What Makes Jesus Different?
Why is Jesus Different From All the Others? |
There is another difference. Of them all, only Jesus died in your place. Did Mohammed claim to do this? Buddha? No. Only Jesus. Other moral leaders claimed to be “good,” to be worthy of following. But Jesus was more. When someone came trying to flatter Jesus, He spoke sharply to them. (See Mark. 10:18 or Luke 18:19.) “A man ran up and knelt before Him. ‘Good Teacher’ ...‘Why do you call Me good?’Jesus replied.‘No one is good except God alone.’”Jesus is saying, “If you really believe I am good, then you are calling me God. Is that what you mean to do?”For that is who He is.Only He could die for us as a perfect, sinless sacrifice to pay for our sins.
Yes, He was unique. While He lived the greatest theological minds of His time tried to trap Jesus into an inconsistency or a lie. They never could (Matt. 22:46). The greatest philosophical minds through the ages have examined the words of Jesus, and no one has yet caught Him in an inconsistency or lie. One who tried was Lee Strobel who, as an atheist, set out to prove that Christianity was a farce and Jesus was a liar. By reading the Bible himself, he came to another conclusion –that Jesus IS different from any other, that He is the Son of God and worthy of worship. I suggest you read the book he wrote about this experience, called The Case for Christ.
Others have tried instead to diminish Jesus by saying that He was merely a good guy. Perhaps He was even a great moral teacher, but that’s all. C.S. Lewis dashes this idea:
Lewis’ words are from Mere Christianity, another book worth reading. They are the source of the phrase, “Liar, Lunatic, or LORD!” Those are the choices we each have regarding Jesus.
What about you? Are you lost in moral relativism, willing to say Jesus is some good leader... but unwilling to say, “Jesus is God and Lord”? Or do you see the very real difference between Jesus and every othermoral leader who ever lived? “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Yes, Jesus is different from any other–He is the only one who can save you.
Helpful Additional Resources:
How is Jesus different from other religious leaders? An article by Got Questions