Within the vendor room, there was an array of booths from almost every religion. My friend Lydia and I walked around to one of the booths, where we met a Muslim, whose name was Qaseem.
I noticed at the booth, that there was a banner stating how Jesus was one of their prophets. They also had Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and David listed. From what I knew prior about the Islamic faith, it would be weird that Jesus was listed on a banner. Lydia and I proceeded to walk over and started a conversation with him.
I asked him why he had Jesus listed on his banner and Qaseem stated that Jesus was a prophet but was a human. Qaseem stated Jesus was not God; he never said he was God. He kept holding a pamphlet that stated, “Muslims love Jesus” and most of what he stated was verbatim from the pamphlet. He also stated when Jesus came back, he would choose the Muslims, not the Jews, because they were praying like him. He prayed all the time as do they.
Within the conversation, Qaseem became hostile toward Lydia and me. Lydia ended the conversation, and we walked off. During this, I grabbed all the pamphlets they had at the booth so I could review them later. Lydia and I walked back to our hotel room since that conversation was a lot. I then decided to look at the pamphlet that was about Jesus and wanted to figure out what Qaseem was saying. On one of the pages, I found this:
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I then started to look up each verse.
The first verse in the brochure states that the Bible calls Jesus a prophet and quotes Matthew 21:10-11, “And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Now, let’s look at this verse in context. Matthew Chapter 21 talks about when Jesus walked into Jerusalem on a donkey. Matthew 21:7-11: “They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The people were saying Jesus was a prophet. Matthew documented the story of what happened during Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
The other point that was made in the brochure was, “How could Jesus claim to be God and God’s Prophet at the same time?” and used the verse John 14:28 to prove the point, “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”
The brochure is trying to make the claim that Jesus and God are separate. But what is the full context of the verse:
John 14:27-29: “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.”
Jesus is talking about his assent into heaven and that the Holy Spirit to come after. So, this verse was taken out of context. If you look back a few verses in the same chapter Jesus claims that he and God are one.
John 14:8-11: “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
Going back through the verses, the brochure states the next one is John 20:17, and it asks the question of who he is ascending to and why he is saying to my Father and your Father if he was God. Let's look at the full context of John 20:17. This is where Jesus met Mary of Magdeline in the garden after she found Jesus’ body was gone.
John 20:11-17: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
How interesting is it that Jesus stated, ‘my Father’ and ‘your father’ in the same sentence. Meaning there is a distinction between the relationship between Jesus and the Father and the relationship between Mary and the Father. In the last verse I quoted, Jesus made the distinction that he and the Father are one. That means the relationship Mary has with the Father is different. Now, how is it different? John 1:12-13 gives the answer: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” So, Mary is a Child of God as are those who believe in him. Galatians 3:26: “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
The last verse within this section of the brochure, it makes the claim that Jesus would have told the people to worship him, he didn’t and they use the verse Matthew 15:9 “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
But let's look at this verse in the full context: Matthew 15:1-9: “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
So, Jesus was calling out the hypocrisy he was seeing within the Pharisees and quoted Isaiah 29:13, stating they were far away from the Lord. The worshiping they were doing in the temple was in vain.
After reading and looking at all this, I realized the claims it was making didn’t match what was being said in the Bible. There was no substance to it. Everything Qaseem said as well had no substance to it either.
But just don’t take my word for it. If you want to look at the whole brochure, Click Here.