Jesus as others saw Him

Examining the views of Jesus’ contemporaries according to John’s Gospel Pt. 2

We resume our rebuttal to Muslim apologist Sami Zaatari who tries to use the Gospel of John to prove that Jesus’ earliest followers never said or believed that he is God!

The witness of the Baptist

Zaatari starts off his article by quoting the words of John Baptist to show that he didn’t believe that Jesus is God, but that he is the Son of God and God’s Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He mentions that Son of God doesn’t prove Divinity since it refers to "a man of God, a true believer, a prophet, a messenger, and the Messiah."

Here is the context which will allow us to better understand what John actually meant when he called Christ the Lamb of God and God’s Son:

"And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent/tabernacled (eskenosen) among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John bore witness to him, and cried, ‘This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me."’… And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ They said to him then, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord," as the prophet Isaiah said.’ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’ This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me." I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John bore witness, ‘I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.’ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’" John 1:14-15, 19-36

And here is the other place in John’s Gospel where the fourth Evangelist quotes the words of the Baptizer:

"And they came to John, and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, here he is, baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks; he who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony; he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit; the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.’" John 3:26-36

In the above references the Baptist identifies himself with the voice of Isaiah 40 who comes to prepare for the coming of God:

"A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’… Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-11

Yet by saying that he was sent to prepare for and bear witness to Christ John is basically testifying that Jesus is the Lord God of Isaiah whose glory would be seen by all and who comes to shepherd his flock under his care! In fact, Christ himself says that he is the good Shepherd who will gather God’s children together under one flock:

"‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.’ … Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’" John 10:14-16, 25-30

John further says that Jesus will baptize people in/with the Holy Spirit, a function which the Hebrew Bible ascribes to Yahweh:

"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:25-28

"You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit." Joel 2:27-29

Moreover, by calling Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world John was alluding to the highly exalted Servant-King of Yahweh mentioned in Isaiah 53, the One identified as the very Arm or Power of Yahweh sent to die as a sacrifice for the sins of God’s people:

"Behold, my Servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him -- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men -- so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the Arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; LIKE A LAMB that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand; he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, MY SERVANT, MAKE MANY TO BE ACCOUNTED RIGHTEOUS; AND HE SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; YET HE BORE THE SIN OF MANY, and made intercession for the transgressors." Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Finally, the Baptizer confesses that Jesus existed before him since he is the Son of God who comes from above, from heaven itself, and is therefore above or greater than everyone.

To summarize John’s witness,

Jesus is the preexistent Son of God, the One who existed even before the Baptist.
Jesus is from above, from heaven, and therefore is above or greater than all.
Jesus is the very human appearance, the visible manifestation, of Yahweh God Almighty since John is the voice of Isaiah 40 who was sent to prepare the way for the appearance of God himself. According to the statements of the Baptist, he was sent ahead of Christ in order to prepare for his coming, which shows that Jesus is the God who was to come as prophesied in Isaiah 40.
Christ performs specific functions which the OT says are carried out exclusively by Yahweh, such as baptizing in/with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Lamb of God – a deliberate echo of Isaiah 53 – who is sent to save the world from its sin.

To put all of this in a nutshell so that Zaatari doesn’t miss it: the Baptist testified and believed that Jesus is the Divine Son of God and therefore God.

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The testimony of the Samaritans

Zaatari also appeals to the confession of the Samaritan woman to prove that Jesus is a prophet, something which no Bible-believing Christian disputes. However, Zaatari doesn’t quote all of the relevant verses and tries to brush aside certain statements that Jesus made which only God could make:

"There came a woman of Samar'ia to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samar'ia?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, "I have no husband"; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.’ … So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’" John 4:7-19, 25-26, 28

The living water which Jesus gives is a reference to the Holy Spirit that he would send to his followers:

"On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, ‘If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, "Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water."’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." John 7:37-39

But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. John 15:26-27

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7

"Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’" John 20:21-22

As we saw in our previous discussion concerning the Baptist’s testimony, this ability to send out or give the Holy Spirit is a Divine One which only Yahweh can carry out.

Moreover, after spending two days with them the Samaritans came to the conclusion that Jesus is the Savior of the world:

"Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’" John 4:39-42

This also concurs with the Baptist’s statement that Christ takes the sin of the world away since this is how Jesus saves those who believe in, namely, by sacrificing or forfeiting his own life as an offering for sin in order to take away the wrath of God:

"This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." John 6:50-51

As the fourth Evangelist put it in his first epistle:

"My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins… And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world." 1 John 4:9-10, 14

Jesus himself said that God had sent him into the world to save it:

"No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:13-18

Thus, the Samaritans clearly believed that Jesus was more than a mere prophet since, in light of John 3, we can safely assume that Christ would have personally told them that he is the Son of God who came to save the world from their sins.

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Jesus – The Prophet Like Moses

Zaatari then references John 6:10-14 to show how the crowds concluded that Jesus is a prophet, not God. In his zeal to refute the Deity of the Lord Jesus, Zaatari doesn’t realize how this text proves that Muhammad IS NOT the prophet like Moses:

"Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’ This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself… Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat."’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’" John 6:5-14, 26-34

The first thing to note from this passage is that Jesus says that he is the Son of Man who gives food which endures to eternal life, and that this food is the true Bread who comes down from heaven to give life to the world. We will have more to say concerning this Bread of Life in the next part of our discussion.

The second point to notice is that Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the multitude with little bread, the reference to Moses and to the Israelites eating manna in the wilderness indicates that by prophet the people meant that Jesus is the One spoken of in the writings of Moses. Upon seeing the miracle the crowds realized that Jesus is the Prophet like Moses who was prophesied to come,

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren -- him you shall heed -- just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." Deuteronomy 18:15-19

Since Christ performed a sign which was similar to the wonders which Moses did by the power of God, something which the Prophet like Moses had to do:

"And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel." Deuteronomy 34:10-12

Jesus himself testified that Moses wrote about him:

"Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" John 5:45-47

As did his followers:

"Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathan'a-el said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ Nathan'a-el said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathan'a-el answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’" John 1:45-51

Thus, since Jesus, his followers, and the crowds all believed that Christ is the Prophet like Moses who was to come, Muhammad cannot be that prophet. In fact, Muhammad is a false prophet according to the inspired Scriptures of the living God.

Therefore, Zaatari cannot have his cake and eat it too. He cannot appeal to these passages to prove that Jesus is just a prophet while also believing that Muhammad is the prophet like Moses since the very verses that he is citing identify Jesus as that Prophet, not Muhammad.

As a side note, Jesus’ statement that his followers would see the angels ascending and descending upon him, the Son of Man, is an allusion to the following OT text:

"Jacob left Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you.’ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’" Genesis 28:10-17

By saying that the angels would ascend and descend upon him, Christ was identifying himself as the very gate of heaven, the One who unites heaven and earth together. In other words, Jesus believed that he is the gate, the ladder, which connects to heaven and that all who want to enter there must come to him since he is the only Way to God:

"‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’" John 10:1-10

Therefore, Islam is a false religion since it contradicts the message of the risen Lord Jesus, who alone gives eternal life and brings people to heaven.

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The confession of Simon Peter

Zaatari then quotes Peter’s words in chapter 6 to show that the Apostle didn’t believe or teach that Jesus is God:

"Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’" John 6:68-69

Yet Zaatari ignores what else Peter said in this very same Gospel:

"He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’" John 21:17

Peter confesses that Jesus is the omniscient Lord, the very Lord who knows all things and therefore doesn’t need to ask questions. And since it is God alone who knows everything:

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." 1 John 3:20

Peter’s confession is therefore a rather emphatic witness to the absolute Deity of Christ, being similar to Thomas’ confession which the latter had made the previous week:

"Thomas answered and said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’" John 20:28-29

Nor is this the only place where we find Peter, along with the rest of the Apostles, affirming that Jesus is omniscient:

"I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.’ His disciples said, ‘Ah, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure! Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe?’" John 16:25-31

Not only do they believe that Christ knows everything they also affirm that Jesus came down from the Father and is therefore preexistent, i.e. Jesus existed in heaven with the Father before coming into the world.

Moreover, Peter’s language in John 6:68-69 is reminiscent of what we read in Acts:

"Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God… And when Peter saw it he addressed the people, ‘Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.’" Acts 3:1-8, 14-16

Notice that Peter performs a miracle in the name of Jesus since he believes that Jesus’ name gives salvation and healing:

"On the morrow their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Ca'iaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’" Acts 4:5-12

In light of this does it really come as a surprise that Peter confessed that Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One who is the very Author of life itself that has the words that lead to eternal life? So much for Zaatari’s appeal to Peter.

This concludes the second part of our rebuttal. We now move to part 3.