by C.V.Rajan

Created on: January 29, 2011   Last Updated: February 05, 2011

Non-believers may get exasperated by some statements of Jesus like “I and my father are one”, “I am the light of the world” and so on. They may think “Oh! What an arrogance! What a shameless display of egotism! How can a human being made of flesh and blood like you and me, claim virtual godliness unto himself? Why should people flock him like sheep mindlessly, believing his self-proclaimed greatness?”

 Mahatma Gandhi once said that he did not hold any discrimination between a Hindu and a Muslim and that his mind did not entertain any discrimination of people based on religion, caste or creed. One of his close associates objected to this sort of statement by Gandhi, saying “Mahatmaji, don’t you think this statement sounds very egoistic? Should you not display humility?” Gandhi replied “Dear friend; If I am forty years old, is it egoistic to state so? Should I say, to display my humility, that I am only thirty eight years old?”

 This is precisely the logic we should apply to Jesus Christ’s claims. What Jesus claims about himself are based on his true spiritual stature and the divine experience he possessed based on his first hand experience. Great spiritual souls, according to a famous Hindu saint, transcend both egotism and humility. They are humbler than an ant at one extreme and mightier than an elephant at another extreme. Jesus Christ displayed a childlike guilelessness at one extreme attracting lots of people towards him and at the same time, he could create an awe of a king around himself, when he chose to display his divine brilliance at his own will.

 With this understanding, let us delve deeper into some of his claims and try to understand them better.

 == “I am the way, the truth and the life” ==

 A blind man cannot lead other blind men. Only a person who has already traversed a path and reached his destination is best qualified to show the way. God is infinite, but how can common men limited by finite and transient life in this earth ever grasp that infinity? That’s why God came to earth in the human form of Jesus, to teach mankind the ways to attain the kingdom of God.

 Jesus is thus a replica of God, who walked on this earth with a human garb and life; He is verily the path by treading which God, the final truth can be attained. And, being God himself (in human life), he is none other than that very supreme truth.

 Hindu saint

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next Page >>