ArabicعيسىʿĪsātitle al-Masīḥ, “the Messiah”; Arab Christians say يسوع Yasūʿ
One-minute snapshot
In a minute
c. 4 BCE – c. 30 CERead time 1 min GospelQur'an
Jesus (peace be upon him) was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in the 1st century. Christians believe he is the Son of God and Saviour, who died on the cross and rose again. Muslims believe he is the Messiah, born of the virgin Mary (peace be upon her), a great prophet and miracle-worker given the Gospel (Injil), and not crucified but raised to God. Jews regard him as a Jewish teacher of his time, not the Messiah. All three can agree he taught love of God and neighbour.
Each column gives that faith's own belief, in its own words. This page shows no people.
Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee. American Colony (Jerusalem) Photo Dept. / Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress (public domain)
Watch
Films from each tradition
Each told by its own community, in its own words, side by side. More on F-ILM.
A Christian telling
Gospel of Luke Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1)BibleProject · 8 min Shows prophets (a film-maker's portrayal)BibleProject Luke part 1: Jesus' life as one Gospel tells it; 8 minutes.
A Muslim telling
Gems from the Miracles and Manners of Jesus (as) | Khutbah by Dr. Omar SuleimanYaqeen Institute · 22 minOmar Suleiman: the miracles and manners of 'Isa in the Qur'an.
For everyone
Jesus, What Do We Really Know About Him?History Hit · 23 minHistory Hit: what historians know about Jesus; neutral context.
Side by side
Three tellings
Quotations: Torah and Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917 · New Testament, World English Bible (British Edition) · Qur'an, Pickthall (1930). Translations and sources
THebrew Bible · Jewish view
In Jewish tradition's own words.
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, early 20th century. American Colony (Jerusalem) Photo Dept. / Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress (public domain)
He lived after the Hebrew Bible was completed.
Jewish tradition does not regard him as the Messiah or as divine: the hopes of an age of peace, the ingathering of exiles and the rebuilt Temple are understood as not yet fulfilled (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 11–12).
Many modern Jewish scholars study him as a Jew of his time.
“HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.”Deuteronomy 6:4 · JPS 1917 · the Shema, which Jesus called the first commandment (Mark 12:29)
Amy-Jill Levine, The Misunderstood Jew (2006), is one modern Jewish reading.
The River Jordan at the ford. American Colony (Jerusalem) Photo Dept. / Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress (public domain)
Christians believe he is the Word made flesh, the Son of God.
He taught, healed and gathered disciples in Galilee.
He was crucified under Pontius Pilate and, Christians believe, rose on the third day.
Christians confess this in the Nicene Creed (325/381).
“The Word became flesh and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”John 1:14 · WEB (British Edition)
The Trinity, the Incarnation, the cross and resurrection (Easter), Christmas and the sacraments are shared across the churches, which differ on many other points.
(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).
She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
And will make him a messenger unto the Children of Israel, (saying): Lo! I come unto you with a sign from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah's leave. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah's leave. And I announce unto you what ye eat and what ye store up in your houses. Lo! herein verily is a portent for you, if ye are to be believers.
And (I come) confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful some of that which was forbidden unto you. I come unto you with a sign from your Lord, so keep your duty to Allah and obey me.
But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah? The disciples said: We will be Allah's helpers. We believe in Allah, and bear thou witness that we have surrendered (unto Him).
And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.
There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them -
O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three" - Cease! (it is) better for you! - Allah is only One God. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.
And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the Torah - a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil).
When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic;
And when I inspired the disciples, (saying): Believe in Me and in My messenger, they said: We believe. Bear witness that we have surrendered (unto Thee) "we are muslims".
When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is thy Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? He said: Observe your duty to Allah, if ye are true believers.
Jesus, son of Mary, said: O Allah, Lord of us! Send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from Thee. Give us sustenance, for Thou art the Best of Sustainers.
Allah said: Lo! I send it down for you. And whoso disbelieveth of you afterward, him surely will I punish with a punishment wherewith I have not punished any of (My) creatures.
And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?
I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.
He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained.
And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten!
When Jesus came with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), he said: I have come unto you with wisdom, and to make plain some of that concerning which ye differ. So keep your duty to Allah, and obey me.
And when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is the Praised One. Yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say: This is mere magic.
Common ground
Where they agree
Christians and Muslims: his virgin birth, that he is the Messiah, his miracles, and his return at the end of time.
All three: a Jew of Galilee who taught love of God and neighbour, and who quoted the Shema (Mark 12:29).
Said plainly, ranked never
Where they differ
Who he is: the divine Son in Christianity; a prophet and servant of God in Islam; not the Messiah in Judaism.
The crucifixion and resurrection: central in Christianity; the Qur'an says it only appeared so (4:157); in Jewish tradition, a historical event without religious meaning.
The Trinity is Christian teaching; Islam (4:171) and Judaism do not accept it.
The reading of the Hebrew prophecies, such as Isaiah 7:14, where JPS 1917 has “the young woman”.
Era and place
The world of Jesus
Where
Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem.
When
About 4 BCE to about 30 CE.
What archaeology can and cannot say
The Pilate Stone (Caesarea, found 1961), the Caiaphas ossuary (1990), the Sea of Galilee boat (found 1986), and the synagogues of Capernaum and Magdala. The Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44) and Josephus mention Jesus; most historians accept that he lived and was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
The Jordan valley from the air, looking north. American Colony (Jerusalem) Photo Dept. / Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress (public domain)
Gallery
The world of Jesus
Like everything on this page, they show places, plants and objects, never people.
Maimonides set out the Jewish messianic hope in the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Kings 11–12). Geza Vermes, Jesus (peace be upon him) the Jew (1973), and Amy-Jill Levine are among scholars who read Jesus within the Judaism of his day.
Christian tradition
The creeds of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) state the shared Christian faith in Christ as true God and true man. Christmas and Easter are the great feasts of his birth and resurrection.
Tafsir and hadith
Ibn Kathir, on 19:16 and 4:157, explains the Qur'an's account of his birth and its denial of the crucifixion. Tarif Khalidi's The Muslim Jesus (peace be upon him) (2001) gathers the sayings of Jesus preserved in Islamic literature.
And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.
Geza Vermes, Jesus (peace be upon him) the Jew (1973)
Tarif Khalidi, The Muslim Jesus (peace be upon him) (Harvard, 2001)
Reference works: Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.); The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church; Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.); Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya.