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This Muslim apologist mocks and ridicules the story, unaware it was Jesus who first told it:
“In his book 'Evidence of Jesus’ Divinity That Need
Contemplation,' the Muslim scholar, Mohammad Hasan Abdul-Rahman,
assimilates Christians’ belief of the sin, atonement and the Law,
to a story of a king whom his people rebelled against him. He,
then, sent messengers to them, teaching them to be good, do good
deeds, and asking them to revert under his power, obeying his laws
of peace and justice.
“However, his people derided those messengers, killed
them, and insisted in their arrogance. The king became angrier and
gave an order to send his only son, to be insulted and killed as
atonement for their sins. Those, who believe in this concept,
would be honored and their sins will be forgiven. . .
“What do Christians think of this king?
“No one would describe such king as a just or unfair
king, but as a ridiculous, a stupid and an idiot king.
“This is the god, whom the altered Christianity wants us
to worship.”
('Was Jesus Crucified for Our Atonement?' Monqith Ben
Mahmoud Assaqar, PhD).
Even the unbelieving 'Jesus Seminar' mark the story of the
Vineyard as authentic. You are with Jesus or against Him. If the Muslims
think the King as described by Jesus is "an idiot," they are entitled
to their opinion, but they have no part in the tradition of the
prophets.
Messianic Secret
It is sometimes said that 'God has sons by the tons.' There is an
element of truth to this snappy saying, but it leaves us in the lurch
before a situation like that in Mark 3,
“For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.
And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying,
'You are the Son of God.' But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.”
(Mark 3:10-12).
If all Jesus had meant to say by calling Himself 'the Son of God' is
that He is a created being like other created beings, or an Israelite
like other Israelites, then what information is it that the demons were
expected to keep confidential? Perhaps He wants it kept secret that He
is Jewish, because He hasn't told His mother yet? It seems rather that
when the Lord calls Himself 'the Son of God,' He is not using this
phrase in any weak or common sense, but to mean 'the Messiah,' at a
bare minimum, because one cannot keep trivial, obvious or self-evident
information secret.
No Consort
Mohammed was baffled at the concept that God could have a son, without a
Mrs. God:
"Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! how, when He hath no consort,
should He have a son?" (Sura 6:102).
This perplexity he, and his followers after him, could not get past, nor
are they alone: "Who ever heard of a begetting without a father, and of
being born without a mother?" (Michael Servetus, p. 82, On the Errors of the
Trinity, The Two Treatises of Servetus on the Trinity, translated by Earl
Morse Wilbur). Why, Allah himself expressed indignation: "The Prophet said,
'Allah said, "The son of Adam tells a lie against me though he has no right
to do so, and he abuses Me though he has no right to do so. . .and as for
his abusing Me, it is his statement that I have offspring. No! Glorified be
Me! I am far from taking a wife or offspring."'"
(Hadith, Sahih al Bukhari,
Volume 6, Book 60, Number 9). Muslims today often assume that Christians believe, as indeed
Mormons are accused of believing, that Jesus is the outcome of a
divine-human fling: "In one instance I pointed out that contrary to what
they accuse Christians of believing, I did not believe that God married the
Virgin Mary who later bore Him a Son." (Hussein Hajji Wario, Cracks in the
Crescent, p. 116).
In fact Christians are horrified when they hear what
Muslims think they believe. Here is an interesting contribution to the discussion, from the middle ages:
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