Jesus Christ: The Word of God

“Jesus did not say: ‘I am showing you the way.’

He said: ‘I am the way.’

He did not say, ‘I am teaching you the truth.’; He said, ‘I am the truth.’

He did not say, ‘I am giving you life’; He said, ‘I am the life.’

St. Paul will often speak of Christ in like terms: Christ is my life, He is our sanctification, our justice. We can speak of Christ in substantives, because He is the very substance of all good things, of all gifts. In Jesus a living person has replaced the law. It is no longer because of a written commandment that I shall shun murder and adultery, but because a person, Jesus Christ, has spoken, has lived and died in a way which henceforth constitutes the eternal model. Jesus abolishes and at the same time perfects the law. Like the river which flows into the seas, each drop of water which was in the river maintains its existence in the womb of the sea, but the river, as a river, no longer exists.” (A Monk of the Eastern Church, Jesus: A Dialogue with the Savior, p 29)