John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
When I read “no one comes to the Father except through me” my gut reaction is to think that Jesus is excluding people. He sounds like a bouncer at a bar telling people they have to get past him to get to the Father. For some reason, my sinful instinct is to think Jesus is playing keep away with salvation and eternal joy. How stupid of me.
To hear Jesus this way is to miss the first sentence in this verse. He is the way, and the truth, and the life. He is the means of drawing near our heavenly Father, not the obstacle to it. Jesus isn’t saying we must fight through him to get to God but rather that trying to get to God any other way will lead to death. He is pointing us to salvation and eternal joy, not excluding us from it. Instead of putting up a locked gate in front of God Jesus is putting up a neon billboard pointing to himself as the way to God.
Christianity is an exclusive religion. There is only one way to get to God. But Christianity is an inviting religion because of the heart of Jesus. He doesn’t want to shut people out but to invite us into closeness to God through faith in Him.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
