Deliverance from the Cross — Page 17
messenger of God was defined even before his birth by divine direction as set out both in the Gospel and in the Quran. The angel that appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear a son whom she should name Jesus also informed her that God would give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob (Luke 1:32-33). The Quran affirms that Mary was told that God would teach Jesus the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel and would make him a messenger to the children of Israel (al-e-'Imran, 3:49-50). It is true that in Luke 1:32, he is called the son of the Highest and in 1:35, the son of God; but these expressions in Biblical idiom do not at all connote Divinity or partnership in Divinity. In Psalms, 82:6 we read: 'I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are the children of the most High. ' In numerous instances the expression son of God is applied to prophets, to the righteous and to believers. The following are only some examples out of many: 'Israel is My son, even My first-born. ' (Exodus 4:22) 'Also I will make him [David] My first born, higher than the kings of the earth. ' (Psalms 89:27) 'He [Solomon] shall be My son, and I will be his father. ' (1 Chron. 22:10) 17