Jesus is the REAL DEAL baby!!!

     So, I have been thinking for the past 2 weeks about something. And since the time for me to start studying for a test (that I have tomorrow) has come I of course chose right now to blog about it. Anyways, my thoughts have been drifting to Jesus and how he Mingles and intertwines with several other faith traditions, not just Christianity.


    Let me give you some examples...


Islam- Jesus was considered to be a messenger of God who was sent to guide the people of Israel. He is mentioned in the Qur'an 24 times. He is the son of Mary through a virginal birth. He was able to perform miracles. And Muslims believe that he was not killed or crucified, but was raised ALIVE to Heaven.
*Hmmm... do we see some similarities there?? Just a change to the last line up there. 


Judaism- In the Jewish tradition Jesus was looked at as a false prophet. After his crucifixion his followers, who were fellow Jews, claimed that he WAS in fact the Messiah that was prophesied in Jewish text.
*Jesus was still in Jewish history, he still played a part, even it was a controversial roll to some.


Buddhism- There is no text that mentions Jesus in Buddhism. However, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, regarded Jesus as a bodhisattva ( or an enlightened being ) who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. 
*That is a big deal if you think about it. A Dalai Lama is a Buddhist leader over religious officials. He is like the Pope for Tibetan Buddhism. So if he is thinking that Jesus was an enlightened being, well thats huge.


Hinduism-  Like Buddhism there is  no text that mentions Jesus, but Hindus do still believe that Jesus was a real man, who was a teacher.


All of this strikes hard with me because, if all of these religions recognize MY JESUS, that is telling me that He is the REAL DEAL!!! Where I differ from all of these other religions is that I do believe that Jesus Chris was the son of the ONE AND ONLY GOD. That he was sent here as an ordinary man. Who did perform miracles. Who was Crucified for me and all of  my sins. He was risen from the dead. Then ascended back to Heaven. And who will one day come back here and bring me to heaven. He did all of this for ME. He is my personal, loving, grace giving, amazing Jesus Christ.


One more thing. I sit next to this guy in my Islam class, who told me this " We Muslims believe in your Jesus, He was a prophet who got the message before Muhammad, We are jealous that God chose Yall first."


Just something to think about. Jesus is the Real Deal!!!