How Jesus Will be Identified on His Return
Nuzul-i-Isa: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Chapters
« The Implications of the Second Coming
If we were to turn on a television set one night to find satellite coverage from Damascus showing a large crowd gathered excitedly around a man claiming to be Jesus returned to earth, how would we know whether it was really him or not? If, upon being interviewed, he said "I am Isa. I returned from heaven yesterday. No one saw me, but here I am", how could you be sure it was him?
Islam has not been unaware of the possible difficulties in identifying Jesus when he returns if he is to come purely as an ordinary man of flesh and blood. A superstition has arisen that a bone will be missing in one of his fingers. This is a typical myth, but it does show the consciousness of a required means to positively identify Jesus. Even in the Hadith there is a saying attributed to Muhammad which tells how to identify him. Muhammad is recorded as saying:
There is no prophet between me and him, that is Jesus (peace be upon him). He will descend (to earth). When you see him, recognise him: a man medium height, reddish hair, wearing two light low garments, looking as if drops were falling from his head though it will not be wet. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol.3, p.1203).
The need to identify him positively has also led to speculation as to where he will descend on earth. Some say he will land on the Ka'aba in Mecca, others that he will land on the eastern minaret of the great Umayya mosque in Damascus which is accordingly known as the Isaya Minarah. Maulana Syed M.B. Alam, on the cover his book Nusul-e-Esa: Descension of Jesus Christ, has a drawing of the Dome of the Rock with ladders alongside it.
We take the picture to mean that Jesus will return by landing on top of the Dome of the Rock and that others will help him to the ground on a ladder. It seems absurd to consider that, after crossing the vast expanse of the universe on his way from heaven to earth, he will need a ladder to help him down the last thirty feet of his descent!
It is perhaps in this seeming absurdity that we see the weakness of all Muslim theories about his descent all of which are based on the assumption that he will return as nothing more than an ordinary man of flesh and blood to rule the earth. On the other hand, a Muslim friend once said to me, "I believe Jesus will return from heaven shining like a light". I said, "What makes you say that? This is Christian belief." He replied, "Look where he is coming from. You cannot come from heaven looking like this" he said, pointing to himself. It takes an enlightened mind to draw what should be such an obvious conclusion.
He hit the nail on the head. The issue is not whether Jesus will return to Damascus, Jerusalem or Mecca, the issue is where he is coming from. He is coming from heaven. When he came the first time he assumed flesh and blood on earth and became a man but, having ascended to heaven, it is grossly unlikely that he will return as a man of nothing more than flesh and blood. His human nature must have undergone a transformation to enter the realm of the kingdom of heaven - is it not far more likely that he will return in heavenly splendour?
Jesus himself described how he will return to earth at the end of time. He told his disciples:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:29-31.
In these words we have a far clearer picture of how Jesus will return. The sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its light, the stars of the sky will fall, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then, in their place, a new brightness will appear. The whole earth will see Jesus appear in a cloud with heavenly power and glory as he calls out all those who are his own. The contrast between the present order and the new order he will bring in is finely described in this passage. The glory, brightness and power of the present order will recede before the revelation of his majesty and power when he returns from heaven.
On a dark night a car with bright headlights can almost blind another driver's vision but, if that same car should drive down the road in the middle of a sunny day, the same driver will hardly be troubled if its bright lights are on. A candle in a dark room is very conspicuous, but on a sunny day it may not even be noticed. The greater light makes the lesser fade and, as it were, be darkened. The sun is the one supreme source of light in the sky - before it all other lights fade into insignificance. No one can look directly into it without his eyes being blinded.
The point Jesus was making was this: when he appears in heaven even the sun will cast a shadow and be darkened. Before his glory not only the sun but all the stars will fade and recede. All the energies and powers in the universe will be shaken. His light will be so splendid that even the sun's light will not compare with it. When the Apostle Paul had his great vision of the glory of Jesus on the way to Damascus he said that he saw "a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me" (Acts 26:13). The Apostle John likewise had a vision of Jesus in heaven after his ascension and testified that "his face was like the sun shining in full strength" (Revelation 1:16).
In Jesus' own words, therefore, we get a very clear picture of how he will be recognised when he returns to earth. No one will fail to recognise him. He will not descend on to a mountain or minaret in a body of ordinary flesh and blood. He will be revealed from heaven in all his glory and power and his splendour will be the one dominating spectacle in that moment over all the earth, just as the sun to a lesser extent is the sole, supreme light of our present skies. All the nations of earth will see Jesus as he returns from heaven in the glory of his Father, and all those who have not followed him will be in great torment when he appears.
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7