Ahmadiyya Muslims consider Jesus (ʿĪsā) as a mortal man, entirely human, and a prophet of God born to the Virgin Mary (Maryam). Jesus is understood to have survived the crucifixion based on the account of the canonical Gospels, the Qurʾān, hadith literature, and revelations (waḥy and kašf) to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Having delivered his message to the Israelites in Judea, Jesus is understood to have emigrated eastward to escape persecution from Judea and to have further spread his message to the Lost Tribes of Israel. Ahmadi Muslims accept that Jesus died a natural death in India. Jesus lived to old age and later died in Srinagar, Kashmir, and his tomb is presently located at the Roza Bal shrine.

Although sharing many similarities with the other Islamic views of Jesus, the Ahmadiyya teachings are distinct from the beliefs held by most mainstream Muslims, who deny the crucifixion of Jesus and believe that he ascended bodily to heaven, and will, according to Islamic literary sources, return before the end of time.

Ahmadis believe the prophecies surrounding the second advent of the messiah Jesus were fulfilled in the likeness and personality of Mīrzā G̲h̲ulām Aḥmad, who initiated the foundation of the Ahmadiyya movement.

According to Ahmadiyya beliefs, a literal interpretation of the miracles performed by ʿĪsā (Jesus) in the Qurʾān (such as creating birds and bringing back the dead to life) is inconsistent with the Quran and attributes a semi-divine status to Jesus. This understanding is replaced with a hermeneutic interpretation of the Qurʾānic verses on account of these miracles. For example, Jesus bringing the dead back to life is understood in the context of bringing back a 'spiritual life' to people who were spiritually dead.

Ahmadi scholars regard the contemporary Islamic interpretations relating to the Second Coming of Jesus (see Ahmadi prophetology) are inaccurate. Ahmadis believe that the expected return of an Israelite prophet after the Islamic prophet Muhammad contravenes the finality of Muhammad's prophethood. Traditional Muslims, however, hold the view that in his second coming - Jesus son of Mary will come as "just ruler" rather than in a prophetic capacity.

The ḥadīth prophecies of Jesus are understood in the Ahmadiyya view to be interchangeably linked with the prophecies of the coming of the Mahdi. Ahmadiyya believes that both the terms, Jesus Son of Mary and Mahdi (as used in Islamic hadith and eschatological literature), designate two titles for the same person.

Ahmad, in his treatise Jesus in India (Urdu: Masih Hindustan Mein), proposed that Jesus survived crucifixion and travelled to India after his apparent death in Jerusalem.

The views of Jesus having travelled to India had been put forth prior to Mirza Ghulam Ahmed's publication, most notably by Nicolas Notovitch in 1894. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad expressly rejected the theory of a pre-crucifixion visit that Notovitch had proposed, arguing instead that Jesus's travels to India took place after surviving crucifixion.