When Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life and none shall come to the Father but through him, he told us he would be a beacon, a gatekeeper, a guide and a judge. It bears noting, however, that he never laid down a religion we had to follow to get past him and see the Father. He told us how to generally behave and what to seek; he didn’t free us from sin to deliver us to the bondage of rigid and cruel dogma.