Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one knows the Father but through me.”
It’s October–the month of Halloween–so I’m going to use a scary movie analogy.
We’ve seen it many times in one form or another: the killer is coming, the potential victim is desperately trying to escape. She found the keys to the locked door or the keys to the car outside. She has to unlock the door to get away or she has to start the car in time to drive off before the killer gets her. In these movies, the victim always struggles to find the right key on a keychain full of options. Her hands shake as she tries the first key–no good! Another key–doesn’t fit either! Another key–it fits the hole, but isn’t the right one! The killer is closing in! Time is running out! Find the key! FIND THE KEY!
It’s an easy story device to ratchet up the tension of the moment. It may even be based in reality to some degree: the greater the pressure of the moment, our nerves may make our hands jittery, or we may be too flustered to think straight. Whatever the actual reason, the moment is always fraught with terror. Find the right key and you live. Don’t find it (which means choosing the wrong key or keys) and you die. Yikes! No wonder her hands are shaking.
Now imagine this same situation, but the keychain only has one key–whether it’s for a door to escape or the key to crank the car. You have one key, you insert it into the lock (or the ignition), and there’s no guesswork. The door opens; the car cranks. The victim escapes the killer and lives!
How much better is that situation than the one we’re used to seeing in scary movies? Having only one key eliminates the guesswork. No fumbling around, trying key after key. Your hands may shake a little, but the one and only key fits, and you escape to live another day.
How cruel would it be for God to leave us in a fallen, dying world in which we have to fumble around with the keys and HOPE it’s the right one?
If we take a step back and examine the psychology of the situation, we can easily see why it’s such a reliable device in scary movies. 1) There’s a time component–the killer is coming. Every wrong key takes time and the killer gets closer. The more wrong keys the victim chooses, the longer it takes, and the closer the killer gets. 2) There’s a choice–numerous wrong keys and (hopefully) one right one. Every wrong choice postpones relief and prolongs fear and desperation. And 3) the stakes are high. It is truly life or death. Only one of the keys leads to life. ALL OF THE OTHERS lead to death. Every wrong key is a death key.
How cruel would it be for God to leave us in a fallen, dying world in which we have to fumble around with the keys and HOPE it’s the right one? We talk about God as a loving God (which He is!), yet so many people want to believe that there are many, many keys on the keychain–some of which might work and some of which might not. With so many options–many of which are similar, but not identical–how would we ever know which one to choose?
Have you ever tried to unlock a door with a “similar” key? The key fits in the hole, but doesn’t turn the tumblers inside. It’s frustrating, slows us down, and muddies the water–heck, the keys are so similar, we may even accidentally try the same wrong key over again (with the same result, of course).
No, God is not cruel. He LOVES us and He WANTS us to choose the right key. So what did He do to make that clear and easy for us? He said so! Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life–no one comes to the Father but through me.” Note the key words there: “NO ONE…” and “through me.” In other words, the way to get to the Father, the way to LIVE, the key to avoid DEATH is through Jesus Christ. He Himself said it.
He didn’t say, “ONE WAY to the Father is through me.” He plainly stated that He is the only way. He gave us the one key that we need. GAVE it to us. We don’t deserve it. We didn’t earn it. Be thankful that we have a loving, Heavenly Father who gave it to us freely and made sure we know that it is the ONLY key we need.
A life full of keys that don’t work will lead to death. I pray that each of you chooses the one and only key that leads to LIFE.
