The Setting of the Address

From the unity of the context of the verses and various indications before and after the verse under discussion, it emerges that the setting of the address in the verse “When God said, ‘O Jesus son of Mary! Remember…’” is the scene of the Day of Resurrection. Those indications are as follows:

1. The verse “The day God will gather the messengers…”, which is the heading of this group of verses, is about the Day of Resurrection.

2. Verses 116-117 of this same chapter are about God’s question and Jesus’s answer in the scene of the Day of Resurrection.

3. Verse 119 states that on the Day of Resurrection, the truthful will see and benefit from the fruit of their truthfulness.

Some exegetes hold that God mentioned the reminder of these blessings at the time of that personage’s ascension (being raised up);(158) however, the aforementioned indications bear witness and confirm that the verse under discussion describes a scene from the Day of Resurrection, not this world. The mention of it in the past tense is because whatever has certain and definitive realization is detached from time; then expression in all three tenses (past, present, and future) is possible regarding it; but since the past tense is stronger in indicating realization, the past tense is used in such cases.(159)