43 Zukhruf(Gold) Mecca 63
وَلَمَّا
ضُرِبَ ابْنُ
مَرْيَمَ مَثَلًا
إِذَا قَوْمُكَ
مِنْهُ يَصِدُّونَ
﴿٥٧﴾
43:57. When (Jesus) the son of Mary is held up as an example, behold, thy people raise a clamor thereat (in ridicule)!
C4659. Jesus was a man, and a prophet to the Children of Israel, "though his own received him not."
Some of the churches that were founded after him worshipped him as "God" and as "the son of God", as do the Trinitarian churches to the present day. The orthodox churches did so in the time of the holy Prophet.
When the doctrine of Unity was renewed, and the false worship of others besides Allah was strictly prohibited, all false gods were condemned, e.g., at 21:98.
The pagan Arabs looked upon Jesus as being in the same category as their false gods, and could not see why a foreign cult, or a foreign god, as they viewed him, should be considered better than their own gods or idols.
There was no substance in this, but mere mockery, and verbal quibbling. Jesus was one of the greater prophets: he was not a god, nor was he responsible for the quibbling subtleties of the Athanasian Creed.
وَقَالُوا
أَآلِهَتُنَا
خَيْرٌ أَمْ
هُوَ مَا ضَرَبُوهُ
لَكَ إِلَّا
جَدَلًا...
43;58. And they say, "Are Our gods best, or He?"
This they set forth to thee, only by way of disputation:
...بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ خَصِمُونَ ﴿٥٨﴾
yea, they are a contentious people.
إِنْ
هُوَ
إِلَّا عَبْدٌ
أَنْعَمْنَا
عَلَيْهِ
وَجَعَلْنَاهُ
مَثَلًا لِّبَنِي
إِسْرَائِيلَ
﴿٥٩﴾
43;59. He was no more than a servant:
We granted Our favor to him, and We made him an example to the Children of Israel.
C4660. A reference to the limited mission of the prophet Jesus, whose Gospel to the Jews only survives in uncertain fragmentary forms.
وَلَوْ
نَشَاء
لَجَعَلْنَا
مِنكُم مَّلَائِكَةً
فِي الْأَرْضِ
يَخْلُفُونَ
﴿٦٠﴾
43;60. And if it were Our Will, We could make angels from amongst you, succeeding each other on the earth.
C4661. If it were said that the birth of Jesus without a father sets him above other prophets, the creation of angels without either father or mother would set them still higher, especially as angels do not eat and drink and are not subject to physical laws. But angels are not higher.