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Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

On this past Sunday, Pastor Sam carefully unpacked this single verse. And it is good to be careful when unpacking verses like this, because verses like this have the potential to explode. As he said, and I paraphrase here, the above verse is a dangerous one to quote in the twenty-first century because it carries an exclusionary, exclusive tone. But there it is, in the canon, so we have to deal with it.

For anyone who is Christian, this reality of “the way, the truth, the life” is at the core of our faith. And it is Jesus- not Pastor Sam, not the denomination, not our personal opinion, but Jesus Himself- it is He who says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 carries the echo of John 3:16, another verse that speaks of the exclusive nature and status of Jesus. As “only begotten Son” (see John 3:16) He is identified as unique, one-of-a-kind, with no other option available. He is the Only One. In the same manner, Jesus informs us in John 14:6 that He is the Only Way, the Only Truth, the Only Life. There is no other option available.

So, in light of this, we can never say “Jesus and…”. It’s not Jesus and Mommy, nor Jesus and Buddha, nor Jesus and Mary, nor Jesus and the Pastor (the uppercase “P” is deliberate, as an indicator of those who in fact deify their pastors). It’s only Jesus. Exclusionary and exclusive, because no one else can do what He does for us.

Who else has been crucified for our sins? Who else has made a way for our salvation? Who else is seated at the right hand of the Father? Who else can say, “If you have known me, you will know my Father too” (see John 14:7)?

Jesus, the Only Unique.