Our last lessons in this series on Bible characters who are also spoken of in the Qur’an will focus on Jesus of Nazareth. He is, of course, at the heart of the New Testament. Muhammad used to say that Allah had entrusted the Injil—that is, the Gospel—to Jesus. Christians would usually say that He is the subject of the Gospel.
Issa, the Qur’anic version of the name Jesus, appears 25 times in the Qur’an, and that does not include all the passages that use other terms to refer to Him. One cannot deny the importance of Jesus, either for Christians or for Muslims. So what can we learn about Him? First let’s review some of ideas that have emerged from the studies we have already done about other people in the Qur’an and in the Bible.
The Coming of Jesus Was Prophesied
One of the first things that strike us about Jesus is that His coming had been foretold by other prophets of God—not just once, or in an obscure or disputed way, but clearly and in different writings. The Jewish people did not understand very well the character of the Messiah and of the work that God would give Him to do, yet certain things were clear to them, as we see in Matthew 2:1-7:
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’
When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the rulers of Judea; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.”’”
The passage to which the priests and teachers of the law referred is found in the book of the prophet Micah and was written seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus!
We have seen in another study that the miraculous aspect of the birth of Jesus was also predicted. It is the prophet Isaiah who announced that a virgin would become pregnant and give birth to a son who would be called Emmanuel, one of the names that have always been used for Jesus. This prophecy also dates from the eighth century before Christ.
Earlier we referred to Jesus of Nazareth. The fact that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and during His ministry was based in Capernaum, both villages in the region of Galilee, created a little confusion among the Jews. But these facts had also been stated before the coming of Jesus. This region of Galilee, unlike Judea in the south, had a mixed population—many Jews but also many non-Jews. Traditionally, it had belonged to the Israelite tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali. Listen again to the Gospel of Matthew, this time Matthew 4:12-16:
“Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulon and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who have sat in darkness have seen a great light. And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.’”
Jesus was known for the extraordinary miracles that he did. The prophets had spoken of this before. In Isaiah 35:4b-6 we read: “…He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing…” After having been put in prison by Herod, John the Baptist wondered whether he was wrong about Jesus. If the Messiah had really come, how could John suffer such a great injustice for having preached the truth? The Gospel of Matthew 11:2-6 says:
“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples and asked Him, ‘Are You the One who is to come or should we expect someone else?’
Jesus replied to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.’”
John had asked Jesus if he were the one they knew must come. Jesus pointed out the miracles which he had done and which were the fulfillment of a prophecy concerning the one who would come.
When it comes to his death, the prophecies concerning the Messiah were even more numerous. It was foretold that Christ would enter Jerusalem seated on a donkey, that he would be betrayed by one friend and abandoned by the others, that his hands and his feet would be pierced, that lots would be drawn for his clothes, that he would be thirsty and be given vinegar to drink, that his bones would not be broken, and that he would be pierced in the side. The prophets had even predicted the exact words that mockers would use to humiliate him: “He relies on the Lord; let Him rescue him. Let the Lord deliver him, since He takes pleasure in him” (Psalm 22:8, Matthew 27:43).
The prophet Zechariah wrote this about four hundred years before the death of Jesus:
“Then I said to them, ‘If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver. ‘Throw it to the potter,’ the Lord said to me—this magnificent price at which I was valued by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.” (Zechariah 11:12,13)
Those who already know the story know that Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, had received exactly thirty pieces of silver—not gold, but silver—for giving the Lord’s enemies the information they wanted to be able to arrest Jesus away from the crowds. But when he saw how things went after that, Judas was filled with remorse. The Bible says that Judas
“…returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,’ he said.
‘What’s that to us?’ they said. ‘See to it yourself!’ So he threw the silver into the sanctuary and departed. Then he went and hanged himself. The chief priests took the silver and said, ‘It’s not lawful to put it into the temple treasury since it is blood money.’ So they conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners.” (Matthew 27:3-7)
In chapter 53 of the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find all the following predictions on the subject of Jesus: he wrote that he would be despised by men, acquainted with grief and rejected by his own people, but also that he would be chastised for the sins of others, that he would intercede for the guilty, that he would be put among criminals, that his grave would be with the rich and that he would be resurrected from among the dead.
The Ministry of John the Baptist
In addition to all these prophecies that were given hundreds of years before, God sent a special messenger just to announce the arrival of Jesus. As we have seen in a previous study, John identified himself simply as a voice, the voice of one who cried, “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23).
By the way, even this aspect of Jesus’ life had been prophesied. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, contains the announcement that God would send his messenger to open the way by calling the people to repentance (Malachi 3:1). When a head of state goes somewhere, it is customary to send people well in advance so that he is welcomed in a way that suits his dignity. This is what John did for Jesus, the king who would come to bring a blessing to some and a judgment on the others. The Gospel of Luke 3:15-17 says:
“Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all: ‘I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.’”
When Jesus came to be baptized, John said to the crowd, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me’” (John 1:29,30).
Conclusion
It would be difficult not to conclude already that Jesus would be not only a prophet of God, but much more than a prophet. Indeed, about which of His other servants did God give so many details in advance? He did not simply announce that his servant would come. He indicated in advance hundreds of details concerning his life: his place of birth, his activities, his rejection by his own people, his death and much more. He brought him into the world by an extraordinary birth—his mother was a virgin! This is a truth that even the Qur’an confirms. And he sent a great prophet—John the Baptist (or Yahya)—whose whole mission was to prepare the people to receive this other prophet with dignity. The Qur’an, also, assures us that this forerunner of Jesus was a man of integrity, a man who spoke the truth to the people.
Just the preparation for the coming of Jesus must impress us deeply. But we have much more to discover concerning the one whom the Qur’an calls Jesus, son of Mary. So continue to follow this important study with us.