Today’s Reading: John 13:31-14:14

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 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? 3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, liv- ing in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Lots of modern folks take offense at the idea that Jesus is the only way to God. Here’s why I’m okay with the exclusive claims of Jesus.

Just because something is hard to believe or difficult to accept doesn’t make it false. The most important thing about an idea is not whether I like it or immediately understand it, but whether it is true.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

— Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus comes from God and Jesus is God. He died to reconcile the world to God. The world was in rebellion against God, but God came to save it anyway.

If you look around at the world, it is obvious what our problem is: Sin. Sin is why we have locks on our doors. In Christ, God condemned sin in the flesh, thereby removing it as a barrier. Because of Christ, sin no longer has the power to keep us from God.

Since God made life and is life, there can be no life apart from God. It is therefore not possible to decide that you are going to find life apart from God. God is life, and there is nothing else.

So, when Jesus says that he is THE way, I don’t see it as an offensively exclusive claim: I see it as a simple description of the truth about re- ality, in the same way that gravity describes reality. It’s just how things are.

And, note that the Jesus way is for EVERYONE. It has nothing to do with racial or ethnic boundaries. All are invited and all (if they choose to come) are welcomed.

As far as people who die without ever knowing about Jesus, I am content to give those folks over to the mercy of God. I’m not sure what God will do in those circumstances, but I know he’s merciful.
But, for the rest of us, the real question is not, ‘What about Person X?” The real question is, “What am I doing with what I’ve heard? How am I responding to Jesus?”