Jesus And Mohammad

Information on Jesus' birth comes to us principally from the so-called Matthean and Lukan special material, material unique to Matthew and Luke. Matthew's account is told from Joseph's perspective, whereas Luke's account is from that of Mary. Then there is Mohammed born in c. 570, in Mecca which is now known as Saudi Arabia. He is best known as the founding prophet of Islam. In the next pages, I will be telling you how they were both alike and different.

Jesus and Mohammed

Jesus is born in Bethlehem, called the city of David. Since he went there to be registered, Joseph was most likely a permanent resident of Bethlehem. But because Jesus grew up in Nazareth in Galilee, his qualifications to be the Messiah were questioned; apparently some not only expected Jesus to have been born in Bethlehem but to have grown up there also. In Luke 1:32-33 the angel Gabriel tells Mary that Jesus will be in charge of the house of his father David forever, and his kingdom will go on forever. Jesus' Davidic descent qualifies him in part to be the expected eschatological king from David's line. Various passages in the Old Testament, often set in the context of Israel's disobedience and (possible) exile, speak of a time in the future when God would do a decisive and irreversible saving act for Israel. In many of these Old Testament passages this act is associated with a single individual, a king from the line of David; he would be the instrument through which God would bring about this salvation. Jesus wanted to be baptized by John the Baptist. In Matthew's account, John the Baptist attempts to discourage Jesus from being baptized; he says that it is he who has need to be baptized by Jesus, not Jesus by him. John's reaction presupposes that he knows who Jesus is. John's reluctance to baptize Jesus in Matt 3:14 implies that John knew Jesus before he baptized him. Yet John's statement in John 1:33 makes it clear that he did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until after his baptism and reception of the Spirit.

Healing is a part of Jesus' ministry to the masses, and he becomes widely known as a healer: wherever he would go people would bring their sick to him to be healed. Jesus is motivated by compassion to bring relief to the suffering of the sick, as in the case of the two blind men: "Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight". Many scholars excise Jesus' healings from the gospel on the assumption that these stories must be legendary accretions to historically reliable material on Jesus. But it seems arbitrary to remove the healing stories from the gospels since they are so integral to Jesus' identity. Other scholars may believe that Jesus did heal but implicitly or explicitly assume that Jesus' healings were psychosomatic in nature: Jesus had such an impact on men and people that they were cured of their illness of a psychological nature. But the gospels writers intend that Jesus healed organic illnesses, and besides it is difficult to believe that Jesus could attract so many people simply by affecting them positively by his winning personality.

It is somewhat artificial to deal with Jesus as teacher, since Jesus teaches in the contexts of his activities as healer, exorcist, miracle worker, and of his eating with sinners. In addition, Jesus' views on the Law in relation to those of the Pharisees have been considered. Nevertheless, there is a large body of sayings material unconnected with anything that Jesus did and not directly related to his views on the Law. A major theme of this body of teaching material is the Kingdom of God. It is historically possible that Jesus came to terms with the ultimate "failure" of his proclamation of the Kingdom of God and his consequent execution. Only if you assumes, as members of the Jesus Seminar do, that Jesus had no mission could one argue that he did not reflect upon the salvation-historical significance of his death. Jesus interprets his death as the means by which the judgment of the world will occur and the time of the driving out of the prince of this world.

Muhammad is the central prophet of the Islamic faith. Born into the noble Quraish clan, he was orphaned at an early age. He grew up to be a successful merchant, and then turned contemplative; Muslims believe the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad in a dream or trance when he was 40. The prophet's name is sometimes spelled 'Mohammed' or 'Mohamet'. To show respect, many Muslims say or write "peace be upon him" after Muhammad's and other prophets' names. The town of Mecca, where Mohammed was born about 570, was a commercial center which by 600 had gained monopolistic control of the caravan trade passing up and down the west coast of Arabia, conveying luxury goods from India and East Africa to Syria. Mohammed's personal situation made him keenly aware of the tensions in Mecca. He was born posthumously, and his grandfather, Abdu-l-Muttalib, and his mother both died when he was a child.

At first Mohammed communicated