"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"  (John 14:6)

We live in an age that celebrates options. From the food we eat to the way we work, choice is considered not just a convenience but a right. It is no surprise, then, that this culture of endless options has seeped into our understanding of spirituality. The prevailing wisdom of our time is that all roads lead to God,  that sincerity of belief matters more than the object of that belief, and that whatever path you choose, if your heart is in the right place, you will find your way home.

It is a comforting idea. It is also one that Jesus flatly contradicts.

John 14:6 is remarkable not just for what it says, but for how it says it. There is no softening of tone, no diplomatic caveat, no pastoral qualification. Jesus does not say, "I am a way," as though He were one option among many worthy alternatives. He says, "I am the way." The definite article is not accidental. It is the whole point.

He goes further still. Not only is He the way, He is the truth and the life. The gateway to the Father is accessible through Him alone. No other religious leader in history has made such a claim with such clarity. Moses pointed to the Law. Buddha pointed to the path of enlightenment. Muhammad pointed to Allah. Every founder of every major world religion understood themselves as a guide, a teacher, a prophet; pointing toward something or someone beyond themselves. Jesus, uniquely and unmistakably, pointed to Himself.

You can either accept this as either the most audacious lie ever told, or it is the most important truth ever spoken. There is very little room for anything in between. As Peter declared before the Sanhedrin, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Peter had walked with Jesus, watched Him die, and seen Him risen  and he staked his life on the same exclusive claim.

It would be dishonest not to acknowledge that this verse makes many people uncomfortable and not only those outside the faith. Even within the church, there are sincere believers who wrestle with the exclusivity of Christ's claim. It can feel, in our pluralistic world, like arrogance. It can feel unkind. Surely, we think, a loving God would not close the door on so many?

But this is where we must be careful not to judge the truth of a statement by how it makes us feel. The discomfort we experience with John 14:6 does not arise from any ambiguity in the text. The Greek is as plain and unambiguous as the English. The discomfort arises because the statement demands a response. You cannot stay neutral before a claim like this. You either accept it or you reject it, but you cannot quietly sidestep it.

And here is what we must hold onto: the exclusivity of Christ is not the cruelty of a locked door. It is the mercy of a door that has been thrown wide open. Jesus Himself said, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9). And again, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The way is narrow. Jesus acknowledged that plainly in Matthew 7:14 but it is open to all who come. And He Himself is the one standing in it, arms outstretched.

We are told daily, in a thousand subtle ways, that truth is personal, that it is constructed, that it shifts and bends depending on who is doing the defining. Against that backdrop, Jesus stands and says: I am the truth. Not a truth. Not your truth or my truth. The truth; the fixed, unmoving, eternal reality against which all other claims must ultimately be measured. Paul echoes this when he warns in Colossians 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." The competing narratives are not new. They simply wear different clothes in every generation.

This is why the message of the gospel is as urgent today as it has ever been. The world is not short of spiritual teachers, self-help philosophies, or well-intentioned guides. What it lacks is the one thing Jesus alone offers, the truth about God, about ourselves, and about how the broken relationship between them can be fully and finally restored. As Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." One mediator. Not one of several. One.

All of this might feel weighty and theological, but at its heart, John 14:6 is also a deeply personal invitation. Jesus is not just making a doctrinal claim, He is making a relational one. He is saying: come to me. If you want to know truth, come to Him. If you want life, come to Him. If you want to find your way to the Father, He is the only path, but what a path it is,  one walked by the Son of God Himself, who loved us enough to become the way.

There are many voices in the world today offering many paths. But only one voice has ever said, with the authority of resurrection behind it, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That is not a claim to be debated endlessly at a distance. It is a claim to be responded to, personally, humbly, and with everything we have.

Father, thank You that in a world of confusion and competing voices, You did not leave us to guess our way to You. Thank You for Jesus, the way made clear, the truth made known, the life made available to all who come. Help us to embrace that truth without apology, and to share it without arrogance, knowing that it is the best news the world has ever heard. Amen.