Two Ways

Opening illustration: In the marketplace of ideas, all vendors have an equal right to sell what they believe. But that doesn’t mean all their ideas are equally right.

Christians proclaim that Jesus is the only way to God not because they are bigots but because they believe it is true. They take at face value His claim that He alone is the true and living way to God.

Many people shrug off the claims of Jesus as the only Savior of the world by saying, “Well, that’s all fine and good, but you have your way to God and I have mine.” Jesus stood such thinking on its head when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

If Jesus’ claims are true, they are true for everyone. If they are false, the sooner we are proved wrong and put on the right road the better. As C. S. Lewis put it, “Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

There are no two ways about it. Jesus doesn’t ask for our vote as the most appealing candidate for Savior of the world. He simply states His lordship of the universe and demands our allegiance. Does He have yours? [Our Daily Bread, Haddon W. Robinson]

Introduction: Our Lord has been speaking of His departure, of its purpose, of His return as guaranteed by that purpose and of His servants’ eternal and perfect reunion with Him. But even these cheering and calming thoughts do not exhaust His consolations, as they did not satisfy all the disciples’ needs. They might still have said, ‘Yes; we believe that You will come back again, and we believe that we shall be together; but what about the parenthesis of absence?’ And here is the answer, or at least part of it: ‘where I go you know, and the way you know.’

When you say to a man, ‘You know the way,’ you mean ‘Come.’ And in these words there lay, as it seems to me, a veiled invitation to the disciples to come to Him before He came back for them, and the assurance that they, though separated, might still find and tread the road to the Father’s house, and so be with Him still. They are not left desolate. The Christ who is absent is present as the path to Himself. And so the parenthesis is bridged across. Now in these verses we have several large and important lessons which I think may best be drawn by simply seeking to follow their course.

What is the ONLY WAY to God?

1. Believing/Trusting Jesus Way (vs. 1-4)

(i) The Bible claims that God does exist. [Hebrews 11:6]

• To please God, what must we believe? (a) whatever our parents taught us, (b) whatever our preacher says, (c) that God exists and rewards those who diligently seek Him.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

(ii) The Bible claims to be an infallible revelation of God's will. [2 Timothy 3:16,17]

• Where did the Scriptures come from? (a) they are inspired by God, (b) they express the opinions of men (c) they are ancient legends of unknown origin.

"...The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37). [See also Ephesians 3:3-5; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Galatians 1:11, 12]

(iii) The Bible claims that Jesus is God's Son. [John 20:26-31]

• What did Thomas call Jesus? (a) a great preacher and a good man, (b) Lord and God, (c) a fraud.

• What must we believe to have eternal life? (a) that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God,

(iv) His being “the” fulfillment of prophecy. The majority of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament is taken up with prophecies about the Messiah. Jesus is the fulfillment of all those prophecies, not just that He fulfilled prophecy, but He is the fulfillment of all of those prophecies.

• Believing means accepting all of Jesus' teaching

• Believing means conviction to obey

• Believing means resolving to be baptized

Jesus is describing that we must believe in what He says, does and will do. He is giving an imagery of the future heavenly eternity to His disciples, so why should it be hard for us to perceive what heaven is like and not embrace the promise that we will be with Christ in eternity there. He has gone before us to prepare a place for all believers in Christ. The way is Jesus alone.

2. Knowing Jesus Way (v. 5)

Many people have criticized Christianity and believers in Jesus Christ as being too narrow-minded because we preach that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. They point to the numerous other religions of the world and say, "How can your way be the only way?"