www.bymonline.org | SEPTEMBER 2018
John 15:5 - “I AM the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is
that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do
nothing.”
All these statements are found in the Gospel
of John. The reason I quote these verses is that Jesus
Himself claimed that He is equal to the Father and He
is God worthy of worship. The fact that Jesus came in
flesh should not make us think that He is any way
inferior.
Many today accept the moral teachings of the
Lord Jesus Christ like, loving our enemies and
helping the needy. But they altogether neglect these
essential passages which are exclusive claims that
Jesus made regarding Himself. It is impossible to be
neutral with Jesus Christ.
Jesus - Misunderstood
Mt 16:13,14 “Now when Jesus came into the
district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And
they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say
Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Even during Jesus' times people did not
understand Him. Some thought that He was John the
Baptist, while others said He was Elijah and some
others, Jeremiah. This misunderstanding of Jesus, is
the Devil's ploy to discredit Jesus' claims about His
Divinity.
Another Jesus...?
Even today various groups perceive Jesus in a
different manner. This is what Apostle Paul writes in
2 Corinthians 11:4 - “For if someone comes and
proclaims another Jesus than the one we
proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from
the one you received, or if you accept a different
gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it
readily enough.” Consider how the Lord Jesus has
been considered by various groups:
1. Jews consider Him as a carpenter.
2. Muslims consider Him as a prophet.
3. Mormons consider Him as a created being.
4. Jehovah's Witnesses see Him as an angel.
5. Atheists consider Him to be an ordinary
man.
6. Hindu philosophers view Him as an
enlightened teacher.
7. Traditional Hindus consider Him as an
avatar of Brahma.
8. Buddhists say that He was an enlightened
man.
9. Prosperity preachers consider Him to be a
rich man.
10.Hyper-grace teachers project Him as a
management guru.
But when we consider the claims that Jesus
made about Himself, it is impossible to be neutral
with Him. We cannot separate His teachings - which
has profound social impact like the Beatitudes - and
His claims about Himself. Either He is God, as He
claimed to be, or He is a lunatic and there is no
middle ground. It is impossible to stay neutral to the
teachings of Jesus Christ.
Here in this article I want to highlight some of
the wrong notions of Jesus Christ which are
propagated by the false teachers. They have twisted
some of the Scriptures to undermine the Divinity of
Jesus Christ. Hence I have given the wrong notions
and the right interpretations of the Scriptures one
below the other.
1. Jesus was a created being
Col 1:15 - “He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation.”
This verse is used to misinterpret that Jesus
was created by God the Father and hence He is
inferior to the Father. This is the main teaching of the
Jehovah's Witnesses. But most scholars agree that
the Greek word used here, 'prototokos' does not
mean of creation but the 'pre-eminence' and the
'superiority' of Jesus over other creations.
There are other verses which say that He was
from the beginning:
Jn 1:1,2 - “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God.”
Rev 13:8 - “And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
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