The Cross and Islam

Within the Muslim worldview, God is utterly transcendent and sovereign. In Islam there can be no incarnation (God becoming fully human in Christ) and no cross (Christ suffering and dying). Within the Muslm worldview the incarnation and the cross are impossible compromises of God's sovereignty and power, yet the incarnation and the cross are the soul of the gospel.

There is a fundamental divide between Islam and the gospel and the cross is at the center of it. Muslims believe Jesus is the miracle-working Messiah not the suffering Messiah. For Muslims, the crucifixion of Jesus is impossible and certainly not the power of God for all who believe (1 Corinthians 1:18). Muslims, like first century Jews and Greeks who found the cross to be foolishness and a stumbling block, believe that the cross is weakness, certainly not power.

Even though there are many hints within Islam that point to the gospel, the Muslim faith turns away from the cross. Muslims believe that the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament is an illusion; God rescued Jesus from the cross. Therefore Islam misses the reconciliation offered in the cross. Islam misses the redemption from sin and assurance of forgiveness of sins. Islam misses the triumph of Christ crucified and risen over all powers. Islam misses the love of God who enters our sinful world to suffer and lay down his life for his people. A Lebanese theologian comments that although Muslims love Jesus, the Jesus of Islamic devotion leans away from the cross, whereas the Jesus of the gospels leans forward to the cross, his life and mission are centered on the cross and resurrection.

- taken from "Teatime in Mogadishu"