So we turn to the primary text for today – one that has resulted in arrogance at the most benign and at its most dangerous: pogroms and death of thousands in the name of the one true religion, that this text seems to herald.
"I am the way the truth and the light, no-one comes to the father but by me"
Aramaic, and middle eastern generally, differs from Greek. Greek is linear and dualistic – right and wrong, in and out, good and bad, etc.
Western Christianity has grown out of this linear way of thinking and has culminated in a so-called scientific world view that seeks to discover the provable truth of any idea, concept, thought, or view.
This may have been an historically necessary thing as the early Christian Church during the reign of Emperor Constantine became a unifying factor in the Roman Empire – unity of doctrine and practise of religion. Creeds were written in order to determine who was in and who was out, who was righteous and who was unrighteous.
Semitic languages, (Aramiac and Hebrew for example) in contrast, invite the listener to ponder what is being said, over and over again from many different positions – because there are usually a number of possible meanings for the one word.
To the Aramaic listener, however, other things are happening –
1) the Aramaic word for God is UNITY – the divine oneness that is present in, through and amongst all that is.
2) "I" can refer to the essence of individuality, the "I" inside the “I”, the reality of individual existence.
3) which cannot be separated from the present UNITY which is the One "I AM" – Alaha
4) the Aramaic word for "way" is related to one of the words for light. In this case the light that uncovers a path, shows a hidden possibility, or reveals a practical way that is previously unknown.
5) The Aramaic word for "truth" points to a solution or to liberation, the opening of a circle, the sense of direction that is in harmony with the universe.
6) The Aramaic word for "life" refers to the sacred life force, the primal energy that pervades all of nature and the universe.
7) But what about the words "But by me".
The Aramaic words behind these three English prepositions suggests three stages in a process: i) forms pass away ii) forms that exist in the present can, themselves, create a sense of presence iii) forms provide a vehicle form one reality to another.
In other words – for his disciples Jesus was a doorway to the Divine Unity.
So his disciples devoted themselves to Jesus and his teaching and spiritual practise, not because they believed he was God, but because they sensed God present in and through him.
Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'.
The "I Am" is the path, the sense of right direction and the life force to travel it. Simple presence illuminates what is ahead, frees our choices, and connects us to nature's power. No one comes into rhythm with the breathing life of all, the sound and atmosphere that created the cosmos, except through the breathing, sound, and atmosphere, of another embodied "I" connected to the ultimate "I Am".
Sunday 18 August Kevin Dilks
For instance, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," "I am the door..." and so forth. In Aramaic, the word that is later translated as “I am” is really "I-I." Aramaic doesn't have a “being” verb. You can't actually say "I am" in ancient Aramaic, nor can you do it in ancient Hebrew, as far as that goes. So really what Jesus is saying is, "I-I." The connection of the small self, which in Aramaic is called nafsha, is the self that is growing, evolving, learning through life. And the connection between that and the greater self, or what in this way of looking, this story language, so to speak, would be called the only I, the only being, Alaha, or the One, or God, if you like to use that more theological language.
...this word in Aramaic, Ina-Ina, which means "I-I." Connecting my own sense of self, the way it is just in this moment, with a sense of awe or sense of unity that is throughout the whole cosmos, and gradually building and strengthening that connection so that there's an easier pathway between the big picture of life and what I have to deal with in my everyday life.
Normally when an Aramaic speaker wished to refer to himself he would simply say ena (I). However, when it came to addressing the speech of the Almighty doing the same thing, the phrase Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh became Ena-na (I am).
To give a total picture, though, it is true that Ena-na can, on occasion, be used by a man to refer to himself. In the Peshitta Tanakh, Joseph uses Ena-na as a way to emphasize to his brothers, "Yes, it really is me." Y'shua also uses Ena-na to refer to himself in a non-divine sense on one occasion in Matthew. However, the overwhelming trend was to avoid this usage because YHWH always uses this form of "I am" in Aramaic. Furthermore, the fact that the Jews try to stone Y'shua for his double use of Ena-na (I am) and Ena-ayti (I was) proves that they did interpret it in the divine matter."
http://nazarenespace.com/forum/topics/enana-n-n
John 14:6 – "I am the way, the truth,and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
This teaching has become the central stumbling block in our perception of Christ. Dr. Douglas-Klotz walks us through the Aramaic terms in the root text; "I am", ena-ena; "the way", urha; "truth", sherara; and "life", hayye.
By explaining the nuanced Middle Eastern-Aramaic layering of philosophy, philology and etymology the author presents a new rendering of this stanza, one more relevant to Christ and ourselves.
"The I AM is the path, the sense of right direction and the life force to travel it … No one comes into the rhythm with the breathing life of all, the sound and the atmosphere that crated the cosmos, except through the breathing, sound and atmosphere, of another embodied "I" connected to the ultimate I AM."
