It sounds peculiar that such a personage such as Jesus the son of Mary (pbh) can be hijacked but such are the peculiarities of this world. One of the tendencies of man is to take something or someone and create that person in one’s own desired image. What that means is that one can build a fantasy of the individual from one’s own desires. Yes, the pharoses were ‘gods’ because that was the norm for that population of the day. Why can’t Rome have their gods also? They did for many emperors were destined to become one of the holy elite – but only in their wild-like fantasies.
What happens when we take a man and make him into a ‘god’? He becomes a personal icon of sorts that stokes the ego and allows that person to feel privileged or superior if not in this life then in the Hereafter. It must feel very good to some people to be of the highly chosen group who sometimes operate under a different set of norms than the general population. That different set of norms is reality.
“But I do this and I do that.” And if it is done for all the wrong reasons it becomes practically worthless because it is not done for HIM. The HIM is the One Who made all things and whom all things serve – willingly or unwillingly. “For Thy sake do I live and breathe”, becomes the clarion call for those who are exceedingly, highly blessed like those who were called prophets. These prophets were wise enough to know that they could accomplish nothing without His Will and that He had their destiny well within reach because His hand was pervasive over all things.
When mankind prefers dogma and doctrine over the Holy Word strange things occur. What is actually taking place is a creation of a puppet that performs according to our whims and who has by personal interpretation laid down the groundwork for our future success and worldly stature. After all, there must be a reason for being so brilliant and blessed as to one’s personal feeling or otherwise that person is in danger of showing that he is outright delusional even to the simplest person. Certainly one wouldn’t want to go too far and just kiss oneself without any reason. When a person marks himself off as a special entity based on another’s work, a feeling of narcissistic pride envelops the soul.
One can be humble by thanking the One God Who sent His servant and slave to be a reminder to us to do what he did so well in his actions and deeds, as being the Teacher of Righteousness, so as lead to the Way, the Truth and the Light. He did not teach fluff, ridiculousness or frivolity but preparedness and wisdom. In order to take advantage of this preparedness and wisdom, one has to have a concerned study of the issues/practices/principles that lead to the ‘life giving waters’ so to speak.
That however, is a task in itself. So man depends on ‘specialists’ who supposedly interpret the records and make pronouncements so as to guide the ‘faithful’ on the Way that has proven successful. That Way did not come through the pathway of scholars but through those chosen to transmit the ‘life giving waters’ and those are they who are called prophets.
Because mankind has left his fingerprints on directing the ‘chosen flock’ or pathway of the day (era) we call this class of people as guides or in the common vernacular – the priest-class. Every society has developed its so-called priest-class from the shaman to those who specialize in dishing out historical stuff, codes to live by, practices and doctrine.
All of these things must be traceable back to the originators of the acts – those prophets who came to teach and instruct. Otherwise, the possibility of fraud and other types of nonsense becomes real. That is it becomes real for those who understand that man down throughout history has a tendency to pollute things beyond all reason. So now we can understand why there were so many prophets being sent with basically the same message. Prophets don’t come to applaud the successful. They come to renew, strengthen, clarify and cleanse. Otherwise, man has certain perverted tendencies that if left unchecked would be Satan’s joy.
A good example is the Kabah in Islam. The rebuilding of the Kabah as the holiest place of worship by Abraham and his son Ishmael (pbt) was an act of purifying the first and original worship station from the time of Adam (pbh). It took a while but before the entrance of Prophet Muhammad (pbh), man’s deviation turned the Kabah into a den of degradation by having numerous idols of trash – finally amounting to 300 – to desecrate the holy site. 300 idols didn’t appear overnight but were gradually incorporated as time went on.
But didn’t those people have a prophet in their midst? Yes, Prophet Ishmael (pbh) lived but he died and the general tendency of the people as in all cases seems to degenerate.
This brings up another side issue that is intriguing. It seems that this planet or the part of it that is affected seems to flourish when the ‘life giving water’ comes down from on high. Now it could be that the community of believers at that time will be made up of only one individual (hadith) or many but what seems to be strikingly apparent is that the height of civilization spiritually occurs in any age during the life of that prophet and then goes downhill afterwards. The community may make, and most often does, greater advances in science and living standards from a worldly point of view but the ‘spiritual essence’ or the real importance of life decreases or encounters a state of ‘entropy’.
That was just a fascinating side issue but it does carry weight as a pattern of the ups and downs of human civilization, a pattern that can be used in the study of comparative religion and realization of the importance of spirituality over worldly affairs. Also added to the mix is the regeneration of the truth or parts of it every so often as certain individuals come to ‘shake off the dust’ so to speak or else the truth would be totally vanquished by the evils of the Satans and the evils of men.
What is significant in all of this is the importance of going back to the original Messenger and his message rather than creating a new but false philosophy of religion or even creating in the minds of people that religion doesn’t matter because it creates too much pain for society. How to do this?
One way of doing this is to depend on what the Messenger said and did while trying to understand what he meant rather than placing one’s faith or life in the hands of structured doctrine or certain dictates ‘formulated’ by the hands of questionable people more than half a century after the original Messenger departed from the face of the Earth. Certain people don’t do this because they put their faith on the worldly affairs of men rather than the truth found in the Messenger.
So it can be argued that the hijacking of Jesus is the same as the hijacking of Moses as well as the hijacking of Muhammad (pbt). Who said so? Muhammad (pbh) said so in several of his sayings (hadiths). Some of his sayings were about his ‘nation’ in particular and some were about humanity in general. Since humanity in general includes the ‘believers’ it is fitting that ‘you will follow the others even down a snake’s hole’ (paraphrased form) with the others being the Jews and Christians as to the repeating of the actions that they have done.
However, this article is about the hijacking of Jesus (pbh). A whole book could be written about this subject; in fact, many books could be written about this area.
The vast majority of Christians remain unaware about who the person of Jesus (pbh) really was in the sense that either they are hung up about him being more than a man or that he is God and man at the same time. They have let their priest-class or those in charge of doctrine-making do the talking rather than thinking it a big deal. Why is it such a big deal anyway?
It is obvious for those who have common sense to see rather than who remain blissfully blind. The One Who declared it is the One Whom they claim to worship and that is The One God. That is why it is such a big deal! In all of the Holy Books, the One God has been declared openly to the people but if a person relies on doctrine and false doctrine at that or a form of a priest-class to read something into things in order to misconstrue the truth, then that is what ‘they have chosen’ and are comfortable with. So that is what they are saddled with.
That is a form of justice. They get what they want even though they would despise it in the END when judgment comes. So the working for the understanding is really, really important or else one could say that ‘real religion’ is just a bunch of tomfoolery. Real religion is not a holier-than-thou type of thing. It is a form of practice (a life’s work) toward doing things that are pleasing to the Creator Lord. It is not taken in one gulp as there are many ups and downs in life but as the saying goes, “If you turn to Him, He will turn to you.” That is true and worship is for Him and Him Alone as He has no partners.
How did the hijacking of Jesus (pbh) take place? A brief overview of the article, Islam and the Rise and Fall of the Teachings of Jesus can give us some guidance as to how these things happened. It was a slow but gradual process that was aided by a lack of instant communication which we enjoy in today’s world. Things become eroded over time and philosophically speaking, cultures, tribes and nations will either fuse ideas or else wage war. This can be called the period of ‘after the dust settles’ by which a common agreement can be reached between peoples of various philosophies.
‘Certainly the matter would have been settled between the various factions had not the Word gone out from amongst them’.
Some may say that that example is pure hogwash. However, it is happening under our very eyes politically speaking. After the end of the so-called ‘Cold War’ and the swell of the hue and cry to have ‘freedom’, many countries including Russia and China have developed a kind of democracy/economic forum that looks good on paper but is interpreted differently by those in power. It is called ‘capitalistic freedom done our way’ kind of thing. In America many people are disturbed about so-called social tendencies such that so-called true democracy (whatever that may mean) is being lost and that America is changing into a European/communistic, socialistic society.
Anyway, the records do record that man has a tendency to conform to a certain level, unify or meld together of sorts when the Word (those whose job it was to clear out the driftwood of falsehood) was not sent to shake things up as in raising the spiritual awareness of man’s true nature.
Life has always been a contest between reality and the fictional charms of Earth and that can be found in the records also. Therefore, man can try and live by bread alone as is discussed in the New Testament but he won’t be successful in the only sense that matters which occurs on the Last Day of Judgment. One of the reasons for this is that he was not created as a lowly animal nor evolved from animals and his final destination is not on the Earth.
The hijacking of Jesus (pbh) is important to note because he is a central figure as the Messiah in all three of the faiths coming from father Abraham (pbh) and the one who is sent back to a promised kingdom on Earth as chief light and ruler. He shall rule and preside over only believers as the other kind of human beings will become extinct for a time. Of course they will make a comeback during what I have called the Fifth Age of Man but those creatures will be trash and not of any importance.
For the Jews, one can take out the name Jesus (to avoid an argument) and substitute the word Messiah and the above statement becomes accurate because a Messiah figure is discussed in all three mainstream religions minus the various cults or sects that proclaim otherwise. And all three of these mainstream religious works proclaim that the Messiah (pbh) is just only a man and no more than a man but what a MAN he is!
The Jewish Messiah, the Christian Messiah and the Islamic Messiah are ONE and he is not God or God’s partner sharing in plans for redemption. He is a part of God’s Plan for redemption and strictly is obedient to Him. Now many Christians might disagree with that as they may have been taught or told differently. However, a real honest and close look at the consistency of the records stretching all the way back to the Dead Sea Scrolls when put under the microscope of taking the readings of the Holy Scriptures in context, pictures this man as what a real successful man of God is.
On the day when Allah will gather the Messengers together and ask, “What was the response you received (from men to your teaching)”? They will say, “We have no knowledge; it is You Who knows all in full all that is hidden.”
Then will Allah say, “O Jesus the son of Mary recount My favor to you and to your mother. Behold! I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit so that you could speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught you the Book and Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel. And Behold! You made out of clay as it were the figure of a bird, BY MY PERMISSION, and you breathed into it and it became a bird BY MY PERMISSION. And you healed those born blind and the lepers BY MY PERMISSION. And behold! You bring forth the dead BY MY PERMISSION. I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) you when you did show them the Clear Signs; and the unbelievers among them said, “This is nothing but evident magic.” Q (5: 109-110)
The point under discussion is the hijacking of Jesus with all the above being taken as background. So, one must make a decision on how to approach this idea. If Jesus (pbh) is to be trusted as well as his closest companions, then it is they who we must turn to and not the doctrine makers of a half century and more after the events of his life and times. Or if we give those people honor we will take their words over the words of Jesus because he just was not as bright as the doctrine makers. That is a choice one has to make.
We won’t get much from his companions and their understandings of the events because there isn’t much of that meat to put on the table. Fortunately, there is some knowledge about his personal sayings found in the New Testament. Admittedly no scholar worth his weight would declare that everything supposedly stated by him as shown in the current New Testament is completely accurate but that is of no concern here.
What is missing in our quest concerning Jesus (pbh) but what is not missing in Islam are the many interpreted events of the Quran and hadiths offered by Muhammad’s (pbh) closest companions as they knew what he was generally talking about or they could ask for further clarification. They also had their reports taken down, repeated over the decades, written down in various and widely spaced lands and compared.
The limitation concerning the companions of Jesus (pbh) could mean big trouble for us if we are not well grounded in the various scriptures and sayings that came before Jesus (pbh). However, even then all is not lost because we read in the Quran about mankind’s common sense and that includes not only about dealing with just one scripture and its harmony from within but also about the vagaries of life – a kind of ‘how things work in the world’ type of mentality. Sometimes one has to be quick on one’s feet to spot the rotten apples in the barrel.
This ‘understanding’ has been presented before by many individuals with varying success. However, two reputed sayings of Jesus (pbh) need only be used just to keep things simple and in front of us.
First, let us get something out of the way. That is that Jesus (pbh) (for want of a better term) is a great soul, an honored soul, a highly prized soul that was created a long time ago. He didn’t get that way by being obnoxious, foolish or disobedient to his Creator Lord. In fact he is a Vicegerent of excellent magnitude and one who is right blessed. Of course his counterpart, the Antichrist, is a vicegerent also and will appear to do amazing things too but the difference between the two is like real gold and false gold. Both look like the ‘real McCoy’ but only one will pan out and be victorious.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching {about} doctrines {originating from} the commandments {desires} of men. Matt (15: 9)
In other words, the worship of him (Jesus) is directly connected to the false ideas and concepts in the form of practiced worship or beliefs by so-called ‘holy’ decree stemming from their false desires or wishes. How do we know this? A little bit of history and the ability to read the above English sentence from Matthew tells us what is going to happen. The word ‘doctrine’ is a type of formulated word expressing those put in charge of making the religious decrees. That would concern only the priest-class (the overseers) of the religion because it would be their duty to ‘enlighten’ the general public about these things. Are they not the ones who claim they have the training, the historical documents, and the very insight to ‘guide’ the flock?
Now let us see what the Quran says.
They take their priests and their religious leaders to be their lords besides Allah Q (9: 31).
This was explained by the Prophet (pbh) himself when queried about this verse. The answer is that by blindly obeying their religious teachers who manipulated the Divine Way as to its purity of truth they literally take these manipulators’ truth above what Allah has originally sent down. Hence, they have chosen to follow the ways of man and not the ways of God because they put their trust in them above HIM! And that trust goes to the higher power – the priest-class!
Another telling verse and there are quite a few found in the New Testament is the following:
And he said unto him, why do you call me good? There is none good but {the} One that is {called} God: but if you will {truly desire} to enter into life, keep the Commandments. Matt (19: 17)
The meaning here is also plain and clear. Jesus (pbh) is declaring to that individual that ‘You have heard of the wonders that I do and you are impressed by them such that you believe in me. However, you believe in me due to these works and think that I have accomplished great things. But I tell you that I can do nothing of and by myself for I have no power in and of myself but I am able to do these things only because my God Wills that they be done.”
A very interesting thing occurs in the next verse – number 18. The man asks Jesus (pbh) about the commandments to follow so that he can be saved. Jesus (pbh) tells him of these commandments but forgets to tell him the MOST IMPORTANT ONE as it is declared in all of the three Holy Scriptures – the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran. Did he forget? The answer is no but someone removed the obvious first Commandment by which all the others hang! It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.
Another help to figuring this out comes from the question posed by the man and the answer given by Jesus (pbh). Obviously this man does not come from a ‘people’ who believe or pretend to believe because he is unaware of the ‘vital’ commandments.
Some verses of the Quran and the New Testament to keep in mind:
Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned, that Allah may give them a taste of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from evil) Q (29: 41)
For there is no respect of persons with God Rom (2: 11)
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he reap. Gal (6: 7)
The Word changes not with Me and I do not the least injustice to My servants. Q (50: 29)
When it is said to them, “Come to what Allah has revealed to the Messenger.” They say, “Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.” What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance? Q (5: 104)
They will further say, “Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not (now) be among the Companions of the Blazing Fire!” Q (67: 10)
Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and strive therefore with all due striving and have Faith, they are the ones whose striving will be thanked (by Allah) Q (17: 19)