How, then, do the two religions differ? They have very different ways to reach God. Christianity’s road is Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Judaism’s road is the Law of Moses. To understand how these ways differ, let’s draw a picture—the Parable of the Wall—in which sin is an enormously high wall that separates God from man (Isaiah 59:2).
Judaism quite rightly wants to come to God. But the high wall is in the way. So, the conscientious Jew starts to make a ladder. After a while, he realizes no ladder is tall enough. So, he begins to erect scaffolding. Yet the wall is so high that scaffolding requires enormous expenditures. Laboring year after year at the wall naturally suggests building dwellings close to the wall, or more securely, against the wall. Of course, all this construction at the wall just makes it thicker and stronger than ever. That is Judaism, and it is still building to this day, using the best of human will, human wisdom, human effort and human resources. Like every other human religion, the work that began for getting over the wall ends up living by the wall.
Christianity shifts the scene to God’s side of the wall. God’s love is so great that He is more determined than anyone to solve the problem of the wall. Moreover, where man keeps failing, God has the power and wisdom to succeed. God’s method is simple, but painful. He forms Himself into a mighty battering ram (the Man, Jesus Christ). After careful preparation, God uses all His love and determination to drive His powerful ram into the wall. To thrust so deeply into the wall—into the sin that God hates—costs Him more than we can imagine. But the result is a tunnel punched all the way through the wall. Then God sends out His messengers, beginning with the apostles. They tell people all along the wall, “God Himself has solved the problem! God has made a great hole by sacrificing His own Son! Anyone who comes to God through that tunnel will live with God forever!” Some people accept the Good News. They leave their homes by the wall. One by one they arrive at the tunnel. The tunnel seems long and deep, but those who truly believe pass through the tunnel (through the death of Christ). On the other side, God welcomes them as His children.