We finish our study of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse today as we focus on his statement, “I am the life.” We will read it in the Amplified Bible:

John 14 (Amplified Bible)

“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe[confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.⁴ And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.”

 ⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

I very much appreciate this translation’s use of “the [real} life.” What does “real life” mean to you? Are there different ways of living, and should we be seeking the real life that God offers? Is there a difference between earthly life and eternal life?

Consider this passage from John 17:  “This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent” (John 17:3). Notice that John says, “This IS,” not “this will be.” For John, eternal life was a quality of life lived in the here and now. Eternal life began with the advent of Christ’s birth on earth and continues to the very end of time. Jesus’ self-revelation of “I am the life” harkens back to the Lazarus story and claims God’s life-giving powers for Jesus. Thus it is Jesus who brings God’s gift of life to the world.

In the Greek language, there are several words used for life. One is “bios,” referring to “existence,” and another is “zoe,” referring to a special quality of life, a zestful life of hope and abundance that only Christ can bring. It is an eternal life that is in the present reality of living. Guess which Greek word Jesus used in this scripture? Zoe.

 Let me ask you this. Are you living a zoe life, or a bios life? Is your life a joyful expression of one who is living an exuberant life, or are you merely existing? 

 I think many of us live a bios life because we think that this is all there is. We hold earthly life so dear and precious that we forget that eternity is a lot longer than the average 83.5 years of life on earth that you get. If you think about it, earthly life is just a blink of an eye compared to living forever, yet we let so many things defeat us every day: sin, selfishness, petty jealousies, habits we can’t seem to break, addictive behaviors, social media nonsense, gossip, bitterness, arguing, needing to be right all the time, needing to control everything …. there is no zoe in that, just mere existence.

 Friends, Jesus died on the cross so that you could have Zoe here and now. In John 10:10, he stated that he has come so that you may have zoe and have zoe abundantly. He died on the cross so that you could have zoe for eternity. One life blended into the other, with just a thin veil separating the two. Praise God!

Waters of Life by Hannah Cornish