Answering Islam 11: Where Does the Bible Call Jesus the "Son of God"?

Here's Episode 11 of our "Answering Islam" series, where I answer the question: "Where does the Bible call Jesus the 'Son of God'?" For the rest of the series, click on the playlist.

Here's the full text of the video:

Where Does the Bible Call Jesus the Son of God?

Christians and Muslims disagree about the identity of Jesus. Christians claim that Jesus is the divine Son of God, but the Qur’an denies this. In Surah 9, verse 30, Allah maintains:

The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah”; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” These are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. May Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!

According to this verse, when Christians call Jesus the Son of God, we’re imitating “those who disbelieved before.” We’re imitating the pagans.

But this is just nonsense, because Jesus was identified as the Son of God by an unparalleled cloud of witnesses. Let’s consider a few of these witnesses.

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. And in Matthew 3, when Jesus comes out of the water, the Spirit of God descends as a dove and a voice out of the heavens declares, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

A voice out of the heavens says, “This is My beloved Son,” which means that the voice was the voice of the Father. But how do we know whom the Father was talking about? How do we know he wasn’t talking about John the Baptist or someone else? Well, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and landed on Jesus. Notice: the Father and the Holy Spirit together identify Jesus as the Son of God.

And Jesus repeatedly identifies himself as the Son of God. At his trial, for instance, in Mark 14, the high priest asks him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answers, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

So, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in complete agreement that Jesus is the Son of God.

In Luke 1, the Angel Gabriel says to Mary,

Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

Jesus is to be called “Son of the Most High,” according to Gabriel, chief spokesman of the angels.

What about the prophets? John the Baptist was a prophet, according to both Christianity and Islam. In John 1, he tells his followers about Jesus and says, “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

That’s the testimony of the prophets. How about Jesus’ apostles?

At the end of John 1, the Apostle Nathanael says to Jesus, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now if Jesus were just a prophet, this would have been a really good time to rebuke Peter. Instead, Jesus says to him, “Blessed are you . . . because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

In Matthew 14, Jesus walks on water during a storm. After stepping into the boat, the wind stops, and the disciples bow down and worship him, crying out, “You are certainly God’s Son.”

But it’s not just his male followers who call him the Son of God. In John 11, Lazarus dies, and Martha, the sister of Lazarus, meets Jesus on his way to raise Lazarus from the dead. We read:

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

Martha and the Apostles and John the Baptist were all Jews. But even some of the Romans called Jesus the Son of God. When Jesus died by crucifixion, there was an earthquake, and the Roman centurion and those who were with him shouted, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Interestingly, demons would call Jesus the Son of God, as he was casting them out of people.

Now think about the diversity of witnesses we have. The Father identifies Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus identifies himself as the Son of God. The Holy Spirit identifies Jesus as the Son of God. The Angel Gabriel identifies Jesus as the Son of God. The prophet John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus’ Apostles identify him as the Son of God. Martha identifies him as the Son of God. The Romans identify him as the Son of God. Demons identify him as the Son of God.

Everyone who could possibly identify Jesus as the Son of God identifies him as the Son of God. Six hundred years later, Muhammad comes along and tells his followers that Jesus was not the Son of God. And this proves that Muhammad was a false prophet.