It is a common declaration of Muslims to say that they love and honor Jesus more than Christians. But it is a very problematic declaration on so many levels.
If you ask a Muslim in what way is this true, they will often respond that they don’t eat pork, they grow a beard, and the main being that they prostrate when they pray.
1) Pork eating
As for the pork, of course he didn’t eat pork, he was a Jew. It’s good to know that Muslims love/honor a Jewish man so well. And that Muslims want to align themselves with the Jewish practice of not eating pork.
Setting that aside, we see that after the death of Jesus, he fulfilled the Law. With that, the followers of Jesus were given liberties to eat more broadly. Peter himself had a supernatural experience along these lines in Acts 10:9-16:
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
Since Jesus fulfilled the Law, now there was freedom for his followers to eat bacon if they so chose.
2) Beards
Muslims say they are more like Jesus because they grow a beard. Christians grow beards as well. And some Muslims shave.
3) Jesus prostrated.
This is perhaps one of the bigger ones. Jesus prostrated when he prayed, and Muslims prostrate when they pray. Therefore they claim they honor Jesus more.
This is problematic at multiple levels.
First, how do Muslims know that Jesus prostrated when he prayed? Because it’s not in the Quran.
The reason they can know is that the Bible says he prostrated when he prayed. But that is not the only way he prayed. He prayed standing, kneeling, looking to heave, hands lifted, and he even prayed all night long. Do Muslims pray this way? If not, then based on their own terms, they are not praying to Jesus.
| Position | Reference |
|---|---|
| Standing | Mark 11:25 |
| Kneeling | Luke 22:41 |
| Falling on His face (prostrate) | Matthew 26:39 |
| Looking up to heaven | John 11:41, John 17:1 |
| Hands lifted (blessing) | Luke 24:50 |
People who make this claim can’t pick and choose. If they say they honor Jesus, why do they not also pray in these other ways? And pray all night long the way Jesus did?
Secondly, it matters who he prayed to. Let’s look at the verse they use about Jesus’ prostration in Mt 26:39:
“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”
Who did Jesus pray to? The Father. Do Muslims pray to “the Father”? Absolutely not.
Who a person prays to matters. If a person prostrates to a stone god of Baal, does that make them Muslim? Absolutely not.
Muslims will say only prostration to Allah matters, but here Jesus prayed to the Father.
They say, then, that this part of the verse is a corruption. The first couple of words are genuine, and the words, “my Father” must therefore be corrupt. But on what basis? You can’t pick and choose parts to make it conform. There is no textual variant that would support this. Additionally he prayed in other ways as well.
Bottom line is that if Muslims are going to use the Bible to say that they love and honor Jesus more than Christians, then they need to use the rest of what Jesus taught. What other things did he teach?
- Jesus said he would be crucified (Mt 16:21; 20:18–19; Mark 10:33–34; Luke 18:31–33; John 12:32–33)
- Jesus said he was the only way to God (John 14:6)
- Jesus received worship and claimed to be God (John 8:58; John 10:30; Luke 24:52)
Muslims will reject these claims of Jesus. But one can’t pick and choose which things they like that they said and did, and which ones they didn’t.
If a Muslim wants to say he loves and honors Jesus, then the best thing a Muslim can do is repent of his sins, put his/her faith in Jesus, and worship Jesus. For as Jesus himself says,
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).