Welcome to Defender’s Voice. This is Dr.Paul. Thank you for joining us today. Please send your questions to info@doctorpaul.org. Visit my website http://www.doctorpaul.org
Today’s question is, Sadhguru talks about Jesus quite frequently in his sermons. Is he talking about the real Jesus?
Excellent question. Sadhguru is an Indian spiritual leader and yoga master. He established the Isha foundation for spiritual enlightenment. He is among the most famous Indian gurus who gives speeches at the United Nations, MIT, British parliament and scores of other venues. He often brings Jesus into his sermons. Lord Jesus Christ is the central figure in Christianity. He should be respected, if not believed. But many people like Sadhguru take Jesus and transform him into a figure who fits into their ideology. We don’t do that to Hindu gods like Rama and Krishna. But Hindu gurus take the liberty of turning Jesus into their own image. I gave the links below to his videos so that you can listen to his views on Jesus. We can summarize his views into 3 main things. To summarize, he attacks the historical Jesus and then constructs a mythical Jesus in abstract terms consistent with Hinduism. He says
1.Jesus was not good, he was wonderful
Sadhguru says Jesus was not a good person, but a wonderful person. That is against what the Bible teaches about Jesus. As the son of God, Jesus was the perfection of goodness. There was no sin in him. There was no evil in him in any form. He is the only incarnation of God in human form. Jesus was perfectly good. Obviously, by saying that Jesus was not a Goodman, it seems to me that Sadhguru is attacking the divinity and purity of Lord Jesus Christ.
Then Sadhguru says,
2. Jesus was in the wrong place at the wrong time with wrong people
He says Jesus claimed to be God in Israel where it was considered blasphemous and he was put to death for making that claim. If Jesus were in India, nothing would have happened to him because lots and lots of gurus in India claim to be gods and goddesses and nobody bats an eyelid at such claims. Jesus was in the wrong place at the wrong time with wrong people.
This is also not true. Jesus’s claim to divinity in a Jewish society is exactly what is so unique about him. India has over 300 million gods and Jesus would become one of those 300 million gods had he lived in India and made a claim to divinity. That would have reduced Jesus into an average Hindu guru. But what was so special about Jesus was he claimed to be God in a Jewish context. That is just mind boggling.
In Jewish worldview, God is the creator of the whole universe. Unlike in Hindu pantheism, He is distinct from the universe. He is distinct from all angels. He is distinct from all human beings. That one God became one man in Jesus Christ. That is why the divine claims of Jesus were so powerful.
Jesus did not just make claims to divinity. He performed great miracles in space, time and matter to show his divine power. Giving sight to the blind, delivering speech to the speechless, raising people from the dead, multiplying five loaves of bread to feed thousands of people, changing water into wine… we should consider those miracles. Finally, the greatest of all miracles, the death and resurrection of Jesus prove to us beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus was who he claimed to be.
Sadhguru says that Jesus’s bad luck was that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with wrong people. That is not true. The coming of Jesus into this world was perfectly planned by God. ‘When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son’ (Galatians 4:4-7). Prophet Daniel foretold the time of Jesus’ coming to this world. Prophet Micah foretold the name of the village where Jesus would be born. Prophet Isaiah foretold the great miracles Jesus would perform. Prophet Moses foretold the kind of ministry Jesus would do. Prophet David foretold the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. Prophet Isaiah foretold the resurrection of Jesus. So, the grand events in the life of Jesus were perfectly planned by God and communicated to humanity through various prophets who lived centuries before the time of Jesus. So, Sadhguru’s teaching that Jesus was in the wrong place at the wrong time with wrong people is not true.
3. Jesus in you must rise from dead
Then, finally, he says, ‘Jesus in you must rise from the dead’. Sadhguru says, ‘Historical Jesus is irrelevant to us. There is a dead, inactive, dormant Jesus within every one of you. You must raise him up to realize your full potential in life’.
This is another dangerous teaching. Basically, Sadhguru created an abstract Jesus. He is like a thought or an idea without having a physical, concrete existence in history. Resurrect this Jesus in your life so that you can get empowerment. This kind of teaching appeals a lot to our ‘do it on your own’ generation. But this Jesus is not from the Bible. It is from Sadhguru’s mind. This ‘activate Jesus in your own mind’ is not unique to our time. Two thousand years ago, gnostics taught that there is already a little light within you. There is already a little Jesus in you. All you need is to activate him to get enlightenment.
This is not the real Jesus of the New Testament. Real Jesus lived in Judea two thousand years ago. He was born through a virgin. He lived a sinless and perfect life. He was not just a great human being. He was God himself in human form. He went to the cross to die for our sins. He rose again from the dead to give us eternal life. We need this real,historical Jesus to get saved.
Let me illustrate. Suppose a viral pandemic took over our world. One doctor invented a vaccine to save people infected with this virus. That doctor was calling everyone, ‘Come and take my vaccine. It will save you from the virus. It will save you from death’. Then there is a guru in that town. He stood in a street corner and told people, ‘You don’t need to go to that doctor. You don’t need to take his vaccine. The vaccine is in you. Awake that vaccine. Activate it and it will save your life’. If you listen to that guru, you will die. Because there is no vaccine in you. You should go to that doctor and take his vaccine.
That is what Sadhguru is doing. ‘You don’t have to go to Jesus. Jesus is in you. Activate him. Awake him in your mind. Resurrect him in your heart.’ Just like you go to a real doctor, you should go to the real Jesus to get saved.
So, the answer to your question is, yes, Sadhguru talks a lot about Jesus. But he is not talking about the real Jesus of the Bible. He is talking about a false Jesus he created in his own image. This false Jesus does not save you from your sins. He does not give you eternal life. You cannot resurrect Jesus within you. You are not that powerful. You need the real historical Jesus of the New Testament. He is powerful to save you from your sins, to give you eternal life, to lead you through this life, and to take you to heaven when your heart stops. Thank you.