A couple of days ago I read a well-known passage in Luke 18 of a rich man who had a conversation with Jesus about how to gain eternal life. Throughout his life, he had done all the right things that were expected of faithful Jews.
So Jesus challenges him to do the one thing that he had not done up until that point: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (v.22 ESV). This made the rich man real sad, and the story seems to imply he didn’t follow through on Jesus’ challenge.
A little earlier in the conversation, there was something that should puzzle us:
“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:18-19 ESV)
Many people have tried to use this verse to make a point that Jesus is not God (in particular Islamic apologists, who love using verses like this to destabilize the faith of Christians).
But Jesus is not saying that he isn’t God. The only thing he is doing is challenging the rich man to think about who he really is: if only God is good and Jesus is a “good” Teacher according to the rich man, could it be that Jesus is more than just a “good” Teacher, but God in human flesh?
This is the question we all need to find an answer to in our lives. Is Jesus truly God? Is he truly able to save, like the Hebrew original of his name suggests: Yeshua = YHWH saves?
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam and even “progressive” (or liberal) Christians have twisted who Jesus really is. They present a counterfeit Jesus, one who is not the Son of God – YHWH in the flesh, one who is not the King of Israel, and one who is not the Savior of the world. These religious streams can therefore be classified as antichrist religions, Biblically speaking, because they deny basic Biblical facts about the Christ to create a following of their own. They are opposed to (= anti) the Christ.
I believe God is calling us, in our churches, in our families, in our schools and in the streets, to present the real Jesus of the Bible, and not a counterfeit one who may be a bit less offensive.
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