Exclusive Promise
"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Dharmesh and Kumar work as baggage porters at the railroad terminal in Ahmedabad, India. One day after work, they bought a simple dinner and went to Kumar's tiny room.

For the last six months, Kumar, a Christian, had been reading the Gospels with Dharmesh, a Hindu. Today's reading brought them to John 14, where Jesus promises:

• "In my Father's house are many rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you" (v. 2).
• "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (v. 6).

"Aren't those beautiful promises?" Kumar asked.

Dharmesh sighed. "I thank you for introducing me to Jesus. He is so appealing and attractive. But I am troubled by exclusive statements like, 'No one comes to the Father except through me'. We Hindus prefer to venerate many gods."

"Tell me, my friend, through which of the Hindu gods can you--as Jesus puts it--'come to the Father'?"

"None of them transports me into the Divine Presence. I must accomplish that myself, through meditation and other religious practices."

"You answered correctly. India has many religious beliefs and rituals. How can we know which religion truly leads to God? Our religious teachers say, 'I show the way. I have the truth. I lead to life.' However, Jesus alone claimed to BE the way, the truth, and the life."

"What if He is wrong?"

"Then you're no worse off than you are now following Hindu gods who cannot bring you to the Father. But what if Jesus is right? According to John 14:6, if you trust in Christ and He is right, what will happen to you?"

Dharmesh slowly pondered the verse and then answered, "I will indeed come at the Father. But, how long might that take?"

Kumar laughed, "Christians don't wait through a thousand reincarnations to be saved. Through faith in Christ we immediately experience a loving relationship with God the Father."

"We receive the ticket and ride."

"What?"

Dharmesh voice rose, as he grasped the Gospel truth for the first time. "Every day you and I load baggage onto the Royal Orient Railway, the most exotic and opulent train journey in India. But we are too poor to ever ride that train. What if a wealthy person offered us tickets on the Royal Orient Railway?"

"We would grab them and ride!"

"Yes! When Jesus declares that He alone can grant me a home in heaven with His Father, I can either foolishly reject His exclusive promise, or I can receive it with faith, thankful that He includes me in the offer."

1. Note the repeated use of 'the' in John 14:6. How would Christian mission be different if Jesus had used the word 'a' instead.
2. 'Way,' 'truth,' and 'life' are synonyms for religion. Explore what Scripture say about these terms in Is. 53:6; Prov. 14:12; Ps. 119:105; John 1:17; 12:32.
3. Rephrase the sentence "No one comes to the Father except through Me" as a positive statement. How does this transform the verse into a mission promise?