Whilst the woman was talking with Jesus came his disciples, and marvelled that Jesus was speaking so with a woman. Yet no one said to him: “Why speak you thus with a Samaritan woman;?” Whereupon, when the woman was departed, they said: “Master, come and eat.” Jesus answered: “I must eat other food.”
Then said the disciples one to another: “Perhaps some wayfarer has spoken with Jesus and has gone to find him food.” And they questioned him who writes this ;- , saying: “Has there been any one here, O Barnabas, who might have brought food to the master?” Then answered he who writes: “There has not been here any other than the woman whom you saw, who brought this empty vessel to fill it with water.” Then the disciples stood amazed, awaiting the issue of the words of Jesus. Whereupon Jesus said: “You know not that the true food is to do the will of God; because it is not bread that sustains man and gives him life, but rather the word of God, by his will. And so for this reason the holy angels eat not, but live nourished only by the will of God. And thus we, Moses and Elijah and yet another, have been forty days and forty nights; without any food.”
And lifting up his eyes, Jesus said: “How far off is the harvest;?” The disciples answered: “Three months.” Jesus said: “Look now, how the mountain is white with corn; truly I say to you, that today there is a great harvest ;to be reaped.” And then he pointed to the multitude who had come to see him. For the woman having entered into the city had moved all the city, saying: “O men, come and see a new prophet sent of God to the House of Israel”; and she recounted to them all that she had heard from Jesus. When they were come thither they besought Jesus to abide with them; and he entered into the city and abode there two days, healing all the sick, and teaching concerning the kingdom of God;. *Then said the citizens to the woman: “We believe more in his words and miracles than we do in what you said; for he is indeed a holy one of God, a prophet sent for the salvation of those that shall believe on him.”
After the prayer of midnight; the disciples came near to Jesus, and he said to them: “This night shall be in the time of the Messiah, Messenger of God, the jubilee every year that now comes every hundred years. Therefore I will not that we sleep, but let us make prayer, bowing our head a hundred times, doing reverence to our God, mighty and merciful, who is blessed for evermore, and therefore each time let us say: “I confess thee our God alone, that hast not had beginning, nor shalt ever have end; for by thy mercy gavest thou to all things their beginning, and by thy justice thou shalt give to all an end; that hast no likeness among men, because in thine infinite goodness thou art not subject to motion nor to any accident. Have mercy on us, for thou hast created us, and we are the works of thy hand.”‘
An Islamic Perspective and Commentary
by
Ishaq Zahid
The prayer of Jesus (peace be on him), as given in the last paragraph, beautifully describes God. The following verses from the Holy Quran similarly glorify and explain who God is.
Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (The Quran, Chapter 112, Al-Ikhlas)
002.115 To God belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of God. For God is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.
059.022 God is He, than Whom there is no other god;- Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.059.023 God is He, than Whom there is no other god;- the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to God! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him.059.024 He is God, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
053.025 But it is to God that the End and the Beginning (of all things) belong.
085.013 It is He Who creates from the very beginning, and He can restore (life).
It is not clear to which event the yearly Jubilee is being referred to by Prophet Jesus. Looking at the annual Islamic events, it could be any of the following:
The annual pilgrimage (The Hajj) to Makkah in which millions of Muslims gather to glorify God and send salutations especially to Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), prophet Ibrahim, Hajar (Hagar) and prophet Ismael. The event commemorates the trials in which Hajar and her son Ismael were put in, and the trial when God asked Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Ismael.
Eidul-Fitr, which comes at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Lailatul-Qadr (The Night of Power), in which worship to God is worth one thousand months of worship.
We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power: And what will explain to thee what the night of power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by God’s permission, on every errand: Peace!…This until the rise of morn! (The Quran, Chapter 97)