Question:  Dear Greg,

            I have read that Jesus is in the Koran and is help in some esteem while never being identified as the Son of God.  If this is true and if it is also true that Islamic followers believe that Jews are inferior and to be hated, why would they (Mohammed) include Jesus in his writings?

            Thanks,

            Sue

Answer:  Dear Sue,

            I do not know if Jesus is mentioned in the Koran.  I do know that different stories are told about the contents of the Koran, which causes me to be cautious when someone tells me exactly what the Koran says and what it does not.

             I do know that Islam believes Jesus to be a prophet.  But he is merely one of the prophets, a human being who lived and died.  Christianity believes, as you say, that Jesus is and was the Eternal Son of God who existed from eternity, who came in the flesh to die for our sins, who died on the cross, rose from the tomb, and lives forever.  He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  He is God, the second person of the Trinity.  The Koran does not teach this.

            Why speak of Jesus as a mere man?  Because in so doing Jesus is discredited and his ministry is minimized, if not destroyed.  Jesus’ ministry and mission stands or falls upon his resurrection from the dead.  The sign he gave of his Messiahship was his resurrection (Matthew 12:39-40).  Jesus said that he would raise up his own body (John 2:18-22) because he was not a mere man, but God in the flesh.

            According to the Bible, anyone who denies the divinity of Jesus denies who and what he was and is.  Jesus was either who he said he was, and lives now as our Lord and Savior, or he was a liar, a fake and a charlatan.  There is no in-between explanation or definition of Jesus—such as good man, effective prophet, teacher who gave ethical instructions, Jewish reformer who altered the course of Judaism, etc.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht