Jesus in the Bible

And one of the scribes came... and asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.

And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he... And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

The scribe understood Jesus to mean strict monotheism - 'none other but he' - and Jesus praised him for it.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Jesus, praying to the Father, calls Him 'the only true God' and calls himself the one 'sent'. This is the exact structure of the Islamic testimony of faith: one God, and His messenger.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

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.

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.

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

God is all-knowing (Psalm 147:5). One who does not know the Hour cannot be the all-knowing God.

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.

'My God and your God' - Jesus places himself alongside his disciples as a worshipper of the same God. Compare Quran 3:51: 'Indeed, Allāh is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him.'

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God.

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Compare Quran 5:117, where Jesus says: 'I said not to them except what You commanded me.'

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.

But to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Whatever one believes happened on that day, these are the words of someone calling upon God - not of God Himself.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God... and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God.

Even after the ascension, Jesus (as quoted in Revelation) refers four times in one verse to 'my God'.

...the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

Matthew applies Isaiah 42:1 to Jesus - 'my servant'. In the Quran he calls himself 'the servant of Allāh' (19:30).

The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus...

The Greek word here, 'pais', means servant - many translations (RSV, NRSV, NIV) render it 'his servant Jesus'. The same word is used for David in Acts 4:25.

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.

Peter's first sermon: Jesus is 'a man', and the miracles were done by God through him - precisely the Quranic phrase 'by God's permission' (3:49).

...Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.

And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

And he went a little further, 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.

'Not as I will, but as Thou wilt' is the essence of the word Islam - submission to the will of God. Falling on the face is the Islamic prostration (sujud).

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

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.

Jesus prayed to be saved from death, and 'was heard'. Muslims believe God answered this prayer and raised him (Quran 4:157-158).

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Jesus taught his followers to pray to God alone, never to himself.

Moses and Aaron... fell upon their faces. / And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him. / And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship.

Prostration on the face is the worship of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jesus - and of every Muslim five times a day.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Asked how to attain eternal life, Jesus answered: keep the commandments. Not 'believe in my death', not 'accept me as God'.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil... Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.

Forgiveness through sincere repentance directly to God - no intermediary and no sacrifice required. This is the Islamic understanding of repentance (tawbah).

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son.

No inherited sin, no one bearing another's burden. Compare Quran 6:164: '…no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.'

...which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.

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

Spoken of David. 'Begotten' here is clearly figurative.

I will be his father, and he shall be my son.

Spoken of Solomon.

...for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord.

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Accused of claiming divinity, Jesus defends himself by pointing out that the Scriptures use such language for ordinary men. He does not say, 'Yes, I am God.'

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

God is 'Father' to all in the figurative sense of Creator and Sustainer. Islam avoids the word only because it was later taken literally.

I and my Father are one. / That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us... that they may be one, even as we are one.

Jesus prays that his disciples be one 'even as we are one'. If 'one' in John 10:30 means one essence, the disciples would also be of God's essence. It plainly means one in purpose and will.

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. / And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Jesus says no one has ever seen God's shape - while thousands saw Jesus. 'Seeing the Father' through him means seeing God's teachings and signs in his life.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Quran also calls Jesus 'a Word from God' (3:45, 4:171) - meaning he was created by God's word 'Be'. Note that John 1:1 is written by John, decades later, in Greek; it is not a statement of Jesus. Nowhere does Jesus say 'I am God, worship me.'

Before Abraham was, I am. / And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. / ...a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God.

In the Greek Septuagint, God's name in Exodus 3:14 is 'ho on' (the Being), not 'ego eimi' (I am). The blind man in John 9:9 also says 'ego eimi' ('I am he'). Jesus existed in God's knowledge and decree before Abraham, as did Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5).

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

An exclamation of astonishment, or addressed to God in thanks - not a creed. Three verses later (20:31) John states his purpose: 'that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God' - not 'that Jesus is God'.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

The only explicit 'trinity' verse in the Bible. It is absent from every Greek manuscript before the 14th century and is omitted by virtually all modern translations (NIV, ESV, NRSV, NASB) as a later addition. See the Trinity page.

Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee... / And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

Greeting with peace - 'as-salamu alaykum'.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it... / Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

Blessing food before eating; and distinct dress and covering in prayer.

But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head... / that women adorn themselves in modest apparel.

Modesty and head covering for women - as Mary is always depicted.

And the swine... he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat. / They that... eating swine’s flesh... shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.

Abstaining from pork - Jesus said he came not to destroy the Law (Matthew 5:17).

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. / And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.

This is my covenant... Every man child among you shall be circumcised. / And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS.

Circumcision - the covenant of Abraham, kept by Jesus and by Muslims.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance... / But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.

Fasting and giving charity in secret - the pillars of fasting (sawm) and charity (zakah).

For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle... they shall wash with water, that they die not.

Washing before worship - the Islamic ablution (wudu).