Josh had a few questions…
Jesus alluded to Himself as a Prophet when He was in His own town …
A Prophet is not without honor except in His own town…
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
Thank you arthra.
If a prophet is not welcome amongst their own hometown, how much more so the one who speaks through the prophets?
Do you notice though how Jesus always cast out demons, cured the sick, and did miracles in His own name? Also, on several occasions Jesus deliberately said; **“I AM”. **This would never have been taken lightly by any Jew of Jesus’ time.
Also Jesus’ words in John 10:30, **“I and the Father are one.” **When first encountered, this might not seem to be a claim to be God. However, when we look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement,
“For a good work we stone thee not; replied the Jews, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (John 10:33). Now we see an actual claim. The Jews understood Jesus’ statement to be a claim to be God. In the following verses, Jesus never corrects the Jews by saying, “I did not claim to be God.” I believe that indicates Jesus was truly saying He was God by declaring,
“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
John 8:58 is another example. Jesus declared,
"I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. " Again, in response, the Jews take up stones in an attempt to stone Jesus (John 8:59). Why would the Jews want to stone Jesus if He hadn’t said something they believed to be blasphemous, namely, a claim to be God? John repeatedly tells us of the Lord’s connection to **“I Am”. **See John: 4:26, 8:24, 8:28, 8:58,and 13:19.
John 1:1 also says that **“the Word was God.” **John 1:14 says that “**And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” ** I believe this indicates that Jesus is God in the flesh.
I also refer to Matthew 3:17
"Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him.” or Matthew 5:5-6
"Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. 6 The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: ‘God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.’”
I could go on for ages the many examples I have come accross in the Gospels, however I believe my post would be too long, in short, Jesus always avoided saying that he was the Son of God when speaking, because he wanted people to see it, to recognise who he was, this is why Jesus said to his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Luke 9:18-21,
Mark 8:27-30, Matthew 16:13-20.
"Gospel of Matthew:
**Matthew 16:13-20
Who Is Jesus?
13 When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “What do people say about the Son of Man?”
14 The disciples answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah[a] or Jeremiah or some other prophet.”
15 Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus told him:
Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn’t discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. 18 So I will call you Peter, which means “a rock.” On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don’t allow.
20 Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.**
Josh also asked if the Baha’i Faith was a form of Christianity…
Baha’i Faith is an independent religion… which recognizes the previous dispensations of Islam and Christianity and Judaism and their Holy Books…but also having it’s own Writings.
A summary follows:
The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
~ Shoghi Effendi, Summary Statement -The World Religion
That’s all good, but I’m just curious, because for me it comes down to, is Jesus Christ the Son of God? is he the Messaih? because if you take Judaism, for example, they still believe the Messaih is yet to come, and I assume Islam also believe this, so thus if you acknowledge all of them, than what is your view of the Messiah? is he coming? has he already been? is Jesus the Messiah? if Jesus was teh Messiah than what does that say about Judaism and Islam? Because as you guys say, I also recognise truth in Judaism and Islam, but I believe Jesus is the Messiah, the only beggotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God. Thus why I am Christian.
God Bless
Thank you for reading
Josh
