Assalamu Aleykum Wa Rhametulah,
Peace be upon those who follow guidance,
Peace and blessings be upon Jesus son of Mary and his mother,
And Immune be he from anything falsly attributed to him.
I will only go into so much detail due to the fact that you, Glo, seem very well versed with the Gospels.
I have just some personal confusion, and difference of understanding.
The question was:
format_quote Originally Posted by
Fi_Sabilillah
how come jesus (peace be upon him) never asked people to worship him, if he was God anyway?
And an answer:
format_quote Originally Posted by
glo
I believe the answer to your question can be found right at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when he spent 40 days fasting in the desert.
You may know the story of satan tempting Jesus:
As satan knew, and Christians still believe, Jesus could at any point have displayed and used his divine power.
I disagree, with the statement that Jesus could at any point have used any divine power, rather I think he would only be able to use his power if G-d allowed. He could of his own self 'do nothing'
The answers Jesus gave to the request's of Satan are answers that any normal person would give, for example, if a Christian is asked to take the 'falsification' test, they would naturally say, 'Do not put G-d at test'
So it could be possible that either Jesus, did not have the ability to just initiate divine power at his own will, rather only when G-d allowed him.
format_quote Originally Posted by
glo
Even at the cross he was taunted to display his powers, and he never did:
The point is, that Jesus (despite being God), came to live as man.
Again, who said he could use the power?
Reasons for not using the power could be two, that I can think of:
1
He could not use divine power
He cannot use the power without G-d's acceptance, I say this because, we see that Jesus prayed so much before hand, for the cup to pass Him.
Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
He also before hand said:
Matthew 26:38:
"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death..
This was the state of Jesus, maybe he was 'hoping' for help. He felt helpless, it seems, listen to what he says on the Cross:
Matthew:27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,[c] lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus was helpless, he could not use divine power, he waited for G-d to help him, yet he felt 'forsaken'. This wasn't Jesus being humble while powerful, this was Jesus, a creation, being in need and feeling that G-d had left him.
2.
That Jesus understood his mission, so he took the abuse not because he was being humble but rather because he knew that it was part of G-d's greater plan.
The reason I say this, is in response to, "Even at the cross he was taunted to display his powers, and he never did" if he had shown the power which they wanted to see, i.e that he 'save' himself.
"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself!
Imagine, if he had saved himself it would go against his own teaching, for he rebuked peter for even trying to 'comfort' Jesus:
Matthew 16:21-23
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "
This shall never happen to you!"
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Jesus knew his mission, you claim the reason he didn't show powers was because he was humble, rather it was because to save himself would have been a work of Satan, he knew G-ds plan!
format_quote Originally Posted by
glo
Jesus never intended to use his divine powers or to be recognised as God whilst living as a human being.
It was not until after his death that his full glory would become evident - not only to his own followers, but to others too.
Or it could be that Jesus is not G-d, rather "a man accredited by God to his people by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among his people through him"
Maybe the reason why Jesus did not claim to be G-d whilst living (also after the resurection I believe) is because he was not G-d.
Even after his death, at a time where his 'full glory' was evident, he was never even then called G-d.
That's just my understanding, I don't wanna impose my views on anyone, just thought it would be nice for me to understand more by posing my contrasting views :)
"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.