Harmony of the Verses

Verses 116 to 120 are a report of God’s conversation with His messenger Jesus son of Mary regarding what the Christians have said about him; it seems the purpose of the arrangement of these verses is to mention Jesus’s confessions and a report of his worldly life, in which he could not make any claim about himself that was not true, because he was before God’s knowledge, a knowledge that has no error or forgetfulness, and that he did not transgress even an atom’s worth from what God had determined for him and said nothing except what he was commanded to say and did nothing except what he was commanded to do. God also confirmed him in these confessions and what he said about the truth of divine lordship (rubūbiyya) and the servitude (ʿubūdiyya) of the servants. With this explanation, these verses correspond with the purpose of the chapter, which is fulfilling the covenant (wafāʾ bi-l-ʿahd).(283)