The Way The Truth and The life

 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 

What did Jesus Christ mean by this?

Generally, this verse is presented alone - out of the context of the whole dialogue between Christ and His beloved disciples in the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of John. It is often presented as saying that Christ alone can bring the human soul to God, that all other ways are either inferior or false. Often, Christians are taught to view loyalty to Jesus Christ as requiring the belief that Jesus alone is the Way to God.

Is this what Jesus Christ is saying?

As we read the entire dialogue, we see that Jesus never refers to the other Prophets of God and that alone among them He is the path of salvation; He is referring to the Deity and saying that we human souls cannot know the Deity directly, but only through Him as Mediator. 

Like Christianity, the Baha'i Faith teaches that the purpose of all creation is for the human soul to know God. Baha'u'llah wrote:

"The supreme cause for creating the world and all that is therein is for man to know God." (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 267)  A multitude of Baha'u'llah's Writings address this exalted theme. His greatest doctrinal work, The Book of Certitude, contains a lengthy section providing guidance to the "true seeker" in "the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days." (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 192) 

Related to this principle that union with God is the purpose of life, is the Baha'i teaching that when we know God we are not connecting directly to the Author of the universe: We are connecting with the Manifestations He has sent. These Beings are known by many titles - Prophets, Messengers, the Word of God - the Baha'i Writings refer to them as Manifestations of God.

The Guardian of the Baha'i Faith wrote through his secretary, 

"We cannot know God directly, but only through His Prophets. We can pray to Him, realizing that through His Prophets we know Him ... We find God only through the Intermediary of His Prophet. We see the Perfection of God in His Prophets." (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 9, 1947; Lights of Guidance, p. 504-505, #1699; Messages to Alaska)

And Baha'u'llah wrote, 

"For God, in His Essence, is sanctified above all ascent and descent, egress and regress; He hath through all eternity been exalted beyond the attributes of His creation, and will ever remain so. No man hath ever known Him; no soul hath ever fathomed the nature of His Being. In the valley of His knowledge every mystic wandereth astray; in the comprehension of His Essence every saint standeth bewildered. Sanctified is He above the understanding of the wise; exalted is He beyond the knowledge of the knowing!" (Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys) 

The Baha'i Faith like all other revealed faiths provides a path to the knowledge of God. That knowledge is attained through the Manifestations He sends. Baha’u’llah wrote, 

"He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah p. 49)

Baha'u'llah also writes,

"The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 49) 

Seen in context, we see that Jesus is saying the same thing in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John: 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."

In saying "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" Jesus is not presenting Himself as the exclusive path to divine Truth and all other Prophets as false, as incapable of leading humanity to God. He is saying the same thing Baha'u'llah says: There is no direct route to the Deity.

"For the Apostles and Messengers of God have ever been the channels of His abounding grace, and whatsoever man hath received from God hath been through the intermediary of those Embodiments of holiness and Essences of detachment, those Repositories of His knowledge and Exponents of His Cause." (Baha'u'llah, "Tabernacle of Unity")