Jesus: The Only Way?

Jesus: The Only Way?

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6

This is the most exclusive statement to ever come from the lips of our Lord. He emphatically declared that He is the one and only way to eternal life, the door through which we all must enter. Without Him there is no “way,” there is no ultimate “truth,” and there is no real eternal “life.” And if that declaration were not enough, Jesus went on to say that there is no way to get to the Father unless we come through Him. In a world where pluralistic persuasions are running rampant, the question arises today: Is Jesus Christ really the only way, or is He simply one of many ways to life eternal?

It has been noted by others in the past that leaders are often characterized by certain punctuation marks. Some think leaders should be characterized by the period, representing the command, the imperative: “Go here or go there; do this or do that.” Some seem to think a leader is one who just issues commands and barks orders. Others assume that leaders should be characterized by the exclamation mark, symbolizing . . . enthusiasm! Expectancy! Optimism! In other words, this is the ability to motivate a crowd and instill an air of excitement among the followers. But more often than not, true leaders are characterized by the question mark. As someone has said, “That symbol is bent in humility.”

The Lord was always asking questions. In fact, the Gospels record more than one hundred questions of His. One day at Caesarea Philippi, for instance, Jesus got to the heart of His exclusive claim by asking His followers two very pertinent and penetrating questions.

THE QUESTION OF PUBLIC CONSENSUS

Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matthew 16:13). This is the question of public consensus. In other words, what does the polling data indicate? Many people refrain from leading and decision making until they get the pulse of what the people want, not necessarily what they need. The disciples had just come from several days in Galilee where huge crowds had thronged to both the shoreline and the mountainsides to see and hear the Lord Jesus. They had been immersed in the Galilean crowds. They had their own polling data. So Jesus inquired about the consensus of the people: Who did they think He really was?

Many today never seem to be able to get out of this verse. They simply live in a world that is much more interested in what men say than in what God says. When our Lord asked this question, He was probing, seeking to open their eyes. The answers flew back in rapid succession: “Some say You’re John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others think You are Jeremiah, and others suggest You are just another one of the many prophets who have come our way” (Matthew 6:14). Unfortunately, things haven’t changed much. We still live in a world that seems to be far more interested in what men say about Jesus than in what God says.

THE QUESTION OF PERSONAL CONVICTION

Then the Lord got up close and personal. He asked another question: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Do you see it? This is the question of personal conviction: “What about you? You . . . and you only. You and you alone. You and no one else. Who do you say that I am?” This is the question with eternal ramifications. It is the question that each and every one of us must face. Is Jesus who He said He was—the way, the truth, the life? Is He the only way to the Father and to eternal life?

God bless Simon Peter! We are often quick to stand in condemnation of his quick temper and his often boastful comments, not to mention his own fateful denial the night the Lord needed him most. But here, in this scene, Peter was inspired by the Spirit and, without hesitation, made his great confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16, empahsis added). What motivated Simon Peter, who made this confession, to later die his own martyr’s death by crucifixion upside down? Explaining to his executioners that he was not worthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Master, Peter made the strange request to be executed on the cross upside down. What motivated this? Did he give his life for pluralism, for the idea that there are many roads to heaven? Did Peter give his life for inclusivism, the idea that everyone is eventually covered by the Atonement? No! A thousand times, no! Peter gave his life because he insisted that Christ is the only way to eternal life.

The very nature of truth is narrow. Mathematical truth is narrow: two plus two always equals four, not three or five. That is pretty narrow. Scientific truth is narrow: water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, not 34 or 35 degrees. Geographical truth is narrow: I live in Texas, and we are bordered to the north by the Red River, not the Sabine River. Historical truth is narrow: John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the Ford Theatre in Washington, DC. Booth did not stab Lincoln in the back in the Bowery in lower Manhattan. So why should we be surprised that theological truth is narrow? It is the nature of all truth. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). All truth is narrow.

Jesus is the only way to the Father’s house. Indeed, He— and He alone—is “the way, the truth, and the life.” And no one comes to the Father’s house unless they come through Jesus!

As you memorize this verse, meditate on how Christ is the way . . . how He is the truth . . . and how He is the life. Don’t find yourself being more interested in what men say than in what God says. He is still asking today, “Who do you say that I am?”