Those of you who are CNN fans and like to watch Larry King may have seen the panel discussion some time ago that had a number of ministers and holy men talking about theological and spiritual issues. There was a Muslim cleric, a New Age Leader, a Catholic Priest, a Rabbi on a television hookup, and John MacArthur from Grace Community Church in California. At one point in the discussion, John MacArthur pointed out that Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me." The New Age minister who was sitting next to him said, "There is another way to understand that passage." He didn't explain any further and John MacArthur didn't get a chance to respond. But what was left was a seed of doubt in the minds of a lot of people that what MacArthur shared wasn't really true or wasn't the only way to understand that verse of Scripture. Okay, let's look at the possibilities about what Jesus said in John 14:6.
Jesus is about to go to the cross. He is speaking to his disciples, and He says, "Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 4:1). Jesus is clearly saying that it is not enough to simply believe in God the Father. That is important, but that is not enough. Many people today say, "I believe in God", and that's good. That is super important. But it is not enough. As James points out, demons also believe that God exists (James 2:19). But that will not get them into heaven. And that is what Jesus is ultimately talking about. He says, "...in my Father's house there are many dwelling places, if it were not so I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you". What is "My Father's house:...Herod's Temple?
In John 14:2 it's clear that the place that He is talking about is a place He personally is going to prepare. Men are not going to build it. He is going to build it, and if you look down at verse five, Thomas says to Him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?" Now if Jesus was talking about the way to the Temple in Jerusalem, all he had to say way, "Thomas, you need to look down the road. It is right there. You've been there many times." But He didn't, because Jesus was talking about heaven, which is also His Father's house. And this is a very important point because when people talk about many roads leading to heaven, they speak as if heaven is public domain. Heaven is not a universal public place that just anyone can enter. It is God's private residence. It is His home. And since it is His private residence, He gets to decide who comes in and on what terms. Each of us has a house or place of residence, and when people come to visit, they only come in if we want them to, and they stay there only as long as we want them to stay. That is only fair and that is only right. The same thing is true for God. So, one should not say it is unfair or unjust if God decides that people can only get into heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is totally fair and just, as long as everyone has a chance, and the requirements are the same for everyone. But before we discuss that further, we need to explore the possibility that Jesus didn't really mean that He alone is the only way to heaven. This will be discussed in Part II tomorrow. Stay tuned!
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