How three letters changed my life
By Jessica Brodie
People say it’s the most boring word in the English language, but it changed my life—the word “the.”
See, I grew up in South Florida with friends from lots of different cultures, ethnicities, and faith traditions. In the name of getting along, I trained my brain to be flexible and accommodating about all kinds of things, and for the most part, this has been a good thing. It’s kept me openminded, accepting, humble, and tolerant.
But there was one huge downfall: As a Christian, being so openminded and flexible confused me, and I developed the idea that the mainstay of my own faith—Jesus—was also flexible. While I believed in Jesus, I didn’t want to offend anyone with my beliefs, and I eventually concluded that maybe my friends, who were not Christian, didn’t have to believe in Jesus to have eternal life. After a time, curiosity took root, and I also started to question whether Jesus was an absolutely necessary component to eternal life in my own faith.
So I turned to the authority—the Bible. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me understand, and then I jumped in, reading God’s Word cover to cover. Twice.
One verse struck me like a hungry viper, and it didn’t let go: John 14:6, which reads, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV).
Notice Jesus didn’t say I am “a” way but “the” way. The Greek uses the word ἡ before way, truth, and life, and ἡ represents “the,” a word with emphasis and specificity. That is, “the” isn’t used loosely. Jesus is the way—the only way, this appears to say. He’s the only truth and the only path to life.
And in case we weren’t clear on the matter already, Jesus added His crystal-clear follow-up: “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Those three letters, “the,” changed my life. I understood fully, and I haven’t forgotten, that while I might be openminded about cultural traditions and certain practices, Jesus as my path to eternal life is ironclad truth now and forever.
Sometimes my old habits resurface. I hear a particular Scripture and think, “That doesn’t seem fair. I bet God didn’t mean it that way.”
So I research the full context or take a look at the original text and its translation, and I try my best to understand. I want to wrap my mind around God’s way, not attempt conform God’s words to my own thinking.
When it expanded to include Gentiles and not just former Jews, early Christianity went back and forth over some traditions, such as circumcision. Many Jewish Christians felt circumcision was necessary for salvation. But finally, Peter said, “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are” (Acts 15:11 NIV) and James ultimately concluded, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:19).
But about Jesus as the path to eternal life? There’s no room for back-and-forth there.
Jesus is “the” way, truth and life. A song by Casting Crowns, “Only Jesus,” helps remind me of this:
How about you? Did you struggle to accept Jesus as the only way, or did you always understand this as truth? Share in the comments below!
