In 1993 Jakob Neusner, a Jewish rabbi, published a book entitled ‘A rabbi talks with Jesus’. Having read about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel he tries to imagine himself being part of that crowd listening to Jesus. He then asks himself: how does Jesus’ message relate to God’s Word, as spoken by the prophet Moses in the Torah? In the end Neusner comes to the following conclusion: I do not go along with Jesus.

Do you know why not? The rabbi is shocked by the fact that Jesus dares to say, ‘...but I say to you’. Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, quoting the words of the prophet Moses in his teaching, but also challenging them with his own word. Jesus does not speak as one of the rabbis or teachers of the old scriptures, He speaks with the authority of the God of Sinai Himself. In Neusner’s opinion this is truly unheard of. A mere man just cannot say this. Therefore he is convinced that to follow Jesus means to reject God.

In my opinion, when attempting to say something sensible about Jesus and other religions, one must start by taking Him seriously against the historical background of the Jewish people. For Jesus Christ’s high claim only becomes clear once we understand that He is the fulfilment of the words of the Jewish prophets. Then it becomes apparent that He does indeed speak with the authority of the God of Israel. This God liberated His people from Egypt and in so doing belittled the Egyptian idols. He suffers no other gods beside him. This God claims to be the Creator of heaven and earth, and as such, King of all people.

Jesus once said ‘Salvation comes from the Jews’ (John 4:22), referring to Himself, for was He not born of a Jewish woman? Ever since Abraham’s calling, the Jews treasured the promise that God would bless the world through them. History turned out to be one of choices made by God. He chose Isaac, and not Ishmael. Both were sons of Abraham, yet God continued with only one of them: Isaac. That evoked resistance then, and we see the same resistance returning today when people are irritated by Jesus’ claim to follow Him. God goes against the human grain and squashes our pride. To the haughty God says: ‘Boast no more,’ and to proud sinners: ‘Do not lift up your horns against heaven’ (Psalm 75:4, 5).

Hinduism⤒🔗

An example of a religion that is proud of her origin and content is Hinduism. That seems strange. Aren’t Hindus religiously tolerant? Do they not claim that all may believe in their own way since (according to them) all religions are about the same God? Yet a judgment of certain forms of religion is concealed behind this impression of tolerance. I quote from the Bhagavad Gita:

Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way.9.23

This is the god Krishna speaking. He speaks about different forms of Indian devotion in those times (some centuries before Christ). Take note: he calls certain manners of devotion wrong, but in the meantime he annexes all religious routes. What is tolerant about that? Listen also to this quotation:

But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering. I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable OM. I am also the Rig, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas. I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed. O Arjuna, I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both spirit and matter are in Me.9.16-19

Advancing the universal claim to divinity is not uniquely Christian. Jews give proof of this when they stick with the God of Abraham and thereby refuse to follow Jesus.

Hindus too. There is but one God (they say) and all religions are ways to him. Although the one path is more direct and efficient than the others, they all lead to God. The One has many names. The Hindu’s high claim is that he knows something of the universal way in which people should live.

The One True Religion?←⤒🔗

Against this background the essential question is not: ‘Is Christian faith the one true religion?’ We would thereby be appraising the others according to our forms of religious expression. Then the Christian himself remains out of range. If there is one thing we should be careful of as Christians, it is that we present our forms of Christianity as the truth, which the other must believe. It is inevitable that belief in Jesus Christ across the world receives a certain historically coloured and culturally determined pattern. That is how God’s Spirit works; it could not be any other way. This is how confessions and liturgies originate; this is how communities, morals, historical opinions, views of the future etc. are shaped. In this we can discern much that has been inspired by God. But human wording or design is never as real, complete and convincing as the Lord Himself. And never as fundamental as the Bible, the historically trustworthy record of God’s redeeming words and deeds. Jesus Christ also continues to confront Christians with critical love. No one is saved because he or she is listed in the administration of a particular church. Nor because he or she displays a selfless devotion, to the poor in the slums of India. ‘No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.’ (Psalm 75:6,7). Jesus Christ is this God, who acts justly.

There are devoted and exemplary Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. I have no problem whatsoever in praising their good works. I believe that God looks with approval upon deeds of justice and love bestowed by the best of them upon their neighbours. That does not relieve me of the longing to bring them in touch with Jesus. For no one will ever be saved through his deeds. The God of Sinai, who showed us what justice is, has come down to this earth. He, in the person of Jesus Christ, suffered himself to be crucified like the worst criminal. In so doing He claims to bring deliverance to people who are deeply in debt.

‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God’ says Paul. Romans 3:10, 11

Jesus has an unprecedented and incomparable claim: He rose again following death on the cross and sends out the call for all to turn to Him for deliverance from their debt. All people, of whatever religion, including those who call themselves Christian, must believe that. There is no distinction.