My God the Deva?

Not a few buddhists have commented to me that despite their admiration for Jesus, they believed he is just one of the devas (supernatural beings, deities, gods), whose stature is neither too high nor too low. But being formerly a buddhist myself, I know what they really meant. It was just a courteous way to say, Jesus is not the highest goal of mankind. Sakyamuni (Sage of Sakya clan, as Siddatha Gotama was known) who was called the Samma Sambuddha (the Fully Enlightened One) described himself, after saying that he was not a deva, gandhabba (heavenly being/fairy/angel), yakkha (demon) or a manussa (human being):

Just as a lotus born and grows in water,
stands up thither, unsoiled by it
So too I was born and grew up in the world,
transcended the world and unsoiled by it.
Remember me as the Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya 2.37; my own paraphrase)

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