What is the wisdom behind the descent of Jesus, may Allaah exalt his mention, at the end of time? Will he lead the Muslims under his command?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Perhaps the wisdom behind the descent of ‘Eesa (Jesus) is to disclose the lie of the Jews who claimed that they had killed and crucified him. The Quran related this false claim, where Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander, And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allaah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them.} [Quran 4:156-157]

‘Eesa will descend as a fulfillment of the true promise of Allaah The Almighty, a testimony to the Prophethood of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and a miracle for ‘Eesa .

The descent of ‘Eesa does not necessarily mean that he will be the leader of the Muslims, since many authentic Hadeeths (narrations) affirmed that he will descend while the Muslims are under the command of a leader from among them. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "What shall you do when the son of Maryam (Mary) descends and your leader (Al-Mahdi) is one of you!" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said:

“A group of my Ummah will not cease fighting for the truth and they will prevail until the Day of Resurrection. Then 'Eesa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary) will descend and the Muslims' commander will invite him to come and lead them in prayer, but he will refuse and say, ‘Your commanders are from amongst you,’ which is an honor for this Ummah." [Muslim]

There is nothing wrong about this, for giving preference in leadership to the virtuous over the more virtuous, is permissible.

Allaah Knows best.