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Is Jesus the Only Way?
Jesus said he was the only Way
to come to the Father.
(Not GO TO the Father.)
I believe Jesus IS the Way,
but not in the same way
that some Christians believe.
In fact, it’s my opinion that
the way some Christians
talk about Jesus being the way
actually gets in the way
of following Jesus.
The way some Christians make Jesus exclusive
is way, way, far away from
the way Jesus lived and taught.
His whole ministry was an inclusive one.
The way he lived, the way he welcomed
all kinds of people,
weighs heavily upon my understanding
of the Truth and the Life he embodies.
We should do away with the narrow
interpretation of John 14.6.
Like everywhere else in John’s gospel,
Jesus was taken literally and had to
correct his listeners.
Thomas said, “How can we know the way?”
Thomas took him literally, as if Jesus was
speaking of an actual road on the highway
or a path through the desert—something
that can be placed on a map.
Jesus said, “No, Thomas, you misunderstand.
I AM the Way.”
By “I am” Jesus didn’t mean a doctrine
or a theology or a belief.
He meant ‘a way of life’ that Jesus
himself embodied.
It is the Way of Inclusion.
Earlier in John’s gospel
Jesus said that the shepherd had
‘other sheep’; that is,
God is more inclusive than you think.
And there is no way that Jesus is going
to lose even one of his sheep.
The Way to ‘come to’ God
is the inclusive love of Jesus.
It is the welcoming Way.
It is not the way of doctrine
or the way of a belief system.
It is the way of love.
The way to interpret John 14.6
is through the lens of the life of Jesus.
The untouchables and outcasts that
others excluded from the table,
Jesus included.
That’s the Way.
That is the Way to communion with God.
That is the Truth about God.
That is the Life that comes from joining
God’s wild mercy.
Are conservative, exclusive Christians
right about John 14.6?
No way!
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