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Return of Jesus
If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him.
They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun
of it. —D.A. Wilson, Carlyle at his Zenith
There is one thing upon which Christians and Muslims agree, and that is the
return of Jesus Christ. Interestingly enough, both religions expect Jesus to return in a
victory of faith to defeat the Antichrist, correct the deviancies in religion, and establish
the truth of God throughout the world. Christians expect this truth to echo their evolved
doctrines, whereas Muslims expect Jesus to remain consistent with his earlier teachings
and refute the false doctrines derived by those who claimed to speak in his name. To this
end, Muslims expect Jesus will validate Muhammad as the final messenger Jesus
predicted in the New Testament, and endorse submission to God (i.e., Islam) as the
religion for all mankind.
In the mind of the Muslim, Jesus’ return will go hard on those who embrace the
doctrines of men in preference to the teachings of the prophets. In particular, those who
blaspheme through associating a son and partner with God, despite Jesus’ teachings to the
contrary, will deserve punishment.
The Holy Qur’an records that Allah will question Jesus in this regard, as follows:
And behold! Allah will say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Did you say
to men, ‘Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah’?”
He will say: “Glory to You! Never could I say what I had no right
(to say). Had I said such a thing, You would indeed have known it. You
know what is in my heart, though I do not know what is in Yours. For You
know in full all that is hidden. Never said I to them anything except what
You commanded me to say, to wit, ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your
Lord’” (TMQ 5:116117).
Until Jesus returns with prima facie evidence—namely, his irrefutable human
reality—one question assaults the doctrinal defense system. It’s the same question,
perhaps, that Jesus will ask of those who claim to have followed in his name: Where in
the Bible did Jesus say, in clear and unambiguous terms, “I am God, worship me?”
Nowhere. So why is he considered divine? Would he have forgotten to pass on such an
essential teaching, if it were true? Unlikely. If Jesus never claimed to be God and the
doctrine of his divinity was contrived by men, then we can expect God to object. Perhaps
He would repeat Isaiah 29:13 (as Jesus did in Matthew 15:89 and Mark 7:67)—“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is
far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of
men.” One wonders what doctrines are more the “commandments of men” than the
Trinity, divine sonship, divinity of Jesus, original sin, resurrection and atonement. And
what does God say of those who adopt such doctrines? “In vain they worship Me.”
In Luke 6:46, Jesus posed a question that similarly challenges his “followers”:
“But why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” In subsequent
verses, Jesus describes the security of those who follow his teachings, and the ruin of
those who “heard and did nothing.” And truly, should we be surprised? Let us recall
Matthew 7:2123, in which Jesus promised to disown his heretical followers in the
hereafter:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in
your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Of course, there are those who assert that faith is faith; it’s not to be pushed, manipulated or reasoned with. Mark Twain addressed such attitudes with the words, “It
was the schoolboy who said, ‘Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.’”
189 The point is
that there is a huge difference between believing in God without proof, and believing doctrines about God which are not only lacking proof, but for which there is evidence to
the contrary in the teachings of the prophets. Perhaps it is the latter group referred to in
Matthew 13:13: “Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.” Yet they remain sure in their belief, smugly hibernating till the season of
reckoning.
Remember that scripture directs our faith through logic rather than emotion. The
Bible says, “Test [some versions say “prove”] all things; hold fast what is good”
(1 Thessalonians 5:21). Isaiah 1:18 tells us, “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ says
the Lord.” So belief in God may be based upon faith, but after that, truth should be sought
in the teachings of His prophets. Accept and follow those teachings, and a person will be
ranked among the righteous. Submit to alternate teachings, and a person forfeits
salvation, for the Bible cautions, “’If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good
of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword;’ for the
mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 1:1920).
The sincere seeker, then, will climb the staircase of stacked evidences, holding
firmly to the handrail of reason. Recognizing that although, in the words of Shakespeare,
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose,”190 truth becomes evident through
examination of the complete scripture. The conclusion as to which devils have been
citing precisely which scriptures, and for what purpose, will vary from one individual to
another. Thousands of years of theological disagreement will never be resolved to the
satisfaction of all people, no matter how comprehensive the analysis. Trinitarians and
Unitarians will continue to vie for recognition as representing the one “true” Christianity,
and Muslims will continue to assert that both versions are corrupted by nonbiblical doctrines. Meanwhile, the Jews remain content with their conviction of being “the chosen
people.”
If this analysis has shown nothing else, it has exposed the fact that both Moses
and Jesus taught pure monotheism, and predicted a final prophet. Could this final prophet
be Muhammad, and the final revelation The Holy Qur’an? To even approach an answer
to this question, we must first evaluate the books of scripture, and move from there to an
examination of the prophets themselves.
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