(9:34-35)(69:34)(7:47-48)(39:49-50)(28:76-78)
Three enlightened individuals, Mary, John, and Jesus, were delivering the message of God to the enslaved population of the Jews; they were crippled by the subjugation of Romans and their religious leaders. Moreover, the Jews were divided into many groups and these groups were fighting among themselves.
One section of the religious leaders of the Jews had connived with the ruling Romans. They were enjoying many comforts and had the power to rule their own folks, but they could not pass the death sentence without the permission of Roman rulers. Many taxes were levied on common people, and they were crushed under the burden, whereas the elite classes enjoyed luxury and wealth.
All the prophets of God, from Noah to Muhammad, peace be upon him, delivered one message to the human beings. The basic message is permanent: there is only one God who is the creator of the universe, and the universe is functioning according to his laws. Jesus Christ was a glittering pearl in this chain of prophets and he was putting forward the same idea. Moreover, he and his mother were living like all normal human beings: eating, drinking, and sleeping etc. How can a being that is dependent on external means for existence claim to be an eternal God?
Mary was a courageous, fearless, and revolutionary woman. She broke the rules of the temple and lived an exemplary, pious life; her son Jesus was a prophet, who was criticizing the society to bring the real mosaic spirit, which was not acceptable to the elite religious class. As the common depressed people joined his party and saw hope and opportunities in his message, the ruling religious elite apprehended their disgrace and ultimate death in his teachings, so they opposed him relentlessly.
The heart of his teaching centered on the concept of the kingdom of God; this expression is repeated constantly in the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew refers to it as the kingdom of heaven; this expression is repeated in some other places, but the predominant name in the scripture is the kingdom of God.
John the Baptist also used this expression when he was preaching in the wilderness of Judaea. According to Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The gospel means good news or “glad tiding” of the kingdom of God. Jesus was preaching in an oppressed society of Jews that was crushed under the heavy yoke of servitude; the powerful Roman governors were dominating the common folks with the connivance of religious leaders. John the Baptist and Jesus Christ both gave a message of hope to these people by declaring that a time of happiness would come for them in the kingdom of God.
There are many contradictory verses about the kingdom of God in the Bible. Many Christian scholars have interpreted it in different ways; for some, it is literally here on earth via church; for others, it is figuratively in our hearts. Some, recognizing that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” says it will come in the future with Jesus’ return. I am interpreting it in the light of the Quran, keeping in mind the purpose of a prophet, and the similar descriptions of the kingdom of God given in the Bible and the Quran.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17). He was talking of a time where there would be no exploitation, misery, hunger or sickness among humans. The ultimate aim of prophets is to create a society where human beings can live peacefully in accordance with the laws of God, both the laws for human society as well as the laws governing the universe. In the words of the Bible, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2-3).
In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus says, “Therefore I say unto you, ‘Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?’” In order to explain his point, Jesus gave the example of fowls of the air, and lilies of the fields. He said, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”
