Wasn't Jesus just a prophet, not the Son of God?
Muslims honor Jesus ('Isa) as one of the greatest prophets: born of a virgin, the Messiah, a word from God who worked miracles by God's permission. But the Qur'an teaches he was only a messenger and a servant of God (Qur'an 5:75; 19:30). Calling him 'Son of God' is a later Christian exaggeration Jesus himself never taught.
Christians agree that Jesus was a prophet and a servant of God; the question is whether he was only that. The earliest records of his life show him forgiving sins, accepting worship, claiming to share God's glory and identifying himself with the divine 'Son of Man' of Daniel 7. 'Son of God' never meant that God took a wife; it means Jesus shares the Father's very nature. A prophet points to God. Jesus pointed to himself as the way to God.
What Scripture says
13In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. 14And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
A heavenly 'son of man' comes with the clouds, receives everlasting dominion and is served by all peoples.
61But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses? 64You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death.
At his trial Jesus claims to be that Son of Man, seated at God's right hand; the high priest calls it blasphemy.
5When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, 7“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8At once Jesus knew in His spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” He asked. 9“Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, 11“I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12And immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus forgives sins on his own authority, which his hearers rightly see as something only God can do.
27All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
Jesus claims an exclusive, mutual knowledge between himself and the Father.
56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” 58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am! ” 59At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
'Before Abraham was, I am': a claim to eternal existence that provokes an attempted stoning.
28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas addresses the risen Jesus as 'my Lord and my God', and Jesus accepts it.
5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
An early hymn: Jesus was in the form of God, took the form of a servant, and receives the worship due to God alone.
1On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
God spoke through the prophets, but finally through a Son who is the radiance of his glory.
The case
Common ground worth celebrating
A Christian talking with a Muslim friend begins with remarkable common ground. The Qur'an honors Jesus more than any figure besides Muhammad. It teaches that he was born of the virgin Mary (Qur'an 3:47), that he is the Messiah (Qur'an 3:45), a "word" from God and a spirit from him (Qur'an 4:171), that he healed the blind and the leper and raised the dead by God's permission (Qur'an 3:49), and that he was raised to God and will return (Qur'an 4:158; Sahih al-Bukhari 3448). The Qur'an also describes him as pure or sinless (Qur'an 19:19).
Christians affirm almost all of this. The disagreement is not whether Jesus was a prophet but whether he was only a prophet. Muslims understand him as a servant and messenger who called people to worship the one God (Qur'an 5:75; 19:30). Christians believe he was that, and more.
What Jesus claimed for himself
The question is best settled by looking at what Jesus said and did in the earliest sources. Prophets say, "Thus says the LORD." Jesus regularly spoke on his own authority: "But I say to you."
1. He forgave sins against God
In Mark 2 Jesus tells a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven. The scribes object that only God can forgive sins. Jesus does not correct them; he heals the man to prove that he has that authority (Mark 2:10). No prophet in the Hebrew Bible or the Qur'an claims to forgive sins committed against God.
2. He claimed the throne of Daniel 7
When the high priest asks whether he is the Messiah, "the Son of the Blessed," Jesus answers "I am," and adds that they will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds (Mark 14:62). He is combining Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13. The court's verdict of blasphemy shows they understood him to be claiming a share in God's own rule.
3. He claimed eternal existence
"Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) echoes the divine name of Exodus 3:14. His hearers picked up stones, the penalty for blasphemy.
4. He accepted worship
Angels and apostles in Scripture refuse worship (Acts 10:25-26; Revelation 22:8-9). Jesus received it from his disciples (Matthew 14:33; 28:17) and from Thomas, who called him "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28).
5. He made himself the center of salvation
Prophets point away from themselves to God. Jesus said no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son reveals him (Matthew 11:27), and that people would be judged by how they responded to him (Matthew 25:31-46).
Prophet or more than a prophet?
| A true prophet | Jesus in the Gospels | |
|---|---|---|
| Source of message | "Thus says the LORD" | "I say to you" |
| Forgiveness of sins | Announces God's forgiveness | Grants it personally |
| Worship | Refuses it | Accepts it |
| Relation to God | Servant | Servant and the unique Son |
| Final judgment | Will be judged | Will judge |
If Jesus made these claims and was not divine, he was not a good prophet but a deceiver or deluded. The one option the evidence does not leave open is the most respectful-sounding one: that he was merely a prophet who never claimed more.
What "Son of God" means
Many Muslims rightly reject the idea that God took a wife and fathered a child (Qur'an 6:101). Christians reject it too. "Son of God" in Christian teaching does not describe biology but an eternal relationship: the Son shares the Father's divine nature, as a human son shares his father's human nature. The Qur'an itself calls Jesus God's "word" (kalimatuhu, Qur'an 4:171). John's Gospel begins with the same idea: the Word was with God and was God, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14). Christians invite Muslim friends to ask what it means for God's own Word to come among us.
Why it matters
If Jesus is only a prophet, he can tell us about God, but he cannot bring God to us or pay for our sins. Christians believe Jesus is God come near, the Servant who is also the Son. The gentlest way to explore this together is to read one of the Gospels side by side and let Jesus speak for himself.
Word study
aramaic · “son of man (a human being)” · Daniel 7:13
Aramaic bar (H1247, 'son') with ʾĕnāsh (H606, 'man') is an idiom for a human being. In Daniel 7 this human-like figure rides the clouds, a role the Hebrew Bible otherwise gives to God, and is 'served' by every nation. 'Son of Man' was Jesus' favorite self-title, so it is not a title of mere humanity but a claim to this exalted heavenly role.
“But what about…?”
Doesn't 'Son of God' mean God had a wife or a physical child?
No. Christians reject that idea as firmly as Muslims do; the Qur'an's denial that God takes a consort or begets (Qur'an 6:101; 112:3) rejects something Christians never taught. In Scripture 'Son' describes relationship and shared nature, the way 'son of peace' or 'sons of thunder' describe character. The eternal Son was not produced in time; he is begotten in the sense of being 'from' the Father without beginning.
Jesus said 'the Father is greater than I' (John 14:28). Doesn't that disprove his deity?
In becoming a man Jesus took a lower position, the 'form of a servant' (Philippians 2:7). A son can be equal in nature to his father while honoring him in role. The same Gospel opens by calling the Word God (John 1:1) and closes with Thomas calling Jesus God (John 20:28).
Didn't Jesus pray to God and call himself a servant?
Yes, and Christians affirm both truths: Jesus is fully human and fully divine. As a man he prayed, hungered and served. That does not cancel the claims he also made, such as forgiving sins and accepting worship, which no prophet ever made.
The Gospels were written by later followers. How do we know Jesus said these things?
The claims run through every early layer: Mark, the sayings shared by Matthew and Luke, John, and Paul's letters from the AD 50s. Philippians 2 is widely regarded as an even earlier hymn. High claims for Jesus were not a late development but were there from the start. See the entry on whether the Bible has been corrupted.
Where Christians differ
Go deeper
- book · 2016No God but One: Allah or Jesus?Nabeel Qureshi
- book · 2003Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest ChristianityLarry W. Hurtado
- book · 2008Jesus and the God of IsraelRichard Bauckham
- book · 2013Christians, Muslims, and JesusMona Siddiqui
- book · 2001The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic LiteratureTarif Khalidi
Sources (5)
- Qur'an 3:45-49: Jesus as a word from God, the Messiah, born of Mary, working miracles by God's permission
- Qur'an 4:171 and 5:75: Jesus as a messenger, word and spirit from God, but not divine
- Qur'an 19:19 and 19:30: Jesus described as a pure boy and as the servant of God
- Qur'an 6:101 and 112:3: God has no consort and neither begets nor is begotten
- Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2003): early devotion to Jesus within Jewish monotheism
Related questions
Isn't the Trinity polytheism?
Christians are monotheists. We confess with Jesus that 'the Lord our God, the Lord is one' and reject three gods, a God who takes a wife, and the worship of any creature. The Trinity means that the one God eternally exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not that a man was promoted to divinity. Shirk adds a partner to God; the Son and Spirit are not partners alongside God but are God's own Word and Spirit, sharing his one nature.
Hasn't the Bible been corrupted?
The Qur'an itself speaks of the Torah and Gospel as guidance and light, tells Christians in Muhammad's day to judge by what God revealed in the Gospel, and invites anyone in doubt to ask those who read the earlier scripture. That assumes the Bible available in the seventh century was trustworthy. We possess thousands of biblical manuscripts from before Muhammad, and they teach the same message we read today: Jesus' death, resurrection and divine sonship.
Didn't Jesus escape crucifixion?
The crucifixion of Jesus is one of the best-attested facts of ancient history. It is reported by Christian, Roman and Jewish sources, including writers hostile to Christianity, and is accepted by virtually all historians, whatever their faith. Jesus predicted his death, the Hebrew prophets foresaw a suffering servant, and the cross was not God's defeat but his plan to deal with sin. God vindicated Jesus, not by sparing him from death, but by raising him from it.
Doesn't the Shema rule out Jesus being God?
Christians affirm the Shema completely. Jesus called it the first commandment, and the apostles never stopped confessing that there is one God. The question is what kind of oneness the Shema teaches. The Hebrew Scriptures themselves speak of the LORD appearing in human form, of a divine figure beside God, and of God's Word and Spirit acting as God. Early Jewish followers of Jesus did not abandon the Shema; they found Jesus within it.
This entry is a draft and has not yet been theologically reviewed.