Jesus came to show us the way to Heaven — He is the way. “The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the fulfillment of Revelation” (CCC 561).

Signs and Wonders

Jesus performed many signs and wonders during His public ministry so people would see that He was God and believe in Him. We call those signs miracles: events witnessed by others that cannot be naturally explained and are the result of God’s action. The Bible tells us the reason for these signs in John’s Gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

The Kingdom of God

Jesus also told stories, called parables, which were meant to allow us to glimpse the Kingdom of God on Earth. Jesus came to call everyone to the Kingdom of God. We can know the following things (and more) about God’s life for us in His Kingdom: it is both within us, and yet is to come in eternity; it is a priceless treasure; it is knowledge of God; and it is abundant, full life. Finally, it is our responsibility to share the Good News of the Kingdom, make disciples of all people, and bring them into the Kingdom of God through Baptism: “When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:17-20). In John’s Gospel, Jesus reveals to us that He must die so that mankind may believe in Him and thus find the way to eternal life. Jesus Himself becomes the way. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Catechism teaches that “Christ did not live his life for himself but for us” (CCC 519), and through His life He became for all men and women the way and the truth and the life.