Muslim claim that Jesus is a messenger of God only to Israel not true

Muslim Claim (opening post):

Jesus is a messenger of God:

=================================

Read the bible.

When Jesus said God sent him, so, he is a messenger of God.

Read the Bible:

○ ‘that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ (John 17:3)

○ ‘I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.’ (John 5:30)

○ ‘For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.’ (John 6:38)

○ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24).

 

My Response:

The opening post contains some excellent verses from the New Testament. Yet these verses are often not understood by many Muslims. As another commenter said, these verses are taken out of context.

(1) John 17:3. This verse is misunderstood to mean that Jesus said God the Father is the only true God, thus excluding Himself, and so declaring that He is only a messenger, and not God or deity in any sense.

This interpretation is totally mistaken because it fails to take into account what it means in its context. Jesus is rather affirming that God has given Him authority over all mankind, over the whole world, to be the One who is authorized to give eternal life to as many who truly and permanently continue to know and to grow in their knowledge of God AND Jesus Christ through fellowship with both as they as individual believers study and grow in their knowledge of Jesus Christ by reading and studying the word of God found only in the Bible. See 2 Peter 3:18 and 1 Peter 1:23.

(2) Jesus claims repeatedly that He has been sent by God the Father. But remember that Jesus also claimed in John 17:1 to be God’s Son:

John 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

(3) No mere prophet makes the claim that Jesus did: “For I came down from heaven,” John 6:38.

(4) Matthew 15:24 is largely misunderstood by most Muslims to mean God sent Jesus as a prophet only to the lost sheep of Israel. This is an obviously mistaken interpretation:

a) In this very passage Jesus is ministering to a Gentile, identified as a “woman of Canaan” in Matthew 15:22!

b) Jesus did not always limit or restrict his ministry to none but the Jews. He healed the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13);

c) He declared his Messiahship to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:25-26);

d) As a result of her vibrant testimony Jesus was asked by the townspeople of the Samaritan city of Sychar to stay two more days with them, which he did, and many of them believed (John 4:42), and even recognized Jesus is the Savior of the world.

e) When Jesus healed the ten lepers, one of them was a Samaritan, the only one who returned to give thanks (Luke 17:11-12; Luke 17:15-16).

f) Therefore, Christ’s directive (Matthew 10:5-6) that his disciples minister only to the lost sheep of Israel and not enter into any city of the Samaritans nor go in the way of the Gentiles was clearly a directive for that immediate mission, and does not mark a permanent policy of the ministry of Christ that limited His work only to the Jews. It is most clear that Christ came to save the world, not merely the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for He commanded that His Gospel be proclaimed to every creature (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 1:29; John 3:16; John 4:42; Acts 1:8; 1John 2:2).

g) This accords precisely with what was prophesied of the Messiah (Isaiah 49:6; Acts 13:47; Acts 26:23).

Isaiah 49:6
6  And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
King James Version

 

This entry was posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Doctrinal Discussions, False Religions, How to Interpret the Bible Correctly and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Muslim claim that Jesus is a messenger of God only to Israel not true

  1. ken sagely says:

    hello jerry discussion you have going and cross refs really bring out what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bossom of the Father, he hath explained him.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with Facebook

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.