The last lesson established something from the Qur'an itself: Issa al-Masih died. Allah planned it. Issa spoke of it on the day he was born. Allah confirmed it in Surah Al-Imran 3:55. But a harder question remains. Why? Why would the sinless one die? What purpose could the death of the only blameless person in all of human history possibly serve? The Qur'an does not leave this question unanswered.
وَفَدَيۡنَٰهُ بِذِبۡحٍ عَظِيمٖ
“And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice.”
Surah As-Saffat 37:107 | quran.com/37/107
What is the context of this verse?
This is the moment after Ibrahim had obeyed Allah completely. He had placed his son on the altar, knife in hand, willing to surrender everything. Allah stopped him. And then Allah provided a ram in his son's place. The ram died. The son lived. One took the place of the other. And Allah described this provision as a momentous sacrifice. Not an ordinary sacrifice. A momentous one. A great one. A weighty one. The Arabic word used is azeem, which means tremendous, mighty, of great consequence.
Was the ram the momentous sacrifice?
A ram is not momentous. Rams were sacrificed throughout the history of the prophets. They were common. They were required. But none of them would be described as azeem. The word points beyond the ram. Ibrahim's son was spared. A substitute died in his place. But the Qur'an describes the substitute as momentous. This points to something greater that was still to come.
What is the pattern the Qur'an is showing us?
Through every sign from Adam onward, the same principle appears. Man cannot save himself. Allah provides the way out. The innocent takes the place of the guilty. Adam and Hawwa were clothed by Allah, not by their own effort. Nuh and his family were saved by the Ark, which Allah commanded. Ibrahim's son was ransomed by a substitute provided by Allah. The people of Musa were saved from the angel of death by the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. The innocent died. The guilty were spared. This pattern runs through every prophet's story. It is not coincidence. It is Allah teaching the same truth in different forms, preparing the heart of humanity for something.
What was the pattern pointing to?
وَلِنَجۡعَلَهُۥٓ ءَايَةٗ لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحۡمَةٗ مِّنَّاۚ وَكَانَ أَمۡرٗا مَّقۡضِيًّا
“We wish to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us. It is a matter so decreed.”
Surah Maryam 19:21 | quran.com/19/21
قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ رَسُولُ رَبِّكِ لِأَهَبَ لَكِ غُلَٰمٗا زَكِيًّا
“He said: I am truly the messenger of your Lord, to give you a sinless boy.”
Surah Maryam 19:19 | quran.com/19/19
Issa is the Mercy of Allah. He is the predestined one. He is the Sign to all mankind. And he alone, in all of the Qur'an, is sinless. Zakiy. Without fault. Without a single recorded sin. Every prophet in the Qur'an is recorded asking Allah for forgiveness. Not Issa. The Qur'an records no sin for Issa al-Masih. No request for forgiveness. No confession of fault. He is the only one.
The sinless one. The momentous sacrifice. The mercy that was predestined before the world began. The pattern that ran from Adam to Ibrahim to Musa finally arrived at its completion. Not in an animal. In the only human being who had lived without sin. The one who could die in our place.
But is it just for the innocent to die for the guilty?
This is the most important question. And the answer is found in the nature of what was done. The sinless one was not forced. He laid down his life. He said it himself on the day he was born. He knew. He went willingly. He surrendered completely. This is the ultimate Islam. The ultimate surrender. Not reluctant obedience under threat. Willing surrender in love. Allah's own plan, fulfilled by the one He sent, at the cost that only the sinless could pay. Justice was satisfied. The penalty was paid. By the only one qualified to pay it.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”
Injil, 1 Peter 3:18 | bible.com/bible/111/1PE.3.18
“The next day he saw Issa coming toward him, and said: Behold, the Lamb of Allah, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Injil, John 1:29 | bible.com/bible/111/JHN.1.29
The Judge Who Stepped Down
A judge was known throughout the land for his absolute justice. When a man was brought before him accused of a crime, the judge investigated with great care. He found the man guilty. The law required a severe penalty.
Then the judge did something no one expected. He stood up from his seat, removed his robe, walked around to the front of the bench, and stood beside the guilty man.
He said: The law demands this penalty. Someone must pay it. I will pay it in his place.
The courtroom was silent. The people who witnessed it could not stop speaking of it for the rest of their lives.
The man who had been guilty went free. Not because the law was set aside. The law was honored completely. But because someone greater had taken his place.
Justice was not compromised. It was fulfilled. By the one who had the authority to fulfill it, at a cost only he could afford.
The Qur'an has been showing us this pattern from Adam to Ibrahim to Musa to Issa. The innocent in place of the guilty. Allah's provision, not human effort. The substitute provided by Allah Himself.
If Issa al-Masih is the momentous sacrifice that Surah 37:107 points to, what does that mean for you personally? You do not need to answer this today. Sit with it. Bring it honestly to your prayer.