Fundamentals of the Christian Faith in the Light of the Gospels
by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din
Jesus, a Human Being and an Apostle of God: Jesus included Himself among Prophets
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of prophets, garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets…. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore [God had said], behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify…. Verily I say unto you, [that the chastisement of] All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee…. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew, 23;29–38).
These verses make it abundantly clear that Jesus included himself among the Prophets, and also expressed his apprehension of meeting with the same treatment as was meted out to other prophets; that his opponents intended to kill him, but the end of such wicked people would indeed be disastrous and grievous. Jesus also made it clear that the Most High God expressed His sorrowfulness and grief on such people, saying,
“You build the tomb of the prophets, but your fathers persecuted and killed them.”
Jesus consoles himself with the following realisation:
“Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them shall slay and persecute” (Luke, 11:49).
This realisation shows that Jesus classed himself with the Prophets.