The Narrow Path to God.

Good Day. 

What an outrageous, audacious claim for Jesus to make: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, but by Me¹.  Outrageous certainly, unless it were true.  ‘But aren’t all religions good?’ you ask?  ‘If they lead to God, isn’t that all that matters?’  Maybe, if you’re looking for ‘good’, not needing truth; sufficient for this life, but not eternity.  Christianity is absolutely unique, and cannot be reconciled with any other religion. 

Look no further than Jesus Christ as the reason for the uniqueness of Christianity. Throughout history folks have wanted to argue the narrowness of the gate, the narrowness of the path²—that Jesus is the only way to God. But let us stop and think of another—God the Father.  Perhaps at one time he argued with himself about whether or not there might be some other way to reconcile mankind to himself than to give up his beloved Son.   Rather than see his only son rejected, tortured, and crucified, could there possibly be another way?

Think for a moment about giving up your child or your grandchild for another’s wrongdoing.  ‘Don’t have a child? Think about sacrificing someone you love, or your beloved dog … Never!  You would not do it.  Now, just imagine that you were benevolent enough, and get this—that your adult son was willing to go along with it—in spite of all it cost him … what kind of a parent would you be, if you allowed him to go through with it, if there were alternate ways to Heaven?

Note this:  in Jesus, God came to us--not because of something we did, or because of something we must DO.  I love this comparison: Buddhism has a similar story as the parable of the Prodigal Son.  However, in Buddhism, when the foolish young man comes to his senses and returns home to his father, he is required to work off the penalty for his wrongdoing through many years of servitude.  Whereas in Jesus’ desire to capture God’s love for us, he tells of the repentant son being warmly, affectionately welcomed back into his father’s arms, even as the father had been watching the horizon, expectantly hopeful of his return home.  See the difference?

There is some wisdom to be found in other religions – sure; there are good insights as well … but truth?  Partial.  Only Jesus is truth.  Absolute truth.  And in order for something to be truth, by definition, it must be absolute; despite what our culture says, truth cannot be relative.  While we must be respectful of other beliefs, all religions are not the same; they are not equally valid.  Jesus did not just say he was the Son of God—he backed it up!  Jesus alone was the fulfillment of dozens of specific prophecies, written hundreds of years before his birth; Jesus alone performed great miracles, even raising the dead; Jesus alone predicted his own death and resurrection, which launched a worldwide revolution.  Jesus alone offers intimate relationship with God.

When Jesus said ‘narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it,⁴’ he had that right, as he was going to enter the narrow gate and take the most difficult way, he was going to die for it.  Yes,  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the only way to God—the only way to the Father.  Jesus was willing to put it all on the line to back it up.  But his invitation to life in him was sent to all, it is not an exclusive party, intended for just a few.  All are invited, though all invitations require responses; what’s yours?  Will you choose the narrow path which leads to life in him forever? 

1 – John 14.6

2 – Matthew 7.13-14

3 – Lee Strobel’s comparison

4 – Matthew 7.14