You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2009.
I’m curious to know what Islamic belief truly is when it comes to the person of Jesus, because to me, it seems somewhat minimalist or indeed not something a lot of emphasis is placed on, in comparison to that of Mary. I hear often about how Mary is just as revered in Islam as in Catholicism and that made me start questioning why, given that Islam doesn’t hold to much else of Christian teaching.
- Mary with Jesus
Why is it that Islam places reverence on Mary (a fallen, sinful human being) to the point of agreeing with the Catholic Church that she was a “perpetual virgin” while ignoring the Deity of Jesus. But more than that, I also wanted to point out something I find odd in that respect. If Mary is held in reverence because she gave birth to ’nothing more than’ a prophet (as Islam contends Jesus was), then why did God send an angel (Gabriel no less!) to give her the news (which Islam accepts)? No other mother of a prophet in the history of the world ever had her child’s birth announced to her by an angel – not even Muhammed!! Muhammed did indeed have a visit himself from apparently that very same angel but only to provide him with a “new revelation.” Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t need to have another visit from Gabriel after his birth because He IS the “new revelation” – but not only of scripture, rather of God Himself. And why was there a particular significance about Jesus being born to a virgin if He was purely going to be a only a prophet – the greatest prophets in the world before Him weren’t born to virgins so why is His birth so different, and necessarily so??
Isa 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Have you ever stopped to consider your life – truly? Have you thought about the awesome complexity of this “vehicle” you’ve been provided for your time on this planet? Do you ever take pause to be grateful for the immense fact that you don’t have to think about it for 90% of your life or until some event makes you take notice of the air you’re breathing, or the number of times your heart is beating – things ordinarily we never have to contemplate as they work so well, we don’t notice. And have you taken this one step further again to contemplate why you have been granted such an awesome body to reside within? In other words, how often have you really thought about the meaning of YOUR life?!
I’ve thought long and hard about my own many times – being disabled brings a whole raft of problems other than the obvious – aside from the not being able to live independently at times or not be able to do even the simplest of tasks, disabled Christians in particular then face the added burden of feeling useless in their walk with the Lord. Many consider if they are unable to be active and “doing” then they’re not of value. Now, I know that’s not true and I don’t believe it for my own situation, but, certainly I have had many times when I have felt pretty useless or inept in the work of the Kingdom. When you live alone and don’t have much social interaction, you find yourself very quickly sliding into selfishness as you become so used to only ever thinking about yourself.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1Jn 5:12
