"I am the way, the trutli, and the life." The fulness of these precious words can probably never be taken in by man. He that attempts to unfold them does little more than scratch tlie surface of a rich soil.
Christ is " the way," — the way to heaven and peace with God. He is not only the guide, and teacher, and lawgiver, like Moses ; He is Himself the door, the lad- der, and the road, through whom we must draw near to God. He has opened the way to the tree of life, which was closed when Adam and Eve fell, by the satisfaction He made for us on the cross. Through His blood we may draw near with boldness, and have access with confidence into God's presence.
Christ is " the truth," — the whole substance of true religion which the mind of man requires. Without Him the wisest heathen groped in gross darkness and knew nothing about God. Before He came even the Jews saw " through a glass darkly," and discerned nothing distinctly under the types, figures, and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. Christ is the whole truth, and meets and satisfies every desire of the human mind.
Christ is " the life," — the sinner's title to eternal life and pardon, the believer's root of spiritual life and holi- ness, the surety of the Christian's resurrection life. He that believeth on Christ hath everlasting life. He that abideth in Him, as the branch abides in the vine, shall bring forth much fruit. He that believeth on Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live. The root of all life, for soul and for body, is Christ.
Forever let us grasp and hold fast these truths. To use Christ daily as the way, — ^to believe Christ daily as the truth, — to live on Christ daily as the life, — this is to be a well-informed, a thoroughly furnished and an established Christian.
We should mark, thirdly, in these verses, how ex-