The Only Way to God?  John 14.6

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, but by Me.

Good Day~ 

What an outrageous, audacious claim for Jesus to make!  Unless it were true.  But aren’t all religions good?  If they lead to God, isn’t that all that matters?  Maybe, if you’re looking for ‘good’, not needing truth; sufficient for this life, but not eternity.  No, friends … Christianity stands out, Christianity is absolutely unique, and cannot be reconciled with any other religion. 

Look no further than Jesus Christ as the reason for the uniqueness of Christianity.  In Jesus, God came to us … not because of something we did, or because of something we must DO.  I love this comparison: Buddhism has a similar story as the parable of the Prodigal Son.*  However, in Buddhism, when the foolish young man comes to his senses and returns home to his father, he is required to work off the penalty for his wrongdoing through many years of servitude.  Whereas in Jesus’ desire to capture God’s love for us, he tells of the repentant son being warmly, affectionately welcomed back into his father’s arms, even as the father had been watching the horizon, expectantly hopeful of his return home.  See the difference?

There is some wisdom to be found in other religions – sure; there are good insights as well … but truth?  Partial.  Only Jesus is truth.  Absolute truth.  And in order for something to be truth, it by definition, must be absolute; despite what our culture says, truth cannot be relative.  While we must be respectful of other beliefs, and governments ought be tolerant, all religions are not the same; they are not equally valid.  Jesus did not just say he was the Son of God—he backed it up!  Jesus alone was the fulfillment of dozens of specific prophecies, written hundreds of years before his birth; Jesus alone performed great miracles, even raising the dead; Jesus alone predicted his own death and resurrection, which launched a worldwide revolution.  Jesus alone offers intimate relationship with God.

When Jesus said he was the ‘only way to God—the only way to his Father,’ he was willing to lie it all on the line to back it up.  So, yes, he is the only way, because he alone is truth, but ALL are invited to accept his invitation to life!  

Christine