path” or “the Way.” While Christianity still teaches us to emulate Christ, it doesn’t teach us that our job is identifying the path he followed and following it.

When Paul was tried before the Judean Roman governor, Antonius Felix, he describes himself as a “follower of the Way” in Acts 24:14:

However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,

This is one of the earliest declarations of Christian faith. In this verse, Paul describes the way with the Greek word which is translated here as “sect.” That word is airesis (αἵρεσις) means “a choice,” “purpose,” “course of action,” “system of philosophic principles,” or those who profess such principles, that is, a “sect” or a “school.” Paul’s implication is that we learn the way by following the way. Following is the school of the way.” There are several other verses in Acts that describes Jesus’s followers as following “the Way.” The same idea expressed is in Acts 9:1-2, Acts 19:9, Acts 19:23, Acts 22:4, and Acts 24:22.

The Truth

"Truth" is the Greek word, aletheia, which means literally "the state of not being hidden," and, from that idea, "truth," and "reality." It means what is real as opposed to how things seem. It was applied to "real events" and "the realization of a dream." Applied to people, it means "truthfulness" and "sincerity." The opposite is a lie or the misleading appearance of things.  The Greek concept of truth was defined by its opposition to that which is concealed. This goes back Greek mythology. A daughter of Zeus, was named, Aletheia, or “truth.” Her opponents were Dolos (Trickery), Apate (Deception) and the Pseudologoi (Lies).

The Life

"Life" is is the Greek word, zoe. It means "living," "substance," "property," and "existence." It means our existence in this world. It has the sense of “living” as a job as we say “make a living." From that idea, it also meant property, the ownership of things that is the physical reward for spending the hours of our lives productively,

Jesus uses zoe to mean our physical forms, embodied life. He describes it as the breath of life (psyche, “spirit,” see this article) plus body (soma, see this article). This is the Greek word for “life” used in “eternal life.” For more on how Christ uses Greek words about about various aspects of human existence—“soul,” “heart,” “spirit,” “body,” etc.—read this article.

Final Thoughts

Jesus spoke each of these three words separately as nouns, but the three concepts connect. The center of those connections is the concept of a “path.” A path can be true or false. A path can lead to truth, but to do so, the path must itself be true.

A path can lead to life and existence. There are different ways of life and of making a living. A way of life that allows us a way to make a living is true because it allows us to survive. All three ideas can connect as well. A true path can lead to life or making a living. Movement along the path needs a body, but it also needs spirit to give it direction. We cannot follow any path if we are not alive. The path of Jesus is an on-going path, one that leads into what is currently hidden but which can be revealed.