October 1, 2025 • 49 mins
Dr. Todd Ahrend delivers a thought-provoking comparison between Christianity and major world religions, demonstrating the fundamental uniqueness of Jesus Christ among religious founders and belief systems. Through engaging stories and clear explanations, he dismantles the popular notion that all religions teach essentially the same truths while revealing the distinctiveness of Christianity's message, founder, and holy book.
• Islam focuses on submission to Allah with salvation through the Five Pillars, explicitly rejecting Christ's divinity and crucifixion
• Hinduism centers on escaping karma and the wheel of suffering through devotion to various gods
• Buddhism identifies desire as the root of suffering, seeking nirvana (annihilation) through the Eightfold Path
• Confucianism addresses social harmony through education rather than spiritual reconciliation
• Christianity uniquely offers grace rather than works, forgiveness of sins, and a resurrected founder
• Jesus alone claimed divinity, forgave sins, performed miracles to validate his authority, and conquered death
• While other religious founders' graves can be visited, Jesus' tomb remains empty
• The Bible stands unparalleled in its coherence despite being written across 1,500 years by 40 authors in 3 languages
Connect with us on Instagram @UnreachPodcast or email us at unreachedpodcast@gmail.com to learn more about reaching the 3,100 language groups still without access to Scripture.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
In Revelation 7, John shares his vision of heaven
with members from every tribe,tongue, people, and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today, there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find that and findthe task remaining journey with
(00:31):
us to the ends of the earth.
We share the supernaturalstories of God of work.
SPEAKER_00 (00:39):
Hey friends, welcome to the Unreach Podcast.
I'm Quinn Hudson, your host, andtoday we have a very special
episode.
Listen, you know we love Dr.
Todd Arend around here at theUnreach Podcast.
You've heard him talk about themission of God before.
But this talk from Todd Aaron isunlike anything else you've ever
(01:01):
heard.
There's none like it.
In fact, it's actually calledNone Like Jesus.
Today, Todd is gonna tackleworld religions and how they
differ from Christianity and theperspective of Christianity from
those different world religions.
Fascinating content today.
So thanks again for tuning in tothe Unreach podcast for this
(01:22):
episode.
Get your notes app ready.
You're gonna need it.
And let's listen to Dr.
Todd Aaron present None LikeJesus.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
So we live down the street from University of
Arkansas, and uh my wifesurprised me.
She calls up the University ofArkansas, International Student
Department, and she says, Hey,can we get a student for
Thanksgiving?
(01:52):
They send us a Hindu namedBindu.
I pick her up, I I I Google topten Indian songs on Spotify.
I have it crankin', and Binduthe Hindu.
I'm like, how am I gonnaremember your name?
(02:13):
I don't know.
She comes over for Thanksgiving,for Halloween, she's carving
pumpkins for Easter, she'sbringing her boyfriend and the
curry, and we are literallytrying to just spill Jesus on
her.
(02:39):
Her family has been a Hindu forfourteen hundred years.
She's not interested in learningabout Christianity.
She doesn't want to read, shehas no felt need.
(03:02):
And her religion validates thatall roads lead to God.
So, fourteen hundred years, herreligion validates it, she's not
interested in changing and hasno desire to read.
How do we get Jesus to her?
(03:23):
This is incredibly difficult,especially when everyone thinks
all religions are the same.
From professors to podcasts topop stars to parents.
All religions lead to the samebasic truth.
(03:44):
But is that correct?
Is there anything unique aboutone of the other religions that
make it stand out?
Eight weeks ago, freshmenstarted college.
They walk into philosophy 101and they're bombarded
immediately with this story.
This is the first story you getin philosophy 101.
(04:09):
Welcome, students.
A king invites into his courtfive blind men.
Unbeknownst to the five blindmen, the king places in front of
them an elephant.
The king then asks the fiveblind men, reach out and tell me
what you feel.
The first blind man touches thetusk of the elephant and he
cries out it's a sword.
The second blind man touches theside of the elephant and he
(04:31):
cries out it's a mud wall.
The third blind man touches theleg of the elephant and he cries
that it's a tree trunk.
The fourth blind man touches theear of the elephant and he cries
that it's a banana leaf.
The fifth blind man touches thetail of the elephant and he
cries that it's a rope.
And philosophy professors lovethis story.
Why?
Because it shows us allreligions look different, but
(04:54):
they're just touching differentparts of God or the real.
And so a Hindu's touching thetusk, a Buddhist is touching the
side, a Christian's touching thetail.
And so when I read the Hinduscriptures, yes, they're gonna
sound different, but that's onlybecause they're touching a
different part of the real.
Again, this is from Austin toAustralia, this perspective.
(05:19):
It's pervasive.
But is it correct?
Is it correct?
A recent survey was done.
What prevents you fromcommunicating your faith to
unbelievers?
70% of Christ's followers saythere are multiple ways to
heaven.
This isn't just out there.
(05:40):
This is in the pews, it's in thefour-year of the church, it's in
your Bible studies.
They're not gonna tell youpublicly, but when you invite
them to do something inmissions, hey, there's a
missions lunch from 11 to 1 thatwe're gonna see how we can give
and pray and change the world.
Oh, I'm not interested.
(06:00):
Oh, okay, I thought you didn'thave the time to do it.
No, I don't think the lost arelost.
The majority of your friends whoaren't who are Christians, who
aren't interested in missions,they're not interested in
missions because they don'tthink the lost are lost.
Are all religions just the samepath that leads to God?
(06:23):
Or is there a uniqueness aboutJesus?
And what I want to do is I justwant to walk you through the
major religions, and I want tocompare them to Christianity.
And I think just the clouds inyour mind might clear as you see
and you're able to talk to yourfriends to say, no, there is
(06:44):
none like him.
So, Islam founder is Muhammadibn Abdu Allah.
The major problem in Islam isyou are self-sufficient.
You need to submit to Allah.
That's mankind's problem.
There is one God in Islam, hegoes by Allah.
(07:07):
You cannot know Allah, you canonly know his will.
And salvation is found in givingyourself to the five major
pillars praying five times aday, fasting for 40 days, taking
a pilgrimage to Mecca, sayingthe creed.
(07:28):
Six hundred years after thedeath of Christ, a thousand
miles away in Saudi Arabia, wasa man who was born named
Muhammad.
His mother and father die whenhe's a young man, young age, and
he's forced to lead caravansacross the desert.
(07:51):
He meets people who callthemselves Jews.
He asks the Jews, how many godsdo you worship?
And the Jews say, We worship oneGod.
He meets people who callthemselves Christians.
Christianity had been around for600 years.
How many gods do you worship?
We worship one God.
And then he marries a womanolder than him who's wealthy.
(08:12):
He now has had he now has timeand money, and he steals away
and fasts in a cave.
And in a cave, the angel Gabrielappears to him.
So it is said in the Quran.
And the angel Gabriel says, Laila ilallawa Muhammad Rasul
Allah, there is one God, and youare his prophet.
(08:33):
For the next 13 years he tellsthe story.
He gains a hundred followers,and then his own people try to
kill him because he was comingagainst the other gods that they
worshiped.
For the next 10 years afterthat, he builds the followers to
10,000.
And if he came across yourcommunity or your caravan,
(08:54):
Muhammad would give you threeoptions.
You could pay a tax forprotection, you could convert to
Islam, or you could fight.
Because mankind's problem isself-sufficiency, you need to
submit.
How do you say the Arabic wordsubmit?
(09:14):
Islam.
Islam.
Muhammad denied the Trinity, thedivinity of Christ, and the
crucifixion.
In Arabic, the word surah meanschapter.
O ye people of the book, exceednot the limits in your religion,
and say not what is untrue.
(09:36):
The Messiah, Jesus, Son of Mary,is only an apostle.
Say not Trinity.
It will be better for you.
This is in their holy book.
They deny the Trinity, they denythe divinity of Christ.
In their ignorance, Christianshave falsely ascribed to him
(09:57):
sons and daughters.
Who's Allah's wife?
Allah has no wife.
How then can he have a son?
You can't.
And they reject the crucifixion.
Christians say, We've killed theMessiah on the cross.
They slew him not.
They crucified him not.
(10:19):
They crucified someone wholooked like him.
And they were mistaking.
But they did not really crucifyhim.
God took him.
And 1.2 billion Muslims aredesperately trying to obey these
five pillars that somehow Allahmight find mercy on them.
(10:42):
And completely different fromIslam is Hinduism.
It's completely different.
See, my friends, all religionsstart with the same basic
premise.
Something is wrong with theworld.
But then they shoot off intotally different directions.
They all start in the samestarting line, something's
(11:05):
wrong, and then they shoot offin different directions.
Completely different, completelydifferent from Islam is
Hinduism.
Founder, there is no founder.
Gods, there's millions more godsin India than people in America.
There's more gods to worship inIndia than people in America.
(11:27):
Mankind's problem is karma.
Karma.
What you do in this life showsitself in your next life,
whether to better or for worse.
Salvation is devoting yourselfto one of the gods.
Devote yourself to one of thegods in the hope that it could
(11:47):
spin you off the wheel ofsuffering.
See, for Hinduism, they don'twant to be born again.
If you ask a Hindu, do you wantto be born again?
They're like, no, that's myproblem.
The wheel of suffering is everyHindu's problem.
This wheel of suffering.
And it's constantly spinning.
Every life it spins.
(12:09):
And there's 24 spokes on thiswheel.
And the hope of every Hindu isget me off this wheel of
suffering.
But every time I die and I'mreborn, I'm embedded in this
wheel.
And only giving devotion to oneof the gods or goddesses can
fling me off the wheel andreturn to Brahmin, the ultimate
(12:29):
reality, like a drop of water inthe ocean to be absorbed into
him.
So you have so many stories ofthe gods of India.
I just went to Los Angeles andtaught a class for three hours
called The Gods of India.
You can take three hours.
Here's just one sample story,just to give you a flavor.
(12:53):
Rama, Sitta, and Hanuman.
Rama marries Sitta.
Sitta is kidnapped by a demonking of Sri Lanka.
And Rama has to go rescue her.
But to kill the demon king, hehas to get this wood, make an
arrow, make a make a make a makea bow, and then shoot it at the
(13:14):
demon king, but he has to gofind this secret wood.
Hanuman loves Rama.
And he lives in the jungle, themonkey.
And he knows where this wood is.
And he buys the wood, he getsthe wood, he makes a bow, he
makes an arrow, Rama rescuesSitta, and Hanuman, if you open
(13:39):
Hanuman's heart, you will seeRama and Sitta.
He's the ultimate devotee.
So today, when you're in ataxicab in India, on their dash
is Hanuman, the monkey god.
And you can ask them, why areyou worshiping Hanuman?
Why not Rama or Sitta orKrishna?
Why not Ganesh?
(14:00):
Because Hanuman is the ultimatedevotee, and I need to help
being devoted to the gods, soI'm gonna worship him who's the
ultimate devotee, so that I canget to the other gods.
My friends, how important is thewheel of suffering and samsara
to the Hindu world?
(14:26):
It's in their flag.
It's embedded in their flag.
Completely different.
Completely different fromHinduism, completely different
from Islam is Buddhism.
Founder, Siddhartha Gitama.
God, just like none, no gods.
(14:49):
Mankind's problem, it's notIslam, self-sufficiency, it's
not Hinduism, karma, it'scompletely different.
Mankind's problem is suffering.
Suffering.
Salvation is found in the fournoble truths of the teaching of
Siddhartha.
If Islam happened 600 yearsbefore after Christ, Siddhartha
(15:13):
Gautama was born 600 yearsbefore Christ.
And he was a Hindu.
The founder of Buddhism was adevout Hindu.
He became disillusioned withHinduism.
And he said, I don't believe inthese millions of gods.
There is no God.
He sat under a tree to find themeaning of life.
He spoke the Pali language.
(15:34):
After living under this tree for40 days, living on a grain of
rice a day, he passes out.
When he comes to, people aroundhim start shouting in Pali.
Enlightened one, enlightenedone, enlightened one.
Sergeant Getama hears that andtakes that as his name.
How do you say enlightened onein Buddhism?
(15:56):
Buddha, Buddha, Buddha.
That's what enlightened onemeans in the Pali language that
they were speaking.
And so for the next 80 years,here he is.
He challenges people with thesefour noble truths.
Remember, the problem inBuddhism is suffering.
Noble truth number one, all lifeis suffering.
All life is suffering.
(16:17):
Get used to it.
Noble truth number two, thereason there is suffering is you
desire.
You desire your neighbor's wife,you take her, there's suffering.
You desire your neighbor'spossession, you take it, there's
war.
Your desires are causingsuffering.
Noble truth number three, getrid of your desire.
Well, how do I do that,Siddhartha?
Good teaching always leads tomore teaching.
So follow this eightfold path ofwisdom.
(16:40):
And at age 83, someone put a badpiece of meat in Siddhartha
Gautama's bowl as a beggar.
And he dies of food poisoning.
What's the hope of a Buddha?
Of a Buddhist nirvana, not theband, but annihilation.
(17:02):
Annihilation.
When one breaks the cycle ofkarma, they enter.
Remember, he was a Hindu, so hekept karma.
He was a Hindu, so he keptkarma.
He kept the will of suffering.
He was a Hindu.
So Buddhism is going to have alot of overlap.
But at the very core, he says,there is no God, there is no
soul, and our hope is to beannihilated.
What does a Buddha, what does aBuddhist want in life?
(17:25):
Nothing.
Nothingness.
So the greatest birthday card Iever received, I kept it.
What do you get a Buddhist forhis birthday?
Nothing.
And 650 million Buddhists aredesperately trying to live
(17:48):
without God and without soul andthe hopes of being annihilated.
And it is completely differentthan Islam.
It is completely different thanHinduism.
It is completely different thanConfucianism.
Welcome to the world's mostboringest founder.
I don't know how this religionstarted.
(18:09):
It's tough to even classify itas a religion because it denies
God.
So people don't know whether toclassify it as a religion.
Founder, Confucius, God, none.
Mankind's problem, it's notself-sufficiency, it's not
karma, it's not suffering.
It's completely different.
Social harmony.
How is salvation found?
(18:29):
Education.
Educate yourself.
Educate yourself.
That's how it's found.
Confucius is the world's mostboringest founder.
Why?
Because here he is, he's born,he's a teacher for 50 years, he
retires, he goes back to hishometown, he dies at 73, leaving
behind no written work and noreal followers.
But yet, if you Google Confuciussays today, you get 1.2 billion
(18:54):
hits.
So how did he get so how did ithappen?
Well, 25 years after his death,his followers said, This is what
we think he said.
And they wrote it down in a bookcalled The Analytics.
And the Analytics are theholiest book for the Confucius
world.
And someone asked him, Hey, areyou Confucius' follower?
I am.
Tell me about how to get to God.
(19:15):
How do I get to God?
One can hear about Confucius'accomplishments, but one cannot
get to hear his view of humannature or the way to heaven.
There's so much problems in thislife.
Don't worry about the afterlife.
(19:36):
It's completely different thanHinduism, then Buddhism, then
Islam.
And then you have Christianity.
Christianity.
Founder, Jesus, God, Triune,Father, Son, and Spirit.
Mankind's problem is notself-sufficiency, it's not
(19:59):
suffering, it's not education,it's not submission, it is sin.
You want to be your own king,and that's a problem.
You don't make a good king.
You barely make a good servant.
And so salvation is foundthrough faith and repentance and
(20:22):
response.
And when you compare these otherreligions, I challenge my kids
to read the holy books of allthe major religions because what
it does is it shines bright onthe gospel.
It shows you, oh my gosh.
Christianity, Christianity hasthe most incredible founder.
(20:45):
It has the most incredible book.
And it has the most incrediblemessage.
I mean, you just dip your toe inthe pond of other religions, and
very quickly, when you read the6,000 verses of the Quran,
you're like, wow, really?
(21:06):
And when you read the BhagavadGita, the 700 verses, you're
like, wow, really?
The most incredible founder, themost incredible message, and the
most incredible book.
Think about this.
Jesus was never confused.
All of these founders, oh, isHinduism right?
(21:27):
Is Buddhism right?
They were all confused,searching.
Jesus was never confused.
He was never searching.
His face was always set toJerusalem.
He had his end goal in mind.
All of these other religionssays, God says to me, Jesus
says, I say to you.
Think about Jesus just among theother founders.
(21:49):
I mean, just for Hinduism, forexample.
When we pulled up to go getBindu the Hindu, remember her?
When I pulled up to get Binduthe Hindu, she had a sleeve
tattoo.
And I said, Bindu, who is thaton your arm?
She says, This is Lord Krishna.
This is who I worship.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Bindu.
SPEAKER_02 (22:16):
Do you know what the second holiest book in the Hindu
world says about Krishna?
He likes to look at naked women.
One day the girls, the gopis,left their garments on the
shore.
They began playing in the water,chanting Lord Krishna's name.
Suddenly Krishna appeared in thetrees, stole their garments.
(22:38):
He teased the girls.
Oh, you're so fatigued, girls.
Come out of the water.
Get your clothes back.
Imagine if this was said in Markchapter 2 about Jesus.
He is the most unique founder.
Muhammad, you know if you'regoing to Allah when you die.
(23:01):
I have no assurance.
I know not what shall be donewith me.
I only follow what is revealedto me.
I'm just a warner.
Muhammad! If you were not theprophet, what would happen?
God would raise up someone else.
I have of no value.
I am just a messenger.
I'm no more than a messenger.
(23:22):
Muhammad! Do you need to confessyour sins?
I do.
I do need to confess my sins.
Allah has told me I need toconfess my sins.
Confucius! Are you unique?
No.
No.
(23:43):
I'm not.
I just transmit I do not create.
No other religious founder woulddare say this.
(24:06):
No way.
Confucius would never say this.
Muhammad would never say this.
From mountains to molecules,from planets to people, all
things are created by me and forme.
(24:26):
Could you ever read that in theQuran?
No.
Will you ever read it in theAnalytics?
No.
Will you ever read in the Bog ofAgida?
No.
Yet back up and read nine versesaround Colossians.
Nine verses you will never readin any other book.
(24:49):
Jesus, we have redemption, theforgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisibleGod.
Wouldn't any other founder havesaid this?
No.
All things were created, heavenand earth, visible and
invisible, thrones anddominions, all things hold
together by him.
(25:09):
He is the head.
I mean, would Muhammad ever havesaid this?
No.
No.
He fully God with Muhammad, withConfucius, with Siddhartha.
No.
He reconciles all things onheaven and earth.
(25:29):
Just nine verses.
In one of the first letters theApostle Paul wrote.
And it just stands alone in theuniverse as unbelievably unique.
Would any other founder havesaid this about themselves?
No.
(25:51):
No.
In five hundred AD, there was aman named Dionysus.
And Dionysus said, I think, Ithink we should have something
called time.
And so Dionysus, to get time,here's what you have to do.
(26:17):
You pick something in historyand call it zero AD.
And then time is defined bythat.
Did Dionassus pick Alexander theGreat?
No.
Confucius?
No.
Siddharth Gitama?
No.
Who did time pick to functionthe calendar?
(26:39):
Jesus.
So Dionysus said, Jesus is zeroAD.
Now Alexander the Great is 300years after that.
The fall of Rome is 400 yearsbefore that.
And Dionysus said, all timehinges on Jesus.
When your non-believer friendtoday at 2 o'clock asks you,
(27:00):
what's today's date?
They're confessing Jesus is kingand unique.
And they just don't even knowit.
What's today's date?
Oh, you know, 2025.
How do we even measure that?
We have the most incrediblefounder.
(27:21):
We have the most incrediblebook.
I mean, I challenge you, go buya Quran, go buy a Bakh of Agida,
go buy the Analytics, go buy theTao De Ching.
I encourage you to go buy thesebooks and read them just to show
you the uniqueness.
The Quran was it's 114 chapters,it's 6,000 verses, it's the
(27:42):
exact same size as the NewTestament.
There's no order of coherence,no prophecy, and it's very
confusing to read.
And every six verses warns youthat if you disbelieve, you're
going to hell.
Every six verses.
So you're constantly reminded ifyou disbelieve this, you will go
to hell.
For Confucius, it wasn't writtendown until way after his death.
(28:05):
For the Bhagavad Gita, theholiest book in the Hindu world
is the Bhagavad Gita.
I read the Bhagavad Gita.
Oh, I'm on a plane.
700 verses.
Takes me about 37 minutes.
And I get, I get to the end ofthe Bhagavad Gita.
I'm like, let's go! Let's go!How is this unbelievable book
(28:28):
for a billion people gonna end?
Let's go! I think this is true.
That's how the last line, thisis my opinion, of the holiest
book of the Bhagavad Gita ends.
And I just compared that to thelast line of revelation, and it
(28:54):
was a little different.
I compared this is my opinionwith the last line of
revelation, and you're gonnanotice a difference.
If any person changes one dot,the plagues of the bulls and the
seals and the trumpets will bepoured out on you and your
(29:19):
family.
Oh my goodness.
But it's funny because most ofour non-believing friends,
they're like Bindu the Hindu.
They've just been this religionforever.
They have no felt need.
They don't want to change.
They think all roads lead toGod, and they're not interested
(29:42):
in reading.
And you say, Would you read theBible?
Oh, I mean, it's just what oldand full of fables and stories
and then you go, wow, you know.
There was another person thatthought the same thing that this
(30:04):
was full of fables and myths.
Except he was a little differentthan you.
He got an Oxford Full RideScholarship at age 14.
And he was the chair of thereligion department of ancient
literature for his entire life.
And he became a Jesus followerat 32 and wrote 41 books.
(30:33):
I have been reading poems andromances and vision literature
and legends and myths all mylife.
I know what they're like.
I know none like this.
We have the most unique book.
My hero in the faith, JohnWesley, that founded Methodism
(30:59):
over a billion people influencedby his life.
I want to know one thing.
I want to know the way toheaven.
How to land safe on that happyshore.
God Himself has come down toteach us that way for this
purpose.
He came from heaven.
He has written it down in abook.
(31:20):
Give me that book.
At any price, give me the bookof God.
Think about this.
The Quran was written over aperiod of 23 years.
The Bible written over a periodof 1500.
The Quran had one author.
(31:41):
The Bhagavita has one author.
The Bible has 40.
Over 1,500 years.
The Quran was written in onelanguage.
The Bhagavida was written in onelanguage.
The Bible was written in three.
The Quran was written on onecontinent.
The Bible is written on three.
The Bible begins in a gardenwith two people, it ends in a
(32:04):
city with millions.
It's one coherent book.
The Bible is the mosttranslated, stolen, and sold
book in the world.
It's the most translated,stolen, and sold book in the
world.
The Bible has been translatedinto 3,392 languages.
(32:28):
3,392 languages.
Now just to put that inperspective, I'm going to tell
you who's in second place.
The little prince at six hundredand ten languages.
(33:00):
And yet we're crushing it.
There is nothing like the bookthat we have.
And not only that, but the mostincredible message.
The most incredible message.
There was a religious gatheringin London.
(33:23):
All the leaders of majorreligions gathered.
Big room.
And they were asking, whatunique thing did Christianity
bring to the table?
One scholar stood up and said,God becoming man is unique to
Christianity.
And the Hindu scholar said, no,no, no, we have many Hindus.
Krishna became man.
(33:44):
That's not unique toChristianity.
One religious scholar said, theresurrection, Jesus rising from
the dead, that's unique toChristianity.
The Buddhists stood up and said,No, no, no, no.
We have bodhisattvas inBuddhism.
That many of them have risenfrom the dead and they're here
to help us.
And then C.S.
Lewis walks into the room and hesays, What's the rumpus about?
(34:06):
And they said, We're discussingwhat if anything is unique to
Christianity.
And he says, That's easy.
Grace.
The freely given, unmeritedfavor and love of God.
Every other religion, you haveto cry out, do these things,
(34:29):
figure it out, fast, dosomething, but not in
Christianity.
Not in Christianity.
It is unique.
Now, going back to Philosophy101 class, if you remember the
elephant story, oh my goodness,that's so good.
The elephant story, the fiveblind men.
The only reason that story makessense is because you have the
(34:54):
sixth man in the room.
You have the all-seeing king.
The story makes no sense withoutthe all-seeing king.
And I have no problem telling mynon-believing friends, this is
the all-seeing king.
And it tells me there is no onerighteous, no, not one.
(35:14):
But not only do we have theall-seeing King, the Bible, the
elephant himself speaks.
God wants to be known.
(35:36):
This isn't you groping andfinding and hunting and
searching.
This is him coming and invading.
And so, what I want to do forthe last little bit of our time,
I want to do something reallyinteresting.
I want to take a story from theBible.
(35:57):
And I want to look at thatstory.
And then I just want to see whatJesus, Muhammad, Buddha, or
Siddharth Gatama, or one of theHindu gurus would have done.
So I just picked one.
I picked one at the beginning ofLuke, the beginning of his
ministry.
Jesus has just begun hisministry in Luke chapter 5.
(36:21):
One of those days he wasteaching the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law.
They were sitting there.
They had come from Galilee,Judea, and Jerusalem.
Now, this is the beginning ofhis ministry.
Matthew 9 retells this story.
Mark 4 retells this story.
They add some, they add somedefinition.
Mark 4 tells us that he was inCapernaum.
(36:44):
That's north of Jerusalem.
And look at this.
Look at where people are coming.
This is the beginning of hisministry.
He starts his ministry in Luke4.
This is just the beginning.
And they're coming fromJerusalem and Galilee and Judea.
Okay, so we know he's inCapernaum, he's up here.
And they're coming from, I mean,that's a six-hour walk, Galilee.
(37:08):
But then they're also comingfrom a six-day walk.
They want to find out who isthis man who we don't know his
rabbi, and he's teaching, andhe's causing a ruckus.
And so they walk from Judea,Jerusalem, and near Galilee to
find him at Capernaum.
(37:29):
And the story continues.
And behold, some were bringing abed, on a bed a man who was
paralyzed, and they were seekingto bring him and lay him before
Jesus, but finding no way tobring him in because of the
crowd, they went to the roof andlet him down with his bed
through the tiles before Jesus.
(37:51):
Mark tells us there were fourguys.
These four guys they hear Jesusis coming through.
They have their paralyzedfriend.
They think this is it.
This is my moment.
This is our time.
They make a makeshift mat andthey drag him across town,
except there's a problem.
It's ten people deep all the wayaround the house.
Let's give them up.
Let's come back next week.
(38:12):
No, we're not gonna give themup.
We're not gonna come back.
Let's go around back.
There's no windows, they can'teven get in, and all of a sudden
they're tin deep.
When they get my sis, let's pushme em up, one, push me em up,
push him up women on the rum,woman, wum and push me em up.
They push him up.
You come up the next, you comeem up the next, bring em um up,
woman, bring em um.
And here are the number fourgummies and the pair of mess on
(38:33):
the rum.
Number one do we do?
Peel the bum, wum, peel the bum.
The strumble, the hem, the mumm,the bricks, the Pharisees are
inside my dirt, dripping them.
Like, what's going on?
And humble opens 'em up.
Humble opens them up.
Hang them up with us, hang themup with us.
They lower him down and they puthim right before Jesus.
(38:54):
And everything's I didn't run arough for that.
(39:46):
And Jesus ends the situationwith saying, Your sins are
forgiven.
Now take the mat and theparalyzed man back home.
And for the rest of eternity,when this story is told in
churches, the point is this yourspiritual needs are more
(40:12):
important than your physicalneeds.
Now go and teach that forever.
And they grab the man and theystart walking out of the room.
And then the old Pharisees saysomething.
(40:34):
Story's over.
The Pharisees, who is this whospeaks blasphemy?
Who can forgive sins but Godalone?
That is an accurate statement.
No one can forgive sins exceptGod.
Why?
Because the only person that canforgive you is the one who's
(40:55):
been sinned against.
If I burn down your house andthen ask your neighbor to
forgive me, they're going to belike, what is it to me?
You didn't burn down my house.
David says this, I have onlysinned against God.
Therefore, the Pharisees areright.
No one can forgive sins exceptGod alone.
(41:16):
The Pharisees are right.
They just didn't know theuniqueness of Jesus, that he was
God incarnate.
Can you imagine Muhammad sayingyour sins are forgiven?
Can you imagine Confucius sayingyour sins are forgiven?
But Jesus, without hesitationand a quiver in his voice, says,
Your sins are forgiven.
(41:37):
And so, therefore, from thispoint on, Luke chapter 5, the
Pharisees say he's either aliar, he's lunatic, but he's not
Lord.
He's either a liar or a lunatic,but he's not Lord.
And so they seek to kill him.
And then Jesus, knowing theirthoughts, says, Hey, four guys
in the paralyzed, come back inhere.
(41:59):
Okay, they come back in here.
And Jesus says this, why do youquestion your hearts?
Which is easier to say, yoursins are forgiven or rise and
walk?
Pharisees, which one's easier tosay?
Your sins are forgiven or riseand walk?
Well, it's easier to say, yoursins are forgiven.
That's easier.
(42:19):
It requires no validation.
If I walk down dirty sixthtonight at 10 o'clock and I tell
people, your sins are forgiven,your sins are forgiven, your
sins are forgiven, they're gonnabe like, oh, thanks, you know.
But if I pull people up from awheelchair, they're gonna be
like, oh my gosh, which one'sharder?
Is it harder to say to someoneon dirty sixth, rise and walk,
(42:42):
or your sins are forgiven?
It's harder to say rise andwalk.
And Jesus says, guess what?
To validate, rise and walk.
Rise and walk, but that you mayknow that the Son of Man has
authority to forgive sins, riseand walk.
Rise and walk.
(43:02):
When you read this, you kind offly over the part that he says
son of man.
That was his favorite nicknamefor himself.
He'll say it in every chapter inLuke about himself.
He'll say son of man in everychapter.
Why did Jesus call himself sonof man?
Was that just a fun nickname toassociate him with humanity?
No.
(43:23):
Because in the Old Testament,anybody who called themselves
the Son of Man, his dominion wasforever, his kingdom never ends,
and the nations will bow down tohim.
So anytime someone says to you,I am the son of man in
Scripture, that's a huge deal.
(43:43):
Why?
Daniel 7 says this (43:44):
I saw a vision in the clouds, there came
a son of man.
He was the ancient of days, thefather, gives him the authority.
And his dominion and glory andkingdom will never fail.
People and nations and language.
Would this ever be said aboutMuhammad, Confucius, the Hindu
(44:07):
gurus?
My friends, in Luke chapter 5,we see Jesus taking on the name
Son of Man.
We see him forgiving sins, andthen we see him saying, Rise and
walk.
Those are three unbelievablethings that no other founder
(44:28):
would ever do.
I am the Son of Man, your sinsare forgiven, rise and walk.
And the end of Luke 5.
Amazement.
Amazement sees them all.
Amazement.
The holiest book, the holiestverse for the Jew is
(44:50):
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 6.
It says this it's the firstthing whispered in the baby's
ear of a Jew, and it's the lastthing whispered upon a dying
man.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one.
The Lord is one.
(45:12):
The disciples knew this verse.
They would never go against thisverse.
And yet, after three years withJesus, they do.
And Jesus never rebukes themwhen Thomas says, My Lord and my
(45:40):
God.
Instead, he says, Thomas, you'vewalked with me for three years.
Blessed are you who've walkedwith me and you've seen me and
you know this.
But in 2025, there's gonna bepeople in Austin who are
confused, who think allreligions are the same, and they
(46:00):
haven't seen me and touched me.
Blessed are them when theyrespond.
Muhammad would have never said,Your sins are forgiven.
No, he would have said, Man,follow the five pillars in the
hopes that this is a test fromGod from Allah.
The Hindu gurus would never sayto the paralyzed man, your sins
(46:23):
are forgiven.
They would have said to theparalyzed man, Your past life,
you were probably a murderer ora thief, and this is why you
were born.
The Buddhists would never sayyour sins are forgiven.
Siddhartha Gautama would say,All life is suffering.
Just get used to this.
Confucius would say, dive intoeducation.
(46:45):
Jesus is unique.
You can go to the MohabadiTemple in India and you can see
the grave of Siddhartha Katama.
You can go to Medina, SaudiArabia, and you can see the
grave of Muhammad.
(47:06):
You can go to the Shandongprovince of China and you can
see the grave of Confucius.
You can go to Kartapur,Pakistan, and you can see the
grave of Guru Nainak, the fatherof Sikhism.
And you can drive 14 hours and26 minutes from this stage to
Navu, Illinois, and you can seethe grave of Joseph Smith, the
(47:31):
founder of Mormonism.
But you cannot go to the graveof Jesus.
He is unique among all thefounders.
And 3100 language groups todaydo not have a Bible, a
missionary, and zero hope.
(47:51):
And this is the reason Bless andthe Unreach Podcast exists.
It's to raise up goers andgivers to the 3100 language
groups that have nothing.
And so, friends, as we leavehere today, I want you to know
(48:12):
this should change how you liveand how you give and how you
raise your kids.
Christianity is unique among allthe other religions, and don't
buy the lie that they all teachthe same basic truths.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (48:31):
Thank you for listening to Unreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you, andwe hope it does, would you
please rate and review thepodcast wherever you listen?
Also share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, Dgroup, wherever you do life.
(48:51):
And if you want to connect withus, find us on Instagram at
Unreach Podcast or email us atunreached podcast at gmail.com.
In Revelation 7, John shares his vision of heaven
with members from every tribe,tongue, people, and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today, there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find that and findthe task remaining journey with
(00:31):
us to the ends of the earth.
We share the supernaturalstories of God of work.
SPEAKER_00 (00:39):
Hey friends, welcome to the Unreach Podcast.
I'm Quinn Hudson, your host, andtoday we have a very special
episode.
Listen, you know we love Dr.
Todd Arend around here at theUnreach Podcast.
You've heard him talk about themission of God before.
But this talk from Todd Aaron isunlike anything else you've ever
(01:01):
heard.
There's none like it.
In fact, it's actually calledNone Like Jesus.
Today, Todd is gonna tackleworld religions and how they
differ from Christianity and theperspective of Christianity from
those different world religions.
Fascinating content today.
So thanks again for tuning in tothe Unreach podcast for this
(01:22):
episode.
Get your notes app ready.
You're gonna need it.
And let's listen to Dr.
Todd Aaron present None LikeJesus.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
So we live down the street from University of
Arkansas, and uh my wifesurprised me.
She calls up the University ofArkansas, International Student
Department, and she says, Hey,can we get a student for
Thanksgiving?
(01:52):
They send us a Hindu namedBindu.
I pick her up, I I I Google topten Indian songs on Spotify.
I have it crankin', and Binduthe Hindu.
I'm like, how am I gonnaremember your name?
(02:13):
I don't know.
She comes over for Thanksgiving,for Halloween, she's carving
pumpkins for Easter, she'sbringing her boyfriend and the
curry, and we are literallytrying to just spill Jesus on
her.
(02:39):
Her family has been a Hindu forfourteen hundred years.
She's not interested in learningabout Christianity.
She doesn't want to read, shehas no felt need.
(03:02):
And her religion validates thatall roads lead to God.
So, fourteen hundred years, herreligion validates it, she's not
interested in changing and hasno desire to read.
How do we get Jesus to her?
(03:23):
This is incredibly difficult,especially when everyone thinks
all religions are the same.
From professors to podcasts topop stars to parents.
All religions lead to the samebasic truth.
(03:44):
But is that correct?
Is there anything unique aboutone of the other religions that
make it stand out?
Eight weeks ago, freshmenstarted college.
They walk into philosophy 101and they're bombarded
immediately with this story.
This is the first story you getin philosophy 101.
(04:09):
Welcome, students.
A king invites into his courtfive blind men.
Unbeknownst to the five blindmen, the king places in front of
them an elephant.
The king then asks the fiveblind men, reach out and tell me
what you feel.
The first blind man touches thetusk of the elephant and he
cries out it's a sword.
The second blind man touches theside of the elephant and he
(04:31):
cries out it's a mud wall.
The third blind man touches theleg of the elephant and he cries
that it's a tree trunk.
The fourth blind man touches theear of the elephant and he cries
that it's a banana leaf.
The fifth blind man touches thetail of the elephant and he
cries that it's a rope.
And philosophy professors lovethis story.
Why?
Because it shows us allreligions look different, but
(04:54):
they're just touching differentparts of God or the real.
And so a Hindu's touching thetusk, a Buddhist is touching the
side, a Christian's touching thetail.
And so when I read the Hinduscriptures, yes, they're gonna
sound different, but that's onlybecause they're touching a
different part of the real.
Again, this is from Austin toAustralia, this perspective.
(05:19):
It's pervasive.
But is it correct?
Is it correct?
A recent survey was done.
What prevents you fromcommunicating your faith to
unbelievers?
70% of Christ's followers saythere are multiple ways to
heaven.
This isn't just out there.
(05:40):
This is in the pews, it's in thefour-year of the church, it's in
your Bible studies.
They're not gonna tell youpublicly, but when you invite
them to do something inmissions, hey, there's a
missions lunch from 11 to 1 thatwe're gonna see how we can give
and pray and change the world.
Oh, I'm not interested.
(06:00):
Oh, okay, I thought you didn'thave the time to do it.
No, I don't think the lost arelost.
The majority of your friends whoaren't who are Christians, who
aren't interested in missions,they're not interested in
missions because they don'tthink the lost are lost.
Are all religions just the samepath that leads to God?
(06:23):
Or is there a uniqueness aboutJesus?
And what I want to do is I justwant to walk you through the
major religions, and I want tocompare them to Christianity.
And I think just the clouds inyour mind might clear as you see
and you're able to talk to yourfriends to say, no, there is
(06:44):
none like him.
So, Islam founder is Muhammadibn Abdu Allah.
The major problem in Islam isyou are self-sufficient.
You need to submit to Allah.
That's mankind's problem.
There is one God in Islam, hegoes by Allah.
(07:07):
You cannot know Allah, you canonly know his will.
And salvation is found in givingyourself to the five major
pillars praying five times aday, fasting for 40 days, taking
a pilgrimage to Mecca, sayingthe creed.
(07:28):
Six hundred years after thedeath of Christ, a thousand
miles away in Saudi Arabia, wasa man who was born named
Muhammad.
His mother and father die whenhe's a young man, young age, and
he's forced to lead caravansacross the desert.
(07:51):
He meets people who callthemselves Jews.
He asks the Jews, how many godsdo you worship?
And the Jews say, We worship oneGod.
He meets people who callthemselves Christians.
Christianity had been around for600 years.
How many gods do you worship?
We worship one God.
And then he marries a womanolder than him who's wealthy.
(08:12):
He now has had he now has timeand money, and he steals away
and fasts in a cave.
And in a cave, the angel Gabrielappears to him.
So it is said in the Quran.
And the angel Gabriel says, Laila ilallawa Muhammad Rasul
Allah, there is one God, and youare his prophet.
(08:33):
For the next 13 years he tellsthe story.
He gains a hundred followers,and then his own people try to
kill him because he was comingagainst the other gods that they
worshiped.
For the next 10 years afterthat, he builds the followers to
10,000.
And if he came across yourcommunity or your caravan,
(08:54):
Muhammad would give you threeoptions.
You could pay a tax forprotection, you could convert to
Islam, or you could fight.
Because mankind's problem isself-sufficiency, you need to
submit.
How do you say the Arabic wordsubmit?
(09:14):
Islam.
Islam.
Muhammad denied the Trinity, thedivinity of Christ, and the
crucifixion.
In Arabic, the word surah meanschapter.
O ye people of the book, exceednot the limits in your religion,
and say not what is untrue.
(09:36):
The Messiah, Jesus, Son of Mary,is only an apostle.
Say not Trinity.
It will be better for you.
This is in their holy book.
They deny the Trinity, they denythe divinity of Christ.
In their ignorance, Christianshave falsely ascribed to him
(09:57):
sons and daughters.
Who's Allah's wife?
Allah has no wife.
How then can he have a son?
You can't.
And they reject the crucifixion.
Christians say, We've killed theMessiah on the cross.
They slew him not.
They crucified him not.
(10:19):
They crucified someone wholooked like him.
And they were mistaking.
But they did not really crucifyhim.
God took him.
And 1.2 billion Muslims aredesperately trying to obey these
five pillars that somehow Allahmight find mercy on them.
(10:42):
And completely different fromIslam is Hinduism.
It's completely different.
See, my friends, all religionsstart with the same basic
premise.
Something is wrong with theworld.
But then they shoot off intotally different directions.
They all start in the samestarting line, something's
(11:05):
wrong, and then they shoot offin different directions.
Completely different, completelydifferent from Islam is
Hinduism.
Founder, there is no founder.
Gods, there's millions more godsin India than people in America.
There's more gods to worship inIndia than people in America.
(11:27):
Mankind's problem is karma.
Karma.
What you do in this life showsitself in your next life,
whether to better or for worse.
Salvation is devoting yourselfto one of the gods.
Devote yourself to one of thegods in the hope that it could
(11:47):
spin you off the wheel ofsuffering.
See, for Hinduism, they don'twant to be born again.
If you ask a Hindu, do you wantto be born again?
They're like, no, that's myproblem.
The wheel of suffering is everyHindu's problem.
This wheel of suffering.
And it's constantly spinning.
Every life it spins.
(12:09):
And there's 24 spokes on thiswheel.
And the hope of every Hindu isget me off this wheel of
suffering.
But every time I die and I'mreborn, I'm embedded in this
wheel.
And only giving devotion to oneof the gods or goddesses can
fling me off the wheel andreturn to Brahmin, the ultimate
(12:29):
reality, like a drop of water inthe ocean to be absorbed into
him.
So you have so many stories ofthe gods of India.
I just went to Los Angeles andtaught a class for three hours
called The Gods of India.
You can take three hours.
Here's just one sample story,just to give you a flavor.
(12:53):
Rama, Sitta, and Hanuman.
Rama marries Sitta.
Sitta is kidnapped by a demonking of Sri Lanka.
And Rama has to go rescue her.
But to kill the demon king, hehas to get this wood, make an
arrow, make a make a make a makea bow, and then shoot it at the
(13:14):
demon king, but he has to gofind this secret wood.
Hanuman loves Rama.
And he lives in the jungle, themonkey.
And he knows where this wood is.
And he buys the wood, he getsthe wood, he makes a bow, he
makes an arrow, Rama rescuesSitta, and Hanuman, if you open
(13:39):
Hanuman's heart, you will seeRama and Sitta.
He's the ultimate devotee.
So today, when you're in ataxicab in India, on their dash
is Hanuman, the monkey god.
And you can ask them, why areyou worshiping Hanuman?
Why not Rama or Sitta orKrishna?
Why not Ganesh?
(14:00):
Because Hanuman is the ultimatedevotee, and I need to help
being devoted to the gods, soI'm gonna worship him who's the
ultimate devotee, so that I canget to the other gods.
My friends, how important is thewheel of suffering and samsara
to the Hindu world?
(14:26):
It's in their flag.
It's embedded in their flag.
Completely different.
Completely different fromHinduism, completely different
from Islam is Buddhism.
Founder, Siddhartha Gitama.
God, just like none, no gods.
(14:49):
Mankind's problem, it's notIslam, self-sufficiency, it's
not Hinduism, karma, it'scompletely different.
Mankind's problem is suffering.
Suffering.
Salvation is found in the fournoble truths of the teaching of
Siddhartha.
If Islam happened 600 yearsbefore after Christ, Siddhartha
(15:13):
Gautama was born 600 yearsbefore Christ.
And he was a Hindu.
The founder of Buddhism was adevout Hindu.
He became disillusioned withHinduism.
And he said, I don't believe inthese millions of gods.
There is no God.
He sat under a tree to find themeaning of life.
He spoke the Pali language.
(15:34):
After living under this tree for40 days, living on a grain of
rice a day, he passes out.
When he comes to, people aroundhim start shouting in Pali.
Enlightened one, enlightenedone, enlightened one.
Sergeant Getama hears that andtakes that as his name.
How do you say enlightened onein Buddhism?
(15:56):
Buddha, Buddha, Buddha.
That's what enlightened onemeans in the Pali language that
they were speaking.
And so for the next 80 years,here he is.
He challenges people with thesefour noble truths.
Remember, the problem inBuddhism is suffering.
Noble truth number one, all lifeis suffering.
All life is suffering.
(16:17):
Get used to it.
Noble truth number two, thereason there is suffering is you
desire.
You desire your neighbor's wife,you take her, there's suffering.
You desire your neighbor'spossession, you take it, there's
war.
Your desires are causingsuffering.
Noble truth number three, getrid of your desire.
Well, how do I do that,Siddhartha?
Good teaching always leads tomore teaching.
So follow this eightfold path ofwisdom.
(16:40):
And at age 83, someone put a badpiece of meat in Siddhartha
Gautama's bowl as a beggar.
And he dies of food poisoning.
What's the hope of a Buddha?
Of a Buddhist nirvana, not theband, but annihilation.
(17:02):
Annihilation.
When one breaks the cycle ofkarma, they enter.
Remember, he was a Hindu, so hekept karma.
He was a Hindu, so he keptkarma.
He kept the will of suffering.
He was a Hindu.
So Buddhism is going to have alot of overlap.
But at the very core, he says,there is no God, there is no
soul, and our hope is to beannihilated.
What does a Buddha, what does aBuddhist want in life?
(17:25):
Nothing.
Nothingness.
So the greatest birthday card Iever received, I kept it.
What do you get a Buddhist forhis birthday?
Nothing.
And 650 million Buddhists aredesperately trying to live
(17:48):
without God and without soul andthe hopes of being annihilated.
And it is completely differentthan Islam.
It is completely different thanHinduism.
It is completely different thanConfucianism.
Welcome to the world's mostboringest founder.
I don't know how this religionstarted.
(18:09):
It's tough to even classify itas a religion because it denies
God.
So people don't know whether toclassify it as a religion.
Founder, Confucius, God, none.
Mankind's problem, it's notself-sufficiency, it's not
karma, it's not suffering.
It's completely different.
Social harmony.
How is salvation found?
(18:29):
Education.
Educate yourself.
Educate yourself.
That's how it's found.
Confucius is the world's mostboringest founder.
Why?
Because here he is, he's born,he's a teacher for 50 years, he
retires, he goes back to hishometown, he dies at 73, leaving
behind no written work and noreal followers.
But yet, if you Google Confuciussays today, you get 1.2 billion
(18:54):
hits.
So how did he get so how did ithappen?
Well, 25 years after his death,his followers said, This is what
we think he said.
And they wrote it down in a bookcalled The Analytics.
And the Analytics are theholiest book for the Confucius
world.
And someone asked him, Hey, areyou Confucius' follower?
I am.
Tell me about how to get to God.
(19:15):
How do I get to God?
One can hear about Confucius'accomplishments, but one cannot
get to hear his view of humannature or the way to heaven.
There's so much problems in thislife.
Don't worry about the afterlife.
(19:36):
It's completely different thanHinduism, then Buddhism, then
Islam.
And then you have Christianity.
Christianity.
Founder, Jesus, God, Triune,Father, Son, and Spirit.
Mankind's problem is notself-sufficiency, it's not
(19:59):
suffering, it's not education,it's not submission, it is sin.
You want to be your own king,and that's a problem.
You don't make a good king.
You barely make a good servant.
And so salvation is foundthrough faith and repentance and
(20:22):
response.
And when you compare these otherreligions, I challenge my kids
to read the holy books of allthe major religions because what
it does is it shines bright onthe gospel.
It shows you, oh my gosh.
Christianity, Christianity hasthe most incredible founder.
(20:45):
It has the most incredible book.
And it has the most incrediblemessage.
I mean, you just dip your toe inthe pond of other religions, and
very quickly, when you read the6,000 verses of the Quran,
you're like, wow, really?
(21:06):
And when you read the BhagavadGita, the 700 verses, you're
like, wow, really?
The most incredible founder, themost incredible message, and the
most incredible book.
Think about this.
Jesus was never confused.
All of these founders, oh, isHinduism right?
(21:27):
Is Buddhism right?
They were all confused,searching.
Jesus was never confused.
He was never searching.
His face was always set toJerusalem.
He had his end goal in mind.
All of these other religionssays, God says to me, Jesus
says, I say to you.
Think about Jesus just among theother founders.
(21:49):
I mean, just for Hinduism, forexample.
When we pulled up to go getBindu the Hindu, remember her?
When I pulled up to get Binduthe Hindu, she had a sleeve
tattoo.
And I said, Bindu, who is thaton your arm?
She says, This is Lord Krishna.
This is who I worship.
SPEAKER_01 (22:13):
Bindu.
SPEAKER_02 (22:16):
Do you know what the second holiest book in the Hindu
world says about Krishna?
He likes to look at naked women.
One day the girls, the gopis,left their garments on the
shore.
They began playing in the water,chanting Lord Krishna's name.
Suddenly Krishna appeared in thetrees, stole their garments.
(22:38):
He teased the girls.
Oh, you're so fatigued, girls.
Come out of the water.
Get your clothes back.
Imagine if this was said in Markchapter 2 about Jesus.
He is the most unique founder.
Muhammad, you know if you'regoing to Allah when you die.
(23:01):
I have no assurance.
I know not what shall be donewith me.
I only follow what is revealedto me.
I'm just a warner.
Muhammad! If you were not theprophet, what would happen?
God would raise up someone else.
I have of no value.
I am just a messenger.
I'm no more than a messenger.
(23:22):
Muhammad! Do you need to confessyour sins?
I do.
I do need to confess my sins.
Allah has told me I need toconfess my sins.
Confucius! Are you unique?
No.
No.
(23:43):
I'm not.
I just transmit I do not create.
No other religious founder woulddare say this.
(24:06):
No way.
Confucius would never say this.
Muhammad would never say this.
From mountains to molecules,from planets to people, all
things are created by me and forme.
(24:26):
Could you ever read that in theQuran?
No.
Will you ever read it in theAnalytics?
No.
Will you ever read in the Bog ofAgida?
No.
Yet back up and read nine versesaround Colossians.
Nine verses you will never readin any other book.
(24:49):
Jesus, we have redemption, theforgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisibleGod.
Wouldn't any other founder havesaid this?
No.
All things were created, heavenand earth, visible and
invisible, thrones anddominions, all things hold
together by him.
(25:09):
He is the head.
I mean, would Muhammad ever havesaid this?
No.
No.
He fully God with Muhammad, withConfucius, with Siddhartha.
No.
He reconciles all things onheaven and earth.
(25:29):
Just nine verses.
In one of the first letters theApostle Paul wrote.
And it just stands alone in theuniverse as unbelievably unique.
Would any other founder havesaid this about themselves?
No.
(25:51):
No.
In five hundred AD, there was aman named Dionysus.
And Dionysus said, I think, Ithink we should have something
called time.
And so Dionysus, to get time,here's what you have to do.
(26:17):
You pick something in historyand call it zero AD.
And then time is defined bythat.
Did Dionassus pick Alexander theGreat?
No.
Confucius?
No.
Siddharth Gitama?
No.
Who did time pick to functionthe calendar?
(26:39):
Jesus.
So Dionysus said, Jesus is zeroAD.
Now Alexander the Great is 300years after that.
The fall of Rome is 400 yearsbefore that.
And Dionysus said, all timehinges on Jesus.
When your non-believer friendtoday at 2 o'clock asks you,
(27:00):
what's today's date?
They're confessing Jesus is kingand unique.
And they just don't even knowit.
What's today's date?
Oh, you know, 2025.
How do we even measure that?
We have the most incrediblefounder.
(27:21):
We have the most incrediblebook.
I mean, I challenge you, go buya Quran, go buy a Bakh of Agida,
go buy the Analytics, go buy theTao De Ching.
I encourage you to go buy thesebooks and read them just to show
you the uniqueness.
The Quran was it's 114 chapters,it's 6,000 verses, it's the
(27:42):
exact same size as the NewTestament.
There's no order of coherence,no prophecy, and it's very
confusing to read.
And every six verses warns youthat if you disbelieve, you're
going to hell.
Every six verses.
So you're constantly reminded ifyou disbelieve this, you will go
to hell.
For Confucius, it wasn't writtendown until way after his death.
(28:05):
For the Bhagavad Gita, theholiest book in the Hindu world
is the Bhagavad Gita.
I read the Bhagavad Gita.
Oh, I'm on a plane.
700 verses.
Takes me about 37 minutes.
And I get, I get to the end ofthe Bhagavad Gita.
I'm like, let's go! Let's go!How is this unbelievable book
(28:28):
for a billion people gonna end?
Let's go! I think this is true.
That's how the last line, thisis my opinion, of the holiest
book of the Bhagavad Gita ends.
And I just compared that to thelast line of revelation, and it
(28:54):
was a little different.
I compared this is my opinionwith the last line of
revelation, and you're gonnanotice a difference.
If any person changes one dot,the plagues of the bulls and the
seals and the trumpets will bepoured out on you and your
(29:19):
family.
Oh my goodness.
But it's funny because most ofour non-believing friends,
they're like Bindu the Hindu.
They've just been this religionforever.
They have no felt need.
They don't want to change.
They think all roads lead toGod, and they're not interested
(29:42):
in reading.
And you say, Would you read theBible?
Oh, I mean, it's just what oldand full of fables and stories
and then you go, wow, you know.
There was another person thatthought the same thing that this
(30:04):
was full of fables and myths.
Except he was a little differentthan you.
He got an Oxford Full RideScholarship at age 14.
And he was the chair of thereligion department of ancient
literature for his entire life.
And he became a Jesus followerat 32 and wrote 41 books.
(30:33):
I have been reading poems andromances and vision literature
and legends and myths all mylife.
I know what they're like.
I know none like this.
We have the most unique book.
My hero in the faith, JohnWesley, that founded Methodism
(30:59):
over a billion people influencedby his life.
I want to know one thing.
I want to know the way toheaven.
How to land safe on that happyshore.
God Himself has come down toteach us that way for this
purpose.
He came from heaven.
He has written it down in abook.
(31:20):
Give me that book.
At any price, give me the bookof God.
Think about this.
The Quran was written over aperiod of 23 years.
The Bible written over a periodof 1500.
The Quran had one author.
(31:41):
The Bhagavita has one author.
The Bible has 40.
Over 1,500 years.
The Quran was written in onelanguage.
The Bhagavida was written in onelanguage.
The Bible was written in three.
The Quran was written on onecontinent.
The Bible is written on three.
The Bible begins in a gardenwith two people, it ends in a
(32:04):
city with millions.
It's one coherent book.
The Bible is the mosttranslated, stolen, and sold
book in the world.
It's the most translated,stolen, and sold book in the
world.
The Bible has been translatedinto 3,392 languages.
(32:28):
3,392 languages.
Now just to put that inperspective, I'm going to tell
you who's in second place.
The little prince at six hundredand ten languages.
(33:00):
And yet we're crushing it.
There is nothing like the bookthat we have.
And not only that, but the mostincredible message.
The most incredible message.
There was a religious gatheringin London.
(33:23):
All the leaders of majorreligions gathered.
Big room.
And they were asking, whatunique thing did Christianity
bring to the table?
One scholar stood up and said,God becoming man is unique to
Christianity.
And the Hindu scholar said, no,no, no, we have many Hindus.
Krishna became man.
(33:44):
That's not unique toChristianity.
One religious scholar said, theresurrection, Jesus rising from
the dead, that's unique toChristianity.
The Buddhists stood up and said,No, no, no, no.
We have bodhisattvas inBuddhism.
That many of them have risenfrom the dead and they're here
to help us.
And then C.S.
Lewis walks into the room and hesays, What's the rumpus about?
(34:06):
And they said, We're discussingwhat if anything is unique to
Christianity.
And he says, That's easy.
Grace.
The freely given, unmeritedfavor and love of God.
Every other religion, you haveto cry out, do these things,
(34:29):
figure it out, fast, dosomething, but not in
Christianity.
Not in Christianity.
It is unique.
Now, going back to Philosophy101 class, if you remember the
elephant story, oh my goodness,that's so good.
The elephant story, the fiveblind men.
The only reason that story makessense is because you have the
(34:54):
sixth man in the room.
You have the all-seeing king.
The story makes no sense withoutthe all-seeing king.
And I have no problem telling mynon-believing friends, this is
the all-seeing king.
And it tells me there is no onerighteous, no, not one.
(35:14):
But not only do we have theall-seeing King, the Bible, the
elephant himself speaks.
God wants to be known.
(35:36):
This isn't you groping andfinding and hunting and
searching.
This is him coming and invading.
And so, what I want to do forthe last little bit of our time,
I want to do something reallyinteresting.
I want to take a story from theBible.
(35:57):
And I want to look at thatstory.
And then I just want to see whatJesus, Muhammad, Buddha, or
Siddharth Gatama, or one of theHindu gurus would have done.
So I just picked one.
I picked one at the beginning ofLuke, the beginning of his
ministry.
Jesus has just begun hisministry in Luke chapter 5.
(36:21):
One of those days he wasteaching the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law.
They were sitting there.
They had come from Galilee,Judea, and Jerusalem.
Now, this is the beginning ofhis ministry.
Matthew 9 retells this story.
Mark 4 retells this story.
They add some, they add somedefinition.
Mark 4 tells us that he was inCapernaum.
(36:44):
That's north of Jerusalem.
And look at this.
Look at where people are coming.
This is the beginning of hisministry.
He starts his ministry in Luke4.
This is just the beginning.
And they're coming fromJerusalem and Galilee and Judea.
Okay, so we know he's inCapernaum, he's up here.
And they're coming from, I mean,that's a six-hour walk, Galilee.
(37:08):
But then they're also comingfrom a six-day walk.
They want to find out who isthis man who we don't know his
rabbi, and he's teaching, andhe's causing a ruckus.
And so they walk from Judea,Jerusalem, and near Galilee to
find him at Capernaum.
(37:29):
And the story continues.
And behold, some were bringing abed, on a bed a man who was
paralyzed, and they were seekingto bring him and lay him before
Jesus, but finding no way tobring him in because of the
crowd, they went to the roof andlet him down with his bed
through the tiles before Jesus.
(37:51):
Mark tells us there were fourguys.
These four guys they hear Jesusis coming through.
They have their paralyzedfriend.
They think this is it.
This is my moment.
This is our time.
They make a makeshift mat andthey drag him across town,
except there's a problem.
It's ten people deep all the wayaround the house.
Let's give them up.
Let's come back next week.
(38:12):
No, we're not gonna give themup.
We're not gonna come back.
Let's go around back.
There's no windows, they can'teven get in, and all of a sudden
they're tin deep.
When they get my sis, let's pushme em up, one, push me em up,
push him up women on the rum,woman, wum and push me em up.
They push him up.
You come up the next, you comeem up the next, bring em um up,
woman, bring em um.
And here are the number fourgummies and the pair of mess on
(38:33):
the rum.
Number one do we do?
Peel the bum, wum, peel the bum.
The strumble, the hem, the mumm,the bricks, the Pharisees are
inside my dirt, dripping them.
Like, what's going on?
And humble opens 'em up.
Humble opens them up.
Hang them up with us, hang themup with us.
They lower him down and they puthim right before Jesus.
(38:54):
And everything's I didn't run arough for that.
(39:46):
And Jesus ends the situationwith saying, Your sins are
forgiven.
Now take the mat and theparalyzed man back home.
And for the rest of eternity,when this story is told in
churches, the point is this yourspiritual needs are more
(40:12):
important than your physicalneeds.
Now go and teach that forever.
And they grab the man and theystart walking out of the room.
And then the old Pharisees saysomething.
(40:34):
Story's over.
The Pharisees, who is this whospeaks blasphemy?
Who can forgive sins but Godalone?
That is an accurate statement.
No one can forgive sins exceptGod.
Why?
Because the only person that canforgive you is the one who's
(40:55):
been sinned against.
If I burn down your house andthen ask your neighbor to
forgive me, they're going to belike, what is it to me?
You didn't burn down my house.
David says this, I have onlysinned against God.
Therefore, the Pharisees areright.
No one can forgive sins exceptGod alone.
(41:16):
The Pharisees are right.
They just didn't know theuniqueness of Jesus, that he was
God incarnate.
Can you imagine Muhammad sayingyour sins are forgiven?
Can you imagine Confucius sayingyour sins are forgiven?
But Jesus, without hesitationand a quiver in his voice, says,
Your sins are forgiven.
(41:37):
And so, therefore, from thispoint on, Luke chapter 5, the
Pharisees say he's either aliar, he's lunatic, but he's not
Lord.
He's either a liar or a lunatic,but he's not Lord.
And so they seek to kill him.
And then Jesus, knowing theirthoughts, says, Hey, four guys
in the paralyzed, come back inhere.
(41:59):
Okay, they come back in here.
And Jesus says this, why do youquestion your hearts?
Which is easier to say, yoursins are forgiven or rise and
walk?
Pharisees, which one's easier tosay?
Your sins are forgiven or riseand walk?
Well, it's easier to say, yoursins are forgiven.
That's easier.
(42:19):
It requires no validation.
If I walk down dirty sixthtonight at 10 o'clock and I tell
people, your sins are forgiven,your sins are forgiven, your
sins are forgiven, they're gonnabe like, oh, thanks, you know.
But if I pull people up from awheelchair, they're gonna be
like, oh my gosh, which one'sharder?
Is it harder to say to someoneon dirty sixth, rise and walk,
(42:42):
or your sins are forgiven?
It's harder to say rise andwalk.
And Jesus says, guess what?
To validate, rise and walk.
Rise and walk, but that you mayknow that the Son of Man has
authority to forgive sins, riseand walk.
Rise and walk.
(43:02):
When you read this, you kind offly over the part that he says
son of man.
That was his favorite nicknamefor himself.
He'll say it in every chapter inLuke about himself.
He'll say son of man in everychapter.
Why did Jesus call himself sonof man?
Was that just a fun nickname toassociate him with humanity?
No.
(43:23):
Because in the Old Testament,anybody who called themselves
the Son of Man, his dominion wasforever, his kingdom never ends,
and the nations will bow down tohim.
So anytime someone says to you,I am the son of man in
Scripture, that's a huge deal.
(43:43):
Why?
Daniel 7 says this (43:44):
I saw a vision in the clouds, there came
a son of man.
He was the ancient of days, thefather, gives him the authority.
And his dominion and glory andkingdom will never fail.
People and nations and language.
Would this ever be said aboutMuhammad, Confucius, the Hindu
(44:07):
gurus?
My friends, in Luke chapter 5,we see Jesus taking on the name
Son of Man.
We see him forgiving sins, andthen we see him saying, Rise and
walk.
Those are three unbelievablethings that no other founder
(44:28):
would ever do.
I am the Son of Man, your sinsare forgiven, rise and walk.
And the end of Luke 5.
Amazement.
Amazement sees them all.
Amazement.
The holiest book, the holiestverse for the Jew is
(44:50):
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 6.
It says this it's the firstthing whispered in the baby's
ear of a Jew, and it's the lastthing whispered upon a dying
man.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one.
The Lord is one.
(45:12):
The disciples knew this verse.
They would never go against thisverse.
And yet, after three years withJesus, they do.
And Jesus never rebukes themwhen Thomas says, My Lord and my
(45:40):
God.
Instead, he says, Thomas, you'vewalked with me for three years.
Blessed are you who've walkedwith me and you've seen me and
you know this.
But in 2025, there's gonna bepeople in Austin who are
confused, who think allreligions are the same, and they
(46:00):
haven't seen me and touched me.
Blessed are them when theyrespond.
Muhammad would have never said,Your sins are forgiven.
No, he would have said, Man,follow the five pillars in the
hopes that this is a test fromGod from Allah.
The Hindu gurus would never sayto the paralyzed man, your sins
(46:23):
are forgiven.
They would have said to theparalyzed man, Your past life,
you were probably a murderer ora thief, and this is why you
were born.
The Buddhists would never sayyour sins are forgiven.
Siddhartha Gautama would say,All life is suffering.
Just get used to this.
Confucius would say, dive intoeducation.
(46:45):
Jesus is unique.
You can go to the MohabadiTemple in India and you can see
the grave of Siddhartha Katama.
You can go to Medina, SaudiArabia, and you can see the
grave of Muhammad.
(47:06):
You can go to the Shandongprovince of China and you can
see the grave of Confucius.
You can go to Kartapur,Pakistan, and you can see the
grave of Guru Nainak, the fatherof Sikhism.
And you can drive 14 hours and26 minutes from this stage to
Navu, Illinois, and you can seethe grave of Joseph Smith, the
(47:31):
founder of Mormonism.
But you cannot go to the graveof Jesus.
He is unique among all thefounders.
And 3100 language groups todaydo not have a Bible, a
missionary, and zero hope.
(47:51):
And this is the reason Bless andthe Unreach Podcast exists.
It's to raise up goers andgivers to the 3100 language
groups that have nothing.
And so, friends, as we leavehere today, I want you to know
(48:12):
this should change how you liveand how you give and how you
raise your kids.
Christianity is unique among allthe other religions, and don't
buy the lie that they all teachthe same basic truths.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (48:31):
Thank you for listening to Unreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you, andwe hope it does, would you
please rate and review thepodcast wherever you listen?
Also share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, Dgroup, wherever you do life.
(48:51):
And if you want to connect withus, find us on Instagram at
Unreach Podcast or email us atunreached podcast at gmail.com.
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