Perhaps this is an artifact of the human need to discover and impute meaning to all things, or the urge to impose logic and thereby to understand a thing on a human scale, but the first part of this quote, “I am the Way” seems to have at least two meanings that don’t seem to agree from a rational perspective.
One is as an ends (I am…) that you have arrived at: by following or striving to be Christ-like, you are on the right road, so rest easy and search no further (but do keep treading that road). The other is as a means (the Way) that you need to use in order to get to the place you should strive for, but which you won’t reach in any final way; small moments of realization perhaps, but the playing field is constantly in motion, so it requires constant care and feeding. That equilibrium of aspiring, striving, expressing one’s Spiritual Being is what moves one’s maturity forward to a place closer to God.
So is the emphasis on I AM the Way, or is the emphasis on I am THE WAY? The answer seems to be both/and. The earthly Jesus was an example to fellow creatures to emulate in form and in intent: actions and intention. There is a small element of feeling that you have arrived at the right place (righteous, but not self-righteous), but that now is when the real work begins, now that you are on the right road; it is a long way.
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