Is Jesus the only way?

by Mark Bates

Introduction

A husband wrote his wife the following note on Mother's Day.

M is for the mink coat you want, dear,
O is for the opal ring you crave,
T is for the tiny car you'd love, sweet,
H is for the hat that makes you rave,
E is for the earrings you'd admire, love,
R is for the rug on which you'd trea.

Put them all together, they spell bankrupt,
So I'm giving you this handkerchief instead.[1]

It is hard to show appropriate appreciation for our mothers. Flowers, chocolates, and Hallmark cards will not do it justice, but will have to suffice.

Numerous studies have shown the profound impact that mother's have upon their children. In 1968, Dr. Mary Ainsworth conducted a study of infants during their first year of life. In this study, researchers closely observed mothers and children in their homes, paying careful attention to each mother's style of responding to her infant in a number of fundamental areas: feeding, crying, cuddling, eye contact, and smiling.

From this and subsequent studies, researchers found that children who had mothers who readily responded to the their crying and feeding signals, and readily returned their infant's smiles, these children would later get along better with peers, perform better in school, and were more secure. In other words, the greater the child's confidence in the love of his or her mother, the greater sense of security that child would have.[2]

We all need to know that we are loved. For most people, the first one to love you is your mother.

Yet, as much as we need the love of mothers, our need for love goes much deeper than that. Herein lies the beauty of Christianity. No other religion describes a loving God the way Christianity does. We see this love supremely demonstrated in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Very few scholars, if any, doubt that Jesus ever lived. Again, scholars agree that He was a good man and a good moral teacher. What bothers many is the claim of Christians that Jesus was not only a good man and a good moral teacher, but that Jesus is the only way to God.

People will object and say, "How can you make such a claim? That is so arrogant and narrow-minded. What about all of the other great religions of the world? How can you possibly believe that your position alone is the only right belief and that everyone else is wrong?"

As we are about to see, this claim of the exclusivity of Christianity did not originate with the followers of Jesus, but with Jesus Himself. Turn with me to John 8:12.

As you are turning, let me set the stage for you. Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. He is probably in an area of the temple known as "the court of women." It was at this place on the first day of the feast, four golden lamps were lit amid great rejoicing. Singing, celebrating with music and dancing continued through the nights of the feast with the lights in the temple illuminating the entire city. When the feast ends, these four candles, which have been lighting temple, are extinguished. This is when Jesus makes this bold claim:

John 8:12-19

12 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."13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness your testimony is not valid."14 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.15 You judge by human standard. I pass judgment on no one.16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself my other witness is the Father, who sent me."19 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." (NIV)

Jesus' claim to be the only way to God

Light is rich in biblical meaning. The feast of Tabernacles is a celebration of the exodus from Egypt. You will remember that in the exodus, the people were led by of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God was the light that led them through wilderness.

In the book of Psalms, The Psalmist writes that the Lord is my light (Ps. 27:1). In the prophets, we read that the coming age of the kingdom would be a time when ‘the Servant of the Lord' would be as ‘a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'

By claiming to be the light of the world, Jesus is claiming to be the one who illumines, the one who is the truth. Notice the exclusivity of Jesus' claim. He does not claim just to be a light, but the light, and he doesn't just claim to be the light of Israel or of just a few, His claim is that He is the light of the world.

By making this claim, Jesus is claiming to be the one and only way to God for all people. He is the exclusive way to God. He clarifies this even more in verse 24 - 24I told you that you would die in your sin. if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins." He is explicit. Jesus says that unless a person believes in Him, they will not have eternal life. They cannot have a relationship with God.

You can tell that the audience understood his claim by their reaction. What do they say in the face of such a bold claim. "You have no right to claim that you are the light of the world. Your testimony is not valid. You claim to be the only way to God, yet you do not have the authority to make such a claim."

Before we go on, let me say that I am an advocate of religious tolerance. All people ought to treat others with dignity and be tolerant toward those who believe differently than they. In most places in the world where there has not been religious tolerance, it is the Christians who have suffered. Our own history as Protestants shows the necessity for tolerance because our forefathers suffered dearly for their faith.

However, there is a difference between tolerance of various views and the belief that all religions are equally true. Today, in the name of tolerance, it is commonly held that all religions are equally valid. It is also the popular belief that only religious fundamentalist and zealots, people who are mentally or emotionally unstable, believe that their religion is the exclusive way to God.

However, when someone says that "all religions are the same" or that "all religions are true," then truth is sacrificed at the altar of pretend tolerance. All religions cannot be true and we know that. We know many religions are not only false but dangerous. Think of David Koresh or Jim Jones or various other cults. Religious claims, like all truth claims, must be evaluated for their truthfulness.

Furthermore, as Ravi Zacharias notes, to say that all beliefs are equally true is sheer nonsense for the simple reason that to deny the statement would also, then, be true. But if the denial of the statement is also true, then all religions are not true.

Zacharias goes on to describe his own experience growing up in India. He writes:

"Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones.. Every religion is at its core exclusive. . . It took me years t find out that the cry for openness is never what it purports to be. What the person means by saying, "You must be open to everything" is really, "You must be open to everything that I am open to, and anything that I disagree with, you must disagree with too.

"Indian culture has that veneer of openness, but it is highly critical of anything that hints at a challenge to it. It is no accident that within that so-called tolerant culture was birthed the caste system."[3]

While many religions share a common ethic, all the major religions contradict one another at their core. They have little in common. Even Christianity and Islam, which have some common history, have different views of God, sin, salvation, and hope. At their core, they have very little in common.

You might say, "Okay, Mark, every religion is different. Still, God is a loving God and he lets everyone take his or her own path." The argument goes something like this. God is at the top of the mountain. There are many roads to the top of the mountain—Christianity, Judaism, Islam Hinduism—it doesn't matter which road you take because they all go to the top.

The trouble is, while this view seems to say that no one can claim that their position is the right position, that is exactly what this person is doing. You are saying, "I know that God finds all religions equally acceptable. God says, "it doesn't matter what you believe. Just as long as you do your best and believe something." But, the question is, how do you know that? What gives you the right to make such a bold claim? By what authority do you speak for God?

This is what the religious leaders ask Jesus and it is a valid question. Anyone who claims to know the way to God, ought to be asked, "How do you know? By what authority do you make your claim?"

Jesus' Authority to be the only way to God

To say "this is the way to God", a person has to know the mind of God. To say that all religions lead to God, you are claiming to know the mind of God. To say that only Christianity leads to God, you are claiming to know the mind of God. The Pharisees say that Jesus cannot make such a claim. He cannot prove that he is the only way to God because his claim needs to be established by at least two witnesses. Yet, Jesus is only testifying to Himself. He has no witnesses to support His claim.

Both Jesus and the Pharisees understood that Jesus had to have the right, the authority to make such a bold claim. So, Jesus outlines His authority for making such a bold and seemingly arrogant claim.

He is from heaven.

14 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.

Jesus says the reason He is to be believed when He claims to be the light of the world is because only He knows the truth about Himself. The Pharisees could not dispute His claim to be the light of the world because they had no idea where he came from or where he was going. Only He knew that. He makes this more explicit later in verse 23:

23 But he continued, You are from belo. I am from above. You are of this worl. I am not of this world.

Jesus' point is that He knows the way to God because He is from God. He knows the way to God because He is the only one who knows where He is from and where He is going. Furthermore, the Pharisees are in no position to dispute His claim because their experience is limited. They are from the world. On their own, they cannot know the mind of God because all they know is what they have experienced and their experience is limited to this world.

To say that Jesus is not the only way to God, a person is claiming to know what the way to God is. Yet, that kind of knowledge is outside the realm of ordinary human experience. Jesus says, He can tell people how to get to God because He knows where He came from and He knows where He is going. In other words, Jesus came from God and He is going to God. He knows the way to God because He has been there. He is speaking from experience. However, those who deny that Jesus is the only way to God cannot know what they are talking about because they are judging by human standards. They don't have the experience or the knowledge to make such bold claims.

Jesus claims supernatural
authority because He speaks for God

Furthermore, Jesus says that His claim to be the exclusive way to God is not made only on the basis of His own authority, but on the authority of God the Father Himself because the message that He is the only way to God is the message that He received from God the Father. Therefore, to say that Jesus is not the only way to God is to dispute God Himself.

So, here are the two reasons Jesus says that He has the authority to claim that He is the exclusive way to God:

He comes from heaven. He is the only one has. Therefore, He is the only one who knows.
God Himself says that Jesus is the only way. Based on the Father's authority, Jesus claims to be the only way to God.

How do we know that Jesus speaks with the authority of God? First, the miracles that Jesus accomplished are testimony that Jesus' message is true. Secondly, that God the Father raised Him from the dead is evidence That Jesus is who He claims. God the Father validated the claims of Jesus by raising Him from the dead. So, ultimately, we get back to where we started on Easter Sunday. All of Christianity hinges on the resurrection.

So, Jesus' authority for claiming to be the only way to God is that He is from God, He is from heaven, and that He is only saying what God the Father has instructed Him to say.

That leaves us with two possibilities. Either Jesus is the only way to God, which means all other religions are wrong, or Jesus is not the only way to God, which means Christianity is both wrong and destructive. Think about this, if Christianity is not the only way to God, then for 2000 years, thousands and thousands of people have died needlessly for their faith. If Christianity is not the only way to God, then the hope of the gospel is a false hope, and those who find comfort in it have merely been deceived by a cruel lie. If Jesus is not the only way to God, then millions of people are throwing away millions of dollars in giving to spread the gospel and you have wasted a perfectly good Sunday morning.

So, either Jesus is the only way or He is even more wicked, or at least, more destructive than all of the cult leaders of history combined.

Yet, some will still say that is arrogant to claim that Christianity is the true religion. It is too exclusive. Often times, they will put it this way, "I think Christ is fine, but I believe a devout Muslim or Buddhist or even a good atheist will certainly find God." A slightly different version is: "I don't think God would send a person who lives a good life to hell just for holding the wrong belief." This approach is seen as more inclusive.

Yet, really, this view is more exclusive than Christianity. "…The universal religion of humankind is: We develop a good record and give it to God, and then he owes us. The gospel is: God develops a good record and gives it to us. In short, to say a good person, not just Christians, can find God is to say good works are enough to find God.

The apparently inclusive approach is really quite exclusive. It says, 'The good people can find God, and the bad people do not. "But what about us moral failures? What about people who are not good. We are excluded.

Christianity is just the opposite. The gospel says, 'The people who know they aren't good can find God, and the people who think they are good do not. The gospel says, 'It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. It doesn't matter if you've been at the gates of hell. You can be welcomed and embraced fully and instantly through Christ.' "[4]

Jesus' says that He is the light of the world. His invitation to life is open to all. He is not the way to God for the Jews, the whites, the blacks, the Latinos. He is the way to God for all who will put their faith in Him. The offer of salvation excludes no one. All are invited to come to Him.

[1]. From May 11, Daily Bread, don't know what year. Found it through another source.
[2]. "Becoming attached: what experiences in infancy will enable children to thrive emotionally and to come to feel that the world of people is a positive place?", by Karen, Robert, The Atlantic, Feb 1990 v265 n2 p35(20).
[3]. Zacharias, Ravi, Jesus Among Other Gods, p. 4, 7.
[4]. Tim Keller, "Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age," Copyright(c) 1997 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Leadership Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail LeaderJ@aol.com.Winter 1997, Vol. XVIII, No. 4, Page 42.