Jesus at the Mosque?

I can already hear the general outcry and so much the better, because I promised you some ‘edgy’ postings. 

What do you think the answer would be, if you sincerely ask yourselves these questions: What could prevent Jesus from going to a Mosque, a Buddhist or a Hindu temple? Why wouldn’t He? Without any intention of reviving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this forum, let’s just remember that Jesus was an Israelite, born in Palestine but, one can hardly say that He was of Jewish religion, at least if we take Judaism for what it was in those days. And the New Testament is a proof of that because if He had been ‘Jew’, we would still have the Old Testament only, at our disposal. Nevertheless, despite His frequent altercations with the high dignitaries of Judaism and though He had come to build His Church, He was regular at the Temple and the synagogue. The apostles and the early Christians did the same, on top of attending their house meetings during which they would take the Holy Communion and meditate on the Lord’s teachings. 

“And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the 6^th hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."… 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had 5 husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."” (John 4:4-26, ESV) 

This woman’s religion foretold the coming of the Messiah and requested that she goes to Mount Gerizim in order to worship (that’s the mountain she is talking about). Jesus used these, along with some details of her private life, to make her understand who He really was and what He could do for her. Up until this day, Christians, Jews and Muslims, to name only a few, are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah. And to all, the Lord wants to say today: ‘‘I who speak to you, am the Christ”; ‘‘I, Yeshua who speak to you, am the Mâshiach’’; ‘‘I, Issa Ben Mariam who speak to you, am the Mahdi.’’ 

“Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'… 29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.” (Acts 17:22-34, ESV) 

Paul followed the spirit and the example of His Master when he met with the Athenians. He could have started a controversy or violent attacks on their deities but he chose to admire their piety and found how he could use their beliefs to sail in the direction of Christ. He knew he would gain nothing by dragging what these people held in high esteem, in the mud. His goal was to do every possible thing to save the more of them, and to save them through love and tolerance instead of losing them with arrogance and narrow-mindedness. Indeed, he even said: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1Corinthians 9:19-23, ESV) 

In a vision, as he was looking, John saw in Heaven, people from every tribe, every language and every nation (Revelation 5:9 & 7:9). I do believe that if Jesus would come back in our midst, He would go wherever men and women of all colours and backgrounds come together to worship God, even though they might be doing it without intelligence. Then, starting with what is sacred to them, like their Holy Book, He would open the pages that point to Him, as He did with the two disciples met on the way to Emmaus. Beginning with Moses and then, the prophets, He explained in the Scriptures, everything that related to Him (Luke 24:27). Though there is no direct mention of the Name ‘Jesus’ in the Old Testament, since they were Jews, He still used it (the O.T) cleverly to lead them to Him. The prophets ALL spoke about Him (Acts 10:43). If those two disciples had been Muslims, Brahmins, Buddhists or animists, just like Paul with the Athenians, He still would have known how to open their eyes on the elements of their worships that lead to Him. Has He not said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me ”? (John 5:39) 

Jesus is indisputably the Way, the Truth and the Life; but we will not draw souls to Him if with our present behaviours. We must imitate Paul, as he himself was an imitator of Christ (1Corinthians 11:1). Let us become all things to all, that is if we really wish to see many hear the Good News of the Gospel. 

The aim of this posting is not to make us desert our churches for mosques and the likes, but to help us out of religious bigotry. God cannot be enclosed or restrained within a geographic area, a building or a people. If such was the case, He could and would no longer be God, but a mere local or territorial spirit. 

There is NO reason why He should ONLY make His entry into our churches and places of worship. Nothing can force Him to do so. He is free to go to other sheepfolds whenever He wants and call those of His sheep who are there (John 10:16).

Finally, Jesus at the Mosque? Yes, why not? … ;-)


Have a 'wonderblessed' week!