Here we are again at Christmas – the prettiest season of the year! This is the season when the weather gets colder, yet our hearts get warmer and warmer with the sweetness of the memory of Christ’s advent. It is also the season when we spend a lot of time with family and friends – talking, laughing, eating, playing, and hopefully exchanging presents! Although all these things are blessed gifts from the Lord, they should not blur the most essential point of this whole season, which is to celebrate God’s covenantal love towards his people, which led him to take on flesh and appear in Bethlehem as a child in the world’s most astonishing search and rescue mission.
Everything about the nativity story is wondrous and astounding, yet one element really stood out to me this year. I was struck by the manifestation of God’s love toward the farthest and most irrelevant people in the world, the Gentile magi, who came from the East to Jerusalem to meet the newborn king of Israel. We don’t know much about those people; the word used refers to priests and experts in mysteries in Persia and Babylon (cf. Septuagint of Dan. 1:20; 2:2, 10, 27; etc.), but by this time it was applied to a wide range of people whose practices included astrology, dream interpretation, the study of sacred writings, the pursuit of wisdom, and magic.[1] What we know for sure is that they were the most unexpected people to be invited to the first Christmas celebration (Matt. 2:1-2). Interestingly, the Scripture indicates, “they fell to the ground and worshiped him” (Matt. 2:11), in a probable stress on their acknowledgment of his deity.
The Farthest Invitation to This Christmas
As I am thinking about this remarkable part of the story, I felt that God’s Word is challenging me to think about how the Holy Spirit could change the hearts of the farthest and most Gospel-rejecting people groups, including Muslims. Most of my Gospel encounters with Muslims have been met with rejection and, sometimes, antagonization. Very few of them were at all encouraging.
Yet, when sharing the Gospel with our Muslim neighbors and co-workers, we should learn to find joy just in the fact that we were able to proclaim the Gospel to them, regardless of the immediate outcome. A few months ago, I had the pleasure to meet a faithful brother who spent 12 years of his life and resources sharing the Gospel with Muslim students, and when I asked him about conversions, he said that he hasn’t had one yet. However, he was so grateful to have been given the chance to share the Gospel with hundreds of them, entrusting God with the outcome.
Many Christians in the West don’t know much about Islam. Furthermore, the Arabic element involved in Gospel ministry to Muslims adds to their difficulty becoming acquainted with it. They try to show Christian kindness and hospitality to the Muslims in their communities, hoping that this will help them consider hearing the Gospel and believing it. Although this is a wonderful thing to do, there is a little-known dynamic at play that we would be wise to consider. Similar to Christians’ conviction that the Bible is inspired by God, Muslims believe that the Qur’an is Allah’s inerrant and revealed word. The Sunni Muslims add Muhammad’s validated sayings to it as a secondary source of religious authority. Several Qur’anic verses and Muhammad’s validated sayings teach Muslims not to fall for Christian kindness because it’s in fact motivated by their fear of the Islamic supremacy decreed by Allah since Allah had predestined Muhammad and his followers to power and supremacy, and those who disobey him to humiliation and inferiority.[2] Counterintuitive as it may seem, it’s actually helpful to introduce an element of doctrinal challenge into our Gospel presentation. Growing up in a Muslim country, I saw these ideas in action. My Muslim friends were taken by my humble boldness rather than niceness. I frequently heard them saying that I was a challenge to the stereotype of Christians they knew.
Christ, Not His Last Name!
One example of a challenge to Muslims is the Messianic identity of Christ. The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word Χριστός "Christos", which means the anointed one, the Messiah. Most Christians know that this is not Jesus’ last name, but rather his identity as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, and his trifold office as THE ANOINTED king, priest, and prophet who will bring about God’s redemptive plan. The Bible’s claim about Jesus is that he is the long-awaited Son of God whom every nation shall worship (Dan 7:13-14), the Son of God who became the Son of man, the Chief Messiah (Dan 9:25), God’s anointed one, to whom every person should submit (Ps 2:1, 7, 12).
Interestingly enough, the Islamic tradition calls Jesus by the same name, the Messiah. [3] The Arabic word “المسيح “literally means “the anointed one”. When you consult the Islamic tradition to find an explanation as to why he was called the Messiah, you find nothing clear. Islamic authoritative texts do not provide us with an explanation of Jesus’ designation as The Christ.
So, this Christmas season, think about inviting your Muslim neighbor or co-worker to a Christmas celebration at your church or home and challenge them not only with your kindness but your humble boldness and confidence in the Gospel you believe. Challenge them to give an answer to why Jesus was called the anointed one, and then provide them with the answer God has given to us in his Word.
Remember that we are commanded to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:15).
Merry Christmas.
1 Wayne Grudem, ed., The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), v. Matt 2:1.
2 Sahih Bukhari, Book 56, Chapter 88.
3 Quran, Surah 3, V. 45
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