last night. Will read more books later and post my thoughts/questions. For now, just regarding Matthew here are my observations:
1) Tons of incidents where Jesus uses the phrase "your father" to his followers, showing that lots of humans can have the "son of God" title other than Jesus, making Jesus' not unique and literal.
At first blush this notion seems like a non sequitur so it would be helpful (to me) if you could explain more how one validates or invalidates the other. Sure, in a very generic sense, any male could be called a “son of God”, but reliance upon a single meaning for a word or phrase that can have multiple meanings is flawed. Most importantly, Christ repeatedly demonstrated and affirmed his divinity as has been explained repeatedly.
2) 7:1 "do not judge lest you will be judged" tells me that Christians should not be able to say with certainty that everyone except for them will be condemned to hell.
A divine command to spread the gospel and Christ’s message of salvation and all that it entails is not a generic position of inappropriate judgment on behalf of the messenger(s).
3) 10:24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a slave above his master." (italics mine). Quite the contrast with Islamic teachings of equality.
Nothing to add.
4) In lots of verses it teaches that the righteous go to heaven while the evil go to hell (I didnt note each one but noted 25:31-46). This constrasts with the general Christian belief that it is faith and not actions that determine where you will spend the afterlife, i.e. according to these verses a good person should not go to hell regardless of what he believes. Another example in 19:18 Jesus indicates to follow commandments in order to have eternal life (i.e. actions not faith)
Faith in Christ is the key to salvation, but a Christian lives out their faith and attempts to represent Jesus Christ in all that they do. This comes back to why Jesus came as a man and left his throne. He came as the perfect sacrifice for our sin and salvation and as an example of how we should live. Simply claiming faith in Christ, but not living out that faith fully by following Christ’s example is a meaningless claim of faith….that’s why the ranks of Christianity are littered with nominal Christians. Jesus knows the contents of our hearts and simply making an empty claim of faith in this life will be dealt with.
5) 13:57 Jesus says, "A prophet is not without honour except in his home town, and in his own household." When you read the few verses surrounding 13:57 it's obvious that Jesus is calling himself a prophet (i.e. not God).
Jesus was the human son of Mary, carpenter, the Son of God, prophetic Son of Man, brother, friend, rabbi/teacher, prophet, Messiah and Lord……he was many things.
6) While Jesus calls himself a prophet in #5, someone else calls Jesus a prophet as well in 21:11 "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee" when he enters Jerusalem.
Others he encountered referred to him as prophet, rabbi, Lord, Messiah, Son of God……all are correct.
7) Jesus prays in 14:23 and 26:36-46. I don't believe God would pray to himself or anyone.
Christ didn’t return to his fully glory and power until after his resurrection. Prior to that (in his human state) he was weakened and humbled (as a man) and drew strength from his divine essence through prayer and also used his time of prayer as an example for us to emulate. He lived as the perfect example of how we should live out our faith.
8. Jesus calls himself "son of man" tons of times.
Son of Man was his preferred title and a reference to the prophetic “Son of Man” designation in Daniel 7 that indicates the coming of the divine king.
9) In 24:36 Jesus says "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the father alone." If Jesus was God he would be all-knowing by definition.
I didn't note all of my examples and observations as I read, but the above summarize the highlights.
As I’ve noted previously (and within other threads), Christ didn’t return to his fully glory and power until after his resurrection. In his pre-resurrected, human state he purposefully humbled and limited himself for the purpose of being the perfect sacrifice for our sins, the narrow gate to salvation and as an example for us to follow. When he returned to his divine state and power after his resurrection he once again knew the hour of his return.
Hope this is helpful.