Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6, TLV

Which Way? The Way. This verse not only was the message that Yeshua was the only way to the Father, but it became an indelible identity for the followers of Jesus after His ascension.

Jewish followers of Yeshua were not called Christians. They were called, oddly enough, Jews who followed The Way. Especially in the early years when there were more Jews than non-Jews (Acts 9:1-2; 19:1, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22) who came to faith through the word of the apostles.

He was and is The only Way to the Father.

It wasn’t until the first gentile congregation was formed in the Syrian city of Antioch (Acts 11:26), that non-Jewish followers of Jesus were called “Christians.” Christians is the English derivative of the Greek word for Messianics. As more and more Gentiles came to faith the term grew. When did it usurp the term, “Followers of the Way?” I don’t know.

Why the distinction between Jewish and Gentile followers?

It’s a shame we’ve lost the simplicity of calling ourselves followers. Or perhaps Redeemed Children. It seems more unifying.

But the real clincher in this verse is that Jesus says He is the only way to the Father. The whole purpose of Yeshua coming to earth as a human was to direct first the Jewish people, then the nations, to His Father. Yeshua was all about showing us how to live for His Dad and His Dad said that sin divides us from Him. We can’t get near the Father without Yeshua’s atonement.

I wonder. Many religions acknowledge that Jesus was a good guy. Even a prophet. But the only way to GOD? The Creator of the Universe, to ADONAI? If we don’t focus on our relationship with the Father — the reason His Son sacrificed Himself for us — then we lose perspective. Thoughts?