Two scriptures speak about him at length. This is what each one says, in its own words, without either being bent to fit the other.
How the Gospel introduces him
An angel comes to a young woman in Nazareth. He tells her she will have a son and is to call him Jesus, that he will be great, and that the holy one born of her will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:31–35). She asks how, since she is a virgin, and is told the power of the Most High will overshadow her (Luke 1:34–35).
That phrase is used in the scriptures of Israel, of Solomon and of Adam as well. We have written about what it carries: what is a son of God?
When Andrew runs to fetch his brother, the word he uses is the title.
He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is, being interpreted, Christ).
Later Jesus asks his companions directly who they say he is. Peter answers, "You are the Christ" (Mark 8:29), and in Matthew, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). What happens next is easy to miss: he tells them to say it to no one (Matthew 16:20).
What he says about himself in the Gospel
In his own prayer he addresses the Lord God and draws a line.
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
And on the morning after the arrest and all that followed it, the message he sends to his companions puts himself on the same side of the line as them.
Jesus said to her, "Don't hold me, for I haven't yet ascended to my “Father”; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending to my “Father” and your “Father”, to my God and your God.'"
He says "my God". He says it about the One he is going to. That is the Gospel's own record, in red, and it is not a small sentence.
The word “Father” there is how he taught people to address the Lord God (Matthew 6:9). It is a way of speaking to Him, not a fact of lineage. The Lord God is unique and has fathered no one (The Recitation 112:3).
How the Recitation tells it
The announcement to Mary is there too, and the title is the same.
When the angels said, "O Mary, indeed The God gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near.
He is sent to the Children of Israel, and the signs he brings, the healing and the giving of life, are each said to be by the permission of The God (The Recitation 3:49). He confirms the Torah that came before him (The Recitation 3:50). Then he says the thing he says in every chapter he appears in.
Indeed, The God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is the straight path."
The same sentence again in 43:64. And as a newborn in the cradle, the first words recorded of him are "Indeed, I am the servant of The God" (The Recitation 19:30).
Chapter 4 addresses the People of the Scripture and asks them not to go to excess, calling the Messiah a messenger of The God, His word directed to Mary, and a soul from Him (The Recitation 4:171).
Chapter 5 records that the Messiah himself will disown having told anyone to take him and his mother as deities, and will say he told them only to worship The God, "my Lord and your Lord" (The Recitation 5:116–117).
Where the two accounts meet
- He is the Messiah. Both name him so, and neither gives the name to anyone else (John 1:41, The Recitation 3:45).
- He is the son of Mary, born without a father, by the Lord God's word (Luke 1:35, The Recitation 3:45).
- He healed and raised the dead, and the Recitation adds each time that it was by permission (The Recitation 3:49).
- He worshipped the Lord God and told others to (John 17:3, The Recitation 3:51).
- He came confirming what was already given (Matthew 5:17, The Recitation 3:50).
Where they part, and what we do with that
The Gospel narrative continues past the arrest in the garden. The Lord God revealed to us in the Recitation, of that night and after: they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, and rather, The God raised him to Himself (The Recitation 4:157–158). Our reading follows the Gospel to the arrest, and then this. He was raised to the Lord God, and perhaps he may return.
We do not argue anyone out of what they read. Christians read John 1:1 and hold what they hold, in good faith and with verses in hand. We hold to the words the Messiah is recorded as saying about himself, in both books, and those words are "my God and your God".
Questions people might ask
Was Jesus born of a virgin?
Yes, in both. Luke’s account tells it from the angel's visit to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) and the Recitation tells it from her side of the room (The Recitation 19:16-22).
Did he die?
We do not say he died. The Lord God revealed to us in the Recitation that he was not killed and not crucified, but raised up to the Lord God (The Recitation 4:157-158). Matthew’s account has him praying in the garden that the cup might pass (Matthew 26:39).
Did he say he was God?
He said the “Father” is greater than he (John 14:28), that he could do nothing of himself (John 5:30), and that eternal life is to know the only true God (John 17:3). The Lord God revealed to us in the Recitation that he told people to worship the Lord God, his Lord and their Lord (The Recitation 5:117).
