Who is Jesus Christ? A Scriptural Odyssey Part 1-The Koran

Firstly, my apologies to any Muslims if I in any way misuse their holy book. I am attempting to present an objective view of what the Koran says about Jesus Christ. However, I realise that I am not particularly objective about this subject, so, my apologies, in advance.

We will start in the book of Imran which has a lot to say about Mary and Jesus (or Maryam and Isa). Firstly:

إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلآئِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ {45

or in English:

[Yusufali 3:45] Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;

This is a powerful account of the Annunciation which can be found in the Gospel of Luke and is giving honour to Isa which is beyond that given to any human being.

Secondly, we have:

وَرَسُولاً إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنِّي قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُبْرِئُ الأكْمَهَ
والأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْيِـي الْمَوْتَى بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
{49}
[Yusufali 3:49] "And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;

Wow, he heals the blind and raises the dead, a truly special man. Though the Koranic Isa is very different from the Bible's idea of Jesus, the Koran says many wonderful things about him and he is greater than all the prophets before him and so, obviously more than a man.

Thirdly, we read this key passage:
إِذْ قَالَ اللّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ {55}

[Yusufali 3:55] Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

This is a deeply disputed passage, it ties into the controversy of what happened to Isa in those final hours around his real or apparent crucifixion. The word translated, I will take thee and raise thee to myself, is the Arabic word Mutawafiika, a word that gives the sense of completing a time. Mutawafiika, is a severely disputed word, if it carries the sense of causing to die then it would flatly contradict another Koranic passage that we will turn to soon.

I can read the Koran in Arabic but I am not an Arabic scholar so I cannot comment on this and it is for Muslims, themselves, to draw conclusions from what they read in their holy book.

Also note that it is saying that those who follow him will be raised up on the Day of Resurrection. Obviously, he is very important as a Prophet but I would say that this suggests that he is more than a Prophet and, in balance, these passages, though not suggesting that he is God, in human form, are suggesting that Isa is more than human and worthy of following and investigating.

Lastly, I will look at Surah An-Nisaa 157, another account of the, seeming, crucifixion:

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا الْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ اللّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلاَّ اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا {157

[Yusufali 4:157] That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

158 and 159 are also very interesting passages but it is from 157 that the whole story developed of how Judas was made to look like Isa, by the power of Allah and was crucified in his place.

It doesn't seem totally clear to me which is strange as it is a very key incident, but, as I say it is not for me to comment.

So, I hope I have done justice to some of what the Koran says about Jesus. There are other bits that state what he isn't, ie: not the son of God. However, Jesus is obviously greatly revered, raised the dead, was born of a virgin. Moreover, he is the word and spirit of God, his followers will be lifted up on the day of resurrection, and he is greatly honoured in this world and the next.

On the next part of this three part post, I will talk about what the Jewish Old Testament says about Jesus.