Conveying God’s Speech as Commanded

Based on the apparent meaning of the verse and the unity of context, the statement “Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord” is the speech of Jesus (a.s.), because in the previous verse he said: “And I have brought you a sign from your Lord, so be wary of God and obey me” and in this verse he says: “Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord.” However, in the verse “It is not for God to take a son. Immaculate is He! When He decides on a matter, He just says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is. Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path”,(445) the apparent meaning and unity of context indicate that the speaker is God, because there is a possibility that God told Jesus (a.s.) to tell the people: “Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord,” although it is possible that in the previous verse God’s speech had ended and the verse “Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord” is the beginning of the next verse and the speech of Jesus (a.s.).

To resolve the apparent contradiction and ambiguity between these two verses, we can seek help from the verse “I did not say to them [anything] except what You had commanded me [to say]: ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord’”(446) where Jesus (a.s.) says in the divine presence (on the Day of Judgment): O God, I did not say anything to the people except what You commanded me to say. Therefore, the statement “Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord” is God’s commanded speech that Jesus (a.s.) conveys.

Note: The message of “I did not say to them [anything] except what You had commanded me [to say]: ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord’” is that I did not tell them anything except what I was commanded to say, which was the call to worship God who was my Lord and their Lord. Therefore, the verse discusses the delivery of a message, and the apparent meaning of the verse is that this message was conveyed with these exact words: “Worship God, my Lord and your Lord” or its equivalent.