The Quest for the Lost Jesus

Muslims would say that they believe in Jesus, that they honour him as one of God’s prophets. Yet the problem is that many Muslims know almost nothing about the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth. The Qur’an contains little about him, indeed most of what is recorded are merely extended birth narratives. Whilst it is said that he taught great crowds, little information is given as to the content of that teaching. The Qur’an records no sermons, no parables, none of his gentle words to the poor and dispossessed, none of his cutting challenges to the religious establishment of his day; it is all missing from the Qur’an. Muslims have lost their Jesus.

So this web site is aimed at helping Muslims rediscover Jesus. For if they wish to claim that they honour him, then that needs to be demonstrated. Through exploring the gospels, the Old Testament, and drawing upon a wealth of the latest scholarship, come on a journey back to the first century, to begin discovering who exactly this Jesus of Nazareth was, what he said and taught, and who he thought he was.

Part 1	Asking Questions, Seeking Answers Why is it important as a Muslim to find out as much as possible about Jesus of Nazareth? And how does one go about this kind of historical research? What sort of things might one discover?

Part 2	The Mindset of the Messiah Both the Qur’an and the New Testament call Jesus “the Messiah” or “al-Masih”. But what does this term mean? What did Jesus understand himself to be doing when he called himself Messiah? This paper looks at the long history behind the idea, and how it ties into over one thousand years of God’s dealings with humankind.

Part 3	The Coming of the Kingdom For Muslims to be able to say they honour and respect Jesus, it is important they discover and get to grips with his teaching. The central aspect of his teaching was that concerning the "Kingdom of God." Jesus appeared as one who proclaimed the Kingdom and all else in his message and ministry derives its meaning from it. With the Kingdom, claimed Jesus, came the promise of forgiveness, of the breaking of the power of sin and evil and, ultimately, the promise and hope of eternal life. But how did Jesus claim the Kingdom would come, and how did one enter into it?

Download all three parts as one PDF file

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Going further and digging deeper ...

There are a wealth of text books looking at the topic of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps the world’s leading scholar in the field is the UK’s N T Wright, whose seminal works The New Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of God have changed the face of New Testament studies. They are essential reading for anybody who wants to investigate Jesus of Nazareth in his first century context, and what he really said, did and taught.

Wright has distilled much of his historical research into the much more accessible The Challenge of Jesus, which I can heartily recommend to anyone serious about finding out more about the real Jesus of Nazareh. You can order this (and his more scholarly works, for the really serious), by clicking on any of the logos or cover illustrations to the right.

Back to the sources

If one is going to research the real Jesus of Nazareth, then it is vital to read the primary sources that we have for his life and teaching, that is the New Testament, especially the gospel accounts. Many Muslims have never actually read the gospels, having been dissuaded from them by cheap polemics by certain minority fringes of the Muslim community. Thankfully the majority of Muslims are above this kind of intellectual laziness and, as the Qur’an instructs, respect the older scriptures. However, getting to grips with the gospels is essential if one wants to discover more about Jesus of Nazareth.

There are several good web sites that offer the New Testament free to read online. I can recommend:

The Biblical Studies Foundation NET Bible Translation

NIV Translation at Bible Gateway

Both links above will take you directly to the Gospel of Luke which is a good place to start for the beginner. Firstly, Luke’s language is slightly easier than some of the other gospel writers, and, secondly, he is writing specifically from a historian’s point of view, as he sets out in his introduction. But do explore the other gospels, and the rest of the New Testament.


UK readers	US readers)


The Challenge of Jesus (same book, but the UK and US editions have different covers for some reason best known to the publishers)

“The Quest for the Lost Jesus” is a regular series and the author will be aiming to produce new papers in the series from time to time. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please do feel free to email me at [email protected]. Although I am very busy and may not be able to reply immediately, I will always respond to any emails as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, and I pray that God may guide you as you seek to study and discover more of who Jesus really was.

� Andy Bannister, 2003

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