Hello Unite, heres my viewpoint ...
1. Jesus was more than a prophet/messenger ... Mohammed or Islam know nothing about Jesus, and the Quran came some 600 years after Jesus ... to be fair, you need to see what the Bible says since it is historical and was written down by eye-witness accounts. The Quran wouldn't really stand up in a court of law, because anybody can forge a book and claim it is "holy" and "divinely inspired" ...
2. Jesus DID claim he was God ... just not Arrogantly ... Put it this way, if he went onto the streets of Jerusalem or in Israel and said "I am God, worship me" ... Dont you think thats rather arrogant? That defeats the ENTIRE object of being born in the humblest of manners in a manger and living a sinless and humble life. Lets just see how unique and different Jesus was shall we?
* Born of a Virgin - Nobody else has been before
* Sinless - I dont know of any other man that was sinless in history
* History/Astronomy agree's that during the time of Jesus's birth there was a star in the sky, asteroid/star, whatever you want to interpret it as. I have detailed astronomical info on the 'Star of bethlehem'
* Died AND Resurrected - The most debated issue among scholars today is the Resurrection, not the Death, the fact that Jesus was Crucified is not argued about, the Quran is the only book that is in historical error.
* Historical dating systems were changed after Jesus, thats how much of an impact he had on the world.
* Ascended into Heaven - He had a unique arrival and departure
Geez ... why wasn't mohammed, the 'seal of the prophets' this special? Why did an star guide people towards Jesus when he was born, why was he that Special?
And why is it that the Quran and the Bible both say that Jesus will come back to Judge the world? Whatever excuses people make that this is spiritualally symbolic or whatever, why couldn't the Quran say that mohamed will come back to judge the world? wether literla of symbolic, why not mohammed, and why Jesus?
Jesus was CLEARLY different ... The reason like i explained why he didn't claim to be God is because of the time and the situation. Do you even know the consequences of claiming to be God would have been? Stoning to death.
Now dont you think that would have been a rather stupid thing to do? That would have been the most daft thing to do, here the world waits for the Messiah, then he comes and claims to be God, then gets stoned and dies, that would ruin everything dont you think?
Your argument that Jesus didn't openly claim to be God and therefore he wasn't God is invalid, you need to look into Jesus's speech and see what he REALLY said or meant. I'll help you out.
Lets look at John 8:58 and see what Jesus said ...
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am
Jesus was claiming to be "I Am" ... The name which God revealed himself as in Exodus to moses in Exodus 3:14, look it up if you like.
htmlbible.com also gives the Exodus scripture as a link reference for John 8:58 because Jesus was claiming to be "I AM" ... Well, you might say ... thats conjecture, well ... Lets see what the people's reaction was when Jesus said this shall we?
John 8:59 - Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by
The Jews understood Jesus pretty well, wether muslims or the world understands this scripture or not, they understand it VERY well indeed. The context of the scripture also has another meaning, Jesus said that Before Abraham was, or before Abraham existed, Jesus was, or Jesus existed. Jesus was also saying here that he existed before Abraham, this would make him God.
Mark 2:1-12--Jesus heals a paralytic. He had authority to forgive sins, which is something only God Himself can do. Then, to authenticate His claim, He demonstrated His power by healing the paralytic. ONLY God can forgive sins, not man, or a prophet or messenger.
Jesus also MANY MANY times receives worship from people, only God is worthy of worship right? If Jesus was "merely" a prophet as Islam says, then why didn't Jesus ever say, "do not worship me, i am not God" ... Did Jesus ever say that? NO.
Jesus took our place on the cross, he was crucified in the place for Humanity, and this is WHY he needed to become one of US, a HUMAN. With all that, he was Still God, incarnate in the human flesh. God had to pay a little visit to the planet earth sometime or later to let people know he existed right? And this is when God paid his visit to see his lovely creation, and to provide a way out of everything.
The issue of wether or not Jesus was crucified needs to be debated out in life properly, because this is not something to avoid, the ENTIRE Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament ... as they say ...
"The Old Testament Is The New Testament Revealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament Concealed"
the Entire Old Testament sacrifices and traditions and everything was a complete shadow of their soon to come Messiah, Jesus.
The miracles Jesus performed are a very strong indication of His divinity (because no mere human can work actual miracles by his own power). Jesus referred to the miracles in John 10:24-39 as proof that he was telling the truth. This passage is Christ's own response to the unbelieving Jews' charge of blasphemy (dishonoring God by claiming to be God). Incidentally, this section also includes a beautiful promise that once you are saved/born again/become a Christian, you can never lose your salvation. Verses 28-29 say we will "never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (Here is another strong statement that He is God.) We can have the assurance of eternal security because we didn't earn salvation in the first place; it is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8,9).
During Christ's trial, the chief priests asked Him point blank, "Tell us if you are THE Christ, the Son of God." And He said,
"I am." (Mark 14:60-62)
"Yes, it is as you say." (Matt. 26: 63-65)
"You are right in saying I am." (Luke 22:67-70)
Also, lookup on some Jewish or Messianic websites what the importance and what the phrase "The Christ" means, you'll be surprised.
In John's gospel, he recounts Jesus' interview with Pontius Pilate (John 18:33-37). Pilate wanted to know if He were the King of the Jews. Jesus then talked about how His kingdom was not of this world. Pilate said, "You are a king, then!" Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king..." The truth is, he is King of the whole universe.
Jesus says in John 10:11-18 that he is the Good Shepherd. When you read this passage along with Ezekiel 34:1-16, you can see that Jesus was identifying Himself with God, who pronounced Himself Shepherd over Israel. The Jewish people, being an agrarian and shepherding society, knew and dearly loved this section of the Old Testament because God was using a metaphor they lived every day. So when Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd," and that whole John passage so clearly parallels the Ezekiel passage, there was no doubt that He was claiming to be God.
John 4:25-26. This is where the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus went to meet at the well, gets into a discussion of "living water" with Jesus. He pinpoints her sinful lifestyle (knowledge He would not have had as a mere human passerby), then He admits that He is the long-awaited Messiah: "I who speak to you am He."
Did you just see that? Jesus claimed and identified himself that he IS the Messiah, do you have any idea of what that means? Boy this is exciting. Read on...
John 5:1-18. Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath, which the unbelieving Jews gave Him a hard time about. His answer was, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working." It was a well-known Jewish line of thought that, although God rested on the seventh day after Creation week, He continued to "work" in being loving, compassionate, and just, as well as keeping the earth producing, keeping the sun moving, etc. In other words, although the creating had stopped, the maintenance went on--even on the Sabbath, and that was the only "work" allowed on that day. So Jesus is putting Himself on the same level as his Father in working on the Sabbath. And by calling God "My Father" (instead of "Our Father"), He was claiming an intimate relationship with God that far exceeded anyone else's. So in these two ways, He was making Himself equal with God.
John 16:28. "I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." What Christ is saying here is that he existed along with the Father before being born. He "entered the world" by wrapping Himself in human flesh and being born as a baby. He grew up, fulfilled His mission/ministry, was crucified and raised from the dead (all part of the "mission") and then left the world to go back to the Father in heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God (the place of honor). He is the only person who ever existed before conception. That Christ was in a "pre-incarnate state" means that He is God.
Also, Jesus prophecied his own Death and Resurrection, so people who say that Jesus did not die and/or Resurrect, they are calling Jesus a liar.
John 18:4. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas and some priests and soldiers are about to take Jesus prisoner. "Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, 'Who is it that you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'I AM,' Jesus said. When He said, 'I AM,' they drew back and fell to the ground." (Again, in your Bible the editors may have supplied "I am [he]" to make it grammatically correct. The Greek just says, "I AM.")
The force of Jesus' claim to be Yahweh (I AM) was so powerful that it literally knocked the arresting officers and the Jewish priests off their feet!
I hope that helps to settle some issues, give your life to Jesus, because we are in the End Times, and once your soul is lost, it will be Eternal seperation from God.
Kind regards,
Scorpz