“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)
In a basic sense, judgments are part of life. We can’t get through a day without judging, when it means how we discern one thing from another. It’s how we determine what is real and not real in our lives. The need to discern is a part of living. Jesus asserted, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And Kierkegaard made bold claims that Christianity is the absolute.
“With this invitation to all them ‘that labor and are heavy laden’ Christianity did not come into the world as an admiral example of the gentle art of consolation—but as the absolute. It is out of love God wills it so but also it is God who wills it, and He wills what He will. He will not suffer Himself to be transformed by men and be a nice human God: He will transform me, and that He wills out of love.”
Jesus’ claim of being “the way and the truth and the life” is an exclusive statement; Saint Peter repeated Jesus’ statement when he blatantly said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12, NIV) Many Americans feel that as long as a person is sincere about her or his religious beliefs, it doesn’t matter what a person believes. Unconsciously perhaps, this diminishes the importance of religion.
From the perspective of his time, Kierkegaard asked, “What then, is the use of Christianity? It is, then, merely a plague to us! Ah, yes, that too can be said: relatively understood, the absolute is the greatest plague. In all moments of laxness, sluggishness, dullness, when the sensuous nature of man predominates, Christianity seems madness, since it is incommensurable with any finite wherefore. What is the use
of it, then? It is the absolute! And so it must be represented, in such a way as to make it appear madness in the eyes of the sensuous man. And hence it is true, so true when the wise and prudent man in the situation of contemporaneousness condemns Christ by saying, ‘He is literally nothing’ – most certainly true, for He is absolute.”
Sure enough, Jesus’ claim was exclusive when he claimed that he was the true way to God the Father. However, Jesus was motivated not by arrogance but by compassion. While his claim was exclusive, his offer was inclusive. What can be more inclusive than, “God so loved the world…whosoever will, may come”?
Moment of Reflection: Do you share Jesus’ compassion for those who do not know him?
Prayer: Loving God, save me from substituting tolerance for genuine love for those who desperately need to know Christ. Amen.
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