Is Jesus the Only Way? (Matt. 22:1-14; John 14:5-6)

It may surprise you to know what many Americans consider to be the most serious sin. No, it’s not murder. Even murder can have mitigating factors. According to an article by Daniel Taylor in Christianity Today, many Americans consider the worst sin to be intolerance.

And guess who are the worst sinners, at least in the minds of many Americans? Evangelical Christians! One writer said, "Christians are seen as the pit bulls of culture wars--small brains, big teeth, strong jaws and no interest in compromise."

A guest on National Public Radio shocked even his liberal host when he objected to the Southern Baptist belief that a lot of people are going to hell. By the way, that’s not just a Southern Baptist belief; that’s a biblical truth. The guest on NPR offered this rather hateful comment: "The evaporation of four million Baptists who believe that garbage would leave the world a better place." Sounds to me like that guest was mighty intolerant of the Baptists. Don’t the Baptists have a right to their biblical interpretation?

Dr. Laura, the popular and controversial radio host, has talked about the large volume of hate mail she receives for believing in moral absolutes. Her enemies ask her to be more tolerant of other moral views, but they don’t want to tolerate her views.

In America, we believe in religious toleration. You can even be a Satan worshipper and have your religious expression protected. But along with our toleration has come the dangerous idea that no religion should make exclusive claims to truth. R.C. Sproul says that making exclusive claims in America is "like attacking baseball, hot dogs, motherhood and apple pie (not to mention Chevrolet)."¹

Jesus said many politically incorrect things, but the most shocking is recorded in John 14: He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (NIV).

Now that’s an exclusive statement! CNN would never allow someone to make such a statement without an instant rebuttal.

St. Peter made that claim of Jesus even more blatant when he 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).

Lots of Americans almost wallow in tolerance. They feel that as long as a person is sincere about his religious beliefs, it doesn’t matter what he believes. But isn’t it strange that they apply this logic to faith but not to any other area of their lives? They want the pilot flying their next commercial flight to be right, not just sincere. They want the accountant who does their taxes to be right, not just sincere. They want the pharmacist who prepares their prescription to be right, not just sincere. Why, then, in the single most important area of their lives--their relationship with God--would they be willing to settle for sincerity instead of accuracy? It makes no sense.

When Jesus claimed that He was the only way to God the Father, He was motivated not by arrogance but by compassion. If you will suspend judgment for just a little while and consider with me a simple story Jesus told, I believe that Jesus’ claim will begin to make sense.

In Matthew 22, Jesus told a story about a king whose son was getting married. No doubt, the king rented the banquet hall and ballroom of a big hotel and threw a bodacious bash.

Remember, in first-century Palestine, most people were poor. But even among the poor, a wedding called for a weeklong party. This was the one occasion in life when the poor splurged, even if on borrowed funds. So if the king, with all his resources, was throwing a party, it’s probably going to be a Middle Eastern version of Mardi Gras. Therefore, you would assume that everybody would want to come to such a party. Wrong! Lots of specially invited guests refused to come.

Jesus was clearly referring to the Jewish people who had been invited to be God’s chosen people. They were to be His cradle for the Messiah, a chosen race and a holy priesthood, designed to bless the entire world.

But the Jews persecuted most of the prophets sent by God; and, tragically, they rejected the Messiah when He came.

Verses 8 through 10 tell us that the king then extended his invitation to everybody--Jews and Gentiles, the good and the bad, the rich and the poor.

It is a glorious truth that every person is invited into the Kingdom of God. Come as you are! God accepts us as we are but loves us far too much to leave us as we are.

Then comes that difficult final part of the story, verses 11 through 14. The king found a fellow at the party who was not wearing the proper attire and kicked him out. You probably are thinking: If the king was tolerant enough to let anyone come to his party, why would he get bent out of shape over what they are wearing?

St. Augustine, a great church leader of the fourth century, has helped us at this point. He explained that each person who accepted the king’s invitation was given proper attire for the banquet. The king was aware that poor people would not have proper clothing for such an occasion. Not wanting anyone to feel inferior, the king provided standard clothing for all the guests to wear.

But this fellow in verse 11 was a rebel at heart. He disregarded the generosity of the king and decided to come on his own terms.