Except Through Me

October 6, 2015

Except Through Me

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

How do you summarize the mission of Jesus? A good place to consider is John 3:16. You may also want to consider John’s statement at the end of chapter 20, “that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:31b). There are many other verses we can consider as well, however, as for me, I like to come back to John 14:6.

This statement of Jesus is not politically correct in today’s culture because many people believe it is too exclusionary. They say it is not right to exclude people of other beliefs by insisting that the only way to know God is through Jesus. If that is true, what then becomes of the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, and the list goes on? I’ll leave this PC discussion for another day; for today I want to focus on what Jesus actually said! He said, “No one can come to the Father except through me.” I am not aware of any other religion that refers to their supreme deity as Father, much less, Abba. Jesus first introduced this cornerstone of his mission when he taught his disciples to pray, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven,” (John 6:9a). The idea that his disciples could know the Holy One of Israel, the Creator of heaven and earth, as Father was revolutionary. That Jesus’ followers could pray to God with the same intimacy as Jesus when we say Abba, is even more revolutionary.

Jesus statement in John 14:6 is an affirmation that if we, his followers, want to know, to experience, to commune with his Heavenly Father, we do so by coming to the Father through Jesus who is our way, our truth and our life. Sometimes, I can get off course in my faith journey and make my life more complicated than my Abba desires for me. In those times, I am called to come home to my Abba by the simplicity of my Master’s words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.