But he must be God, he was lifted up
A Christian gentleman from Canada once quoted John 3:14-15 in an attempt to prove that Jesus (pbuh) died and was resurrected. The actual words are:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life..”
If we are to conclude that the act of God raising someone up is a sign that that person is a god or God Himself then we need to wonder how we shall then interpret the fact that God also raised Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and Enoch (Genesis 5:24) neither of which, according to the Bible and the consensus of the Christian scholars, died natural deaths but were instead “raised up” or “taken” by God because of their piety, uprightness, and their “walking with God.”
Further, anyone who would simply read the above verses carefully will notice that they never mention either a “crucifixion” or a “resurrection.” They also do not mention an “original sin” or an “atonement.” They do not even mention a “Son of God.” So, what do they say? They say exactly what Muslims say: That Jesus (pbuh) was not forsaken by God to the Jews, but was raised by God!
“And because of their saying (in boast): We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but a similitude was shown to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, except the following of conjecture. For surely; they killed him not. But Allah raised him up unto Himself, and Allah is All-Powerful, All-Wise”
The noble Qur’an, Al-Nissa(4):157-158.
This is what the “Gospel of Barnabas” says too. If you were to read the Gospel of Barnabas (see chapter 7), you would find that when Jesus (pbuh) was allegedly crucified, all of the faithful were weeping in the streets and they began to have serious doubts about his truthfulness and his true prophethood.
They said “Jesus told us that he would not die until just before the end of time. Now he has been crucified by his enemies. Was he a liar?” (by the way, Muslims also believe that Jesus, pbuh, will return to earth just before the end of time and will guide mankind to the final message of God.
The message of Islam). The same Gospel then goes on to describe how Jesus (pbuh) returned a few days later with four angels to the house of his mother Mary (pbuh) and was seen by the apostles. He described how God had saved him from the hands of the Jews, and had made it so that Judas resembled him and was taken in his place.
He told them that those who believe in him must believe that everything he had preached to them was true. If they believed that he was raised by God and not forsaken to the Jews to be crucified, then they would have eternal life. Is this not what the verses say? Please read sections 5.10, 5.16 and chapter 7.
But he must be God, he was the heir of God’s glory
Some members of the Church will then tell us that Jesus was the “heir” of God and was “glorified by God” upon his death with the eternal glory and majesty of God. To try and prove this point they then quote such verses as:
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Hebrews 1:2
or
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
John 17:5
They will tell us “surely you must see that this makes Jesus God, and thus, they must be joined in a trinity. You would have to be blind to not see this clear fact” What these clergymen do not bother to tell us is that the Bible also says:
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.”
Romans 8:16-17
“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:2
“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he (Jesus) is not ashamed to call them (the believers) brethren,”
Hebrews 2:11
But he must be God, he was crucified for blasphemy
Some members of the Church, in an attempt to prove that Jesus (pbuh) was God would quote for example John 10, as seen in sections 1.2.2.7 and 1.2.3.2, in an attempt to prove that Jesus was God and that this is the very reason why the Jews crucified him. However, as seen in that section, he never said what they claimed and this was not the real reason why they so dearly wanted to kill him.
It was only one of many excuses they had tried to come up with in order to mask their true reasons and justify before the masses a conviction of death. The real reason was that he was the Messiah that God had promised them and they did not want a Messiah who would come and rebuke them telling them that they were wrong, misguided, full of corruption and needed to mend they ways before God took
vengeance upon them, rather, they wanted a Messiah who would come and tell them what wonderful and pious elect children of God they are were and then to lead them into an ultimate all-conquering victory over all of nations of the earth.
So they rejected him, just as six centuries later they would also reject the “second Messiah” they were promised and whom they would travel to the barren deserts of Arabia to await (see chapters 6, 7 and 10 ). We read the confirmation of this in the Bibles:
“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.”
(RSV) John 9:22
“Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying: ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is speaking openly but they say nothing to him!. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?'”
(RSV)John 7:25-26
“Whosoever desires honor, power and glory, then [let them know that] to Allah belongs all honor, power and glory. To Him ascends the good word, and the righteous deed does raise it; but those who plot iniquities, theirs will be an awful doom; and the plotting of such (folk) will come to naught.”
The noble Qur’an, Fatir(35):10
“Do not think that Allah is unaware of that which the unjust do. He but gives them respite until the day when [their] eyes shall stare in horror. [They will be] hastening forward, their heads raised up [towards the sky], their gaze returning not to them, and their hearts empty (out of terror). And warn mankind of the Day when the torment will come unto them; then the unjust will say:
‘Our Lord! Respite us for a little while, we will answer Your call and follow the messengers!’ (It will be said): ‘Had you not sworn aforetime that you would not leave [the world for the Hearafter]? And you dwelt in the dwellings of those who wronged themselves, and it was clear to you how We had dealt with them and we put forth many parables for you.’ Indeed they plotted their plot and with Allah is their plot, though their plot were such that [if it were possible] it would remove the mountains “
The noble Qur’an, Ibraheem(14):42-46
“So when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he said: ‘Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah?’ The disciples said: ‘We will be the helpers of Allah; we believe in Allah and bear witness that we have surrendered unto Him (Literally: ‘we are Muslims’). Our Lord, we believe in what you have sent down, and we follow the Messenger, so write us down among those who bear witness.’
And they (the disbelievers) plotted and Allah plotted, and Allah is the best of plotters. When Allah said: ‘O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you of those who disbelieved, and I will make those who follow you [on true Monotheism which you preached to them] above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection, then you will all return unto Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute”
The nobel Qur’an, A’al-Umran(3):52-54