This page is an open letter dedicated to my Muslim friends. Please read and reflect. God bless you as you do so.
Dear Friend,
It seems to me that you find it difficult to understand and accept the truth of the Bible that Jesus is the Son of God, I can understand your fears of acclaiming Divinity to another human being as blasphemy, but then when we look at the various references of the Bible, it leaves no doubt than to believe in the truth. I will make a summary here:
#1. No one in history ever claimed to be the ONLY way to God the Father of all – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. See: John 14:6 “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.”
#2. No genuine man/prophet of God ever accepted worship from another person – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. See: John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
John 20:29 “Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
#3. No genuine man/prophet of God ever claimed the SAME title as God – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. See: John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
Joh 8:59 “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
#4. No one in history was born like Jesus, by a virgin birth – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus WAS. ….. See:
Mat 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
#5. No one in history ever RESURRECTED – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. See: Heb 1:8 “But unto the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.”
#6. No one in history did God the Father called God – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. See: Luk 24:46 “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it was fit for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.”
#7. No one in history has ever fulfilled up to 7 Prophecies WITHOUT Direct Influence – not Moses, Abraham, Muhammad, Jeremiah, etc. Jesus DID. ….. I mean without their actual input such as been born, being beaten in a certain way and being killed in a particular manner. No one! See below for at least 20 of such!
Things To Reason:
Jesus was a fully human person, but one in whom the rule of God comes near. In the preaching and in the acts of Jesus, God is revealed as both his Father and our Father. Jesus was born and grew up like every other human being. After he had left his home and family in Nazareth, he was baptized by John the Baptist. This was a pivotal moment when, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus experienced God’s affirmation of him as his ‘beloved Son’ and, simultaneously, God’s commissioning of him as his ‘servant’. The language used at the baptism of Jesus (e.g. at Mark 1:11) echoes Old Testament passages which speak on the one hand of the King of Israel as God’s Son (e.g. Psalm 2:7) and on the other hand of a mysterious ‘servant’ of God through whose extreme sufferings God’s salvation will be extended beyond Israel to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 42:1-7; cf. also Isaiah 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13 – 53:12).
Jesus Christ is the Son of God become human! Jesus is a truly human being, our brother. He is born to a human mother, grows up and matures, learns a trade, suffers hunger and thirst, displays joy and compassion, anxiety and anger. He is a human being with body and soul – truly one of us, close to us.
Jesus claimed to be more than all the prophets and the teachers of the Law who came before him. A teacher of the Law says: ‘Moses has said . . . ’ A prophet says: ‘Thus says the Lord . . . ’ But Jesus, without appealing to any higher authority, simply says: ‘Truly I tell you . . . ’ Especially striking in this regard is the sermon delivered by Jesus in his home town Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30), in which Jesus in effect says: ‘I am the one in whom what was promised through the prophets becomes reality.’ Finally, in speaking of God, Jesus did not place his hearers and himself in the same position before the one whom he called ‘Father’. Rather, he distinguished between ‘your Father’ and ‘my Father’. Human beings are children of this Father, but Jesus alone is ‘the Son’ in an absolute sense.
Those who heard the preaching of Jesus quickly grasped that they must either accept his unprecedented claims, and therefore dedicate themselves wholly to him and his teaching, or alternatively must regard him as a blasphemer and deceiver on an extraordinary scale. Those who chose not to believe in Jesus therefore behaved quite consistently by arresting him and having him executed, condemned under their own law as a blasphemer and under the law of the occupying Romans as a disturber of the peace. And they appeared to be right. Nothing happened as they mocked him on the cross: ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself’ (Mark 15:31).
We know what happened next. The utter despair of the disciples, who had given up all hope (Luke 24:21), did not last long. Jesus appeared to them as the Living One, risen from the dead. This caused them – and those who came to faith through their testimony – to reflect on how they could most adequately express what needed to be said about Jesus. They called him ‘the Son of God’; so also they prayed to him and publicly confessed him. It is certainly possible to express what is meant by this differently, especially today. But this title ‘Son of God’ was particularly appropriate for the confession and the proclamation of the faith – and it has always remained so.
Furthermore, Jesus himself hinted that this title conveys the truth. In the Gospels there are frequent passages in which either Jesus calls himself ‘the Son’ or others wonder whether he is ‘the Son of God’ (e.g. Matthew 16:16; Mark 14:61-2; Luke 1:32). And since he so emphatically calls God ‘my’ Father, how can it be wrong to call him ‘the Son of God’?
To call Jesus ‘the Son of God’ was to make quite clear the claim that he is unique, more than just a man. It was enormously challenging to apply this title to Jesus because in doing so the Believer was eradicating all the images (whether glorious or bizarre) which the Jews and the Greeks had formed of the ‘sons of the Gods’. ‘The Son of God’, Believers insisted, ‘is none other than this Jesus – this controversial, mocked, persecuted, executed Jesus.’ It is no wonder that the powerful did not tolerate this.
To call Jesus ‘Lord’ raised similar issues. The Greek version of the Old Testament already in use by the time of Jesus used this same word (‘Kurios’) to translate the Hebrew divine name ‘Yahweh’, though ‘Kurios’ could also signify ‘Master’. For the Greeks ‘Kurios’ was a divine title, so it was natural for Caesar to adopt it for himself since he demanded veneration as a deity. Martyrdom was therefore the fate of those early Believers who, resisting this veneration of Caesar, insisted: ‘Jesus alone is Lord’.
The mysteries of the Incarnation and of the divinity of Jesus occupy a central place in the Believer’s faith. For Believers, the doctrine of the Incarnation does not signify the ‘deification’ of a man. Rather, in the Incarnation the eternal Word of God takes on a human nature and so becomes a human being. The expression ‘Son of God’ serves as a pointer to the divine origin of Jesus and to the fact that in Jesus God has made himself present to humanity in a unique way. It is not a biological statement, such as would make of God a parent in the ordinary human sense.
Finally, in response to questions from Muslim friends, there should be no concealing of the fact that faith in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God is an essential part of belief by anyone who trusts to get to heaven one day, but it is only by the working of the Holy Spirit can we acknowledge and proclaim Jesus as Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3).
A Few Prophecies about Jesus:
Micah 5:2 (Matthew2:1-6)
Isaiah 7:14 (Luke 1:26-28)
Deuteronomy 18;15,18,19 (John 7:40)
Zechariah 9:9 (John 12:12-16)
ISAIAH 53:1,3 (Matthew 26:3-4, John 12:37-38)
Psalm 118:22 (Acts 4:1-12)
Psalm 41:9 (Matthew 26:14-16,47-50. Luke 22:19-23)
Psalm 16:10 (Matthew 28:1-10, Acts 2:22-32)
Psalm 110:1 (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-51)
Isaiah 6:10 (John 12:39-40)
Jesus fulfilled these prophecies and much more! How many people in history have fulfilled anything close to 10% of these? None! It is further proof that the Almighty God was orchestrating the Person of Jesus all along.
Final notes:
There is a pertinent question, which MUST be answered by ANYONE who doubts the Divinity of Jesus Christ: How many prophecies did He fulfill which had nothing to do with His direct influence? I will list a few here:
The Messiah must… Prophecy Fulfillment by Jesus
Be born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-7
Be adored by great persons Psalms 72:10-11 Matthew 2:1-11
Be annointed with the Spirit of God Isaiah 11:2, 61:1 Matthew 3:16; John 3:34; Acts 10:38
Be hated without cause Isaiah 49:7; Psalms 69:4 John 15:24-25
Be undesired and rejected by His own people Isaiah 53:2, 63:3; Psalms 69:8 Mark 6:3; Luke 9:58; John 1:11,
Be plotted against by Jews and Gentiles together Psalms 2:1-2 Acts 4:27
Be betrayed by a friend Psalms 41:9, 55:12-24 Matthew 26:21-25, 47-50; John 13:18-21; Acts 1:16-18
Be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12 Matthew 26:16
Have his price given for a potter’s field Zechariah 11:13 Matthew 27:7
Be forsaken by His disciples Zechariah 13:7 Matthew 26:31, 56
Be struck on the cheek Micah 5:1 Matthew 27:30
Be spat on Isaiah 50:6 Matthew 26:67, 27:30
Be mocked Psalms 22:7-8 Matthew 27:31, 39-44
Be beaten Isaiah 50:6 Matthew 26:67, 27:26, 30
Be thirsty during His execution Psalms 22:15 John 19:28
Be given vinegar to quench that thirst Psalms 69:21 Matthew 27:34
Be considered a transgressor Isaiah 53:12 Matthew 27:38
Be buried with the rich when dead Isaiah 53:9 Matthew 27:57-60
Be sought after by Gentiles as well as Jews Isaiah 11:10, 42:1 Acts 10:45
Be accepted by the Gentiles Isaiah 11:10, 42:1-4, 49:1-12 Matthew 12:21; Acts 10:45; Romans 15:9-12
To get a feel for the probabilities involved, consider this. An author and speaker named Josh McDowell calculated the odds of Jesus fulfilling only eight of the Messianic prophecies as 1 out of 1017 (a one followed by 17 zeros). This is equivalent to covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep, marking one of them, mixing them all up and having a blind-folded person select the marked one at random the first time.
I hope you will reflect on this before you make any conclusions, my friend. And should you desire, you may give your life to Him right now, wherever you are, just say these prayers with all your heart:
Lord, I open my heart to you! Allow me to know You in my life. My Lord! Change me from inside. I accept You as my Saviour and as my Deliverer! Save me from my sins and wash my heart, my Lord! I put all of my life into Your Hands. Use me, O my Lord! Enlighten my heart, Lord, and let me overflow with love. My Lord, I receive You into my life in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!”
God bless,
Brother John