Poignant Conversations: The Last Supper

By Danny Saavedra

“When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.”—Mark 14:17 (NIV)

“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’  Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’”—John 14:1–7 (NIV)

Here’s an awkward dinner conversation: First, Jesus tells His disciples one of them is not clean (John 13:10). Then, He proceeds to tell them that one of them would betray Him that very night, and even makes it clear that it’s Judas, but they didn’t catch that. After that, Jesus tells Peter he’d deny Him three times before dawn, He was going to be handed over to the religious leaders, and He’d be killed. Not exactly fun dinner party conversation.

Upon hearing all of this, the disciples were troubled, confused, and quite frankly, lost. So, in John 14, Jesus tells them to not let their hearts be troubled, to trust in Him as they trust in His Father, that He’s going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s kingdom, and that they don’t need to be afraid because they know the way to get there. And Thomas, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, says what they were all thinking: “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way” (John 14:5 NIV, emphasis added)? And Jesus responded with this powerful statement upon which we can stand firm and secure, no matter what’s going on around us: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NIV, emphasis added).

When Jesus declared Himself the way, the truth, and the life, He was using the same words to describe Himself here that every Jew used to describe the Torah, the Word of God. Jesus was saying He is the living Torah, the fulfillment of God's promise, the literal embodiment of God’s truth.

Jesus Christ is the living embodiment of the Word of God and the truth of God! He is God in the flesh, and He came to seek and save the lost, to show us God, and to be our way to God. 

God Himself came to make a way for us to know Him and be known by Him; for us to find Him and be found in Him. He came to reveal the truth that sets us free, to guide us into all truth through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), and to sanctify us by His truth (John 17:17). He is our only way to salvation, heaven, eternal life, and the place we’re all looking for—the place deep down we all desperately desire to find.

But guess what? “I am the way, the truth, and the life” doesn’t just apply to our salvation, it’s a reality we can rest in every single day, that can guide us to living our best life, and gives us security for tomorrow and satisfaction for today!

How? By remaining connected to Him every single day! We see this clearly in John 15:4–5 HCSB) as Jesus tells His disciples, “Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit because you can do nothing without Me.” What a sobering and powerful reminder of our helplessness and hopelessness apart from Christ, but of the abundance and joy we have in Him, our Savior and Redeemer! 

You see, when we remain connected to Him, the Father prunes and perfects us (sanctification) and produces fruit in our lives. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly great things beyond what we could ever ask, think, or imagine through us! When we remain connected to Him—our vine, our Good Shepherd who came so we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV)—we experience an abundant, fulfilling life because in Jesus we’re complete, we’re made whole, we find our identity, belonging, and purpose, and we’re forgiven, accepted, and saved! 

Thank You, Jesus, for who You are and for loving us so deeply and giving us life in all its fullness, even when things around us may try to convince us otherwise!