John 14:1-7 (ESV)
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
In Isaiah 55:8, we learn that God’s ways and our ways are completely different. This is a key to understanding Jesus’ famous words from John 14:6, where he says that he is “the way.” We usually think of this passage as teaching that Jesus is the only way to salvation. That’s true, but that isn’t Jesus’ main point. Jesus is talking to his disciples. That means he is not contrasting his way with the false
ways of other religions; it would be pointless, because they are all Jewish. Rather, Jesus is contrasting his way with our ways. Salvation only happens when we stop trying to gain life through our works, our effort, and our performance, and instead trust in Jesus’ works and performance, done on our behalf. We resist this, because we want to be in charge of our salvation. That fact is, it is humbling to give Jesus the keys to life. But that’s the choice: we can drive to death, or let Jesus chauffer us to life