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Jesus the Revolutionary

Is Jesus the Only Way to God

1 November 2026· Sharon Edmundson

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." To modern ears that can sound arrogant and exclusive, like a door shut on everyone who believes differently. Sharon Edmundson takes that discomfort head on, from a very particular way to cut a tomato, to C.S. Lewis, to sweets at the cinema, and shows why the claim is actually the most inclusive invitation there is. And why these words were first spoken not as a challenge, but as comfort to frightened friends the night before Jesus died.

Does it sound arrogant for anyone to claim there's only one way to God?

We live in a world that loves options. Many paths, many beliefs, all heading up the same mountain to the same place. So when someone says their way is the only right way, we tend to bristle. It feels narrow. A bit rude, even. So this week, Sharon Edmundson looks at the time Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

To our modern ears, this can sound exclusive and rigid. But the words of Jesus are actually far kinder than they first appear, originally spoken as a comfort and not a challenge.

The Only Right Way to Cut a Tomato

A few years ago, Sharon and some friends were staying with people in France who are brilliant at hosting. One of the guests was an Italian woman who loved to cook, so a few of them asked her to teach them gnocchi with tomato sauce. They set up a table in the garden and got to work. Sharon and a friend were put on tomato duty. Easy enough, you'd think.

Apparently not. They were doing it wrongly. There was, it turned out, only one correct way to cut a tomato, and they weren't doing it. Which made no sense to them, because the same bit of tomato was going into the same pan to be cooked and blitzed anyway.

So here's Sharon's question to us. How do you feel when someone insists their way is the only way? Arrogant? Narrow-minded? That's exactly how this famous line from Jesus can feel.

An Invitation, Not a Rulebook

Most religions and philosophies say "this is the way" and then hand you a set of rules. A moral code. A way of life. Do these things, avoid those things, and you'll be fine.

Jesus does something different. He doesn't say "here's the way", He says "I am the way". He offers Himself. A relationship, not a to-do list. He does show us how to live, but the heart of it is Him, not a checklist you have to keep.

It's a bold claim, and it's worth taking seriously. Some people like to file Jesus away as a good moral teacher and leave it there. The writer C.S. Lewis argued that Jesus never really left us that option. Given the things He said about Himself, Lewis reckoned there are only three honest conclusions. Either Jesus was lying, and knew it. Or He was deluded, on the level of a man who thinks he's a poached egg. Or He was telling the truth and really is the Son of God. A liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

Lewis put it like this.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

So if Jesus is right, we can't shrug it off.

Exclusive and Inclusive at the Same Time

Here's the twist. Yes, Jesus makes an exclusive claim. He says He's the only way. But in the same breath He throws the doors wide open to everyone. You might know the line even if you've never set foot in a church.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (John 3:16)

Whoever. Everyone's invited. So why does Jesus insist He's the only door in? Because He's the only one who can fix our deepest problem.

And our deepest problem might be different to what you think it is. It isn't politics, or a shaky economy, or AI taking over, or the idea that some people are just bad and the rest of us are basically fine. The book of Ephesians tells us that without Jesus, we are all spiritually dead.

That phrase needs unpacking, because it sounds dramatic. In the Bible, death basically means separation. Physical death is the spirit separating from the body. Spiritual death is the human spirit being cut off from a relationship with God. And what causes that separation is sin.

Sin is a religious-sounding word, so here's what it actually means. It's missing the mark. Falling short of God's perfect standard. Going our own way and shutting God out. And it makes sense that turning our backs on the source of all life would leave us cut off from life. Walk away from the thing that gives light and you end up in the dark.

Why It Has to Be Jesus

So why can't God just wave it through? He's meant to be loving, isn't He? Can't our good deeds outweigh the bad?

Sharon uses a courtroom to explain. Imagine someone seriously hurt a member of your family, and you took them to court. In the dock they said, "Yes, I did it, but I'm great with my kids, I help my neighbours, I've given loads to charity, so can we call it even?" You'd think they'd lost the plot. That's not justice. Doing something good doesn't cancel out doing something wrong.

God is loving, but He's also just. So instead of pretending the problem isn't there, Jesus deals with it Himself. Christians believe Jesus is God come to earth in a human body, who took the penalty for our wrongdoing by dying in our place and then rising again, because death couldn't hold Him.

That's why He can call Himself a mediator, a go-between who brings two separated sides back together. As one of the early church letters puts it, "there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus."

So it isn't arrogant for Jesus to say He's the only way, if it's actually true. In fact, it's no more narrow-minded than a doctor telling someone with type 1 diabetes that they need insulin rather than paracetamol. It's not snobbery. It's just the thing that works.

Why We'd Rather Pick and Mix

Still, it rubs against us, because most of us would love to build our own version of faith. A bit like choosing sweets at the cinema. Grab the chocolate peanuts and the fizzy cola bottles, leave the hard-boiled ones you don't fancy. A little mindfulness here, a few crystals there, a carol service at Christmas.

The appeal is obvious. We get to design a spiritual life that never asks anything of us and never tells us we're wrong. But that's also the catch. A faith you've curated yourself can only ever agree with you. It can confirm what you already think, but it can never challenge you or change you.

Jesus doesn't offer Himself as a nice add-on to the life you've already built. He offers Himself, and invites you to turn from your own way and follow His.

But What About People Who've Never Heard

If you're thinking "that's all well and good, but what about everyone who's never heard about Jesus?", you're in good company. Sharon raised the same question and was honest that there's no tidy answer everyone agrees on. She laid out three views Christians hold, all argued from the Bible.

  • The Exclusive view says a person needs to consciously hear about Jesus and believe, or they can't be saved.
  • The Inclusive view says someone who never got the chance to hear, yet genuinely sought God, could still be saved through what Jesus did, even without knowing His name.
  • The Judgment According to Knowledge view says God doesn't hold people to account for information they never had. They're judged on the truth that was actually available to them.

The Line That Started as Comfort

These words can feel like a challenge thrown down to us, but that's not how they were first heard.

Jesus said them in an upper room in Jerusalem, at a meal with His closest friends, the night before He was killed. The tension in the city was thick. The religious leaders were closing in. And into that fear, Jesus tells His friends He's about to leave, and that they can't follow Him yet. They're confused and frightened. "We don't know where you're going," they say, "so how can we know the way?"

That's when Jesus answers, "I am the way." The brutal death He was walking towards was the very thing that would make a relationship with God possible for them. It wasn't a slammed door. It was a hand held out in the dark. Comfort for their biggest fear, and ours, both now and beyond death.

Where Do You Go From Here

In Conversation Street, Dan Orange and Dave Connolly picked up on the idea of rules, keeping them and earning God's favour.

Sharon admitted how easy this is to do. "Have I prayed enough? Have I done this enough?" Ellis said something similar in the comments, about gravitating towards rules out of fear. Dave's done the same, and that the difference is relationship. He compared it to a marriage. If the only time you spoke to your husband or wife was to keep them sweet, you wouldn't be building anything real. God, he said, knows our hearts. He'd rather have us honest than performing.

Dan said that rules can tell you what to do, but a relationship is a different thing altogether. It's the difference between following a list your dad left on the fridge and actually sitting down to talk something through with him.

So wherever you are with all this, here's Sharon's question.

If you already follow Jesus, are you still living as though He's the only way to God, or have you slipped into trying to earn your way back to Him? And if you don't follow Jesus yet, is it worth taking His claim seriously enough to look into it properly? Because if it's true, it's not a minor detail. It's the most important thing there is.

Whether you've been part of church for years or you've never stepped through the door, you're welcome to keep wrestling with this with us.

Notes

Does saying Jesus is the only way to God sound arrogant? Here is why it might be the most welcoming thing ever said.

About this episode

Sharon Edmundson looks at one of the boldest things Jesus ever said, that He is the only way to God. It is a claim that can feel narrow and exclusive to modern ears, so we explore why it was first spoken as a comfort rather than a challenge, and what it actually means for anyone weighing up faith for themselves. This is part of our Jesus the Revolutionary series, the run where we sit with some of His tougher teachings and ask what they really mean.

Timestamps

  • 00:00 Welcome and the Live Lounge
  • 02:59 The gnocchi story, is one way arrogant
  • 05:00 I am the way, a relationship not a rulebook
  • 06:13 Liar, lunatic or Lord
  • 08:08 Our deepest problem, separation from God
  • 09:37 Why it has to be Jesus
  • 11:57 Why pick and mix never satisfies
  • 13:30 What about those who have never heard
  • 15:31 Words of comfort, not a challenge
  • 17:15 Conversation Street

When One Way Sounds Arrogant

Sharon opens with a holiday in France, where an Italian friend offered to teach a group of them to make gnocchi. Her job was cutting the tomatoes, and she was told firmly there was only one right way to do it, which made no sense to her because it all ended up blitzed in the same pan anyway.

How do you feel when someone says their way is the only way? Arrogant? Narrow-minded? The verse at the heart of this talk can sound like exactly that.

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

In a culture that values many paths and many points of view, that one little word "the" can feel like a closed door.

A Relationship, Not a Rulebook

Other religions and philosophies tend to say "this is the way" and hand you a set of rules or a way of life to follow. Jesus says something stranger. He says "I am the way", offering Himself rather than a to-do list.

So faith here is less a system to work through and more a relationship to step into.

"He offers Himself, not just a list of things to do. He offers a relationship rather than a system or a roadmap." (Sharon Edmundson)

Liar, Lunatic or Lord

Some people are happy to file Jesus away as a good moral teacher and leave it there. Sharon borrows the well-known line from the writer C.S. Lewis, who argued that the claims Jesus made do not leave that option open. Either He was lying, or He was deluded, or He was telling the truth about who He is.

Lewis put it like this. Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.

The Problem Underneath Everything

Why would Jesus claim to be the only way? Because He is answering our deepest problem, and it is not the one we usually name. It is not the economy, or politics, or artificial intelligence, or other people being difficult.

The Bible's word for the real problem is that without Jesus we are all spiritually dead. Death in the Bible means separation. Just as physical death separates the body and the spirit, spiritual death is being cut off from a relationship with God.

What causes that gap is what the Bible calls sin, a religious-sounding word that simply means missing the mark, going our own way, and shutting God out. Ephesians describes it, and Romans puts it plainly, that the result of sin is death.

Why It Has to Be Jesus

Could God not just overlook it and let us off? Sharon uses the picture of a courtroom. If someone had seriously harmed your family and then asked the judge to drop it because they had also done plenty of good things, we would not call that justice. Doing good does not cancel out doing wrong.

So Jesus steps in as the one go-between, the bridge between us and God. He takes the penalty Himself by dying in our place, and because He is perfect, death could not hold Him. It is no more arrogant than a doctor saying type 1 diabetes needs insulin and not paracetamol. If it is actually true, it is not narrow to say so.

Why Pick and Mix Never Satisfies

Sharon names something many of us do. We like to build our own spirituality the way we fill a pick and mix at the cinema, keeping the bits we enjoy and leaving the bits we do not. A little mindfulness here, a few crystals there, a carol service at Christmas.

The appeal is obvious. We get to design something that never asks anything hard of us. The trouble is that a faith we curate ourselves can only ever confirm what we already believe. It can never challenge us or take us anywhere new.

What About Those Who Have Never Heard

This is the honest question the talk does not dodge, and Sharon is clear she does not have a tidy answer. She lays out three views that Christians hold, all argued from the Bible, and invites people to weigh them for themselves.

  • The Exclusive view says a person needs to consciously hear about Jesus and believe, drawing on passages like Romans 10:14.
  • The Inclusive view says someone who never had the chance to hear, but sincerely sought God, may still be saved through Jesus even without knowing His name, drawing on Romans 2:12-15.
  • The Judgment According to Knowledge view says God does not condemn people for information they never had, and judges them by the truth that was actually available to them.

Sharon flagged this as one to carry into Conversation Street rather than wrap up neatly.

Words of Comfort, Not a Challenge

To us these words can feel like a challenge, but in their original setting they were a comfort. Jesus said them in an upper room in Jerusalem, the night before He was killed, to a group of frightened and confused friends.

He had told them He was leaving and that they could not come with Him yet. They said, in effect, we do not even know where you are going, how can we know the way? And that is when He said, I am the way.

The brutal death He was about to walk into was the very thing that would make a relationship with God possible for them. It spoke straight to their biggest fear, and ours, with hope for this life and beyond it.

Conversation Street Highlights

After the talk, Dan Orange and Dave Connolly carried the conversation on with Sharon and everyone in the Live Lounge. A few threads stood out.

Rules versus relationship. This was the thread the whole conversation kept circling. Dave made the point that for Jesus' first followers the old pattern was about keeping the law and the temple rituals, and that Jesus moves them from a set of rules to a living relationship. As he put it, we must be crazy to settle for rules over relationship.

How easily we slip back into earning it. Sharon was honest that there is something in us that wants to earn our way and feel we deserve it. She pointed to Galatians, where Paul asks whether we received God's Spirit by doing good works or by simply believing what we heard. We receive the gift of life by trust, not by performance, and we are meant to keep living that way rather than switching back into trying to earn favour. Ellis named this from the Live Lounge too, admitting that fear can pull us towards rules, something most of us recognise. Sonia added that walking this way is not easy with everything going on around us, and Will said it plainly, that it is not an easy message and it is far more comfortable not to have to make an exclusive decision.

God knows our hearts. Dave told the story of a parent wrestling a protesting toddler into a car seat, where the child ends up strapped in but, as he put it, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but on the inside I am standing up and still yelling." We can go through all the right motions with our hearts somewhere else entirely, and God sees that, so the invitation is to be real with Him rather than just keep Him sweet.

The discipline of prayer and the word. Asked how you find the balance between resting in grace and still walking the way, Dave said that for him it comes down to two habits he was helped to build, reading the Bible and praying. It is not about how much you do, he said, but about genuinely engaging in the process of being with God. Sharon framed it as starting from the heart, beginning the day by asking "God, what are You saying to me today?" rather than ticking off a list of spiritual tasks.

The Chosen and where to start reading. Sharon recommended the TV series The Chosen as a way of picturing Jesus as a real person who laughed, got angry, and hugged people who needed it, while being clear it is a dramatisation and not the Bible itself. For anyone wanting to open the Bible for the first time, Dan suggested starting with John's Gospel, since it is a gentle way in and it was John who described himself as the friend leaning on Jesus. Dan also likened that first step of faith to the leap across the chasm in Indiana Jones, where the bridge only appears once you put your foot out.

Those who have never heard. Alicia raised good questions about people who never get to hear about Jesus, picking up the thread from the talk. The group did not force an answer, landing instead where Dan did, that God is the judge, He is good and true, and there is no one better to leave that question with. Kath shared that the talk helped her understand for the first time how sin and separation and death fit together.

Key references

  • John 14:6, the central verse ("I am the way, the truth, and the life")
  • John 3:16-17, the invitation open to everyone
  • Ephesians 2:1-3, being spiritually dead before God
  • Romans 6:23, the result of sin is death
  • Romans 3:23-24, all fall short, and are put right freely by grace
  • 1 Timothy 2:5, the one go-between between God and people
  • Romans 10:14, cited for the Exclusive view
  • Romans 2:12-15, cited for the Inclusive view
  • Galatians 3, receiving God's Spirit by faith, not by works
  • C.S. Lewis, the liar, lunatic or Lord argument
  • The Chosen, the TV dramatisation of the life of Jesus

Quotes from the talk

"He offers Himself, not just a list of things to do. He offers a relationship rather than a system or a roadmap." (Sharon Edmundson)

"We must be crazy to settle for rules over relationship." (Dave Connolly)

"In the original context, they weren't actually said as a challenge. They were said as a comfort." (Sharon Edmundson)

Links

  • Find us and watch again at crowd.church
  • Join the Live Lounge to watch live and talk it through with others at go.crowd.church/livelounge
  • Next week we stay in John 14:6 and look at Jesus as the truth

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