Christ – Jesus in the Bible: Son of God and Messiah, killed by Crucifixion – (Jesus Factors in Islam & Christianity Series 2)
Table of Contents
In series 1, ‘Isa – Jesus in
the Qur’an: A Messenger and a Prophet, not crucified nor killed (Jesus Factors
in Islam and Christianity)’, the argument was that there are two different
narratives of the person of Jesus as noted in both the Qur’an and the Bible
contributed to their different assumptions. In series 1, the term ‘factor’ was
defined based on mathematical and some algebraic expressions. Factors are one
of two or more numbers, or the like when multiplied together result in a given
product. For example, 8 and 5 are factors of 40. In this light, therefore, viewed the Islamic interpretation of the person of Jesus as one factor, and the
Christian interpretation of the person of Jesus as another factor.
This series is tasked with
examining the characterization of Jesus in the Bible, namely: the Son of God and
Messiah, who was killed by crucifixion. We will start by examining his person
and work, in essence, Christology and soteriology.
Christology/Soteriology
The section of Christian theology that
deals with the person of Jesus Christ is known as Christology. In older
works (John Damascene’s Faith, Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae) of
Christian theology, a distinction was made between the ‘person of
Christ’, Christology and ‘the work of Christ’, Soteriology.
Theologically, according to McGrath (1999), there is a strong “realization of the
affinities between functional and ontological Christologies,” [i] and
as Wolfhart Pannenberg contends that they are viewed today as two sides of the
same coin:
The divinity
of Jesus and his freeing and redeeming significance for us are related in the
closest possible way. To this extent, Melanchthon’s famous sentence is
appropriate: “Who Jesus Christ is, becomes known in his saving action.” ...
Since Schleiermacher, the close tie between Christology and Soteriology has won
general acceptance in theology. This is particularly to be seen in one
characteristic feature of modern Christology. One no longer separates the
divine-human person and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, as was done in
medieval Scholastic theology and, in its wake, in the dogmatics of sixteenth-
and seventeenth-century Protestant orthodoxy, but rather, with Schleiermacher,
both are conceived as two sides of the same thing. [ii]
The reference to Christology as including
Jesus’ Soteriology is to point out the Christian departure of the person of
Jesus as different from the way Islam and the Qur’an portray Jesus: a prophet
and messenger of Allah. Jesus’ redemptive work of salvation was the reason for
Christology.
There is one clear difference when the
term revelation is used or referred to in Christian theology. The mystery
surrounding revelation in Christianity is different from the mystery
surrounding revelation in Islam.
For Islam, the revelation came through Prophet Muhammad.
But for Christianity:
The mystery of the
revelation of God in Jesus Christ consists in the fact that the eternal Word of
God chose, sanctified, and assumed human nature and existence into oneness with
Himself, in order thus, as very God and very man, to become the Word of
reconciliation spoken by God to man. [iii]
To this claim, Barth (1956) argues for
a Christology that is based on God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ:
A church
dogmatics must determine as a whole and in all its parts, as surely as the
revealed Word of God, attested by Holy Scripture and proclaimed by the Church
is its one and only criterion, and as surely as this revealed Word is identical
with Jesus Christ. If dogmatics cannot regard itself and cause itself to be
regarded as fundamentally Christology, it has assuredly succumbed to some alien
sway and is already on the verge of losing its character as church dogmatics. [iv]
For Pannenberg (1990, 1991), [v] Christology
is the reason Christianity’s faith in the Trinity serves as the “resource for
the common search for the truth.”
Pannenberg arguing from the perspective
of Rahner (1965) [vi] imagines “how the trinitarian persons come to
appearance and relate to each other in the event of revelation as presented in
the life and message of Jesus.” Rahner argues that “it is only on the basis of
this triune God that Christian statement about the one God and God’s essence
and attributes can be discussed.”[vii]
With this brief commentary on
Christology/Soteriology, let’s examine the many names and attributes associated
with Jesus by Christianity and indeed, the Bible. The idea is to draw a
contrast between the Christian understanding of the nature or person of Jesus from
that of Islamic understanding as noted in series 1.
Jesus – Son of God
Among the Christological titles (son of David,
Prophet, Rabbi, Lamb of God, King of Israel, Messiah, Son of Man, Lord, son of
Mary, and Son of God) of Jesus, the most influential and controversial is Son of God. What does this
mean? The assessment of the title Son of God arguably should not come from
exegetical, historical, or chronological perspectives but from its biblical
narration, especially as in the gospels. The phrase ‘Son of God’ is a common
claim in the bible and Jesus identifies himself with his Father.[viii]
According to McGrath “the Old Testament
used the term ‘Son of God’ in a broad sense, perhaps best translated as ‘belonging
to God.’ It was applied across a wide spectrum of categories, including the
people of Israel in general (Exodus 4:22), and especially the
Davidic king and his successors who were to rule over that people (2 Samuel
7:14).”[ix] That means that the term, ‘son of God’ in its broad usage can be
applied to Jesus, any Christian or Muslim and yet, without it being associating
partners with God: “There will then be (left) no Fitnah (excuses or statements
or arguments) for them but to say: ‘By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who
joined others in worship with Allah” (Al-An‘âm 6:23).
St. Paul used the term ‘Son of God’ in
reference to Jesus and believers as well. But Paul “draws a distinction between
the sonship of believers, which arises through adoption, and that of Jesus,
which originates from his being “God’s own Son” (Romans 8:31). [x] Let’s
examine the various usages of the phrase “Son of God” in the New Testament.
Son of God in the New Testament
In Romans 1:4, Paul argues that Jesus
had been declared the Son of God because of his resurrection. Moreover, “those whom
he foreknew to be made conformable to the image of his Son”, also share the
same glory. “We have received the Spirit of adoption of sons whereby we cry
Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). For Thomas Aquinas, there was the need for the begottenness of the Son of God: “The natural Son of God is
begotten not made; adopted sons are made, though sometimes said to be begotten
by a spiritual rebirth which comes not from nature but from grace... The Son
of God proceeds by nature from the Father as a mental Word of one existence
with the Father....” For Vermes, there are two types of sayings that are
particularly important to the study of the term “Son of God” in the Gospels and
Acts. Namely: (1) a typology of Jesus self-identifying himself as the “Son of God”
and (2) the typology whereby others describe or address him as such. [xi]
Son of God by Self-identification
In describing the way, the title Son of
God is applied in the Gospels, especially when Jesus Christ is assumed to be
arrogating the title to himself, there are two biblical translations – The New
Jerusalem Bible (NJB) and New Living Translation (NLT) that underpins the
Synoptic parallels. The reason for this is to unravel the implications of the Son
of God discourse.
But as for that day
or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; only the
Father (Mark 13:32). [NJB]
However, no one
knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in
heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows (Mark 13:32).
[NLT]
Everything has been
entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just
as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him (Matthew 11:27). [NJB]
My Father has
entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and
no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him (Matthew 11:27). [NLT]
Everything has been
entrusted to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the
Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him (Luke 10:22). [NJB]
My Father has
entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and
no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him (Luke 10:22). [NLT]
The above biblical citations,
especially from the NLT are emphatic. The NLT precisely ‘foregrounds’ the
uniqueness of the Father (God) by using adverbs such as ‘only’ the Father (Mark
13:32). Then in (Matthew 11:27) and (Luke
10:22) the NLT used another adverb ‘truly’ to signify that the true
knowledge of the Father (God) can only come through the Son and true knowledge
of the Son can come only through the Father and those to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him. And yet another, significant point from the above citations is
that (Matthew 11:27) and (Luke 10:22) portrayed
Jesus as declaring himself the Son of the Father, in the phrase “My Father.”
The above discourses are parts of the
eschaton and especially in Mark 13:32, the title ‘the son’, followed later
Gospel tradition as a complement to counterbalance the disturbing impression
left by the entire saying. [xii]
Son of God and Messiah
Here the phrase “Son of God” is meant to designate “Messiah”. “The Greek word Christos translates the Hebrew term Mashiah, most familiar in its anglicized form of “Messiah”, with the root meaning of “one who has been anointed” [xiii] The term “Messiah” is used to describe God’s anointed as was in the case of Saul, David and even Persian, King Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1). Rengstorf argues that “the decisive feature of the NT against the background of contemporary messianic expectation is summed up in the thesis that the combined NT witness to Jesus of Nazareth, however, varied in detail, is consciously Christological.” [xiv]
The term “Son of God” if associated to the
concept of Messiah denotes two natures (human and divine) of the Second Person
of the Blessed Trinity. Hence, the title “Son of God” is about his divinity
while “Messiah” is about his humanity. The following New Testament verses
support this argument.
But he was silent
and made no answer at all. The high priest put a second question to him saying,
‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ (Mark 14:61). [NJB]
But Jesus was silent
and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the
Son of the Blessed One?’ (Mark 14:61). [NLT]
But Jesus was
silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the living God
to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God' (Matthew 26:63). [NJB]
But Jesus remained
silent. Then the high priest said to him, ‘I demand in the name of the living
God – tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God’ (Matthew 26:63).
[NLT]
Look! You are to
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give the
throne of ancestor David... (Luke 1:31-32). [NJB]
You will conceive
and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and
will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne
of his ancestor David (Luke 1:31-32). [NLT]
From the preceding, NJB uses the title
“Christ” (the anointed one) and associates it with the Son of the Most High
while the NLT uses “Messiah” (Mark 14:61).
Both mean the
same thing except that NJB is translated from the Greek Christos and
the NLT translates from the Hebrew Mashiah. Again, the title “Son of the
Most High” is linked directly to the role of kingship which goes to define the
title “Christ” (the anointed one). The Luke account identified Jesus as a
descendant of David (Luke 1:32) and this links again to the claim
that he is the son of David.
In the theological glossary of NJB, the title ‘son of David’ is a “messianic title stemming from the promise to David and stressed thenceforth in the Old Testament (OT) and at the time of Jesus .... Jesus himself was hesitant towards this title, perhaps because it suggested too human a notion of the Messiah.” [xv] Jesus was not keen on the title son of David, perhaps because of its political connotations.
Examining
the effect of messianism on the early church, Rengstorf argued that “when it
represented itself as the community of Jesus the primitive church intended to
represent itself simply as the messianic community. For in its preaching of
Jesus as messiah it was at the same time interpreting itself messianically in
relation to its life, its historical origins, and its aims.” [xvi]
Son of God – Miracle Worker
In the New Testament, miracles were
considered effects of the works of someone viewed as coming from God. The Son
of God concept is attributed to Jesus because of the many miracles (for
example, bringing the dead back to life) he performed which in the eyes of his
onlookers were unimaginable. The title of Son of God was associated with Jesus
not only by humans but by demons and by heavenly voices as well. [xvii]
Son of God used by Demons
And the unclean
spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall before him and shout, ‘You are the
Son of God!’ (Mark 3:11). [NJB]
And whenever those
possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to
the ground in front of him shrieking, ‘You are the Son of God!’ (Mark
3:11). [NLT]
Devils too came out
of many people, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he warned them and
would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ (Luke
4:41). [NJB]
Many were possessed
by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, ‘You are the Son
of God!’ But because they knew him, he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and
refused to let them speak (Luke 4:41). [NLT]
Suddenly they
shouted, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? (Matthew 8:29). [NJB]
They began screaming
at him, ‘Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? (Matthew 8:29). [NLT]
Son of God used by men
And as they got into
the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said,
‘Truly, you are the Son of God’ (Matthew 14:33). [NJB]
Then the disciples
worshipped him. ‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed (Matthew
14:33). [NLT]
The centurion, who
was standing in front of him, had seen how he had died, and he said, ‘In truth, this man was the Son of God’ (Mark 15:39). [NJB]
When the Roman
officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, ‘This man truly
was the Son of God!’ (Mark 15:39). [NLT]
When the centurion
saw what had taken place, he gave praise to God and said, ‘Truly, this was an
upright man.’ (Luke 23:47). [NJB]
When the Roman officer
overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshipped God and said,
‘Surely this man was innocent.’ (Luke 23:47). [NLT]
Son of God used by heavenly Voice
And a voice from
heaven said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy’ (Matthew
3:17). [NLT]
And suddenly there
was a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on
him’ (Matthew 3:17). [NJB]
And a voice came
from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you’ (Mark
1:11). [NJB]
And a voice from
heaven said, ‘You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy’ (Mark
1:11). [NLT]
As he was praying
the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like
a dove. And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are my dearly loved Son, and you
bring me great joy (Luke 3:22). [NLT]
And the Holy Spirit
descended on him in a physical form, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven,
‘You are my Son; today have I fathered you’ (Luke 3:22). [NJB]
Son of God in the Fourth Gospel – According to John
Nathanael answered,
‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel’ (John 1:49). [NJB]
Then Nathanael
exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God – the king of Israel!’ (John
1:49). [NLT]
The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world! (John 1:29). [NLT]
The next day, he saw
Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29). [NJB]
The first thing
Andrew did was to find his brother and say to him, ‘We have found the Messiah' – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus (John 1:41). [NJB]
Andrew went to find
his brother, Simon, and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means
“Christ”) (John 1:41). [NLT]
When the people saw
him do this miraculous sign, they proclaimed, ‘Surely, he is the Prophet we
have been expecting!’ When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be
their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself (John 6:14-15). [NLT]
Seeing the sign that
he had done, the people said, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into
the world.’ Jesus, as he realized they were about to come and take him by force
and make him king, fled back to the hills alone (John 6:14-15). [NJB]
These are recorded
so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing this you may have life through his name (John 20:31). [NJB]
But these are
written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son
of God and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his
name (John 20:31). [NLT]
John’s account
of Jesus as the Son of God included other titles, such as ‘Rabbi’, ‘the king of
Israel’, ‘the Lamb of God’, ‘Messiah’, and ‘And Prophet’. At the end of his gospel,
John argues that Jesus is the Christ as well as the Son of God; and that
believing in the name – of Jesus Christ – as the Son of God, gives life to any who
believes it.
It is a long narration from the gospels
as they depict the person and nature of Jesus. Jesus is the “Son of God” and a
“Messiah”. There are other titles associated with him as listed above.
Rengstorf argues that “to express this a single title like Messiah or Christ is
just not sufficient. Therefore, when the NT kerygma expounds the salvation
bound up in Christ, it makes use of other titles of honour which are appropriate
to the particular reference.” [xviii] He eventually, brings together the link
between Christology and soteriology:
If Christ has been transformed from a
title of honour to a part of Jesus’ name, this corresponds to the essential
feature in his historical appearance which at the same time must be reckoned as
the condition of his whole work as a mediator of salvation: his obedient
submission to God’s will as manifested in the process of God’s self-revelation
in the history of the people of Israel. [xix]
Jesus’
messiahship and Sonship are at the heart of Christian Christology as against
Islamic ‘Isalogy.
Christian Christology presents
Jesus as a messiah and Son of God. His messiahship not only that it is “the
presupposition of his path to the cross”, but it is also “the presupposition of
his resurrection and exaltation on God’s part”, hence, in (Phil. 2:5). Rengstorf
argues that Paul “describes Jesus’ path via incarnation, the life of obedience
and the death of obedience on the cross to the resurrection and to exaltation
at God’s side as the path of Christ Jesus, i.e., of that messiah who is
identical with Jesus of Nazareth.” [xxi]
The Jesus
factors of the two religions are like two sides of the same coin. They are like
5 and 8 which gives 40 as a product. For greater or lesser, the two different
positions of the two religions add to the scholarship of Jesus' arguments.
Conclusion
The Islamic understanding of the person
of Jesus as both a messenger and prophet is far removed from the Christian
understanding of the person and nature of Jesus as a messiah and Son of God. For
the Qur’an, Jesus was the son of Mary, who was not killed but was raised body and
soul by God to the heavens: “And because of their saying (in boast), ‘We killed
Messiah ‘Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah,’ – but they
killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of ‘Isa (Jesus) was put
over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are
full of doubts” (An-Nisa’ 4:157).
For Christianity, Jesus is the
incarnate Word of God and Son of God. He also enjoys many other titles among
Christian believers. However, there are quite a few things that can bring
Muslims and Christians together in Jesus’ narratives. Both agree that he is the son
of Mary, the messenger, the word of God, and the righteous one. Both also agree that he
somehow left this world, whether, through translation or crucifixion, both await
his return.
[i] McGrath, AE 1999. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Blackwell,
Oxford. P.320
[ii] (Wolfhart Pannenberg as cited in McGrath 1999. P. 320).
[iii] Barth, K 1956. Church Dogmatics. G. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance
(eds). T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. P.122
[iv] Ibid. P.123
[v] Pannenberg, W 1990, ‘Religious Pluralism and Conflicting Truth
Claims: The Problem of a Theology of the World Religions’ in D’Costa, G, (ed)
Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered: The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of
Religions, Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, pp. 96-106. (Pannenberg, W 1991, Systematic
Theology, vol.1 translated by G Bromiley, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI).
[vi] Rahner, K 1965. Theological Investigations. vol. 1. Darton.
Longman & Todd, London.
[vii] Karkkainen, V 2004. Trinity and Religious Pluralism: The Doctrine
of the Trinity in Christian Theology of Religions. Ashgate, England. P.86
[viii] Vermes, G 1976. Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the
Gospels. Fontana/Collins, Glasgow.
[ix] McGrath. AE. Op. cit. 326
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Vermes, G 1976. Op. cit. P.200
[xii] Ibid. PP.200-201
[xiii] McGrath. AE. Op. cit. p.325
[xiv] Rengstorf, KH 1976. ‘Jesus Christ, Nazarene, Christian’. in Colin
Brown (ed) The New International Dictionary of New Testament. G-Pre. The
Paternoster Press, Exeter. P.338
[xv] The New Jerusalem Bible. 1990. p.1448
[xvi] Rengstorf, KH 1976. Op. cit. p.339
[xvii] Vermes, G. 1976. Op. cit.
[xviii] Rengstorf, KH. 1976. Op. cit. P.343
[xix] Ibid.
[xx] ‘Isalogy - a term deduced from the Islamic name for Jesus (‘Isa). I
have used to counterbalance the Christian term, Christology, hence imagining
the ‘Jesus Factors in Islam and Christianity.’
[xxi] Rengstorf, KH. 1976. Op. cit.
