The Search for Christ ( Mathew Idikkula)
Published on 22 December, 2014
No one has moved the popular minds as Jesus Christ did two thousand years ago with his intensely practical teachings. He inspired, healed, and transformed many, and he continues to inspire millions by virtue of the tremendous spiritual energy that he left for the world. Every time we feed a hungry, nurse a sick, care for a needy, or simply chant the name of Jesus, that energy is multiplied.
Profound were his teachings; concise were his words, and yet they spoke volumes. It has been said that if the doings and sayings of this great master had all been written down, it would be enough to fill the world!
Who was Jesus? Was he a historical person? What was his mission? Was he unique in history? These are the questions discussed here in the light of the testimonies of some great minds as well as the sayings of Jesus himself.
As the saying goes, “The tree is known by its fruits.” The best critique on the life of Jesus is his own life, which reveals that he was no ordinary being. He was indeed an avatar—a divine incarnation in human form, using his body for the good of humanity; that was his only connection with this world. Listen to his own words, “ye are from beneath. I am from above.” “I and my Father are one.”
Naturally, Jesus had no faith in the passing life of this world. He always pointed to a “higher life, not this life.” Jesus never entertained any physical ideas in him. Neither did he have any family ties, unlike us humans. Listen to this passage from a lecture on Christ that Swami Vivekananda gave at Los Angeles in 1900: “He had no other occupation in life, no other thought except that one that he was Spirit. He was disembodied, unfettered, unbound Spirit.” In short, Jesus had nothing to call “me” or “mine.” He was perfectly selfless. He was the ideal.
There have been many who have taken Jesus to be a historical person. How can we drag an ideal down to the human level? The best tribute we can pay him is to worship him as God only. Consider John’s gospel statement where he makes it clear that the same word that was “in the beginning,” and “was God” was made flesh in Christ—meaning that Jesus was not merely a man born to Joseph and Mary, but he is the eternal Truth, one with the Father. This is further validated by Jesus himself: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Why did Jesus descend into this world? In fact, Jesus testifies in his own words the purpose of his mission,”Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
The law, the eternal truth of religion preached by prophets before, already existed in the Jewish faith. Jesus came to galvanize humanity with a new interpretation, a new vision. That’s all. And in doing so, he was merely upholding the eternal spirit of the Jewish faith. More precisely, Jesus came to show the path to salvation.To fulfill his mission, Jesus taught extensively with the sole intent to instill a true spiritual sense among the people so that they are better positioned to strive after the truth of God.
It is a fact of history that Jesus was a divine incarnation; but it is also a fact of history that there were other incarnations as well. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Sri Ramakrishna were divine incarnations with identical teachings. Those who regard that Jesus was unique in history base their belief mostly upon this statement of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
But when we study other incarnations, we find similar statements from them too. For instance, Krishna says: “I am the goal of the wise man, and I am the way.” “I am the end of the path, the witness, the Lord, the sustainer. I am the place of abode, the beginning, the friend and the refuge.” Similar statements can be traced to Buddha as well.
The problem comes when we are swayed more by a literal interpretation of the letters than by their deeper spiritual meaning. Bear in mind that whenever the incarnations use the words “I” or “me,” they are not asserting their ego but their divinity only, which is one with the Godhead. Of all the incarnations, none have ever implied their personality with such words as “I” or “me.”
Now the question remains: why would God descend as man more than once?For the answer, let us turn to Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says: “Whenever virtue subsides and immorality prevails, I make myself a body. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of Dharma, I come into being, in every age.” Accordingly, all the incarnations appeared on the world stage at a critical point in time. Most important, it is always the same supreme Spirit that empowers all incarnations, regardless of the place or the age of their appearance.
Every incarnation, therefore, becomes the way, the truth, and the life. He who came as Rama, as Krishna, and as Buddha, came as Christ, and later as Sri Ramakrishna. When we worship one, we worship the other as well. For they are all different manifestations of the one supreme Truth, like one wine in many bottles.We canapproach the supreme Truth only through one of its manifestations. We seek the Father through Christ. Ultimately, the search for Christ is the search for the Father—the supreme Truth.
Profound were his teachings; concise were his words, and yet they spoke volumes. It has been said that if the doings and sayings of this great master had all been written down, it would be enough to fill the world!
Who was Jesus? Was he a historical person? What was his mission? Was he unique in history? These are the questions discussed here in the light of the testimonies of some great minds as well as the sayings of Jesus himself.
As the saying goes, “The tree is known by its fruits.” The best critique on the life of Jesus is his own life, which reveals that he was no ordinary being. He was indeed an avatar—a divine incarnation in human form, using his body for the good of humanity; that was his only connection with this world. Listen to his own words, “ye are from beneath. I am from above.” “I and my Father are one.”
Naturally, Jesus had no faith in the passing life of this world. He always pointed to a “higher life, not this life.” Jesus never entertained any physical ideas in him. Neither did he have any family ties, unlike us humans. Listen to this passage from a lecture on Christ that Swami Vivekananda gave at Los Angeles in 1900: “He had no other occupation in life, no other thought except that one that he was Spirit. He was disembodied, unfettered, unbound Spirit.” In short, Jesus had nothing to call “me” or “mine.” He was perfectly selfless. He was the ideal.
There have been many who have taken Jesus to be a historical person. How can we drag an ideal down to the human level? The best tribute we can pay him is to worship him as God only. Consider John’s gospel statement where he makes it clear that the same word that was “in the beginning,” and “was God” was made flesh in Christ—meaning that Jesus was not merely a man born to Joseph and Mary, but he is the eternal Truth, one with the Father. This is further validated by Jesus himself: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Why did Jesus descend into this world? In fact, Jesus testifies in his own words the purpose of his mission,”Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
The law, the eternal truth of religion preached by prophets before, already existed in the Jewish faith. Jesus came to galvanize humanity with a new interpretation, a new vision. That’s all. And in doing so, he was merely upholding the eternal spirit of the Jewish faith. More precisely, Jesus came to show the path to salvation.To fulfill his mission, Jesus taught extensively with the sole intent to instill a true spiritual sense among the people so that they are better positioned to strive after the truth of God.
It is a fact of history that Jesus was a divine incarnation; but it is also a fact of history that there were other incarnations as well. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Sri Ramakrishna were divine incarnations with identical teachings. Those who regard that Jesus was unique in history base their belief mostly upon this statement of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
But when we study other incarnations, we find similar statements from them too. For instance, Krishna says: “I am the goal of the wise man, and I am the way.” “I am the end of the path, the witness, the Lord, the sustainer. I am the place of abode, the beginning, the friend and the refuge.” Similar statements can be traced to Buddha as well.
The problem comes when we are swayed more by a literal interpretation of the letters than by their deeper spiritual meaning. Bear in mind that whenever the incarnations use the words “I” or “me,” they are not asserting their ego but their divinity only, which is one with the Godhead. Of all the incarnations, none have ever implied their personality with such words as “I” or “me.”
Now the question remains: why would God descend as man more than once?For the answer, let us turn to Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says: “Whenever virtue subsides and immorality prevails, I make myself a body. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of Dharma, I come into being, in every age.” Accordingly, all the incarnations appeared on the world stage at a critical point in time. Most important, it is always the same supreme Spirit that empowers all incarnations, regardless of the place or the age of their appearance.
Every incarnation, therefore, becomes the way, the truth, and the life. He who came as Rama, as Krishna, and as Buddha, came as Christ, and later as Sri Ramakrishna. When we worship one, we worship the other as well. For they are all different manifestations of the one supreme Truth, like one wine in many bottles.We canapproach the supreme Truth only through one of its manifestations. We seek the Father through Christ. Ultimately, the search for Christ is the search for the Father—the supreme Truth.
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The beginning of the article was ok and then it took a turn to the worst. Author is trying to portray Jesus as an avathar, from above, son of God; father and son are the same, etc. Here, author again like Matthulla,is trying to portray Jesus as God and separate him from the ordinary people. The author seems like a spokesperson for some religious sector. Chanting Jesus name is not going to multiply the energy. Because the energy generated while singing, chanting or dancing are generated from excitement and not a lasting energy. In order the energy to produce, real thinking is needed and then the continuity through action. Jesus teachings are about love, compassion and taking care of each other. He wanted people to be uplifted spiritually and continued it in action rather than wandering around and preaching only like Ravi K. Zacharias (RZIM). All these people are leading a comfortable life and their operations are business like. 2013 income was 18 million for his ministry and we don’t know how he was spending the money. There are thousands of people working out there in different parts of the world where TV evangelist hate to go and yet nobody knows about them. TV evangelism is multimillion dollar business and the only qualification you need is to brain wash the listeners. Article is monotones and boring with the usual Jesus rhetoric.
Compensation of Leaders (FYE 09/2013) RZIM
Compensation
% of Expenses
Paid to
Title
$144,859
0.71%
Ravi K. Zacharias
Chief Executive Officer
Other Salaries of Note
$188,583
0.92%
Margaret Zacharias
Vice Chairman of Ministry
$177,582
0.87%
Robert Grinnell
Director of Development
$171,070
0.83%
Sarah Davis
Executive Director
$145,397
0.71%
Stuart McAllister
Director of Training, NA Region
$115,169
0.56%
Naomi Zacharias
Vice President, Wellspring International
Mission
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) works to support, expand, and enhance the preaching and teaching and vision of Ravi Zacharias. Distinctive in its strong evangelistic and apologetic foundation, it is intended to touch both the heart and the intellect of the thinkers and opinion-makers of society and to reach and challenge those who shape the ideas of a culture with the credibility of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With a team of individuals based in six countries, RZIM is committed to reaching this generation around the world - in the university, the arts, politics, business, and the church. Through open forums, community outreach, and various media, we seek to remove the barriers to the cross for the skeptic and we prepare Christians to give a reason for the hope within us.
ക്രിസ്തു ദൈവപുത്രനായി ഭൂമിയിലെ മനുഷ്യരെ രക്ഷിക്കാൻ വീണ്ടും വരുമെന്നു പറഞ്ഞു പോയിട്ട് ഇതുവരെ എത്തിയില്ല. എന്നു വരുമെന്നു വ്യക്തമായി പ്പറഞ്ഞിരുന്നില്ല. അതിനാൽ തലമുറകൾ ഒത്തിരി രക്ഷപെടാനാവാതെ ജീവിച്ചു മരിച്ചു. മാത്തുള്ളയും മരിക്കും മുൻപേ ക്രിസ്തു എത്തും എന്നു പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കാനാവില്ല. രണ്ടായിരത്തിൽപ്പരം വർഷങ്ങൾ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടും ഇപ്പോഴും നിങ്ങളും ഞാനും രക്ഷപെടാതെ ഇവിടെ ക്കഴിയുന്നതെന്ത് എന്നു വിവരിച്ചു തന്നിരുന്നുവെങ്കിൽ എന്നൊർത്തുപൊയി. ആരെങ്കിലും പ്ലീസ്...? നേരത്തെ എഴുതിയ വിശ്വാസങ്ങൾ കേട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട് അതൊന്നും എഴുതി സമയം കളയല്ലേ...
An ordinary person will not be resurrected/. Anthappan is worried about Ravi Zachartias's salary. Look at Amritanandamay. How much she is making? Most of it is given by Christians in the West believing in instant nirvana.
Anoop is asking for scientific evidence to believe in Christ. Unless God reveal the truth nobody can believe in Christ. It is the pride and darkness inside that prevent a person from knowing the truth. ‘Ammaye thalliyathinum randu pasham ullappol’ anybody can believe and write anything one wants. It is your choice what you want to believe. Anoop’s usage of the word,‘cherukida viswasam’ is a new usage to me. Please explain it. The second coming of Jesus is in the authority of God. Even disciples asked about it to Jesus, and were told that ‘Kaalanghalum samayanghalum’ is in the authority of God and is not for anybody to enquire into it. If God choose not to reveal it there is no way to find it. But everything that has happened in history so far is as revealed in Bible. Those who read Bible in a superficial way will not see that. One needs heavenly grace to understand that. For that grace one need humility instead of all knowing pride. It is revealed in Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation. Before the second coming of Jesus the whole world will be under a supper power for seven years. Great tribulations and wars between nations will be there beforehand. After seven years Jesus will appear in the skies and resurrection of all the dead in Christ and those living waiting for his return will take place. World will continue through great suffering and tribulation after that. I do not know what proof Anoop needs to believe it other than what is written in Bible. Those who ask for signs again and again can’t see the light because of the darkness and disbelief in their heart. It is possible that Antichrist will take charge of the military of USA and NATO and the whole world will be under a supper power soon. Only through military power the whole world can be brought under a supper power, and there is no other country in the world that can compete with US and NATO military power and technology. One by one countries of the world will fall to this military power. Many have already fallen. Afghanistan is a strategically important spot. One step from there each can take this supper power to India, China and Russia. One by one country will fall. If you can read the writings on the wall, well. God will not do anything major without giving hints about it to the faithful. Prophets and writers will explain such things and those destined to believe it will believe and others will think of it as stories. There is not much time left. The exact time and hour nobody knows but God only knows.