Jesus and the Last Supper in the Quran

From the Quran, chapter 5, verses 110 to 118

“Then God will say, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Recall My favors upon you and your mother When I empowered you with the Holy Spirit so, you might speak to people from your cradle and in maturity.

Also, how I inspired you with scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel. Recall how I inspired you to make out of clay, the shape of a bird, and then to blow into it and it turns into a bird by My leave. And you heald the blind and the leprous by My leave and how you revived the dead by My leave.

And how I thwarted the children of Israel From harming you as you presented them with irrefutable signs, while it was said by the disbelievers amongst them, this is nothing but obvious sorcery. And remember when I inspired the disciples: ‘Believe in Me and in My messenger’ They replied, we have believed.

You bear witness that we have submitted unto You. Yet the disciples asked Jesus, son of Mary ‘Can it come to be that your Lord be able to send down upon us a repast from heaven?’ Said Jesus: ‘Be ever mindful of God if you are believers’ They replied: We wish to feast on it and ascertain in our hearts that you spoke the truth to us, so we could stand witness to it.

Thereupon, Jesus the son of Mary said: ‘O God, our lord, send down to us a repast from heaven That it may be a feast for the first of us and the last of us, and be a sign from You. And provide us with sustenance For You are the Best of Providers.

God said: ‘I am sending it down. Whoever disbelieves thereafter I shall surely punish them unlike any prior punishment in the world.

Then God addressed Jesus, son of Mary: ‘Did you say to people: take me and my mother as Gods aside from God’ Jesus replied: Glory to You, it is not for me to speak That which I had no right to. Had I said it, you would have known it For You know what is in my essence, But I know not what is in Your essence. I only taught them what You commanded me: to worship God, my lord, and yours.

I remained witness upon them All the while that I dwelt amongst them But when You pulled me, You became the sole witness As You are witness over all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants, and If You forgive them, Lo! You are the Almighty, the all- Wise.

In a prior article, I discussed the status of Jesus in the Quran. The subject of Jesus came up again when discussing the concept of the Trinity. As we continue working our way through the Quran, the status of Jesus will come up again simply because of his high status in Islam and the controversies surrounding his essence.

The verses are very simple to understand, and I find no reason to delve into any long explanation. However, I direct the reader’s attention to two particular points mentioned above:

1- The disciples remained to the very last day of Jesus’s presence on earth in doubt about Jesus’s essence and even his message. The Gospel is replete with examples of that.

2- The identification of Jesus as the ‘son of God’ never came up during Jesus’ life on earth, witness his disclaimer in his virtual discussion with his Lord. The Quran mentions “Jesus, the son of Mary” multiple times, as you can see in the passages above as if to reemphasize that point.