Jesus Page 12

Miracles Miracles were attributed to Jesus as signs of his prophethood and his authority. Six miracles are specifically mentioned in the Quran, with these six initial miracle narratives being elaborated on over the centuries through Hadith and poetry.[citation needed] Table of food from heaven In the fifth chapter of the Quran, God narrates how the disciples of Jesus requested him to ask God to send down a table laden with food, and for it to be a special day of commemoration for them in the future.[citation needed] "When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is your Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven? He said: Observe your duty to God, if ye are true believers. They said: We desire to eat of it and our hearts be at rest, and that We may know that you have spoken truth to us, and that We may be witnesses thereof. Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'O God, our Lord, send down for us a table laden with food out of heaven, that shall be for us a recurring festival, the first and last of us, and a miracle from You. And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best of providers!" — Quran surah 5 (Al-Ma'ida) ayah[citation needed] 112-114 Speaking from the cradle One of the miracles mentioned in the Quran is that Jesus, while still in the cradle, spoke out to protect his mother Mary from any accusations people may have placed on her due to having a child without a father. When she was approached about this strange incident after her childbirth, Mary merely pointed to Jesus, and he miraculously spoke, just as God had promised her upon annunciation. "He shall speak to people while still in the cradle, and in manhood, and he shall be from the righteous." — Quran surah 3 (Al-Imran) ayah[citation needed] 46 This miracle is not found in the Bible, but it is found in the non-canonical Syriac Infancy Gospel. "He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when he was lying in his cradle, said to Mary, his mother: "I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world."[43] Creating birds from clay God mentions a miracle given to none other in the Quran but Jesus, one which is quite parallel to how God himself created Adam. This miracle was one which none can argue its greatness. God mentions in the Quran that Jesus says: "I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with God's permission." — Quran surah 3 (Al Imran) ayah[citation needed] 49 This miracle is not found in the New Testament, but it is found in the non-canonical Infancy Gospel of Thomas; "When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. He then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows; Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: "Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!" And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily."[citation needed] Healing the blind and the leper Similar to the New Testament, The Quran also mentions Jesus to have healed the blind and the lepers. "I also heal the blind and the leper." — Quran surah 3 (Al Imran) ayah[citation needed] 49 Power over death "...and I bring to life the dead, by the permission of God." — Quran surah 3 (Al Imran) ayah[citation needed] 49 This, like the creation of a bird, was a miracle of incomparable nature, one that should have caused the Jews to believe in the prophethood of Jesus without any doubt. Islam agrees with Christianity that Jesus brought people back from the dead. The first three accounts are mentioned in both Islam and the Bible, save the last, which is only mentioned in Islam. Prescience Jesus has the miracle of prescience, or foreknowledge,[44] of what was hidden or unknown by others. One example is Jesus would answer any and every question anyone asked him. Another example is Jesus knew what people had just eaten, as well as what they stored up in their houses.[13] "I inform you too of what things you eat, and what you store up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." — Quran surah 3 (Al Imran) ayah 49[13] Tabari relates on the authority of Ibn Ishaq that when Jesus was about nine or ten years old, his mother Mary would send him to a Jewish religious school. But whenever the teacher tried to teach him anything, he found that Jesus already knew it. The teacher exclaimed, "Do you not marvel at the son of this widow? Every time I teach him anything, I find that he knows it far better than I do!" Tabari further relates on the authority of Ismail al-Suddi that "when Jesus was in his youth, his mother committed him [to the priests] to study the Torah. While Jesus played with the youths of his village, he used to tell them what their parents were doing." Sa'id ibn Jubayr, according to Tabari, is said to have reported that Jesus would say to one of his fellow playmates in the religious school, "Your parents have kept such and such food for you, would you give me some of it?" Jesus would usually tell his fellow pupils in the religious school what their parents ate and what they have kept for them when they return home. He used to say to one boy, "Go home, for your parents have kept for you such and such food and they are now eating such and such food."[13] As parents became annoyed by this, they forbade their children to play with Jesus, saying, "Do not play with that magician." As a result, Jesus had no friends to play with and became lonely. Finally, the parents gathered all the children in a house away from Jesus. When Jesus came looking for them, the parents told Jesus that the children were not there. Jesus asked, "Then who is in this house?" The parents replied, "Swine!" (referring to Jesus). Jesus then said, "OK. Let there be swine in this house!" When the parents opened the door to the room where the children were, they found all their children had turned to swine, just as Jesus said.[45] Tabari cites the Qur'an in support of this story: "Those of the children of Israel who have rejected faith were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus, son of Mary, this because of their rebellion and the acts of transgression which they had committed." — Quran surah 5 (Al-Ma'ida) ayah[citation needed] 78 Other miracles Similar to the New Testament, Al-Tabari (d. 923) reports a story of Jesus's encounter with a certain King in the region. The identity of the King is not mentioned while legend suggests Philip the Tetrarch. The corresponding Bible reference is "the royal official's son." With regard to the reason which led Jesus to seek the support of the disciples in Islamic theology, al-Tabari relates the tale on the authority of As-Suddi.[46] Another legendary miraculous story has to do with a Jewish man and loafs of bread. A lesson on greed and truth-telling is weaved into the narration.[47]