The Only Way

“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6)

“Jesus can’t be the only way,” a famous talk-show host once declared indignantly on her influential show. Some people have such a hard time accepting that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. They’ve bought into the lie of this world that there are multiple ways to reach Heaven, that all religions are basically the same, and if you live a good life you get to go to Heaven. It shouldn’t be surprising to us that not everyone will listen to Jesus. He knew there would be those who would not listen.

“To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” (Matthew 13:12-16)

The disbelief that Jesus is the only way is a belief in the cheapening of God. If there were multiple ways to the Father, He wouldn’t be a God worth worshipping. Think about it like this: if there was a very special treasure hidden in the ground and you found a map that lead to that treasure, would you expect to find multiple routes to the treasure or just one? More than likely, if the treasure is important and valuable, there would be only one route on that map toward the treasure. If there were multiple routes on the map, two problems come to mind.

First, you would question the legitimacy of the routes. If they all claimed to lead to the treasure, how can they all be trustworthy? It would seem that one route would be better than the others. The simple fact that there are multiple routes calls into question the authenticity of the routes. The second problem lies in the treasure itself. If there were multiple ways of getting to the treasure, it wouldn’t follow that this particular treasure was all that special. After all, if there are many paths to the treasure, it must not be worth much. A truly priceless treasure would be difficult to find, with only one way to reach it. There would only be one way to the treasure because the treasure is so important and valuable. The same is true about God: Jesus is the only way to God because God is that valuable and important. Jesus used this same treasure metaphor to teach about the kingdom of God.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” (Matthew 13:44)

The Kingdom of God is important and it is hidden. It’s not easy to find because it is so valuable. This world wants to push the lie that there are multiple ways to God, but this simply isn’t true and cheapens who God is and puts the focus on ourselves. Jesus is the only way, and this truth points to God’s importance and value. It is this singular narrow path that leads to Heaven, one way, Jesus Christ. 

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed