Did Jesus Claim to be the Only Way?

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:19:00 +0000

It must be the most famous of all Bible verses:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but by me.”

For much of my life, I heard evangelicals quote this verse in outreach efforts. I myself used it when I was younger, evangelizing in the vein of Ray Comfort’s “Way of the Master” (a method I am highly critical of now).

But now that the grand story of the Bible has been, I think, properly explained within its historical context — that is, according to its own framework of “blessings and curses” — we can come back to these famous verses with new eyes. And instead of just quoting them out of context to convert people to “believe in Jesus” in order to “go to heaven after we die, we can instead thoughtfully engage the original flow of the conversation of scripture.

“Now the Son of Man is glorified”

Before being sentenced to a horrific death of torture and humiliation, Jesus of Nazareth, according to the gospel of John, famously said to his disciples:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:1-7)

Why did he start off this section with an appeal to not be discouraged? It was because he knew what he was about to suffer, as he had said in the verses before:

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” (John 13:31-33)

Why did Jesus say, “Where I am going, you cannot come”? As we have discussed in another article, modern people are totally split off from how devastating the humiliation and shame of being crucified was. Although movies like Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” have helped us reconnect to the physicality of it all, westerners remain numb to its soul-crushing shame.

Jesus knew that, as things stood at that time, the disciples would not be able to follow him to such a horrendous end — they would buckle under the weight of the threat of being crucified/humiliated with their master. They were simply not in a place where they could yet follow with confidence; thus he told them: “you cannot come.”

Jesus was famously distraught over his incoming fate of total humiliation, even begging his Father in the Garden of Gethsemene to take his fate away:

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

But when mentioning his incoming fate before his disciples in John 14, he instead was steadfast on what he saw would eventually be his vindication — that is, what would come afterwards:

“Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.” (John 13:31-32)

Modern evangelicals like to quote “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, but don’t spend much time on this verse of Jesus saying the son of man would soon be glorified. If I’m honest, I must admit I too used to gloss over verses like this.

When we understand the shame of the cross, though, we can start to appreciate how, when facing down the most degrading death that could ever be imagined — the very shame that “Israel” had always been striving to avoid by course — Jesus could say: “now the Son of Man is glorified”. Was he in denial about what was going to happen (crucifixion was, after all, the opposite of “glorified”)? No. As mentioned, he was confident of being raised to honor — afterwards.

The reason Jesus talked so much ahead of time about the “son of man” being “glorified” was because ancient Israel (like all other collective honor/shame societies) were always hell-bent on avoiding shame (deathly afraid of it, in fact). That is why all four gospels describe Jesus reassuring his disciples — trying to adjust their thinking ahead of time so they wouldn’t give into despair (even suicide) when they would inevitably witness their lord crucified (humiliated). Ancient Israel had always been fatalistic in terms of suffering a death of humiliation like crucifixion. If Yahweh would allow to you to suffer such a humiliation death, it was because he Himself had considered you shameful.

Jesus was trying to get his disciples ready — psychologically — for what was about to happen. He didn’t want them to cave into the insinuation that Jesus was worthless if he got crucified. He would be glorified (honored) after.

“Many rooms” in the “house of God”

Jesus famously said:

“My Father’s house has many rooms…if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

What are these “rooms” he was talking about? Some translations say “mansions” instead. The First Century Study Bible notes give us some context:

“The poor translation of this word as “mansions” instead of “rooms” in some Bible versions has led to confusion. People typically understand this verse as a reference to the afterlife. However, the temple in Jerusalem was also called God’s “house.” Perhaps Jesus was promising a permanent place of belonging in the “house of God.” According to Scripture, the earthly tabernacle and temple were modeled on a heavenly equivalent (compare Ex 25:9, 40; 26:30; Nu 8:4; 1Chr 28:19; Heb 8:5), so his audience might have thought Jesus was promising earthly and heavenly belonging.”

Growing up in “youth group” culture (which I loved), one song we enjoyed singing was “Big House” by the Christian rock band, Audio Adrenaline. We had a ton of fun. I loved listening to their CDs. And the message that was left in my mind was that, because we believed in Jesus, we would all eventually go to heaven after we died — to our “Father’s house” that had “lots and lots of rooms”. And although I will always look back fondly on those times, I can see now we didn’t really understand what Jesus was saying in the very text that inspired the song we loved so much.

The context helps inform the meaning of what Jesus meant, and it is important to remember that he regularly warned (Matthew 24, for instance) that the famous temple of sacrifice in Jerusalem — which, under Roman dominion, had become a famous tourist destination — would ultimately be destroyed under the weight of its own corruption of its compromised spiritual leaders.

Jesus could see this all coming 40 years before it arrived, and he said that he would “prepare a place” for his disciples in his spiritual “father’s house” — which would ultimately be a replacement of the physical house doomed for destruction.

But was this anticipated replacement a destination after death? Or was it more about being raised from death to honor with this Jesus after suffering the most shameful death imaginable — the fate of slaves…

The blood of bulls and goats previously offered in the Israelite temple of sacrifice was always intended to bestow purification on the people of Israel for their sins. And Jesus intended to offer himself on the Roman cross of shame as a replacement for this whole system of sacrifice, which he knew was doomed (under the judgment of the God the temple claimed to honor).

So contrary to modern evangelical (and otherwise) teaching on this passage of scripture, I would say that the “many rooms” mentioned here are actually not about the afterlife per se, but about having righteousness (honor) bestowed on you — that is, purity before Yahweh, the jealous God of Israel. As the above quote from the First Century Study Bible said: “a permanent place of belonging in the house of God” (especially after the old house is gone). The “many rooms” were intended to convey the “huge space” there was in the “kingdom of God” for those who were simply willing to humble themselves about what the true spirit of Torah had been since the beginning.

Deep down, you know where I’m going

Referring to his upcoming crucifixion/humiliation, Jesus said that, deep down, the disciples likely knew his fate was inevitable:

“You know the way to the place where I am going.”

But Thomas was adamant that he didn’t understand:

“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

One can imagine Jesus looking at him with eyes that said, “Oh Thomas… Really? Can you not feel deep down what must now happen? Why do you fight it?” So Jesus said directly back to him authoritatively:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

People love to quote this verse as a proof text for the correctness of their particular faith tradition. But I would argue that, in context, Jesus is stepping back to the larger picture, and this is why he said “…comes to the Father”. We would do well here to ask, “Who is the Father?” It’s obviously Yahweh, the God of the Jews and the nation of Israel.

Whatever the Greek or Hebrew is here for “I am”, it’s actually not as important as some would have you believe. The bigger point is the context: that Jesus is saying he was — in his person and in his teachings — the embodiment of what the true Torah spirit had always been. He perfectly summed up “the law and prophets”. In the same way that I argue that the Sermon on the Mount was intended as a summary of the true spirit of the Torah that had come before, so also the phrase “I am the way, the truth, and the life” was intended to mean, “I perfectly embody the ethos and essence of the Torah”.

This is why Jesus would then say:

“If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

It’s not so much that Jesus was a metaphysical window or portal directly to Yahweh for people to go to “heaven” if they believe in him, but rather that Jesus had lived out perfectly the true ethos of what Torah spirit had always been. And now he would offer up his life as a supersession of the ancient Jewish Temple of animal sacrifice that would soon be destroyed (and indeed was destroyed in 70AD).

The only way to heaven?

So was Jesus creating a new “religion” or faith that all people everywhere must “believe in” in order to go to heaven when they die? Was the phrase, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” intended to demarcate a new line or path of salvation?

I would argue: No.

The phrase “No one comes to the Father but by me” should be understood as “No one embodies the true Torah spirit except as I have.”

It’s really not about the topic of religion exclusivity or being on the “right side” of things, religion wise, at all — true or false. This most famous of all verses was really about how Jesus — in his life and teachings — summed up perfectly the essence of the Torah (i.e. “the way to the Father”). And whatever you think about if “Christianity” is the only way for all humans eveywhere at all times, this Bible verse, in my opinion, is not about that topic at all.

Learn more about the Grand Story of the Bible! Click Here.

The Five Types of Honor and Shame

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 15:21:00 +0000

Coming Soon!

Honor/Shame Bible - Blog

Did Jesus Claim to be the Only Way?

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

“Now the Son of Man is glorified”

“Many rooms” in the “house of God”

Deep down, you know where I’m going

The only way to heaven?

The Five Types of Honor and Shame

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but by me.”