Questions from a Godson: Who Crucified Jesus Anyway? Is the Pope Really As Pure as He said?

by Susan Fox

My 16-year-old Catholic godson sent me some questions recently. He is reading the whole Bible cover to cover. Here is our dialogue.

Who crucified Jesus?
The Art of Nellie Edwards

Godson Ben: All right, well bear with me on this, I’m going to touch on a bit of history. I tend to ask very long and complicated questions, so apologies in advance.

The Romans originated from Italy, they took Britain from the Briton Celtic people around 60-78 AD. While the Romans took over and the Britons ended up accepting their new overlords, the other Celtic tribes kept struggling, refusing to give up so easily. The Romans/Brits were the ones to kill Jesus. In the end the Briton and Roman people mingled, so the modern day British people are mutts of the two, perhaps thrown in with a splash of other ethnic groups (Been a long time, after all.) (Ben understands breeding. He raises dogs)

The Roman/Brit people continued to then fight the Insular Celts, enslaving them and selling them in the era of slaves for the U.S. to build their railroad. To this day, the majority of the Brits aren't very religious, and even most Italians live their lives without caring about religion and morals. It's only an old stereotype that Italians care about such things. And the Vatican City is located in Italy, what was Rome. How is it not hypocritical, when the people at the Vatican who claim to be so spiritually strong, devout believers are the same people who killed God in the flesh all those years ago?

Susan Fox: Dear Ben, My apologies. I also tend to give long and rambling answers, but I do reach a conclusion.

It was the Roman/Jews (Roman authority and the Jewish leaders) who killed Jesus, not the Roman/Brits. You could travel in any known country of the world that existed at that time and still be in the Roman Empire. So when Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt in the Bible, it was like running from Colorado to Washington State. They were still in the Roman Empire. So was the British Isles.

Many, including Catholic bishops, are ignorant of this fact as they associate Mary, Joseph and Jesus with  “illegal aliens” and “refugees” when they crossed into Egypt. But they were not illegal. They fled from one state to another: they were still in the same old Roman Empire. This is important to know if someone should tell you that Mary, Joseph and Jesus were illegal aliens and we should let illegal aliens into this country for that reason.  Mary, Joseph and Jesus scrupulously obeyed the law. They did not break it. Remember that when you go into law enforcement.

Who killed Jesus? Jesus was a Jew. There was a Jewish authority there called the Sanhedrin. They were the Jewish cops, but in a religious sense. They were unhappy with Jesus because He claimed to be God. He didn’t say, “I am God.” He was subtler than that, but within the context of Jewish history the old Sanhedrin got the message:

"Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)

God introduced Himself to Moses in the Old Testament, as “I AM WHO AM.” God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'” So the Jews immediately recognized that Christ was saying he was God when He said, “I am!” Plus how could a mere human have existed before his ancestor?

Jesus also forgave sins. Only God can forgive sins, so this outraged the Jews, who didn’t realize it was the proper action for Jesus to take since He was True God and True Man. See Twilight’s Confession for the story of how this divine power was handed down to our Catholic priests by Jesus Himself!

Jesus was killed for blasphemy by the Jewish authority because he made Himself to be God. The Romans got involved because the Jews didn’t have the authority to inflict capital punishment. So they tricked the Roman authority into doing it for them.

The first Christians, however, were also Jews, and we Catholics are grateful for their faith, which they handed down to us.

Got that? Jews are our older brothers in faith, and we need to respect them. Jesus was a Jew. Mary was a Jew, and the first Christians were Jews. We do not blame the Jewish people for Christ’s death. That’s Hitler’s thinking, although he had no love for Christ at all. If Hitler loved Christ, he would not have persecuted Christ’s own relatives – the Jews.

Some Roman Centurions were also
among the first Christian converts

Whew, the British are completely blameless for the murder of Christ even if they have some Roman blood in their veins. Frankly, who doesn’t have Roman blood at this point? Those Romans spread their blood all over the civilized world.

That is the historical context of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But spiritually, we have to remember that Jesus Christ volunteered for the job of dying for all men’s sins. He allowed the crucifixion to take place.  Remember what he told Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor:

So Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." (John 19:10-11) He referred to the Sanhedrin.

Perhaps this understanding is for later in your life. But I had a good friend who was in the Sacrament of Confession, and she understood that her sins, her own trespasses had crucified Jesus Christ. Father asked her this question, “Whose sins did you think crucified Jesus?”

“Why, Father, I thought it was somebody else’s sins that crucified Jesus Christ!” she exclaimed. So who crucified Jesus? Anyone who commits a sin.

Maybe you have encountered this Exodus story in the Old Testament. The People of Israel were complaining against God about the food He was giving them (manna). So God sent fiery serpents among the people. Many died. But Moses interceded for his people and God told him to make an image of the snake that bit them and when they looked at the image, they would be cured. 

"Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." (Num.21:6-9) 

It sounds almost idolatrous, doesn’t it? But everything in the Old Testament has to be understood in the context of the the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is one Author of Scripture over thousands of years, and that is the Holy Spirit. He shaped events and inspired men to write about them. That bronze image that God gave them took the poisonous bite from their bodies.

 But then God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and when He was raised up on the cross He took the poison of sin from their hearts! When Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, they also looked at Him Whom they had pierced (with real nails), and the poison of their sin was taken from them.  They – in short -- experienced regret and sorrow for their actions.  The Epistles near the end of the Bible will explain this better than I, but think of it as potty training a cat. The cat piddles somewhere in the house, and you take the cat and rub its nose in it. The cat deeply regrets that experience and starts going outside or using the cat box.

When mankind looks at the broken Body of Christ on the Cross, and they see what the Innocent and Merciful God suffered to save them from their sins, they kinda lose the taste for sin. Hey, it isn’t so fun any more.

Godson Ben: I understand it may not be entirely fair to think ill of people based on the sins of their fathers, but I don't like people who are all heathens, seem to act cocky among other things, and even the Pope himself is fine with gays. What do you think of all of this? For clarification, I essentially want to know if, in your opinion, I am wrong? If they haven't changed as a people, when you look at the Brits they still want to conquer Ireland, and if it was socially acceptable in the eyes of the U.S. they would likely re-enslave them.

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5) This invites me to pass judgment, be skeptical and speak freely, so long as I am not hypocritical.

And honestly I question whether or not the Pope is truly as pure as it is said, if he isn't willing to quite simply say what is unnatural and wrong to be gay (when the Bible clearly states such, Leviticus 20:13) 

Susan Fox: Dear Ben, I think Brits today are interested in beer ... and maybe Islam. I have a good friend in the United Kingdom and he tweets me pictures of his beer. He drinks fascinating kinds of beer. I tweet him pictures of my grocery cart and its price. So it would seem I am interested in the cost of my groceries, which keeps going up!

My shopping cart: $365

 Islam is interesting to them because they have many Muslims in their country, and some have killed innocent British civilians. Recently, a few Muslims killed some French magazine cartoonists, and the Brits followed this event on the telly in the British pub. They are justifiably worried about their families. And we should pray for them.

So in reality Brits are more concerned now about Muslims than they are about the Irish. But I promise I will ask my British friend about the Irish next time we speak on Twitter.

Pope Francis

I’m glad you are asking questions about Pope Francis. I have read almost every recent article about Pope Francis. I have a friend who sends them to me regularly, so I am the right person to ask about Pope Francis! LOL.

The articles fall into three categories: 

1. Factual accounts of the pope’s true feelings and opinions,
2. Liberal fantasies of the pope’s feelings and 
3. Angry/doubtful conservative Catholic opinions of the pope’s falsely reported opinions.

Don’t fall into the third category. You see the liberal press has a totally false image of Pope Francis. They think he is going to change the Catholic Church’s doctrine on homosexuality. That is fantasy.

On same-sex “marriage,” the pope said that it is an “anti-value and an anthropological regression.” It is a weakening of the institution of marriage, an institution that has existed for thousands of years and is “forged according to nature and anthropology.” He means that marriage between one man and one woman is the way that God designed the human race. To enter into a same sex relationship is to go backwards, to regress, to devolve.

Pope St. John Paul II

Pope Saint John Paul II wrote a fascinating book called “Theology of the Body.” And it says that “man” is not just male. No, according to Genesis, which you probably have already read, God made “man” male and female. That means that “man” is not present in his completeness unless there is both man and woman. Your godfather, Larry Fox, explains it this way: “Homosexuality is an attack on the Holy Trinity, on the very nature of God Himself.” God is a Community of Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God generates Himself within Himself as He is eternal.

Men and women are finite. So “man” has within his body the power to generate man because we are made in the image and likeness of God. But only male and female “man” together can generate “man.” Two males or two females are structurally incompatible and cannot generate another man. Therefore homosexuality is anti-trinitarian, against the very nature of God, who is fruitful.

Larry added that when men and women can’t have children, they experience a sense of loss because they want to live in the image of God, Who is fruitful within Himself. But they cannot generate man physically within their bodies. This makes them sad.

Also remember that intimacy is not something to be taken casually since it so closely mimics the life of God Himself. The only place for sex is in marriage, and in that context, it is a very holy act.

That some people regard the pope as favoring homosexuality is total fantasy. They are not living in reality. I have read the LGBT press, and they actually cried out to the pope to go to Uganda, where they passed an anti-homosexuality act, and chastise those Catholic bishops who did not support homosexual activity.

However, the reason this false image of Pope Francis has arisen is because in 2013 when he was returning from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, he told reporters: “"If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person? These persons must never be marginalized and they must be integrated into society."

This is practical implementation of that Bible quote you gave me. “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”

The pope is very concerned about all the children of Adam and Eve. He is not just the spiritual father of the Catholics. No, he is spiritual father to everyone. He realizes that for real change to take place in a man’s heart, he must receive love and respect for himself as a person, not as an activity. Hence, I personally don’t use the word “gay” to describe anyone because it denotes an activity not a person.

We don’t love homosexual actions, nor do we love the identity they have chosen, but we love them. Do you understand? Love the sinner. Hate the sin. Remember I told you the way to change your mother’s behavior is to see the good things she does and be grateful.

People who self identify as homosexuals need love. They need us to look for and find the good that God has done in them. The secular world doesn’t understand that one can love a person struggling to overcome a bad habit, and still condemn his actions. So they report the Pope’s acceptance of a person, and twist that information into acceptance of his sin.

Now if you visited Pope Francis, wouldn’t you expect him to love you? Would you expect him to tell you how much he appreciates your faults? Not at all. He’d tell you to change those!

Godson Ben: When I say I dislike certain ethnic groups, what I mean is I will not, for example, hang around them. That does not mean I would turn a blind eye if one of them were to be, for example, mugged in an alley, for then I would be doing equal wrong. Stereotypes exist with some merit, and while they can't all be bad, how could I honestly like them as a people when they still demonstrate their ill-will, when people openly say my beliefs are invalid, when a majority of people encourage abominable acts, and so forth?

Susan Fox: Dear Ben, Hmm, are these Brits and Italians you don’t like? It is necessary to avoid some neighborhoods dominated by one ethnic group. The neighborhood my husband grew up in in Baltimore is now strictly off limits because of crime. My sister-in-law drove me to the edge of the street where his family home was located and refused to go any farther because she was afraid. That is prudent fear.

My husband’s father used to leave him in certain dangerous neighborhoods while he went to do work, and yup Larry got beat up.  That was imprudence.

But when you speak of the immorality of modern Brits and Italians, it is not true they were never religious. Before King Henry VIII, the British were devoutly Catholic people. The Norwegians and Swedes were too. But it was kings and money. The kings ripped the faith from the people to get the Church’s money. And God allowed it because He Himself actually prefers to clothe His Bride, the Church, in joy, not riches. There were many great Catholic martyrs in those countries.

I visited a formerly Catholic Cathedral in England, and on the walls they had written (during the Protestant Reformation), “The Eucharist is NOT the Body of Christ. It is a symbol.” They ripped the Catholic faith from the people and now England watches the television and worries about their Muslim neighbors. Don’t doubt it’s happening here too. Detroit has a large Muslim population. And Muslim men are taught not to respect Christian and secular women. They form rape gangs even in Seattle. 

Thanks to large immigrant population,
Sweden has the second highest rape rate
 in the world.

Sweden has the highest annual asylum and immigration rate in all of Europe. It used to be a very family friendly country. As a young woman, I traveled safely by myself through Sweden in 1973-74, but now apparently one in four Swedish women face at least one rape from a Muslim immigrant.  Sweden has the second highest number of rapes in the world after South Africa at 53 per 100,000 women. It was a pretty country, but I never want to return.

Many Italians have lost the faith. They are not having children. If they don’t convert their hearts, their race may die out.  But Italians did once have a devout Catholic faith and they had nothing to do with the crucifixion of Christ. The Catholic Church is headquartered in Rome because Jesus decided it.

Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Interior St. Peter's Basilica Vatican City

Jesus meant He would place His own authority on Peter’s shoulders and those of his successors, the popes. But I find it amusing that Jesus literally built His Church’s headquarters on St. Peter’s physical body. St. Peter was martyred in Rome and buried there. "Holy men ... took down his body secretly and put it under the terebinth tree near the Naumachia, in the place which is called the Vatican," according to a 5^th century source.

St. Peter's Basilica

In 1939, the first pope’s bones were discovered under St. Peter’s Basilica inside the Vatican City where the pope says Mass. Fragments found in the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica (in the Vatican) were “identified in a way that we can consider convincing,” said Pope Paul VI in 1968. They were found in a funeral monument with an engraving that said, “Peter is here.”

Where St. Peter's bones are located is a heavenly “X” marks the spot where the True Church is headquartered!  What a blessing!

          

                        

              

Baptism is Only the Beginning

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

The Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 11, 2015

Saints Peter & Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

Today, the Church celebrates the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This marks the end of the Christmas season, which began Dec. 25 with the birth of Our Lord, followed by the Feast of the Holy Family and then Epiphany -- Our Lord’s

manifestation through the light of a mysterious star. Today we celebrate our Lord’s immersion into the waters of the River Jordon.

The focus of today’s celebration is not simply on Our Lord, but also on us. We celebrate Our Lord’s Baptism, but we are reminded that Our Lord was baptized so that we can be baptized through Him and enjoy new life in Him. 

In today’s short Gospel passage from Mark 1:7-11, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordon River.

We should ask ourselves, why was Jesus baptized? After all, John’s baptism was a baptism for repentance, but Jesus was sinless and had no need of repentance.

There are many reasons. Jesus was about to embark on His public ministry and it was fitting that He be revealed as the One who would fulfill the baptism of John. 

John was the voice crying out in the wilderness preparing the people for the Messiah who was to come. By baptizing Jesus, John declared Jesus to be The messiah. The entire event would reveal to all generations that Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the triune God! And through His baptism, our Lord would give us a new beginning! We were invited to join God's own triune family, to receive a new identity in God. Those who receive Our Lord’s baptism will receive new life!

Fr. J.P. Shea

My brothers and sisters, Christ was baptized in the Jordon not to be made holy by the water. He was baptized to make the water holy. And by his cleansing, Our Lord would purify the waters, which he touched. 

In His baptism, Christ sanctified our human nature. When Our Lord was washed, all water for baptism was made clean and purified for the dispensing of baptismal grace for Christians of all ages!

Christ was the first to be baptized, so that all Christians will enter the saving waters after him -- with confidence. Jesus

receives the Spirit at His baptism in order to renew our nature in its entirety and to make it whole again. For becoming man, Jesus took our entire nature to Himself so that we can become holy as He is holy.

Therefore, our baptism is not the end of our Christian life, it is only the beginning. We are all called to a mission through our baptism, and today’s feast helps us to reflect on how we are living this mission in our Christian life.

The baptism of Jesus signifies that we are becoming a new creation. In our baptism we Christians are born again as members of our Lord’s Church. We become our Lord’s chosen people. We are to be a people set apart from the world. In baptism we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection. We die to our sinful nature so that we can live with our Lord in His resurrected nature. Therefore, we must strive to live out our baptismal call! We must strive to live holy lives!

In today’s second reading (1John 5:1-9), John says, “If [we] love God and want to live as His children than [we] must keep His commandments.” So to live as a child of God, we must strive to keep our Lord’s commandments. All of them!

Just because we have been baptized does not mean that we have automatic entrance into heaven. No! Each one of us can forfeit heaven by dying in a state of mortal sin -- by irrevocably rejecting God.

When we commit mortal sin, we separate ourselves from God, and we become blind to the truth! Sin brings hurt upon others and upon ourselves. This is why we see so much sadness, guilt and shame in our world today!  But, Our Lord intervenes. He comes to give us new life in the Spirit, if only we allow His Spirit to purify our hearts and our actions! Our  new birth begins at baptism. Now we must continually be strengthened and purified in our baptismal life through the sacrament of confession and the gift of the Eucharist.

As we come together to celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, let us reflect on the gift of our own baptism. Let us be freed from  sinful ways that hold us captive. Strive to live in holiness and purity so that one day we too will hear the words, “You are my beloved Son  (daughter). With you I am well pleased.” God bless you.

Did you enjoy this homily. There's more! Read Fr. John Paul Shea on St. John the Baptist: He testified to the Light!

God Pitched His Tent Among Men: The Manner of Christian Prayer versus Muslim Prayer

by Lawrence Fox

“What manner of prayer did Jesus teach his disciples?” a Muslim asked me on Facebook.
I thought about the question from the perspective of John the Baptist who evidently taught his disciples how to pray. This is certain since Jesus’ disciples approached Him and asked, “Teach us how to pray as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1) Then I asked, “What is this Muslim focusing on in relation to prayer? Was it a question about method and form, content, location, duration, quantity or quality that was important?” The question did not seem to suggest a tender relationship between Allah and men. 

After reading the chapter “teachings on prayer” in Jesus and Mohammad; Profound Differences and Surprising Similarities by Mark Gabriel PhD, I began to understand why it was so important for the Muslim to have an answer to his question.

Muslims are commanded to pray to Allah fives times a day (raka'ah). Islamic legend states that Mohammed was taken up to Allah in a dream and Allah instructed Mohammed to command the believers to pray 50 times a day.

Manner in which Muslims pray

In the Islamic legend, Mohammed ascended through the seven heavens and along the way saw at various discrete levels apart from Allah, the person of Jesus, Moses, and other “Muslim” prophets. On his journey down from where Allah dwelt, Moses requested from Mohammed, “What did Allah ask?” Mohammed replied, “Allah instructed me to command 'believers' to pray 50 times a day.”

Moses told Mohammed that he (Moses) led his people out of Egypt towards the Promised Land and knew “believers would not pray 50 times a day.” So Mohammed went back to Allah to ask for a lesser duty. Mohammed -- with the advice of Moses -- managed to whittle the prayer requirement down to the number five.

The legendary bargaining between Mohammed and Allah over quantity of prayer inversely parallels the exchange between Abraham and the Lord (represented by three angels) who was about to execute judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 16: 1-33). Mohammed was trying to water down the requirements for the believer. Abraham was trying to save the cities scheduled for destruction. 

Abraham begins the exchange with the Lord by asking, “Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?”  This exchange went back and forth until the Lord states, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.” In such manner did Abraham plead for God's mercy for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ironically, Abraham was not successful as God could not find 10 innocent men.

Allah commanded “the five” and sent the angel Gabriel to teach Mohammed the manner of prayer. Mohammed then explained to his followers that this prayer (recited five times a day) was a duty from Allah.

Mohammed led his followers in prayer five times a day to demonstrate the sincerity of the message. Mohammed taught his followers when to say the prayer during the course of the day, the manner of washings, the location, the content and when an exception was permitted based upon circumstances, including while at the mosque, away from the mosque, and while performing jihad. (Surah 4:34; 4:101-103, and 5:6) Mohammed’s instructions on prayer are integral to the life of the “believer” since “the five” prayer times manifest obedience to Allah.

Christians expect God to hear their prayers

But the Islamic approach is wooden and non-relational compared to the approach of the Christian,  who comes to understand that God dwells intimately with His people. The Muslim doesn’t know if Allah hears his prayer or not.

Jesus teaches his disciples that God already knows what’s in their heart and will listen to them. He says, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men, I tell you the truth, they received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6: 5:8)

Jesus then taught his disciples to pray to God as a Father, not as a taskmaster as Allah demands: "Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give to us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil one.” (Matthew 6:9) 

Painting of the Sacred Heart of God
the Father. To learn more about
this devotion, go to Moving Heart Foundation

The word that Jesus uses for “Father” is “Abba” which literally means “Daddy” in Hebrew. Jesus told his disciples that God was their Father by creation, grace, and providence. The gift that we receive from God the Father is God Himself in the Holy Spirit, “What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish? You being evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more you’re Father in heaven will give to you the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 11:11)

The Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke about is the same Spirit that overshadowed the waters of creation in the book of Genesis 1:2 and which rested upon Jesus (like a dove) at His Baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist (Mark 1:10).

This same Holy Spirit -- while indwelling within the heart of the disciples -- encourages and enables the disciple to speak to God as “Abba Father.” St. Paul writes: “But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that make you a slave again to fear; but you received the Spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in the sufferings in order that we may also share in his Glory.” (Romans 8:13-17)

The Holy Spirit which comes from God Our Father is identified as the breath of God, which is an image of intimacy. God breathed into the nostrils of Adam (shaped from clay). God the Holy Spirit animates our being (body and soul). Jesus tells his disciples, "Trust in God as a child trusts in his own Daddy and He will give you an increase of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit."

The Holy Spirit present at the creation of the world, “moving over the waters,” is the same Holy Spirit which participates along with the Father and the Son in  the re-creation (sanctification) of the human person.

Mohammed instructed his followers to wash before prayer but he could not give to his followers the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.

Mohammed’s washing simply dealt with the removal of dirt from the body. In contrast, the washing of the Holy Spirit --  while moving over the waters of Baptism – saves “the initiate” like the waters of Noah’s Ark saved Noah and his family:  “In it only a few people, eight in all were saved through water and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but in a pledge response of a good conscience towards God. It (baptism) saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone in the heaven and is at God’s right hand – with the angels, authorities and power in submission to Him.” (1 Peter 3:19-22)

The Holy Spirit rested upon Moses and Mount Sinai with the giving of the Law and its ratification. He rested upon the Ark of the Covenant once it was constructed and dedicated. (Exodus 40:34) It is the same Holy Spirit which rested on the Temple dedicated by Solomon. While dedicating the Temple, King Solomon asked the assembled people, "Will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? If the heaven and heavens of heavens will not suffice thee, what then is this house that I have built?" (II Chronicles 6:18). 

Solomon's Temple

In each instance throughout the Old and New Testament, the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit by cloud, fire, and breath (wind) manifested the dwelling of God among humanity. The pattern continues in the most marvelous way within the New Testament.

The Angel Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born of you will be called, the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) In case the point is missed, Matthew writes about the Mary’s conception of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, “And all this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet, ‘The Virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and they call him Emmanuel - which means God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23) Yes, through the power of the Holy Spirit and Mary’ yes, God pitched His tent among humanity in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Son of Mary.

John the Baptist told members of the Sanhedrin that he baptized with water, but the One to follow him would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus reiterated the words of John the Baptist to his disciples, “For John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1: 5) And so it was on Pentecost when 120 of them were gathered in the upper room. The Holy Spirit descended upon them with the rushing of a mighty wind from heaven. Tongues of living fire rested upon each of them and they began to proclaim the Good News to the multitude of pilgrims in Jerusalem, something which never happened in Islamic history.

When the people heard the message they said to Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do?” And Peter responded, “Repent  and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins. And you will receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord will call.” (Acts 2: 38)

Through Word and Water (Baptism), the Gift of the Holy Spirit is given to men, women, and children. God speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel stated: “I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed. I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a new heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

God promised that He would put His Spirit within the hearts of men. This promise is fulfilled through the Person of Jesus of Nazareth since “In Him the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9) Christians receive a divine Person in faith and in prayer. Muslims do not.

Mohammed gave to his followers, five prayers which he learned from an angel. Jesus of Nazareth gave to his followers a relationship with God as “Father.” And from this Father they receive in prayer an increase of the Holy Spirit enabling them to cry out with greater courage “Abba” Father in Spirit and in Truth.

Did you enjoy this piece? Lawrence has written others on Islam, including GLORY OF ISLAM: Putting the Beheadings, Crucifixions, and Rape into the context of the Quran
and a poem on beheaded American journalist James Foley  Lament for Western Humanity
and THE MIND OF ISLAM: On Family Life, the Messiah and How to Treat Non-Muslims