From our Easter Sunday service on April 5, 2026, Psalm 1; Matthew 7; John 14; Luke 23-24. Watch the full message: The Way to Heaven on YouTube.
I like to talk about the resurrection on Easter, but I also like to tie it to something people do not always expect. The early church understood that life is about choosing a path, and Easter is about how God made a way when we could not. In the original languages, “the way” is a road, a path designed for travel. God wants you to know that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Two Ways, and We Cannot Walk the Right One Alone
There are two ways in life. One leads to life, and Jesus made that way through His death and resurrection. The other leads to death, and it is the natural path we walk when we live under our sin. Even one of the earliest Christian manuals outside the Bible began with that same confession: there are two ways, one of life and one of death, and a great difference between them.
That contrast is already in Psalm 1, the psalm of the two paths. The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and he is like a tree planted by rivers of water. The ungodly are not so. They are like chaff that the wind drives away, and they will not stand in the judgment. The way of life is to follow the standards God has set. There is only one problem: none of us has walked that way consistently, perfectly, all the time. I know I have not. We are all sinners, and sinners will not stand in the judgment. Left to our own ability, we are all destined for the path of death.
But the story does not end with a demand that we be perfect. John came preaching repentance, and Isaiah’s words were fulfilled: a voice in the wilderness telling us to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight, because all flesh would see the salvation of God. The way is not only a moral road we were told to walk. The way is God coming to save us, and He Himself would walk that path.
The Way Is Narrow, and Jesus Is the Way
Jesus then makes the two paths unmistakable:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:13–14
Many people will tell you there are many pathways to God. That is not what the Bible teaches. There is one way. All roads may have led to Rome, but not all roads lead to God. There are many ways a person can get onto that road, and many points at which someone may enter it, but there is only one road to heaven, paved through Jesus Christ. The way to life is narrow and strict. Few find it. That is a sad truth. Many will think they have found a path, and then discover it was not the right path at all. They will point to moral choices, or to other beliefs that seemed to line up with Jesus’ teaching about morality. But the path to heaven is not about morality. It is about submission to Jesus Christ, saying that our works are like filthy rags, like trash rotting in a dump, and rejecting them in pursuit of Him.
How, then, do we find the way? Jesus was preparing for the cross when He said this to His disciples:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:1–6
Thomas did not know the way, and Jesus did not point him to a method or a list. He pointed to Himself. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” No man comes to the Father but by Him. He was going to prepare a place, and the way to that place would be His own person, His own work. He also announced what that work would cost. If He was lifted up from the earth, He would draw all men to Himself, signifying the death He would die. The path would be opened at the cross, and people would be drawn to it in many different circumstances, but they would all be drawn to the same Lord.
The Way Was Costly, and It Is Open
The way to heaven was not easily made. Jesus went through great difficulty to prepare it. He was condemned though Pilate found no fault in Him. He was taken outside the city and crucified, and even then He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” In the middle of that suffering we see a dying faith:
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Luke 23:39–43
One criminal only mocked. The other feared God, admitted that he was dying justly, and confessed that Jesus had done nothing amiss. Then he called Him Lord and said, “Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Knowing you are wrong is not yet the way of life. He also put his faith in Jesus. He knew his works were not enough, and he asked to be remembered. Jesus did not tell him to get down and live a better life first. He said, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The way was being paved, and a man with nothing left but faith was brought onto it.
Then darkness covered the earth, the veil of the temple was torn, and Jesus cried, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” and gave up the ghost. Being God, He could not die unless He willed it. They could nail Him there, but they could not take His life until He laid it down. And that is not where the story ends.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Luke 24:1–7
He is not here, but is risen. The women found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, and they were told to remember that He had already said this would happen. This was not a private rumor. Paul later recorded that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas, of the twelve, of more than five hundred brethren at once, of James, and of Paul himself. Those witnesses were willing to lose their freedom and their lives rather than deny that He was alive. Paul even tells us to think hard about it: if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and our faith is also vain. But Christ is risen, and because He lives, the way He opened is a living way.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19–22
By His blood we have boldness to enter the holiest. Through His flesh, the torn veil, He has consecrated a new and living way, and we may draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. There are two ways, but only one leads to life. We could never make that path ourselves. Jesus did, through His death and resurrection. Like the thief on the cross, we do not need a lifetime of perfection. We need true faith in the One who is the way. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Jesus has made the way. Will you follow Him on His path?
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