Four Qur'anic Passages on Jesus' Departure from Earth

From the above treatment of Al-i Imran 3:59, it became clear that Jesus' state before God

corresponds to that of Adam in the sense that he lives before God as the first human being raised from death and placed into the second creation. This means that with Jesus, the resurrection existence of humanity has already begun within the history known to us. What interests us now is how exactly Jesus departed from the earth.

 There are four texts in particular that are recognized by both Muslims and Christians as the basis of the Quranic view of Jesus' departure. These are Al-i İmran 3:54-55, Nisa 4:155-159, Maide 5:117 and Meryem 19:33:

Al-i İmran 3:54-55: ‘Lo! God said: "O Jesus! Verily, I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto Me [Muhammad Asad], and will purify you of (the groundless slanders of) those who disbelieve, and set your followers above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection [Ali Unal]: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. Nisa 4:155-159: ‘... but God has sealed their hearts in result of their denial of the truth, and [now] they believe in but few things - [Muhammad Asad]; And (The Lord has done this) because of their denying (Jesus) and because of their uttering a great calumny against Mary [Abdul Mannan Omar], That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow [Abdullah Yusuf Ali], and they killed him not of a certainty [Ali Unal]:- Nay, [rather [Abdul Mannan Omar] Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise [Abdullah Yusuf Ali];- Yet there is none of the People of the Book but will, before the moment of his death, (grasp the truth about Jesus and) believe in him [Ali Unal]. ; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them;- [Abdullah Ali Yusuf]’

Maide 5:117: Nothing did I tell them beyond what Thou didst bid me [to say]: 'Worship God, [who is] my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer.' And I bore witness to what they did as long as I dwelt in their midst; but since Thou hast caused me to die, Thou alone hast been their keeper for Thou art witness unto everything. [Muhammad Asad]’

Meryem 19:33: ‘So peace [as-salaam] is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!’

These are the verses on the basis of which we must come to an understanding of the way in which Jesus departed from the earth.