COMPELLING TRUTH  



A Message to Muslims About Jesus


By Robin Schumacher
Originally posted in the Christian Post





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What Jesus Said About Himself

Jesus made some pretty extraordinary claims about himself that were recorded and circulated during a time when those who heard him speak could have easily disputed what was written down if they were false. But no one did.

What did he assert? In short, Jesus claimed he was equal to God. Just look at some of these examples of how he referenced statements made about God in the Old Testament and applied them to himself:

God in the Old Testament Jesus Comparison to Himself
The Sower (Jer. 31:27; Ezra 34:9) The Sower (Matthew 13:3-9)
The Shepherd (Gen. 49:24; Ps. 23:1) The Shepherd (John 10:11)
The Rock (Ps. 18:2) The Rock (Matthew 7:24)
The Bridegroom (Is. 54:5, Hosea 2:16) The Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1)
I AM (Ex. 3:14-15; Is. 48:12) I AM (Matthew 14:27; John 8:58; John 8:18, 24)
The shepherd (Ps. 23:1) The shepherd (John 10:11)
The light (Ps. 27:1) The light (John 8:12)
The stone (Is. 8:14-15) The stone (Matthew 21:44)
Ruler of all (Is. 9:6) Ruler of all (Matthew 28:18)
Judge of all nations (Joel 3:12) Judge of all (John 5:12)
The bridegroom (Is. 62:5; Hosea 2:16) The bridegroom (Matthew 25:1)
God's Word never passes away (Is. 40:8) Jesus' words never pass away (Mark. 13:31)

But there's more. Jesus not only claimed equality with God, he did things only God can do. For example, Jesus demonstrated God's sovereignty over birth defects (Matthew 12:9-13; Mark 3:1-5), disease (Matthew 8:2, Luke 7:1, Mark 3:1), nature (Mark 4:35, Matthew 14:25), creation (Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 9:12-17), Satan/demons (Matthew 8:28, Luke 8:26, Mark 1:34), and death (Mark 5:22, Luke 7:11) with his own authority. Never once did He say, "Thus says the Lord" or call upon God to perform a miracle, but instead He acted on His own.

Moreover, Jesus forgave sins (Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20–21), said He was the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5), claimed he was God's Son (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:61–62; Luke 22:70), allowed himself to be worshipped (Matthew 28:9, 17), said he sends forth "his" angels (Matthew 13:41; 25:31) as well as other prophets (Matthew 23:34; see God doing this in 2 Chronicles 36:15), made a direct claim to divinity as the Son of God and Son of Man as mentioned in the book of Daniel (Dan. 7:13-14; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:61–62; Luke 22:70) and said he shares glory with the Father (Luke 9:26; God says He does not share His glory with anyone: Isaiah 42:8).

What Jesus Says About You

All of the above is incredibly important, but something just as crucial — maybe even more so — is what Jesus says about you. Don't worry; it's all good news.

While the Qur'an says that your good works may earn you salvation with Allah (sura 23:102-3), have you ever felt you might not measure up? That you can never be sure of your eternal destiny?

If so, you and I are a lot alike. I know I can never, ever reach the high standards God has. In fact, you and I are not alone because the Bible says everyone falls short of those standards (Romans 3:23).

But the good news is that we don't have to. Even though we don't deserve it, Jesus came to die for the punishment that we deserve from God. He took our place on the cross and the death that should fall on you and me. Further, he was raised from the dead to prove that death doesn't win. He beat death and gives that same wonderful gift to you and me. This is why it's so important to understand the truth about Jesus' death and resurrection.

Jesus said it this way: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16-17).

Just One More Thing...

I know what it means for you to accept and believe the things I've written. But the way I see it, eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong, and I don't want you to be wrong where Jesus is concerned.

There's one last thing I'd like to ask of you. God promises to never ignore those who truly seek the truth from Him (Jeremiah 29:13; James 1:5). Would you pray and earnestly ask God to show you the truth about Jesus? If you are truly looking for the truth about Jesus, I have no doubt that God will show it to you.

Thanks for listening my friend. For more information, I recommend you read the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.

God bless!



1. Gary R. Habermas; The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ; 1996; pg. 206.

2. Annals, Book 15.

3. Jewish Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a.

4. Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: An Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings; Oxford University Press; 2011; pp. 261-2.

5. For a good treatment of historical references to Jesus outside the Bible, see Dr. Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament.

6. For a thorough treatment of the historicity of Jesus' resurrection, see Dr. Mike Licona's work, The Resurrection of Jesus, A New Historiographical Approach.


Image Credit: Bilal Dweik; "Jesus Name in Arabic"; Creative Commons



TagsBiblical-Salvation  | History-Apologetics  | Jesus-Christ  | Other-Religions  | Theological-Beliefs



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Published 7-20-2015