For two weeks we talked about the divinity of Jesus, which is a huge stumbling block for Muslims. So it was pretty amazing to go through different passages of the Bible with him looking at how through His words and actions Jesus showed himself to be God. At one point Papa B said, ‘when you say these things, you dishonour God and you dishonour Jesus. Jesus was a great prophet, He healed people, He raised people from the dead – from the dead! And He suffered, He really suffered! How can you say God suffered, that God was defeated, how can you say God died? You dishonour God with these words.’ It’s not often that I get to talk to people who have really understood what we believe and are grappling with the ramifications, but each time I do I marvel at how amazing it will be for them when God reveals that yes He did suffer, yes He did die and He did it for them. Like most here the fact of the incarnation is incomprehensible to Papa B; that God would come down to live in an unclean human body, that He would go through the physical indiginity of being born, and then to go on to die a shameful and painful death. And yet because of this how much more glorious will it be when God opens his eyes? How could it do anything other than draw out the most extravagant devotion and worship?
