Islam believes that Jesus was a Messenger or Prophet, sent by God, but not God - Himself, thus elevating Jesus to the same status of other Great Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. This interpretation is, of course, at odds with the Jewish and Christian interpretation, so it is one that is not considered by either. As a Scriptural basis for their interpretation, Islam cites the NT Gospel of John.
There doesn't seem to be any indication that Jesus intended his followers to abandon the Hebrew tradition. Jesus's gripe was with the Pharisees interpretation of the Word of God, rather than with Judaism itself. Jesus rejected their interpretation of the Torah as hypocracy, and he was deemed a "false teacher". An argument can be made that Jesus embraced the Torah tradition, while rejecting the Pharisees interpretation. Jesus never referred to himself a "Messiah" or "God" either. He referred to himself as "One with God", saying these were not His Words but the words of the One who sent Me, etc - which might tend to support the Islamic view of Jesus as Prophet or Messenger of God. Jesus also referred to himself as "Son of God", but this would not indicate divinity. When it comes to the issue of divinity, it appears that Jesus was somewhat ambiguous.
Both sides of the "Messiah Debate", Jews and Christian, would probably deem the above blasphemy because it would mean they were both WRONG - Heaven forbid! But given the undeniable historical and theological significance of Jesus, the idea of Jesus as Messenger or Prophet is worthy of debate, and probably should be debated, imo.
AI
