The Second Coming of Jesus

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

The last significant feature about Jesus, in which the Qur’an and the Bible are in agreement, is his return to the earth from heaven at the end of time. It is one of the grandest and most extensive subjects of the prophetic texts of the New Testament.

According to the Bible Jesus will return from heaven at the end of time in his glory, with all his holy angels with him, and will bring in the Day of Judgment. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them, to glory or destruction, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32).

The Qur’an, once again, only deals with this subject in one verse but it has led to a consensus throughout the Muslim world that Jesus will one day return from heaven to earth. The text reads: “And he shall be a sign for the hour” (Surah 43:61). The verse can be literally translated “And there is knowledge of the hour.” It can be argued that the return of Jesus is rather arbitrarily read into the text, yet many of the companions of Muhammed in his lifetime confirmed that he taught that there is a specific allusion to the return of Jesus. Many Hadith records confirm the return of Jesus, one of which teaches that he will institute a reign of peace (Sahih Muslim, Volume 1, page 93).

There are once again differences between Christianity and Islam in their interpretations of what will happen when Jesus returns, but both believe in the second coming and base that belief on the teachings of the Bible and the Qur’an.

So we have seen that in four unique things about Jesus the Bible and the Qur’an have common ground: 1) his virgin birth, 2) his sinlessness, 3) his ascension and, 4) his second coming. 

Today's Prayer

Praise God that Jesus the Messiah is unique in these ways and is, therefore, uniquely qualified to be our Saviour. Ask God to open the hearts of your Muslim friends to truth.