Jesus: Prophet not God

بسم الله الرحمـن الرحيم

 

Both the religions of Christianity and Islam claim Jesus of Nazareth as their own. Of course, Christianity may seem to have a more compelling case on the surface, but consider the issue with an open heart and mind and you will come to the realization that it was the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who truly testified about the real and historical Jesus of Nazareth, and not Paul of Tarsus or the Church fathers. ‘Orthodox’ Christianity proclaims that Jesus is ‘God the Son’, the second person of the triune ‘Godhead’, simultaneously fully divine and fully human. Of course Jesus himself never described himself in such terms. Islam considers Jesus nothing more than a Prophet of God, like any of the multitude of prophets in ancient Israel that preceded him. Yet we rarely, if ever, hear a Christian refer to Jesus as a ‘prophet’. This despite the fact that the Christian Gospels themselves quote Jesus as saying about himself: “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home” (Mark 6:4; Matthew 13:57; Luke 4:24). Jesus uttered these words, which have multiple corroboration, after preaching in the synagogue of his hometown Nazareth yet being rejected by the people there. Incidentally, these words are prophetic in pointing to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who was rejected by his own people and his own relatives in Mecca after proclaiming his prophecy, but was welcomed and accepted by the people of Yathrib [Medina] to whom he emigrated to. Now it is quite odd that Jesus refers to himself as a ‘prophet’, and repeatedly as the ‘son of man’, yet orthodox Christians believe he was God Himself, incarnate in human flesh. A prophet by definition is someone who is not God but speaks on behalf of God having been appointed by God and granted a revelation from Him to that effect.