Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Mark 13:31
You’ve got to be kidding me! How could anyone say anything so arrogant about themselves? This must be the height of arrogance.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say something like this,
“Well, all religions are basically the same.”
The person saying this is trying to convince us that all religions, all belief, and faith systems are the same thing. They might use different words, different ideas, but at the center, they’re all the same.”
· Have you heard this?
· How did it make you feel?
· Did you want to agree with them?
· What did you say?
· Did you feel like you were able to express yourself well?
Full disclosure: in the past I said this. I believed this. There was a time when I thought that all the different religions were like a Ven Diagram[1]: this is where you have overlapping circles. There are things out around the edges that are different. But at the core, at their center, they’re the same.
Well, Jesus just blows up the idea that they are all alike. He says that the earth, the heavens, and the entire physical universe will one day be gone. The pyramids will be gone, so will the mountains and the oceans. And when that happens, when everything that has ever existed here on planet earth, when every thought, idea, philosophy, and belief are left in the rubble of the universe, something will still be around. His words.
Now, that’s some brazen claim. Everything else ever created, every idea, philosophy, everything that we have come to depend on will be gone. But Jesus says that his words will still remain.
Here is a very brief summary of the four founders of the world’s major religions. How would you compare them?
· Buddha claimed to be a philosopher, a seeker of truth.
· Mohammad claimed to be a prophet, teller of truth.
· Confucius claimed to be a teacher, teacher of truth
· Jesus claimed to be God, deity and the one and only truth incarnate.
Nathan Betts has a video on why to choose Jesus over Buddha or Muhammad[2] that’s very helpful. It’s less than three-minutes and he gives a very respectful and thought-out overview. It’s well worth your time.
Basically, Jesus is saying that everyone else, and everything they’ve ever said is insignificant to him and what he’s said. Yet, how does he treat people?
He loves on them. He cares for them. He serves them. He washes their feet. He heals them. He raises them from the dead. He dies for them.
This is not marching orders to conquer and rule with an iron fist. We’re not to force Christian teaching and values on people at gunpoint. Or with threats.
No, this is our Jesus, the creator and ruler of the world, the universe, of all history. We are to worship him and follow his example of loving, caring, serving, washing feet, healing, raising up others while we die to ourselves.
· There is no call to arms with Jesus, but there’s a call to pray.
· There is no revolution with Jesus, but there’s a revolution in our lives.
· There is no political victory with Jesus, but there’s victory over sin and death.
We’re commanded and charged to follow Jesus’ example. To follow his words. He died for us, so we must die to ourselves. And die that others might know him.
We need to follow his command.
Go and do likewise.
Luke 10:37
So, how’s your going and doing likewise doing?
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