FOUR fascinating POINTS to the question: Where does Jesus in his own words say “I AM GOD, WORSHIP ME”? In all fairness though, why are the attributes of God which Jesus claims of himself, as will be shown, the same attributes which the Qur’an claims of Allah 600 years later?
The question is very wrong if we consider that in Jesus’s own words, he did not come to be glorified in his first coming. In his second coming surely the nations and peoples of all languages will bow down and worship him to the glory of the Father (Daniel 7:13-14, Philippians 2:7-11)!
I am God? In what is referred to as the “Messianic Secret”, Jesus wanted his Messianic character or his identity as divine Son of God to be kept hidden until the end of his ministry:
‘“But what about you?” he [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Mark 8:29-30
Why the secrecy? Part of the reason is that Jesus had specific ministry objectives (preaching about repentance, salvation and proclaiming the Kingdom of God) which he wanted to achieve before his crucifixion. The Jews, after all, were mistakenly expecting a political Messiah, a military King of the Jews of the stature of King David, who would drive the Romans out of Israel but Jesus did not want Jewish political interests to hijack his gospel/good news of the kingdom of heaven!
Jesus states that the reason he came was to SERVE and not to be SERVED (glorified). Jesus came for the CRUCIFIXION. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be SERVED, but to SERVE, and TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY.”
Mark 10:45
Why are the attributes of God which Jesus claims of himself the same attributes which the Qur’an claims of Allah 600 years later?
1. JESUS WILL COME WITH THE CLOUDS AND THE ANGELS AND HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD
“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his ANGELS with a loud trumpet call, and they will GATHER HIS ELECT from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matthew 24:30-31
In QS 2:210, the 7th century Allah of the Qur’an also claims to appear in the end times with the CLOUDS and the ANGELS to execute judgement:
QS 2:210. (If the people do not believe even now,) they look for nothing but that Allâh should come to them (with the threatened punishment) in the shadows of the CLOUDS as well as the ANGELS (to execute His orders) and the matter be settled. And to Allâh are returned all matters (for decisions).
2. JESUS IS THE TRUTH
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
Allah claims that he alone is the truth QS31:30, 24:25
Al-Haqq is a name and attribute of Allah which means the True One or the Truth.
3. JESUS IS THE ONE WHO RESURRECTS
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live”
John 11:25
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:40
In fact, Jesus not only claimed to possess this attribute but actually performed it by raising Lazarus from the dead as well as raising himself from the grave: ‘The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again” (John 10:17).
In QS 22:6-7 Allah claims to be the raiser/resurrector of the dead on the last day.
The raiser (Al-Ba’ith) is one of the 99 names of Allah
QS 22:6. “Such is (the cycle of life and nature) to prove that Allâh alone is the Truth and it is He Who brings the dead to life and He indeed is Possessor of power to do all that He will”
Another of Allah’s names is Al-Mumeet, meaning the one who gives life and the one who takes it away.
4. JESUS IS THE FIRST AND THE LAST.
Jesus uses the title of God also used in the Old Testament Hebrew scripture:
‘Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST; besides me there is no god. (Isaiah 44:6). [God is ONE. “ONE” in Deuteronomy 6:4 in the Hebrew is “ECHAD” which means a single entity but made up of more than one part (unity). There is another Hebrew word from the same root–“YACHID” which means single)]. “ECHAD” is also used in Genesis 2:24 in referring to a husband and wife being “one” flesh.
‘And when I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, “Fear not; I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
(Revelation 1:17-18)
In QS 57:3 Allah also claims to be the FIRST and the LAST.
Using the Law of First Mention, it is Jesus we should trust with these attributes since Muhammad would have heard of these attributes, 600 years later, from Christians such as his cousin Waraqa bin Nawfal who kept an Arabic translation of the Gospel.
I choose Jesus over the 7th century god, Allah, ALL THE TIME because Jesus made a practical demonstration of his attribute of raising not only others but himself from the grave!
Dear Muslim, if there is any honesty in you, you have to admit that Jesus’s attributes are exclusively those of God, namely since he states that he is the TRUTH, the RESURRECTION (who will raise those who believe in HIM on the LAST DAY) and will come with the CLOUDS of heaven and with the ANGELS to JUDGE the world!
Someone is lying to you: Jesus is God and Allah is a copycat of Jesus Christ’s attributes.
The ONE and true God of the Torah and Gospel who spiritually is our Father (Deuteronomy 32:6, Isaiah 63:16, 64:8, Jeremiah 31:9) and whose special, eternal and covenant name (which he revealed to mankind through Moses in the Torah) is given as follows: ‘God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is MY NAME FOREVER, the name you shall call me from GENERATION to GENERATION.” (Exodus 3:15). Is this covenant name any one of the 99 names of the 7th century god, Allah? In which verse of the Qur’an or hadith can you find the eternal and covenant name of God?
Allah of the Qur’an, in no way, shape or form is he FATHER to anyone one. (QS 6:100)
Jesus also referred to the covenant name of God:
‘But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32)
This is the name of the God whom Jesus communicated with and called out to while on the cross, not the 7th century god, Allah, of the Qur’an.
This is why in the Qur’an you have a false god disguised as the true God, having a false conversation with an imposter of the true Jesus (Al-Maidah 5:109-120).