“Do not
let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that
I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where
I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas
said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the
way?”
Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From
now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7
In Jesus' most famous statement about being "the
way," the context of the statement begins with Jesus saying he was going
to go be with the Father and prepare a place for others to go also. Thomas, always wanting verification, asked
"where are you going and how do we get there?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way to the Father. If you want to get to the Father you have to
go through the son."
So who would know better about getting to the Father except
the Son? A prophet in a cave? A person in the 1800s who had strange
visions? Only the one who claimed to be
the Son of God and proved it can make such a claim.
Jesus made a very exclusive, very “narrow-minded” statement
there. He is the only way. He's not a "good" way or the
"best" way, he's the ONLY way.
Any other way doesn't get you to the Father, but a place where he is
not.
How do we know for sure that Jesus is the only way? Because Jesus had witnesses.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” John 8:12-19
After saying he was the light of the world, people
balked. The Pharisees said, "You
are saying this about yourself!"
Jesus said, "Yes, I do know where I am going and where I came from,
but the Father agrees also. He's my
witness."
How is God the Father the witness needed to verify that
Jesus is the way? God spoke at the
baptism of Jesus and said "This is my son.
Listen to him." Jesus
performed miracles that could only be from God.
Finally, scriptures testify that Jesus is the Messiah.
So we know Jesus is the only way because…
He said so.
God said so.
His actions showed it was true.
Scripture confirmed it.