Gospel For Muslims by Steve Bell

Author:Steve Bell [Bell, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: REL017000, REL045000
ISBN: 9781780780429
Publisher: Authentic Media
Published: 2012-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

6.

Jesus’ True Identity

‘Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.’

John 12:41

I have never yet met a Muslim who has a problem referring to Jesus as God’s Word incarnate (S.3.39) nor a Muslim that does not accept that the Qur’an talks about Jesus: ‘proceeding from God’ (S.4.171). The prophet Micah said of Messiah: His ‘goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (Mic. 5:2, italics mine). When a Muslim can hold these two thoughts of Jesus’ eternity and his title ‘Word of God’ together, the words of the apostle John can become extremely potent for them:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:1–14a).

More enquirers from Muslim backgrounds, than at any time in church history, are putting these two issues together and finding that they want to take the step of accepting that ‘the Word’ is in fact God. This is the same discovery that early Jewish followers of Jesus had to make. Their problem was the same as a modern Muslim – how can a man be God?

When Jesus arrived as Messiah it was like a theological bomb going off, which blew apart the traditional Jewish expectation. Opinions about Jesus were therefore divided with many Jews reacting strongly against him – just as many Muslims do today. The Jews seemed to forget their Old Testament in order to protect their tradition. They went on the offensive to denounce the claim that God was among them, branding any who believed in Jesus as ‘blasphemers’ – as do most Muslims.

On the other hand, other equally monotheistic Jews were quickly satisfied that Jesus was indeed God in the flesh and that he was to be included in the ‘divine name’ of elohim. In fact the Jews who met Jesus in both the Old and New Testaments recognize who he was. If this could happen to monotheistic Jews, it can also happen to Muslims who must account for the Qur’an’s references, which imply that Jesus is divine. For example, while Moses is referred to as kallimullah (the one to whom God spoke; S.4.164), Jesus was referred to as kalimatullah (word from/of God; S.3.39, 45; 4.171). And this is what we are seeing today as unprecedented numbers of Muslims are turning to Jesus. Monotheists can and do embrace Jesus as a member of the Godhead.

When I lived in the Middle East, I undertook some postgraduate research in Applied Linguistics. I was impacted by the work of Denis Alexander, who highlighted the fact that a word is inseparable from the person who utters it. It is a product of the speaker’s past, their personality and their mind. To speak a word involves the use of over two hundred muscles in the diaphragm, chest, neck and face, and the word is given expression upon the exhaled breath (i.

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