# Does Jesus Do What Only God Does? > The Qur'an says God gives life to the dead, is the First and the Last, and comes with the angels. The Gospel says Jesus does those things. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/islam/does-jesus-do-what-only-god-does - Religions: Islam - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: islam, jesus, quran - Updated: 2026-10-07 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) > The Qur’an does not call Jesus God. The Gospel says the Son raises the dead, comes with the angels, and is the First and the Last. Those are acts and titles the Qur’an gives to God. ## The question Muslims and Christians can agree on a long list of honors for Jesus: messiah, prophet, born of Mary, a word from God. The argument starts where the lists stop. Christians say Jesus is God. Muslims say that confession offends God’s uniqueness. A useful way into the argument is not a slogan. It is a comparison of acts. What does the Qur’an reserve to God, and what does the Gospel say Jesus does? This page does not claim that the Qur’an teaches the deity of Christ. It does not. The claim is narrower. If the Gospel’s report of Jesus is true, then by the Qur’an’s own lines about God, Jesus does what those lines give to God alone. The wider confession is in [The deity of Christ](/article/deity-of-christ). The Qur’an’s portrait of Jesus is in [Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels](/islam/jesus-in-the-quran-and-the-gospels). ## What Muslims say The strongest Muslim answer is already in the Qur’an, and it should be quoted rather than softened. Jesus works wonders, and the text says he does them by God’s permission. He is a messenger. He tells people to worship God, his Lord and theirs. Giving life and causing death belong to God. A prophet can announce himself as God’s messenger without becoming the one who gives life. That reading takes the “by permission” lines seriously. It refuses the move that treats every miracle as a claim to deity. Moses parts the sea by God’s act, and Moses is not God. On this account, Jesus raising the dead is the same kind of sign. [Qur’an 4:171](https://quran.com/an-nisa/171) then closes the door: the Messiah is a messenger and a word from God, and God is exalted above having a son. ## What the Qur’an says God does The translation is Saheeh International. Square brackets are the translators’ explanations. [Qur’an 22:6](https://quran.com/al-hajj/6) [(1)](#ref-1) names God as the one who gives life to the dead. [Qur’an 22:7](https://quran.com/al-hajj/7) says God will resurrect those in the graves. > That is because Allāh is the True Reality and because He gives life to the dead and because He is over all things competent > And [that they may know] that the Hour is coming - no doubt about it - and that Allāh will resurrect those in the graves. [Qur’an 57:3](https://quran.com/al-hadid/3) gives God titles of the beginning and the end, and of nearness, and of knowledge over all things. > He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing. [Qur’an 89:22](https://quran.com/al-fajr/21), in the day of judgment, says the Lord comes, and the angels with him. [Qur’an 2:210](https://quran.com/al-baqarah/210) asks whether people are waiting for God to come to them in clouds, and the angels as well. > No! When the earth has been leveled - pounded and crushed [22] And your Lord has come and the angels, rank upon rank, [23] And brought [within view], that Day, is Hell - that Day, man will remember, but how [i.e., what good] to him will be the remembrance? > Do they await but that Allāh should come to them in covers of clouds and the angels [as well] and the matter is [then] decided? And to Allāh [all] matters are returned. [Qur’an 7:158](https://quran.com/al-araf/158) has Muhammad say that he is God’s messenger to all people, and in the same verse it says of God that there is no deity except him and that he gives life and causes death. The messenger announces himself. Giving life and death stays with God. > Say, [O Muḥammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allāh to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allāh and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believes in Allāh and His words, and follow him that you may be guided. That sentence matters for a bad argument that should not be used. The verse does contain “I am the Messenger of Allāh.” Muhammad is told to say it. The contrast with Jesus is not that a prophet never says he is sent. The contrast is what else is said, and who gives life. ## What the Gospel says Jesus does [John 5:21](/bible/john/5/21) [(2)](#ref-2) says the Son gives life as the Father does, and that he gives it to whom he will. [John 5:25](/bible/john/5/25) says the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. [John 5:28–29](/bible/john/5) says all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. > For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. > Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. > Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, > And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Qur’an 22:6](https://quran.com/al-hajj/6) says God gives life to the dead. [Qur’an 22:7](https://quran.com/al-hajj/7) says God will resurrect those in the graves. John says the Son quickens whom he will, and that those in the graves hear his voice. That is the same work, placed on the Son. The same chapter says the Father has committed all judgment to the Son, and that people are to honor the Son as they honor the Father. > For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: > That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. [Matthew 16:27](/bible/matthew/16/27) [(4)](#ref-4) says the Son of man will come in his Father’s glory with the angels, and will repay each person. [Matthew 25:31](/bible/matthew/25/31) says he comes in glory, and all the holy angels with him, and sits on the throne of his glory. > For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. > When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: Set that beside [Qur’an 89:22](https://quran.com/al-fajr/21), “your Lord has come and the angels, rank upon rank,” and beside [Qur’an 2:210](https://quran.com/al-baqarah/210), God coming with the angels. The Gospel’s coming one, with the angels, in glory, to judge, is the Son of man. [Revelation 1:17–18](/bible/revelation/1) [(3)](#ref-3) puts “the first and the last” on the one who was dead and is alive. [Revelation 22:13](/bible/revelation/22/13) repeats the title. > And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: > I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. > I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. [Qur’an 57:3](https://quran.com/al-hadid/3) says God is the First and the Last. Revelation says the one who died and lives is the first and the last. The speaker is not a second competitor next to God. The book’s own scene is the risen Jesus. Christians read one God, not two holders of the title. How that confession avoids a second god is the work of [The Trinity](/article/the-trinity) and [The deity of Christ](/article/deity-of-christ). ## By permission of God The Qur’an does not leave Jesus’ signs unexplained. [Qur’an 3:49](https://quran.com/ali-imran/49) has him give life to the dead “by permission of Allāh.” [Qur’an 5:110](https://quran.com/al-maidah/110) repeats the permission, including bringing forth the dead. > Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind [from birth] and the leper, and I give life to the dead - by permission of Allāh. > and when you designed from clay [what was] like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission; and you healed the blind [from birth] and the leper with My permission; and when you brought forth the dead with My permission [Qur’an 4:171](https://quran.com/an-nisa/171) states the identity Muslims are protecting. > The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allāh and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. > Indeed, Allāh is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. A Christian should grant what those lines say. They call Jesus a messenger. They attach his signs to God’s permission. They deny that God has a son. They are not a hidden Christian creed. The question this page is asking is what to do with John if John is reporting the same Jesus. John’s account of the permission is not “a prophet was allowed a sign.” [John 5:26](/bible/john/5/26) says that as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son to have life in himself. [John 5:21](/bible/john/5/21) says the Son quickens whom he will, as the Father raises the dead. The giving is real. The result is that the Son has life in himself and gives life by his own will. That is a different sentence from “he did it by permission, as a servant does a task.” > For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; Hearers in the Gospel treat the claim as more than a miracle story. [John 10:33](/bible/john/10/33) records the charge that he, being a man, made himself God. [John 10:30](/bible/john/10/30) is the line in front of that charge: “I and my Father are one.” The Gospel does not pause to correct them into “he only meant a borrowed miracle.” ## Follow-up objections **“Every prophet’s miracle is by God’s permission. This proves too much.”** It would, if the only evidence were a healing. The comparison here is specific. The Qur’an names giving life to the dead, resurrecting those in the graves, coming with the angels, and being the First and the Last as God’s own reality. The Gospel places those on Jesus, and adds that he is to be honored as the Father is honored. A borrowed sign does not need that language. [John 5:23](/bible/john/5/23) requires the honor. **“The Gospels were changed.”** Then the argument has moved. The texts compared on this page are the Gospel Christians have and the Qur’an Muslims have. Whether that Gospel is the book the Qur’an tells people to judge by is [Does the Qur’an confirm the Bible Christians read today?](/islam/does-the-quran-confirm-the-bible) and [Was the Bible corrupted?](/islam/was-the-bible-corrupted). **“‘First and Last’ can be an honorific.”** In [Qur’an 57:3](https://quran.com/al-hadid/3) it stands with “of all things, Knowing,” as a description of God, not as a courtesy title passed to a messenger. [Qur’an 7:158](https://quran.com/al-araf/158) shows how a messenger speaks: “I am the Messenger of Allāh,” and giving life and death remains God’s. Revelation puts “the first and the last” on the one who was dead and lives, and who holds the keys of death. **“John 8:58 is a different argument.”** [John 8:58](/bible/john/8/58), “Before Abraham was, I am,” is about identity across time, not about the three acts above. It belongs with [The deity of Christ](/article/deity-of-christ). It is not required for the comparison of raising the dead, coming with the angels, and the title First and Last. ## Keep reading - [The deity of Christ](/article/deity-of-christ) - [If Jesus is God, why did he pray?](/islam/if-jesus-is-god-why-did-he-pray) - [Can God have a Son?](/islam/can-god-have-a-son) - [Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels](/islam/jesus-in-the-quran-and-the-gospels) - [Did Jesus die on the cross?](/islam/did-jesus-die-on-the-cross) ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Qur'an, 22:6–7; 57:3; 89:21–23; 2:210; 3:49; 5:110; 7:158; 4:171](https://quran.com/al-hajj/6) (Saheeh International, as published on Quran.com. Words in square brackets are part of that translation.) 2. [Gospel of John, 5:21–29; 8:58; 10:30; 10:33](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/5). King James Version 3. [Revelation, 1:17–18; 22:13](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/1). King James Version 4. [Gospel of Matthew, 16:27; 25:31](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/16/27). King James Version ## See also - [Did Jesus Die on the Cross?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/did-jesus-die-on-the-cross) — The Qur'an is widely read as saying Jesus was not crucified. The Gospels, Paul, and two Roman-era historians say he was. - [Jesus in the Qur'an and the Gospels](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/jesus-in-the-quran-and-the-gospels) — What the Qur’an honors in Jesus, and where the Gospels tell a different story about the cross and his identity. - [Can God Have a Son?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/can-god-have-a-son) — The Qur'an condemns the claim that God has taken a son, especially a son by a consort. Christians deny that picture and still confess the eternal Son. - [Does the Qur'an Confirm the Bible Christians Read Today?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/does-the-quran-confirm-the-bible) — The Qur'an speaks of the Torah and the Gospel as books already in people's hands. This page asks whether that is the Bible Christians still read. - [How Was the Qur'an Compiled and Preserved?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/how-was-the-quran-compiled) — Muslims confess that God guards the Qur'an. The hadith also describe a collection after Muhammad's death, a standard copy under Uthman, and seven ways of reciting. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/does-jesus-do-what-only-god-does.md)