Jesus, the Son of God: Biblical meaning, Muslim Understanding ...

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St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 3 | August 2011!Luke's audience would hear something very similar to what Matthew'saudience heard; they would know that Jesus' mother was Maryand that His Father was God in a miraculous way. Notice thatthe phrase "will be called the Son of God" implies, "because that'swho He is". In light of that context, every reference to God as "Father"or to Jesus as "Son" in the rest of Luke's Gospel and the bookof Acts would be understood as a reality, not as a metaphor. 13Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not mention how Marybecame pregnant with Jesus (though in 6:3 it is clear that she is Jesus'mother); rather he simply establishes in the first sentence of hisGospel that Jesus is "the Son of God" and expects his audience tounderstand the rest of the book in light of that fact. Then in verse 3("Prepare the way for the Lord [God]") and verse 11 ("You are MySon") he confirms and highlights that Jesus is God, which furthersets the stage for the book. As an assistant to both Peter and Paul,Mark would have known the historical details about Jesus' conception.The fact that he did not recount the events of Jesus' birth andchildhood probably indicates that he assumed his audience also alreadyknew that information from other sources, including both oraland written. 14 Besides that, certain details in Mark's Gospel indicatethat his audience was probably mostly non-Jewish, includingformer adherents to pagan religions in which gods were said to havechildren, so the idea of God having a Son would not be foreign tothem. Throughout the book, as Jesus is repeatedly and clearly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 The emphatic conjunction used here in the Greek text ('()) shows that the statementin this clause is an obvious, direct result inferred or caused by what wasstated in the previous clause. It can also be translated as, "for this reason".12 Quotes from the Bible are from the New International Version 1984 unless otherwisenoted.13 Notice that Luke 1:35 describes God literally doing something that caused Maryto literally be pregnant with a literal son, whom she went on to literally carry andliterally give birth to. There is nothing metaphorical there, rather the passage explainsclearly that Jesus really is the Son of God and that God really is His Father.14 It is not unusual for an author (whether ancient or modern) to assume that hisaudience knows facts which are common knowledge and that they understand themeanings of terms which have been established in previous writings by himself orothers on the same topic(s).St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision!&!
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 3 | August 2011!declared to be God's Son (by God and others), they would tend tounderstand this term as a reality, since there would be no reason forthem to think otherwise.John wrote his books and letters a number of years after theother Gospels were written, and he clearly assumed that his audiencealready had the foundation and context provided by the otherGospels, 15 including the history of Jesus' conception as narrated inMatthew and Luke. As a result, all of John's Father-Son referencesin his books and letters are to be understood in light of the historicaland theological context that had already been set by the otherGospels. In other words, all John's references to Jesus as God's Sonand to God as His Father are intended to be more than just metaphorsand would be understood that way by his audience in light ofthe background given in the other Gospels.In a similar way, everything that Paul wrote was based on theteachings of Jesus (including direct revelation) and the twelve apostles,with the assumption of the context they provided as the foundationfor all other teachings. This context included the oral andwritten history of Jesus' conception, which clearly reveals His identityas the true Son of God. Because of this context, all the Father-Son references to God and Jesus in Paul's writings are also to beunderstood in light of that non-metaphorical context. 16In summary, in view of the context of the history of Jesus' conceptionas recounted in Matthew and Luke, all "Father" and "Son"references to God and Jesus throughout the entire New Testamentmust be interpreted as they were intended, not as mere metaphor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!15 For example, in his Gospel, John alludes to certain major events in Jesus' lifesuch as His birth (1:14 "the Word became flesh"), His baptism (1:32–34 "I saw theSpirit come down from heaven... and remain on Him") and the Lord's Supper (6:53–58 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks my blood...") without providing furtherdetails of these events and leaves out other major events such as His transfigurationand ascension, all of which had already been written about in the other Gospelsand which he could assume his audience would be familiar with.16 For a few examples of Paul's use of Father-Son terminology, see Romans 1:1–4;5:10; 8:3, 29, 32; Galatians 2:20, 4:4; Colossians 1:12–20. Paul uses these importantterms in connection with other important teachings, such as resurrection, reconciliation,salvation, predestination, atonement, redemption, forgiveness, creationand God's love.St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision!'!
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