Debunking the Arguments to Debunk Any Missionary - Argument 3 of 5

Dear Ijaz and Beloved reader:

 

I would like to respond to the third argument from your article 5 Arguments to Debunk Any Missionary. I hope you read my response with a critical and open spirit. I don’t intend to offend anyone with my comments. Rather, shed a different perspective to clarify the apparent issues presented in your article.

 "Argument #3:

According to Matthew 27:46, the Bible says:
“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my

God, why have you forsaken me?”).” – Matthew 27:46.
Show the Christian this verse and ask if it says that Jesus was forsaken by God. When they say yes, turn to the following

verse:
“For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring

of the wicked will perish.” – Psalm 37:28.

According to this passage, if Christ was faithful, loved by God and Just,then God would not have forsaken him. However as the Christian just admitted, Christ was indeed forsaken. According to the passage in Psalms, the ‘wrongdoers’ would be destroyed and the ‘wicked’ perish. If Jesus did die and since he was forsaken, according to the Christian belief it must be then, that Christ was wicked and a wrongdoer. Let the Christian know that as a Muslim, you cannot believe this about Jesus the Messiah, a prophet of Allaah. "

The first counter argument is based on the context of Psalm 37. Psalm 37 is a promise from God to all humanity. God promises that evil doers will not succeed in the long term, while those who seek for God will be sustained in the long run. Among those promises we find that one in Verse 28, God does not forsake his faithful ones. God will not forsake those human beings who are faithful to Him. How about then Jesus? Islam only recognizes Jesus merely as a man. However the Gospels and New Testament present Jesus also as God incarnated. Therefore Jesus may not be considered recipient of the promises in Psalm 37. The promises are for humanity, for His creation, and Jesus is not created according to the Gospels. I reserve the right of referring to the Gospels, since our Muslim friend here uses the gospel as well to create an argument.

Second, in Matthew 27:46 Jesus was quoting on the cross what's mentioned in Psalms 22:1

(WLC) 1 לַ֭מְנַצֵּחַ עַל־אַיֶּ֥לֶת הַשַּׁ֗חַר מִזְמֹ֥ור לְדָוִֽד׃ אֵלִ֣י אֵ֭לִי לָמָ֣ה עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי רָחֹ֥וק מִֽ֝ישׁוּעָתִ֗י דִּבְרֵ֥י שַׁאֲגָתִֽי׃

Psalms 22:1 (NET) 1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.

Therefore, what Jesus was simply doing was a declaration that He was fulfilling the prophecy. You may ask, what prophecy? In Psalm 22 David prophesied several happenings of the messiah's sufferings:

- v 7, people mocked Him.

- v 8, people asked Him to ask God to save Him

- v 15, described how in the crufixion His hands and feet were pierced

- v 18, described how the soldiers cast lots on The Messiah's garments

The gospels claimed and described how these prophecies were fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ. One very interesting prophecy is presented in verse 6:

Psalms 22:6 (NET) 6 But I am a worm, not a man; people insult me and despise me.

Psalms 22:6 (WLC) 6 וְאָנֹכִ֣י תֹולַ֣עַת וְלֹא־אִ֑ישׁ חֶרְפַּ֥ת אָ֝דָ֗ם וּבְז֥וּי עָֽם׃

The word tola'at translated worm, is actually referred to a crinsom worm. The interesting fact is that a crinsom worm sticks to wood branches and dies to protect the eggs until the children of the crinsom worm are born. In this process a very red liquid is released. This liquid was used to create the scarlet dye used in antiquity. Literally, the crinsom worm dies stuck to a wood to allow His children come to life. This is shockingly similar to what christology claims: Jesus died for the sins of the children of God, so that whomever believes in Him may live.