The Son of God

Qur’an describes Jesus as the Anointed or Messiah (al-Masīḥ), a prophet, born of a virgin, did miracles, and was miraculously saved by God and taken to heaven instead of facing crucifixion and resurrection. It explicitly denies Jesus as “God’s Son.”

“And they say, ‘The gracious Allah has taken to himself a son.’ Holy is He. Nay, he has only honored servants.” (Qur’an 21:27)

“They say: ‘We worship Jesus, son of Allah.’ Say to them, ‘You tell a lie; Allah did not take for himself either a spouse or a son.” (Sahih 1.0352)

Islam finds Christianity offensive for claiming Jesus is God’s Son. Perhaps we can explain the title instead of saying it.

At this moment, Jill Biden is the “First Lady” of America. She received this title the day the American people elected and appointed her husband, Joe Biden, as the President of the United States of America. If someone were to take that title literally and say that Jill Biden is the very first lady to be born in the United States, we would explain that it is a “root fallacy” and correct that person. The title “First Lady” doesn’t mean the first to be born in a country but the wife of a president.

Jesus had several titles with “Son” in them: Son of Abraham, Son of David, Son of Joseph, Son of Mankind, Son of Mary, and Son of God. Of these, only one relates to biology – “Son of Mary.” She gave birth to him. Abraham, David, Joseph, Mankind, or God didn’t give birth to him. Each of those titles has a particular function. Son of Abraham referred to his Hebrew lineage, and David’s Son referred to his kingly descent.

Similarly, God’s Son or Son of God meant a particular function.

“As the sun went down, they brought everyone with any weaknesses and illnesses, and he laid his hands on them one by one and healed them. As he chased away demons from many of them, they all shouted and said, ‘You are God’s Son.’ He rebuked them from speaking because they knew he was the Anointed [Christ].” (Luke 4:40–41)

When the demons addressed Jesus as ‘God’s Son,’ they understood him as God’s Anointed One (Messiah in Hebrew; Christ in Greek). This was like Nathanael’s confession:

“Rabbi, you are God’s Son; you are Israel’s king.” (John 1:49)

Early Christians, Hebrews, and demons understood the title “God’s Son” as God’s Anointed One (i.e., Messiah or Christ) or Israel’s king. They did this because of God’s promise to David,

“When your days are over, and you die, I will raise your offspring to succeed you . . . I will be his Father, and he will be my Son . . . In this way, your house and kingdom will endure before me forever.” (2 Sam 7:12–16)

The Hebrews knew their king was God’s Son – a title like “First Lady.” He wasn’t a biological son of God; instead, he (or she) ruled as God’s anointed king, his viceroy or second in command. This was the message the demons declared. But it wasn’t time for Jesus to be Israel’s king – he had to die and resurrect first – so he commanded them to be silent.

To win our neighbors, we must change our vocabulary. Instead of calling Jesus God’s Son, perhaps we can call him “God’s King” and explain that God had appointed him to rule his people, the world, and the creation.