what makes Jesus so unique?
There’s no shortage of self-help and improvement systems that people are trying to follow today. Get on Instagram and you’ll be bombarded by all kinds of ideas and beliefs about how to turn your life around and get to where you want to go, whether you’re trying to be successful, skinny, or at peace with your past.
Our culture looks at Jesus and Christianity through this same framework: He’s just another inspiring teacher try to help you cope with the questions and stresses of life as you try to be a better person.
But that’s not who Jesus was at all! Jesus was completely different from every other religious founder, philosophical thinker, or Instagram influencer who has ever lived. How?
Because Jesus didn’t just point the way to God, He BECAME the way to God.
Every other movement leader in the history of the world, whether religious or secular, tells you what the good life is, but the onus for getting there is on you!
Muhammad taught his followers that they need to follow the five pillars of Islam to be admitted into paradise.
The Buddha taught his followers that they need to follow the four noble truths to become at one with themselves and reach true enlightenment.
Karl Marx taught his followers that they needed to overthrow the bourgeoisie to create an earthly utopia.
Every fitness guru teaches their followers that need to follow a strict exercise and nutrition regimen so that they can try to live forever.
Every Instagram spiritualist teaches their followers to love themselves, meditate daily, and pursue their truth to reach a state of inner peace.
Every teacher in the history of the world has tried to show their followers how to reach eternal life, but Jesus is the only person who became the way to eternal life. He didn’t just give you a new set of commands or a lifestyle system to work harder at, but rather did what we could never do.
That’s what makes Jesus so unique: He didn’t come to earth primarily to be an example to us, but rather a substitute for us!
Jesus didn’t come to earth just as a teacher so that you could know how to get to God, but rather He came as a savior so that you could be with God. With every other religion or movement, the burden is on you. You have to:
Figure out which way among all of the options is your best bet to perfection.
Muster up the self-will to work hard and hold yourself accountable.
Constantly observe and obsess over how you’re performing.
Maintain perseverance to keep going even when you are constantly falling short of your standards.
But that’s what’s so different about Christianity: your acceptability doesn’t come through your ability to follow a system, but rather because Jesus lived the perfect life you and I couldn’t. Jesus is the only one who comes to you and says: you can’t ever do enough, so I had to do it for you.
He’s the only spiritual teacher who’s ever lived who took the burden on Himself. That’s why He can tell His followers to “Trust in me and rest,” while every other inspirational teacher says “Learn from me but get to work!”
It’s great to grow and get better, but don’t ever forget that Jesus and Christianity isn’t just another way for you to work to prove that you’re good enough for God, but rather the story of how Jesus the savior you need to get to God.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
