Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 57
57 would begin to fast after him. Sealing the Law, therefore, does not mean abolition of the Law as such or repudiation of the very idea of determinate religious duties. It means that in the time of the Promised Holy Man, the Mosaic Law would become superseded and a new Law would become established in its place. If this interpretation is not true then why would God turn His face away from the House of Jacob? Did not Jesus belong to the House of Jacob? If he did not so belong, he could not be a descendant of David. And if he was not a descendant of David, he could not be the Christ of the prophecy. For Christ was to be a descendant of David. IV. Isaiah continues to record the prophecy for another prophet: 59 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this". The prophecy promises the advent of a king who will have five names or titles: (i) Wonderful. (ii) Counselor. (iii) The mighty God. (iv) The everlasting Father. (v) The Prince of Peace. The prosperity and peace in his empire will know no bounds; he will sit on the throne of David forever and perpetuate its good name by judgment and justice. Annotators of the Gospels claim that this prophecy relates to the birth of Jesus. But none of the signs mentioned in this prophecy, applies to Jesus. Did he for instance, ever become king? None of the names enumerated in the prophecy i. e. , wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, apply to him. He could be called ‘wonderful’, because of his peculiar birth but this description does not seem to have been proposed. His deniers regarded his birth as illegitimate, so they could not describe him as ‘wonderful’. His supporters, on the other hand, were in doubt about his ancestry. According to some he was a son of David. After being put on the cross the Jews ridiculed him and challenged him to show his might: 60 If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Jesus gave no exhibition of his "might", nor was he ever described as mighty by anybody. Both friend and foe denied this of him. Were this not the case, his disciples would not have deserted him and fled: 61 Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. The fourth name is everlasting Father, and this also does not apply to Jesus. As has already been established, Jesus foretold the coming of another prophet after him. The fifth name is Prince of Peace and even this cannot apply to Jesus. He never became king, so he never could bring peace to the world. Instead, he remained oppressed by the Jews and was ultimately crucified.