See how is Jesus (pbuh) regarded by those around him or with those he comes into contact with:
John 6:14 states “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world”;
John 7:40 states “Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the prophet”;
Luke 7:16 reads: “’A great prophet has arisen among us’”;
Luke 13:33 reads “Nevertheless I (Jesus) must walk to day, and to morrow, and the [day] following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem”;
Matthew 13:57 reads “And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house”;
Luke 24:19 states “…Jesus of Nazareth… a prophet powerful in speech and action before God and the whole people…”
1 Timothy 2:5 states “…Christ Jesus, himself man…”.
Matthew 21:46 states “they [Jews] wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the people, who looked on Jesus as a prophet”;
Luke 22:64 when the guards blindfolded Jesus (pbuh) and asked him “Now prophet, who hit you? Tell us that”
John 4:19-20 where the Samaritan woman replied to Jesus (pbuh) “I can see that you are a prophet”
Matthew 21:11 “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee”.
In spite of these verses from the New Testament evidently demonstrating that Jesus (pbuh) was a man and a prophet, Jesus (pbuh) is still sought to be projected as the divine Son of God when clearly this is not the case.
Similarly, in the New Testament Book of Acts, there are several outlines of speeches of the early disciples of Jesus (pbuh), speeches which date from the year 33 CE, almost forty years before the four gospels were written. In one of these discourses, Jesus (pbuh) is referred to specifically as andra apo tou theou: “a man from God.” (Acts 2:22). Not once do these early confessions of faith use the expression wios tou theou: “Son of God”, but they do speak several times of Jesus (pbuh) as God’s servant and prophet (Acts 3:13, 22, 23, 26).
The significance of these speeches is that they accurately reflect the original belief and terminology of the disciples, before the belief and terminology were evolved under the influence of Roman religion and Greek philosophy. They reflect a tradition which is older than that used by the four gospels, in which Jesus (pbuh) is not invested with godship or divine sonship.
