Jesus In India — Page 55
CHAPTER ONE 45 have been fulfilled. Accordingly, Christians also admit that for the prophecy to be fulfilled in accordance with the promise, it was inevitable that Jesus, the Messiah, should have come at a time when some of his disciples were still alive. This is also the basis of the clergymen's declaration that Jesus, the Messiah, had come to Jerusalem at the time of its destruction, as he had promised, and that John had seen him, as he had remained alive till that time. But it should be noted that Christians do not admit that Jesus, the Messiah, had really came down at that time, from heaven accom- panied by the appointed signs; they rather say that he appeared to John in a kind of vision so that he might fulfil his prophecy contained in Matthew 16:38. ¹ But I say that such coming does not fulfil the prophecy. It is a very poor attempt at interpretation and is meant to try and get away from objections with extreme artificiality. And this interpretation is so evidently untenable and wrong that it needs no refutation, for if Jesus, the Messiah, had to appear to anyone in a dream or a vision, a prophecy of this kind would simply become a laughing matter. Moreover, Jesus, the 2 1. This is a misprint in the first edition; the correct reference is 16:28. [Publisher] 2. I have seen in certain books interpretations of Matthew 26:24* by Muslim clerics which are more laboured than even the interpretations of Christians; they say that when Jesus, the Messiah, declared it to be a sign of his coming that some people of that generation would still be alive and that a disciple would also be alive when Jesus, the Messiah, would appear, it is necessary that that disciple should be living up till now, for Jesus, the Messiah, has not come yet; and they think that that disciple is hiding somewhere on some mountain, awaiting Jesus, the Messiah! (Author) *This is a misprint in the first edition; the correct reference is Matthew 16:28. [Publisher]