No other subject divides the Qur'an from the Bible as does the question of
whether Jesus Christ is only a prophet or God incarnate. The eighty-three verses
paraphrased from the Qur'an in this chapter will explain the core of the Islamic
position. Christians believe that a true understanding of Jesus is essential for
salvation and eternal life.
A summary and comparison with the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ should
begin with the similarities between the two portrayals of Jesus. It is
interesting that the Qur'an does confirm Christ’s Apostles’ message that Jesus
was the Messiah, a holy child born of the Virgin Mary, did mighty miracles, was
followed by noble disciples and brought the Gospel. It even heralds Jesus as the
Word and Spirit from Allah. The Qur'an adds an amazing story of how the child
Jesus created a live bird from a clay sculpture. This story is not found in the
Bible.
On the other hand, the Qur'an denies that any of these signs or titles
suggest that Jesus was the incarnation of God. It announces that Jesus served on
earth as a slave of Allah just as Mohammed. It goes to great lengths to denounce
the Holy Trinity, the crucifixion of Jesus and his title as the Son of God.
Muslims believe the term “Son of God” mandates that Allah had sexual relations
in order to produce a child. Christians are greatly disturbed when they discover
this misunderstanding.
The Islamic denial of the crucifixion is worthy of a special note in this
preface. The Qur'an teaches nothing about salvation through belief in the cross
and resurrection of Jesus. It states that the Jews did not kill the Messiah; it
only looked to them like they did, but Allah gathered him up. What does that
mean? Muslim tradition teaches that Judas was miraculously given the appearance
of Jesus and was crucified by the Jews who thought he was Christ Jesus himself,
while Jesus was secretly taken up to Allah. In this way he escaped the attack of
his fellow Jews.
After a study of the following verses from the Qur'an, a central question
will remain. If the Qur'an is correct, why did the apostles of Christ go into
the world proclaiming that they were witnesses of his death and resurrection
heralding salvation for all those who believe? They went forth commanding that
the converts be baptized in the name of the one God; Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. The answer is that the Muslims believe the original Gospel to have been
altered as it was transmitted throughout history. Thus the Muslims believe that
the mission of Jesus failed to start the true church. How did the church of the
Arabian Peninsula receive this message?
The church of Mohammed’s day rejected the Qur'an because it degraded the Lord
Jesus. From the time of the apostles, the New Testament clearly teaches that
Jesus was a real man, yet he was the Word of God, God with us, the image of the
invisible God, one with the Father and in him lived all the fullness of God in a
true human body. This was important because they knew that Jesus was human, in
this way he could pay for the sins of humans, yet he was divine so he was holy
enough to be a pure sacrifice. This was not something they invented, it was
revealed to them by Old Testament prophets (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53), angels
(Matthew 1:20-25), John the Baptist (John 1:29), the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:44-53)
and God’s Apostles (Colossians 1:15-20).
Jesus said that, at the end of the age, he would come in glory surrounded by
the angels and appear seated on his throne to judge the nations (Matthew
25:31,32). The fiercely monotheistic Jews, who heard him, either had to believe
he was divine or someone who needed to be killed for blasphemy.
The Christians throughout the ages were inspired to believe that Jesus was
who he claimed to be and spread this good news (Gospel) everywhere at the risk
of their own lives. They believed the words of Jesus that his church would go
forth to every nation and not even the gates of Hell would be able to stop it.