The most memorable part of the past week was our trip to the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. This is basically a large mosque, which also has a Muslim school in it, located in Manhattan.
The people there were amazingly hospitable—more hospitable than most churches would be to someone of another religion inquiring of their beliefs. The imam (the Islamic teacher and leader of the mosque) treated us with great care. He took almost 2 hours out of his busy schedule to explain to us the intricacies of Islam, doing it all with a piercing smile and a welcoming sense of humor.
Hearing Muslims speak about their beliefs always breaks my heart, but this imam was passionate enough that it was especially heart wrenching.
Toward the end of his talk, he began to talk about the differences between Islam and Christianity. He spoke of the cross and chuckled at the thought of the one and only God allowing His prophet to be killed. He explained that the Quran says that it was only the appearance of Jesus on the cross and that Judas, in payment for his treachery, was the one being killed in Jesus’ place.
You see, Islam is the anti-gospel.
Allah transcends us without condescending to us. He claims to be a god of both justice and love, but he does not give us a scapegoat for our sins. He is supposedly good and righteous, but he can create mercy as he created the earth, leaving sins unpaid for.
The imam laughed at the prospect of God allowing His prophet to be killed. What he does not understand is that this IS the very gospel. But not only that. It was not simply God’s prophet, but it was His Son. And further, it was not just His Son, it was God himself, condescending to us on earth and taking the judgment we—all miniature Judases living in our daily treachery and sin—rightly deserve (Romans 2:2).
It was not that God put the imperfect in place of the perfect, saving Him from death on the cross and giving the other justice. No, it was more upside down than that. God put the perfect in place of the imperfect, saving him from God’s wrath and crushing the Other beneath it (Isaiah 53:10).
Father, we rejoice in Your love of turning the wisdom of this world on its head: giving Christ our punishment, and us His righteousness.
Father, turn the imam’s laughter at the thought of the cross into tears of repentance and faith, understanding Your truth and love.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:18
