By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ
A Muslim friend reads about Jesus in the New Testament while resting in the sun on Mount Ararat. (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Ararat 2010)
JESUS. The One whose beautiful name is above every other name.
JESUS. The One who, stepping down from heaven, was born of a virgin to live a sinless and righteous life.
JESUS. The One who walked on water, calmed the storm, gave sight to the blind and raised the dead.
JESUS. The One who died a brutal death, bearing on Himself the sins of the world.
JESUS. The One who rose from the grave, forever defeating death and making a way for all to receive eternal life
The Bible reveals so many incredible things about our Savior, Jesus. We should fall down in awe-inspired worship and never get up again in light of all that He is and all that He’s done.
Unfortunately, many of these and other incredible accounts of the life and lessons of Jesus can have a tendency to become “old news” for us. Perhaps we’ve heard them as we grew up. Perhaps we’ve listened to sermon after sermon on them. Perhaps we’ve read the same stories in the same Bible again and again. God forbid our hearts should ever grow dull to these amazing accounts of our Lord!
In addition, the Qur’an also shares some pretty amazing things about Jesus (or Isa, as He’s referred to in the Qur’an’s original language, Arabic). It’s some of these incredible claims that we hope will excite and begin to lead our Muslim friend to a saving faith in Jesus. Just take a quick look at the following ayyat (verses):
Isa’s virgin birth
“She [Mary] said: ‘My Lord! When shall there be a son born to me, and man has not touched me?’ He said: ‘Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is.’” – Surah al-Imran 3:47
His sinless life
“And he [Isa]… shall be one of the good [righteous] ones.” – Surah al-Imran 3:46
“But he said: ‘I am but a messenger of your Lord, (come) to announce to you the gift of a pure [sinless] boy.’” – Surah Maryam 19:19
The miracles of Isa
“… I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life.” – Surah al-Imran 3:49
These three points could be great conversation starters and stepping stones for a follower of Islam to potentially become a follower of Jesus, which is incredibly exciting! That said, we must be clear and uncompromising in our beliefs while showing kindness and humility in our discussion. We should be careful never to put the Qur’an on the same level as the Bible, because in spite of these amazing attributes of Isa (which no follower of Islam would ever deny), there are many additional false claims about Him to which most Muslims hold.
So many of us have struggled with how to open a dialogue about Jesus with our Muslim neighbors. Here we see a great starting point from which we can hopefully bring them to the full saving knowledge of Jesus, the saving Son of God! Throughout the Qur’an, Isa stands out as having a remarkably and uniquely miraculous and powerful life. He is unlike any other prophet. This then begs the question for our Muslim friend: what should they do about this incredible information? We’ll discuss that more tomorrow!
- Pray for Muslims around the world to recognize the uniqueness of Isa as they understand him. May this lead them to a pursuit of the One who truly is unlike any other!
- Pray for Christians to boldly begin conversations about the Isa of Islam. May the Holy Spirit of God lead and guide the discussion ultimately to the Isa of the Injil (or New Testament)!