“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
It is possible to ponder on Jesus as the way, the truth and the life separately; most scholars consider it more accurate to see Jesus claiming that He is the true and living way to the Father, God, and there is no other way to the Father except through Him (Jesus).
When believers communicate this truth today, they are likely to be looked upon as people who are intolerant. Many assert that there are many ways that lead to God and God is known by many names.
Some argue for a “two covenant” approach to biblical faith: the first covenant in the OT is still in force for the Jew, who is accepted on the basis of his commitment to the God of the OT, while the second covenant in the is in force for the Christian, who is accepted on the basis of his faith in Jesus Christ. To them, the Jew need not believe in Jesus to be acceptable to God, for the New Covenant does not really supercede the Old.
Others will tell us that God is so good and loving that He could not possibly condemn anyone to eternal punishment, and thus logically all men and women will surely be saved.
However, Jesus simply says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Whatever human beings may say, Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father except through me”. The person who believes in the God of the Bible has always borne the burden of giving witness to a God who insists that He be approached His way, not man’s way. This is still the challenge today: to give witness to HIm and to share that all can come to the Father God only through Jesus the Son.
C.S Lewis commented on this claim of Jesus. He cited only three possibilities: either Jesus is insane, a liar, or He is telling the truth. All, including unbelievers, acknowledge that Jesus lives an exceptional life, one of high moral values, and he speaks wisdom beyond the understanding of many. He cannot be insane and surely he cannot be guilty of claiming a lie. If the third possibility is correct and that Jesus is claiming the truth – He is the true and living way to God, then to ignore it or to be indifferent to it would have serious and eternal consequences.
What is more stunning and shocking to some is that in the same passage, Jesus claims to be equal to the Father God and that to see him and to know him is equivalent to seeing and knowing God! In other words, He claims to be God, and for this reason the Jews asserted that He was blaspheming and worthy of the punishment of death.
If Jesus is God manifested in the flesh, and He made those outstanding claims in John 14:6-7, it becomes even more serious and damaging if we are to turn away from these and fail to honestly and sincerely examine them. It concerns our eternal destiny and the consequences are eternal and unchangeable!
For believers, as we have pondered on “the hour” and the cross, and appreciated the amazing and wondrous love of God, we too cannot take the claims of our Lord Jesus lightly and live lives that do not reflect our worship of Him and love for Him and the Father. We must constantly seek His glory and HIs honour in our lives!