Whom Was Jesus Christ Sent to Address? What Was His Mission? Did He Come with a New Law as Christians Claim?
Now that you have a basic understanding of Jesus Christ’s identity, it is time to dig deeper to understand whom God, the Almighty, sent Jesus Christ to address and for what purpose. I have spoken about this already, but it is imperative to cite evidence taken straight from the Bible that Christians follow. God has sent thousands of Prophets to humanity. They all preached the same general message: there stands only One Deity worthy of worship. He is the One and Only God, without a partner, son, daughter, or equal. All other gods are false and only creations of God — not the actual Creator Himself. These Prophets and Messengers came to lead humanity to God with the same purpose.
God communicates His Guidance through human Prophets. Every time human hands altered the Revelation of God, He, out of the His Infinite Mercy and Love, continued to send other Prophets and Books to guide humanity back to Him. More than one hundred thousand Prophets and Messengers were sent to all humanity, nations, and races in all corners of the world. Each Prophet and Book was sent to different nations and people. Some Prophets were superior to others; the best among them were Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the Prophet Muhammad PBUT. However, when these Prophets or Messengers would pass, their message would slowly be altered, distorted, and changed by their people. The Revelations sent soon were modified by human hands to contain the words of men and not the Divine Being. God, the Almighty, warns those who changed His Scripture in his final Book, the Holy Quran:
“So woe to those who write the ‘scripture’ with their own hands, then say, ‘this is from Allah,’ to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn” (Quran 2:79)
The Prophet Jesus PBUH was one of God’s mightiest messengers, sent down with the same general Message of all previous Prophets but only to address the Children of Israel — those we know as Jews — since they descended from their forefather, Judah.
God, the Almighty, chose these Jews, the Children of Israel, from all of humanity for a particular purpose. God chose them not because of their race, color, or status in this world; instead, He chose the Children of Israel for a particular purpose, as stated in the Old Testament and the Holy Quran. The favor was a covenant between the Children of Israel and God that the Children of Israel was to be a Kingdom of Priests, guiding others to discover the knowledge of God. The favor to the Israelites came with the condition that they keep their side of the covenant. To do this, they were required to follow the commandments of God and preach them to others. God blessed the Jews with blessed land and an abundance of goodness.
“O children of Israel, Remember My favors upon you. Fulfil your covenant and I will fulfill Mine, and stand in awe of Me alone” (Quran 2:40)
The Prophet Moses PBUH is told to say, Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession out of all nations. Although the whole Earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. (Exodus 19:5–6). God is speaking through Prophet Moses PBUH, stating to the Children of Israel if they follow the commandants of God and keep their covenant and not break it, then “…you will be my treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5–6). God also states in the Book of the Old Testament that if the Children of Israel did not keep their covenant and carry out their duties and responsibilities, God would punish them seven times more than the rest of humanity. If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. (Leviticus 26:18)
The Children of Israel broke their covenant with God to guide people to Him. They turned their religion into a racial faith, thinking God chose them because of their status as His beloved people and a superior race and above all others, without any evidence to back up this claim.
You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you. (Deuteronomy 9:24)
You are a stiff-necked people. (Exodus 33)
At the time, Herod was the King of the Jews, appointed by the Romans, and he had to answer to their higher authority. The Children of Israel did not like being ruled by an outside power, nor did they like having an unjust King or having their Temple destroyed. The Children of Israel awaited a Messiah to liberate them from this rule. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, did come to the Children of Israel as their final Prophet. Yet he came because they were veering away from the laws and disobeying the commandments of God. The Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Holy Quran agree that the Children of Israel were violating instead of fulfilling God’s law of commandments.
However, since the Children of Israel were so detached from God’s Message, their spirituality was lacking; hence they lost their connection with their Creator. They assumed the Messiah would not necessarily be a man of God and instead be a powerful king. This authoritative figure would bring political rule back to the Children of Israel, establishing the Kingdom of God in this world — particularly restoring the Temple of Solomon and the status of the Israelites, which strips away the religious implications of the Messiah. Jesus Christ came down for a much more significant reason, one the Children of Israel were not expecting. They did not wish to accept this due to their poor spirituality and lack of connection to God. They did not want or expect their Messiah to come down as the religious reformer that he was.
They had been so disconnected from the way of life and religion that God had prescribed through many Messengers and Prophets that they needed a serious wake-up call, another reminder, and another warning. They had turned their lives into empty rituals with no thoughts or meaning behind them while living materialistic lives of empty luxury.
God sent them their final Prophet, Jesus PBUH, to remind them of their final chance to fulfill God’s commandments. The Prophet Jesus PBUH was the latest in a long line of Messengers sent to the Jewish people, the Children of Israel, the nation that lived before us. Before God sent Prophet Jesus PBUH to the Children of Israel, he had sent the Prophets Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elijah, Zachariah, John the Baptist, and more, peace be upon them all. They were all Muslims of Jewish descent. By definition, a Muslim is someone who submits to God.
The Prophet Jesus PBUH was sent after Prophet Moses to reform Judaism, reinstate the rule of the Divine, and strip away all the innovations introduced after the passing of Prophet Moses PBUH. He did not come to destroy the law of Moses that came before him; he came to fulfill the law and perfect it. By God’s permission, the Prophet Jesus PBUH abrogated some laws, making certain things lawful that were previously unlawful to ease the lives of the Children of Israel and proclaim and reaffirm the belief in One God.
Many Christians mistakenly believe that Jesus PBUH came and brought a different Message and law than the previous Messenger had taught, which is incorrect and goes against what the Bible clearly states. In Matthew 5: 17–20, Jesus Christ explicitly states: Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Prophet Jesus PBUH and the Revelation he came down with, the Injeel (Gospel), was not meant for the non-Israelites. The Bible clearly states that Jesus Christ was sent only to the Children of Israel and not for the Gentiles, who were the non-Jews. According to the Bible, Jesus states: I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of Israelites. (Matthew: 15–24). In Mathew 10:5–6, it states: These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Christians are spreading the word of the Bible to those for whom it was never meant to, even though the Prophet Jesus PBUH explicitly stated that his message was confined and sent to the Children of Israel only. Prophet Jesus PBUH never came with a universal mission meant for all of humanity until the last day.
In God’s final Revelation, the Holy Quran, God states that He would teach His Prophet, Jesus PBUH, the Torah that was sent to Prophet Moses PBUH, and teach him the Injil in which Prophet Jesus PBUH came down with, and the Wisdom so that he could spread the message to the Israelites.
“He shall teach him the Book and the Wisdom, and the Torah and the Injīl” (Quran 3:48)
Jesus Christ, like Prophet Moses PBUH and like Muslims now, fell and prayed in prostration, fasted, never drank nor ate pork, and was circumcised. Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, and Prophet Muhammad PBUT, all taught and spread the same message and the same religion. They all followed similar laws, but these laws were a bit different in their time and place. Laws from hundreds or thousands of years ago cannot be the same as today, as the world and society have changed.
