One of the
verses in the Bible that I have had difficulty in relating to is John 14:6, in
which Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.” Does it mean
that being a Christian is a necessary condition for salvation? While I have
never had any serious intention of following any religion except Christianity,
the ‘exclusivity that seemed to be implied by this statement made me
uncomfortable as I have been brought up in an environment that respects other
religions and also encourages learning from them (See Celebrating
Onam in the Church). I have seen many very noble and pious people in other
religions. Does this exclusivity mean that they are on the ‘wrong’ path? While
I still haven’t fully resolved this (and maybe, I never will, thank God for
that!), of late some ideas have started evolving in my mind.
The term ‘way’
means a path or a route. So, it becomes imperative to find out what is the way
that is Jesus Christ. To me, 'the greatest miracle of Jesus is himself' (see Miracle) –
the very act of being fully man and fully God. I think that God became human so
that humans have a route to be one with God. So the life, love, rejection, acceptance, frustration, fellowship, loneliness, joy, sorrow, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus on earth is in a way a 'path-breaking' activity, establishing a new road, a new level of understanding and a new relationship between humans and God.I also think that ‘being in Christ’
is not necessarily the same as being a Christian (in the sense of being part of
the Christian religion).
May be, it is an
invitation to be more like Jesus (fully human and fully divine at the same
time) and not meant to be an instruction to follow any particular belief
system about Jesus Christ. As we have seen in 'From belief to experience and faith', a 'hand me down' belief system could be a big impediment to knowing Christ. For most of us (except those who have had a ‘direct
experience’), the Christ we know is essentially the ‘Christ in the Bible’ (a
picture that can capture only some aspects of Christ and that is also subject
to the limitations of context, language and interpretation) and not the ‘real
Christ’ or even the ‘historical Christ’!
Hence the highest understanding that I am capable of at
this point on this matter is that by being fully man and fully God, Jesus has created
the royal road to salvation for us! Now, I am not yet sure about all the different manners in which we can walk on this path though I have an inkling that nurturing the both the humane and divine in us won't be a bad idea! Also, as Jesus himself said that 'God is love' that is probably the meeting point between the humane and the divine! 
