In the final hours before his crucifixion, Jesus remained focused on making sure his disciples were ready. And in John 14:4 he summarized a couple of the critical understandings they’d already received by stating that they knew where he was going and how to follow him there.
But in verse 5, Thomas took issue with that.
Now, it’s clear Jesus wasn’t wrong in his assessment of what the disciples knew. Thomas was just giving voice to a fierce, internal struggle that was preventing them from acknowledging what they’d been taught. They didn’t want their Lord to leave them, so they resisted accepting what he’d told them about it. It’s pretty easy to hide things from ourselves when they have to do with something we don’t want to know.
In verse 6, Jesus responded to Thomas’ rebuttal with two of the most direct and consequential sentences in the whole Bible. Using the definite article, he said he was the way, the truth, and the life. Then, referring to what he’d previously said about his return to the Father’s house, he declared himself the only means of accessing that glorious presence.
His choice of words was strategic. He was unambiguous. He couldn’t have been clearer. He said a relationship with God is only accessible through him, declared himself to be the exclusive revelation of truth, and claimed to be the sole source of life. And this creates a big problem for anyone who wants to assert that Jesus is only one of many ways to reach God, interpret truth, or pursue life. To believe that, you have to attribute what he said to arrogance, self-delusion, or egocentrism. And none of those things can reasonably be ascribed to Jesus.
We live in an age of deeply embedded relativism. Absolutes are roundly rejected. So, like Thomas and the other disciples attempting to hide unwanted knowledge from themselves, some people are predisposed to ignore Jesus’ emphatic self-definition. But these two sentences of his own words push back forcefully and unapologetically against the idea that there’s flexibility in what we choose to think about who he is. There’s not. His statements crowd us either toward belief or unbelief. There’s no wiggle room.
If you’re looking for a back door to heaven, seeking to reshape truth to fit your paradigm, or hoping to carve out a life that straddles the spiritual fence, don’t bother trying to somehow shoehorn Jesus into those pursuits. You’re on your own.
He’s either who he said he is or he’s not. If he’s not, we’ve got to be honest with ourselves about that and stop the foolish pursuit of looking to him for anything of value. But if he is who he said he is, then we need to be honest with ourselves about that and stop looking to anyone or anything else for what only he can supply.