Was Jesus God?

Posted on by Start Of Journey

Another popular discussion which is debated around the World, Is Jesus God? I researched this topic for a few months and the feedback I received was very interesting.

I found that Muslims have alot of respect for Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him). I have already created a post on where Jesus (pbuh) fits into Islam and the respect Muslims give him. You can find out more by reading Who Was Jesus

I found that a few people I spoke to from a couple of different religions including Athiests had questions which they feel were never answered or were very confusing.

The common questions were:

Is Jesus God?
Is Jesus the Son Of God?
Is Jesus the Holy Spirit?
So is God all of the above, three in one?

Was Mary the mother of Jesus?
Is Jesus God?
So Mary was the Mother of God?
So Mary is a bigger God?
Is Mary the daughter of God, because we are all sons and daughters of God?
How can Mary be the Mother and Daughter of God?

Is Jesus God?
Did Jesus die for our sins?
How long did Jesus lay in his grave after he died on the cross?
Who ran the world whilst Jesus (God) was in his Grave?

But whilst asking the above questions directly to Christians, and relating to the Bible, a couple of Christians asked me to use another version of the Bible, and if I used the other and asked another question to a different Christian, I was told to use another version or use the one I was using previously, and so on.

Did Jesus die for our sins? Yes according to Christians
But before Jesus was taken away to be crucified he said:

“Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38)

and Jesus prayed to God according to (Matthew 26:39)

“And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
It seems from the above verse that Jesus had no intention of dying. Matthew mentions Jesus repeating this prayer three times so he could have this death removed from him. If Jesus had been sent to be crucified and die for our sins, he would not have hesitated to be killed but instead he prayed to God.

The answer to the above verses from a few of the Christians who were able to answer, was that this hesitation came from the flesh side of Jesus, he was tempted and his soul which is Godly did not have this hesitation at all.

But in (Matthew 26:38) Jesus states in his own words, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.”

So what happened after Jesus prayed to God?

According to (Hebrews 5:7) God replied to the prayer with “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”

God granted him his request. The words “heard in that he feared” mean that God granted Jesus what he requested in his prayer. So the above verse shows when Jesus prayed, God responded to his prayer and saved him from crucifixion.

Muslims believe Jesus did not die on the cross but it was made out to be as mentioned within the Qur’an.

Why did Jesus need to die for our sins, when God, the merciful, could as easily grant us forgiveness?

Most Christians believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Every human is born with sins, or all humans will eventually sin, and therefore someone as pure as Jesus was crucified for our sins. A common question from non-Christians was; why did Jesus need to die for our sins when God, the most merciful, could just and easily grant us forgiveness if we asked for it? Why does God have to make someone suffer for our sins? Is this not unjust of God?

Were Jesus and God one?The common verses relating to Jesus not being God, which non-Christians put forward to the Christians are:

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”(John 20:17)

 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46)

“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28)

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:29)

There are many more such verses where Jesus calls upon God

The response most Christians will give to the above verses from the Bible is that Jesus was talking as a man here, and because he is a man the Father is greater than him. The Father meant he is greater than Jesus in rank and authority and not in essence.

Non-Christians ask what did Jesus mean in (John 10:29) when Jesus mentioned the Father is greater than All? Why did Jesus place himself in the category of all people. Also, can Christians prove that Jesus had two natures, is there a quote from Jesus mentioning that he is God or to worship him, or where he has mentioned that he has two natures and he gave one of the natures up and took on the nature of man.

One of the verses which Christians use to answer the above question is:

“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

This verse, according to the Christians I spoke to showed God and Jesus to be one and the same. But (John 20:17) states “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Within the above verse, Jesus mentions that there is a distinction between him and God. So basically, Jesus had a God.

“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) could also relate to the message from God and the message from Jesus being one.

Another verse from (Matthew 27:46) mentions:

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This verse mentions that Jesus cried calling for his God.

From the above it shows that there are two different ways Jesus relates himself to God. The first one is Jesus and God are one and the other Jesus refers to a higher authority than himself which is God. Now lets assume that both are correct, then according to non-Christians there is a contradiction. If Jesus was God, would it be more appropriate for Jesus to say “and to myself, and your God.” and “Myself, Myself, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Now, if one of them is wrong and the other is correct then we need to discard the one we believe to be incorrect. We know God does not make mistakes, so is the current Bible the word of God?

(John 5:30) mentions:
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

An argument is, if Jesus and God were the same then Jesus would not have said what he said in the above verse.

Was Jesus the begotten son of God?
Many Christians also believe that Jesus was the begotten son of God which is another big question which confuses non-Christians.

This belief seems to come from the below verse:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

and

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” (John 3:16)

The book of (Psalms 2:7) mentions the below verse:

“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”

David, in the above verse is saying that God had told him he was the son of God and God has begotten him. So clearly Jesus is not the only begotten son of God.

A response to the above was that Jesus had no human father in contrast to David who had a human father so since Jesus had no human father it makes the relationship between him and God a much closer one.

But what about Adam? who had no human father or mother, and according to the Bible Adam was also the son of God. All that were led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. If you are a Godly person, you are also the Son of God. It makes sense.

The Bible mentions the below verse:

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.” (Luke 3:23)

The Bible goes on to mention the supposed genealogy of Jesus. At the end of this genealogy the Bible comes to Adam, and the below verse is mentioned:

“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke, 3:38).

So Adam is also the son of God. So if Adam had no mother or father, would he be classed as being much closer to God or even God himself? No

According to Muslims, Jesus and Adam do not differ in God’s sight. They were a mere creation of God and this is also mentioned within the Qur’an. The verse mentioned within the Qur’an is:

“Truly, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, and then said to him, ‘Be!’ and he was.” (Qur’an, 3:59)

So if Jesus was not God, who was he?Click here: Who Was Jesus

Researching this topic and the feedback received was very interesting.

God knows best

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source : Who Was Jesus?

read :

-1 The Story of Jesus and Mary in the Holy Quran

-2 Download the Story of Jesus and Mary in the Holy Quran PDF