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What Was Jesus' Message - umm Zachariah - 01-30-2005
Assalamu aleikum,
Some subjects to compare.
Monotheism
Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.”1 This references: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Jesus went on to say, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)
There are numerous Biblical passages in which Jesus made a clear distinction between God and himself:
“Now behold, one came and said to him, ‘Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ So he said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is God.’” (Matthew 19:16-17)
If Jesus had been God, it would have been fitting for him to attribute goodness to himself. In fact, it would have been a concealment of the truth to deny it:
“…my Father is greater than I. (John 14:8)
How does this square with the Creed of Nicea, the first authoritative declaration of Trinity? “We distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance. For the Father is a distinct person; the Son is a distinct person; and the Holy Spirit is a distinct person. Still the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory and co-eternal majesty.”
Jesus distinguished between his own limited knowledge and God’s perfect knowledge:
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32)
“No man has seen God at any time.” (John 1:18)
But many people saw Jesus.
The New Testament refers to Jesus as God’s servant:
“Behold my servant, whom I have chosen.” (John 1:18)
“The God of Abraham and of Isaac…hath glorified his servant Jesus.” (Acts 3:13)
Jesus stressed that no one deserves worship except the one true God:
“It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:8)
Prayer
Among the acts of worship that Jesus devoted to God alone was his prayer,
“And he [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Sit you here while I pray.’” (Mark 14:32)
“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.” (Luke 6:12)
The question arises: Who was he praying to? Was it to himself or to One who was greater than him, One whose will would come to pass, whereas what Jesus wanted might or might not come to pass?
“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.’” (Matthew 26:39)
Note that he fell on his face to pray. Prostration, i.e., putting one’s face on the ground is one of the four main postures of prayer in Islam. If Christians were following Jesus, one would expect them to pray like him.
Prostration in prayer was not unique to Jesus. It was a feature of worship among the prophets of the Old Testament as well.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face.” (Genesis 17:1-3)
“And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting; and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” (Leviticus 9:23-24)
“Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 20:18)
Jesus would have also performed ablution before prayer as Moses did:
“And he set the laver between the tent of the meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet…as the Lord commanded Moses.” (Exodus 40:30-31)
Muslims are commanded to wash their faces, forearms and feet and to wipe their heads before prayer.
''O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that ye may be grateful.''
The Qur'an 5:6
Women’s Dress
Have you ever seen a painting of Mary, Jesus’ mother? How was she dressed? Did she have on a mini-skirt or a halter top or a long dress? Was her hair permed or was she wearing a scarf over her hair? Was she wearing makeup or was her face free of cosmetics? In fact the original dress code for Christian and Jewish women was very close to what religiously observant Muslim women wear today.
“And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, and said to the servant, ‘Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?’ The servant said, ‘It is my master.’ So she took her veil and covered herself.” (Genesis 24:64-65)
According to Rabbi Dr. Menachem M. Brayer (Professor of Biblical Literature at Yeshiva University), it was customary for Jewish women of the Biblical era to go out in public with a head-covering, which sometimes even covered the whole face, leaving only one eye free.
Following the Law
Jesus was an observant Jew. When the man came to ask him how to attain eternal life, he answered him:
“If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 19:17-19)
These commandments were from the ten commandments revealed to Moses. Jesus delivered a sermon in which he said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-20)
Yet Paul said, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.” (Galatians 3:13)
And he said, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28)
Jesus was circumcised, in accordance with God’s covenant with Abraham:
“He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations.” (Genesis 17:12)
“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus.” (Luke 2:21)
Paul on the other hand stated:
“Real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.” (Romans 2:29)
“Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” (Galatians 5:2)
Muslims, on the other hand, observe this practice of all the prophets of God.
Jesus abstained from pork:
“And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed, is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.” (Leviticus 11:7-8)
Paul, on the other hand, said:
“I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.” (Romans 14:14)
“If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.” (1 Chorintians 10:27)
I have done my best to put the verse numbers in right order.
Source,
http://www.viewislam.com/belief/jesus2.htm