Jesus didn’t offer directions. He declared exclusivity. In a world full of sincere religion, moral effort, and spiritual systems that promise life, Jesus draws a hard line and says there is only one way to the Father. This message confronts comforting lies, exposes counterfeit gospels, and asks the question we all must answer before we die: are we trusting what Christ finished, or what we are still trying to do?
Transcript (edited for readability)
Today we’re looking at one of the most profound statements in John’s Gospel, and maybe one of the most well-known lines in human history. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life… no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
That is the great claim of Jesus. He does not say He is a door. He says He is the door. He does not say He is a way. He says He is the way. He does not say He is a truth. He says He is the truth. And He does not say He offers life. He is life. Which means that outside of Him, you may be breathing, you may be existing, but you are not truly alive, because life comes through a Person named Jesus.
And saying that, I want to draw a sharp contrast with what other people say about eternal life and eternal destiny. Much of the world teaches salvation as a system of effort, works, rituals, or human merit.
For example, Islam ties paradise to believing and doing righteous deeds, and the weight of sin matters. Mormonism says “saved by grace,” but then adds the idea of grace after all you can do, leaving you with the crushing question, “How do I know I’ve done enough?” Roman Catholic teaching repeatedly frames justification as grace plus sacraments, cooperation, and ongoing purification, which strips believers of settled assurance and introduces fear. Other religions hold to rebirth, many gods, law-keeping as covenant standing, or other systems that reshape the gospel into something man can manage.
The point is not to mock people. The goal is clarity because souls are at stake. Indifference is not love. If truth matters, then what a person believes about salvation matters.
Now in the passage we’re studying, Jesus has been speaking about the hope of heaven. He’s told His disciples repeatedly, “I’m going away. I’m going to the Father.” They are anxious and perplexed, and Jesus speaks straight into that fear.
In John 14:1–3 He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Heaven is described in Scripture in different ways, but here Jesus calls it the Father’s house. If you belong to Christ, this world is not your forever home.
Then Jesus says, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas speaks for all of us: “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” And Jesus answers with the statement that divides the world: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
1) “I am the way”
When Jesus says He is the way, He is telling you that you are a pilgrim. You are moving from this world toward a final destiny. Time marches on. Death is sure. Scripture says it plainly: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
But it is not just that we are pilgrims. It is that mankind is lost. Lost in sin. That message is hated in modern times, so it is often avoided, but Scripture does not soften it. In Luke 15 Jesus paints the human condition with parables of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Lost sheep do not find shepherds. They wander until they perish.
And Jesus says, “I am the way.” Not “I show you the way.” Not “I teach you the way.” He claims to be the only bridge between sinners and the Father.
How does He make that way? Scripture answers: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Sin broke fellowship with God. We were alienated and separated, and Christ made peace through His cross. Jesus is the only One who can bridge the chasm.
2) “I am the truth”
When Jesus says He is the truth, He is addressing the human hunger for what is real. You were made in the image of God. You are a thinking creature. You ask the questions that won’t go away: Who are we? Why are we here? Why is the world broken? What happens after death?
Jesus does not merely have truth. He does not merely teach truth. He is the truth. If you want the truth about God, man, sin, salvation, eternity, and judgment, Jesus is not one option among many. He is the measure.
Truth is not just a concept. Truth is personal. Truth is a Person, and His name is Jesus Christ.
3) “I am the life”
When Jesus says He is the life, He is confronting the deadness of the natural man. You can be physically alive and spiritually lifeless. People say, “I feel dead inside.” Scripture explains why: sin alienated man from God and corrupted the mind. That’s why the world can seem insane. Fallen man does not think rightly.
And yet Jesus says He came to give life: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25–26). Life with a capital L is found in Him alone.
The exclusive claim
Then Jesus says the line that offends a pluralistic world: “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That shuts the door on every other claimed route to God. It is unpopular because it is absolute. But it is spoken by the incarnate Son of God, not by a mere teacher. If Jesus is who He says He is, then His exclusivity is not arrogance. It is mercy, because God has provided a way, and it is folly to search for another.
So what does it mean to come to the Father through Jesus? It means to come to Him by faith. Scripture is clear that justification is not earned by law-keeping or human effort: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16). “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:20). “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
The gospel strips man of boasting. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded… Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:27–28). Salvation is not “Jesus plus my cooperation.” Salvation is God’s work from beginning to end, and the only thing the sinner brings is the sin that made the cross necessary.
The finished work and the Lord’s Table
This is why the finished work of Christ matters. Hebrews says Christ entered the holy place “once for all… having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). Again, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Because of that, believers are told to draw near “in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22). Not constant fear. Not lifelong uncertainty. Full assurance grounded in a complete sacrifice.
When we take the Lord’s Supper, we do it as Jesus commanded: “This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24–26). It is remembrance and proclamation, not a repeated sacrifice. It points back to the cross where Christ truly satisfied the wrath of God and secured redemption for His people.
And this is the invitation today: If Jesus is the way, then every competing system that shifts your hope onto your performance is a lie. If you are lost, follow Him. If you are hungry for truth, come to Him. If you feel dead, receive life from Him. Jesus Christ does not offer a set of steps. He offers Himself.
By Jonny Ardavanis – Stonebridge Bible Church
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