5.110 – when God said, “Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My blessing on you and on your mother . . .”
This second of three longer passages about the identity of ‘Īsā appears rather abruptly at the end of the sūra (vv. 110–19). The passage makes a number of affirmations along with an influential denial. First of all, Allah says that he strengthened ‘Īsā by the holy spirit (ruḥ al-qudus, lit. “the spirit of the holy”; see the comments at 16.102). ‘Īsā speaks from the cradle (also in 19.30). Allah says he teaches ‘Īsā the Torah and the Gospel. See the analysis of the Quran’s verses about the Gospel at 57.27.
Here four miracles of ‘Īsā are mentioned for the second time (see 3.49) – creating a bird out of clay, healing the blind and the leper, and raising the dead – alongside a fifth: Allah brings down a table from heaven loaded with food for the disciples (vv. 112–15).
One detail of verse 110 that many Muslim commentators have highlighted is the expression “by My permission” (bi-idhnī), which appears four times. A similar expression comes twice in 3.49, “by the permission of Allah.” Muslim tradition interprets this to mean that ‘Īsā did not work these miracles by his own power but only by the power of Allah. Some Muslim commentaries specified that without this quranic caveat the listener or reader might conclude that these miracles are evidence of ‘Īsā’s deity.
Many Christians have been grateful that the Quran mentions some of the miracles of ‘Īsā, and the apparently formulaic listing of the miracles in the Quran bears some similarities to Jesus’ own description of his miracles in the Gospel (e.g., Luke 7:22). However, the repetition of “by My permission” in Q 5.110 and “by the permission of Allah” in 3.49 goes against the spirit of the New Testament. The Gospel accounts are more likely to describe the miracles as “signs” (Gk. sēmeia) of Jesus’ glory (John 2:11; cf. John 1:14; 4.54; 6:2, 14; 9:16; 20:30–31). In most of the miracle reports in the Gospel accounts, Jesus simply responded to human need with divine power.
A second detail in the verse that has attracted a great deal of interesting commentary is the statement that ‘Īsā “created” (khalaqa). Elsewhere in the Quran, this verb is used only to describe the creative activity of God himself, including at 3.47 in the immediate context of 3.49.
The other two longer passages about ‘Īsā in the Quran are 3:35–64 and 19:2–35. See the summary of the Quran’s material about ‘Īsā at 57.27.