For the Jewish people of the Old Testament, the image of a path or way was a metaphor for participating in a set of beliefs, teachings, or practices. Paul and the first Christians also called themselves “followers of the Way” (Acts 24:14).” What is the connection between the Psalm 1 “way” and the Acts 24:14 “the Way”?

(10 mins. reading time)

6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

After explaining that there will be a separation of the godly and the ungodly at the time of final judgment, the psalmist confirmed that “the way” or the path of the godly was not a mystery to be solved, but that it was known by the Lord. The word “know” has a much deeper meaning than the act of acquiring information. It is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 which said that Adam knew Eve and she conceived. It is a personal, firsthand knowledge born out of experience.

Knowledge

When I think of acquiring knowledge, I’m brought back to my university days. I have a specific memory from my third-year calculus class that includes three parts. First, is the long partial differential equation that the professor would write on the blackboard followed by a solution to the equation. Second, is that lecture was typically scheduled in a windowless room immediately following lunch which, for me, was the most likely time in the day to fall asleep. And third is a fellow student named Bruce.

Who was Bruce? Bruce was the only student who would consistently put up his hand and ask questions when he didn’t understand the explanation. The explanation wasn’t ‘clicking’ with Bruce. It was likely not clicking with a good part of the class, but Bruce was the one who would ask the questions that were on our minds, and we all benefited from his enquiries. It came to the point where the professor would look for Bruce in the room, and then ask him if he had any questions before proceeding to the next part of the lecture. If Bruce had no questions, then the professor knew that the whole class understood, and that he was free to carry on with the lecture.

Jesus had a disciple like Bruce. His name was Thomas. We all know Thomas as ‘doubting Thomas’, but Thomas’ superpower wasn’t that he had doubts, but that he was honest, upfront, and open about what he didn’t know. As a result of the questions he asked, Thomas and the disciples were given answers that they would not otherwise have heard.

Where are we going?

The scene is Holy Thursday, the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, and Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is ahead. He tells them, “I am going to prepare a place for you … I will come and get you … you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-2) Thomas puts up his hand and interrupts, “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (v 5) Thomas is confused and the word that provokes the misunderstanding is the word ‘way.’ In Greek the word is hodos which can be road, street, path, route – any hard surface you walk on to get to a destination. Jesus is saying to the disciples you know the hodos to where I am going.

Jesus hasn’t given the disciples a destination so how can they know which road they will be traveling on. For three years, Thomas and the disciples faithfully followed Jesus along every road he walked. Are they going to Capernaum, to Jordan, to Samaria or maybe to Bethlehem? Jesus responds to the question on Thomas’ mind, and likely the rest of the disciples’ minds, with the well-known declaration, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus flips things around by saying, I am the Road!

“Jesus gives his life as an exposition, an incarnation, a presence of how this way works itself out in our lives. We aren’t left to ourselves to figure this out in working out the details of following Jesus. The way is not only the road we take to a destination. It is also the way we live on this road.” 1

Jesus is not giving directions like Google maps that provides alternative routes to get from your location to a destination. Jesus is saying that relationship with him is the only way to get to the destination. Jesus wants to change the way that we live our minutes and days right now on earth before we die. He wants to change how we walk, forgive and love. He wants us to get the most out of this life, and to do that we need to start walking along the road that is Jesus. It is not enough to have the map and study the route to the destination. We need to start walking on the road.

How to Ride a Bike

Imagine asking both an engineer and a five-year old, “Do you know how to ride a bike?” The engineer replies with explanations of momentum, balance, and gyroscopic forces. If you press further and ask if they have ever ridden a bike they may reply, “Well no, but I can tell you all about it!”

The five-year old’s response to the question would be, “Of course!” They would then proceed to get on the bike and ride around the block. While they don’t understand all the physical principles and mechanical intricacies of riding on two wheels, they have a more intimate knowledge of bike riding than the engineer. The engineer has information about riding but the five-year ‘knows’ how to ride a bike. 2

information or proclamation

Jesus made his “I am the way” declaration on the night before he was betrayed. How did the disciples receive the declaration. Was it more information or did it lead to formation? The apostle John answered this in 1 John 1:1-4:

“We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.”

The words John used to describe his relationship with Jesus are seen, heard, and touched. They were not observers but participants in Jesus’ life. John described Jesus as the one who is eternal life. Eternal life was not a destination, but a road that could be experienced immediately. And that road was Jesus.

Jesus is not a tour guide pointing people in the right direction. He is the road. John also described Jesus as the ‘Word of Life,’ and the one who existed from the beginning in John 1: 1-4.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.”

Jesus is ‘the word’ from Psalm 1 that we are encouraged to meditate on day and night. John and the disciples had the privilege of seeing, hearing, touching, and walking along side with the very incarnation of the eternal creator. The disciples were truly able to meditate on the very word of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Exclusive Claim

In making his “I Am” declarations, Jesus used the term “I Am” as a very intense and exclusive way to refer to himself. Another way of saying it would be, “I myself, and only I am.” This is the same wording God used when Moses approached the burning bush in Exodus 3:6, where God said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Jesus used the same phrase to describe himself in John 8:58 in his discourse with the people when they called themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am.” The Jews responded to this statement by picking up stones to throw at him. They clearly understood Jesus to be committing blasphemy by calling Himself God. The words “I am” reflect the very name of God in Hebrew, Yahweh, which means ‘to be’ or ‘the self-existing one.’ It is the name of power and authority, and Jesus claimed it as his own.” 3


Two Gates

Jesus concluded his Sermon on the Mount with an invitation to choose one of two gates which leads to one of two roads.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14)

Notice that there were no other options. There was no medium gate for those who didn’t like either of the two options that Jesus presented to them. Jesus is the gate and the way or road (hodos). He is not one of many ways to God. He is the one and only way because he is the truth and the life that God sent so that people might know him.

Jesus was clear about the two roads and their destinations. He claimed that there was no getting to God except through him. Levi Lusko remarked on the exclusivity of Jesus’ claim, “In our day such stark positioning is thought to be intolerant. It causes our ‘everyone gets a trophy’ cultural hairs to stand up on the backs of our necks if someone suggests that a sincere person could be sincerely wrong. We want everyone to be right. Except that Jesus is saying that the only way to get right with God is to go through him.” 4

The Answer to the Question

To answer the question at the beginning of the post, quite simply, Jesus is the Psalm 1 ‘word of life’ that John described in both John 1:1-4 and experienced in 1 John 1:1-4. Jesus proclaimed himself as the way to God and heaven at the beginning of his ministry when he concluded the Sermon on the Mount, and again at the end of his ministry on the night before he was crucified. The early followers of Christ referred to themselves as followers of ‘the Way’ because of Jesus’ statement, “I am the Way.” They were declaring their allegiance to the resurrected Jesus and bringing his kingdom from heaven to earth.

Like myself and my math classmates, without Bruce’s questions we may never have gotten through that last math course. “Without Thomas’ honest, doubt-fueled interruption, the world might never have received Jesus’ to-the-point, blunt, and helpful clarification.” 5 Be encouraged to ask for directions. Then you’ll know for certain where the road is taking you.

Up Next

Psalm One in review

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Notes:

  1. Eugene Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2017), 111.
  2. Joshua Ryan Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2014), 197.
  3. https://www.gotquestions.org/way-truth-life.html
  4. Levi Lusko, The Last Supper on the Moon (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2022), 283-284.
  5. Lusko, 283.

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