Crucifixion of Jesus

I have written this small article not to hurt feelings of any of my Christian brothers, but for a better understanding on each other's view point on the concept of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (peace be upon him). This is based on my understanding of the concept based on Quran and Bible. If I have made any mistake feel free to correct me. Please note that we Muslims do not believe Bible to be the word of God Almighty as you don't believe Quran is. We believe God Almighty had revealed scriptures to Mosses, David and Jesus (peace be upon them), but it is not retained in its original form. We believe that there might be words of Almighty in Bible and there might be words of prophets, words of historians and many more; which I'm not going to talk about right now. What ever proof I derived from Quran is sufficient for my Muslim brothers and sisters, and proof I derived from Bible is for my Christian brothers and it need not to be Islamic view point.

Islamic view point

[Surah Nisa (004:157)] And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'خsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allâh," – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them [the resemblance of 'خsâ (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man)], and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely, they killed him not [i.e. 'خsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ['alayhis-salâm]]:

This one verse is enough to convince my Muslim brothers and sisters that Jesus was neither crucified nor resurrected. If any Muslim or Christian is ready to prove me that I'm wrong in this matter according to Quran, you are most welcome.

Biblical View Point

No Crucifixion, No Resurrection, No Christianity

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

= 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 13 & 14 =

What is crucifixion?

Crucify:- Put to death by nailing or binding to transverse bar; causing extreme pain to.

= The oxford dictionary =

What is resurrection?

Resurrection:- Rising from dead.

= The oxford dictionary =

⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

= 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 42 – 44 =

So we know that according to Bible the resurrected bodies are “spiritualized”.

All the disciples forsook Jesus Christ

⁴⁷ And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? ⁴⁹ I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ Then they all forsook Him and fled.

= Mark ch 14 v 47-50 =

Who had seen crucifixion of Jesus?

Crucifixion of Jesus was witnessed by only three of his disciples. Joseph of Arimathie, Nicodemus and Marry Magdalene. – Gospel of John 19:39-42

Jesus on the cross only for two hours

Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, as we know for Muslims and Jews day start from the sunset unlike for westerners at midnight 12. The day after Friday is Saturday (sabbath) so they took Jesus from the cross before sunset as it was forbidden for Jews to crucify some one at Sabbath. So Jesus must be in the cross for two to three hours. Crucifixion is painful death where it takes few days for the person crucified to die. So it is practically impossible for him to die on the cross within three hours.

Sign of Jonah

Matthew records that the learned men among the Jews – the Scribes and Pharisees – came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”. (Matthew 12:38)

With righteous indignation Jesus replies: “But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)

Jesus says, “NO SIGN.” He does not refer the Jews to blind Bartimeus whose sight he had restored. He does not speak about the “woman with issues” who was healed by merely touching him; or about the 2000 pigs he had destroyed to heal “a man possessed;” or the 5000 and the 3000 people he had fed and satiated with a few pieces of fish and a few pieces of bread. ‘No sign,” says Jesus, BUT ONE! –“THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAH!” He is putting all his “eggs” in one basket. His claim to being the Messiah (Christ) stands or falls by the ONLY “sign” he was prepared to give.

What was the sign of Jonah???

What was the “sign” (miracle) of Jonah? We have to go to the “Book of Jonah” in the Old Testament to find out. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the Ninevites to repent from their “evil ways, and from the violence that is in their hands.” (Jonah 3:8) But Jonah was loath to go as a warner unto the Ninevites, so he goes to Joppa instead of Ninevah, and takes a boat to run away from the Lord’s command. While at sea, there was a terrible tempest. According to the superstition of the mariners, a person fleeing from his Master’s command creates such a turmoil at sea. They began to inquire among themselves and said, “COME, AND LET US CAST LOTS, (like the tossing of a coin, “head” or “tail”) THAT WE MAY KNOW FOR WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL IS UPON US. SO THEY CAST LOTS, AND THE LOT FELL UPON JONAH.” (Jonah 1:7) Though there was a temporary lapse on the part of Jonah in fulfilling his mission, he manfully and most courageously volunteers: “AND HE SAID UNTO THEM TAKE ME UP, AND CAST ME FORTH INTO THE SEA; SO SHALL THE SEA BE CALM UNTO YOU: FOR I KNOW THAT FOR MY SAKE THIS GREAT TEMPEST IS UPON YOU.” (Jonah 1:12)

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Since Jonah was selflessly offering himself as a “vicarious” sacrifice there was no need for strangling him before throwing him into the sea, no need to spear him or break his arm or limb. In his own words: “TAKE ME UP AND CAST ME FORTH.” The question now arises, that when the ship master and the crew threw him overboard, was Jonah dead or alive? Any Christian child who has attended Sunday School will give an immediate reply: “ALIVE!” The storm subsides. Was this perhaps a coincidence? A fish swallows Jonah. Was he dead or alive when swallowed? The answer again is “ALIVE” Was he dead or alive when “JONAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD HIS GOD OUT OF THE FISH’S BELLY?” (Jonah 2:1) Surely dead men don’t cry and don’t pray! The answer again is “ALIVE” For three days and three nights the fish takes him around the ocean: dead or alive? “ALIVE!” is the answer. On the third day it vomits him on the seashore: dead or alive? A-L-I-V-E, of course! What had Jesus prophesied about himself? He said: “AS JONAH WAS SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE”

If Jonah was alive for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in the tomb as he himself had foretold! But Christianity hangs on the flimsy thread of the “death” of Jesus for its salvation. So it has to answer that Jesus was DEAD for three days and three nights. The contradiction between his utterance and its fulfillment is obvious. Jonah ALIVE, Jesus DEAD! Very UNLIKE Jonah! Jesus had said “LIKE Jonah” not UNLIKE Jonah. If this is true then according to his own test Jesus is not the TRUE Messiah of the Jews. If the Gospel record is genuine then how can we blame the Jews for rejecting “CHRIST.” Being a Muslim I believe Jesus told truth but those who believed Jesus died had misunderstood.

The Doctor of Divinity and the Professor of Theology replies that in Matthew 12:40 under discussion, the emphasis is on the TIME factor “as Jonas was THREE days and THREE nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the son of man be THREE days and THREE nights in the heart of the earth.” “Please note,” says the learned theologian, “that the word “THREE” is repeated F-O-U-R times in this verse to prove that Jesus was going to fulfill the prophecy as regards the length of time he was going to remain in the tomb, and NOT ‘As Jonas was’ in relation to his being alive or dead. If it is the time factor that Jesus was stressing then let us ask whether he fulfilled that aspect of his promise to the Jews as well. The Christian dogmatist answers: “OF COURSE!”

From the Gospel records we gather that the Jews were in a hurry to eliminate Jesus. Hence the midnight trial, and then dispatching him off to Pilate in the morning; from Pilate to Herod and then back again to Pilate. The vested interests were afraid of the general public. Jesus was their hero. He had been their benefactor. His enemies had to do away with him quickly, and succeeded in doing so. However, as much as they were in a hurry to hang him on the cross, they were in equal hurry to bring him down from the cross before sunset on Friday because of the Sabbath. The Sabbath starts at about 6 p.m. on Friday and the Jews were warned in Deuteronomy 21:23 that the victim of crucifixion was an “accursed of God” and was not to be permitted to remain hanging on the Sabbath day, “that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” To satisfy the religious scruples of the Scribes and Pharisees the “secret disciples” of Jesus took down the body from the cross. They gave the body the Jewish burial-bath, plastered it with “one hundred pounds weight of aloes and myrrh” (John 19:39), then placed the shrouded body into the sepulcher before night-fall.

There are numerous differences between the various sects and denominations of Christianity, but on the above they are unanimous. Jesus is SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night of Friday. He is still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the day of Saturday. He is still SUPPOSED to be in the tomb on the night of Saturday.

Note that the GRAND TOTAL is ONE day and TWO nights, and NOT three days and three nights. According to the Christian Scriptures Jesus had failed a SECOND time. FIRST he was unlike Jonah, who was ALIVE in the belly of the fish, which is the exact opposite of what the Christians claim had happened to their master Jesus, who was DEAD for the same period of time as Jonah was – ALIVE. SECONDLY, we discover that he also failed to fulfill the TIME FACTOR as well. The greatest mathematician in Christendom will fail to obtain the desired result – THREE days and THREE nights. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in telling us that it was “before sunrise” on Sunday morning (the FIRST day of the week), that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.

Tomb Of Jesus

It was a private property of scared disciple Joseph of Arimathea, a rich and influential Jew. According to Jim Bishop it was very roomy, 5 feet wide, 7 feet in height and 15 feet in depth. I wonder if Christ really died why would they place him (just one body) in 525 cubic feet tomb (large room).

Jesus and Mary Magdalene

¹ Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
³ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ⁴ So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

¹⁴ Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

= John Ch 20: V 1-18 =

¹ Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. ² Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”

= Mark Ch 16: V 1-3 =

¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. ¹¹ And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

= Mark Ch 16: V 10-11 =

Why did Marry Magdalen when to anoint Jesus Christ? If he was dead it was second day after his dead. If I ask do Jews anoint and massage dead bodies after two days you will say NO. What about Christians, do they? NO. We Muslims? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Marry Magdalen went to anoint and massage Jesus because according to Gospel of John 19:39-42 she was among the only three disciples who had seen the crucifixion of Christ and she know that he is ALIVE.

Why was the stone removed?? According to 1^st book of Corinthians ch 15 v 44 resurrected bodies are spiritualized, so it is obvious that that the stone was moved because Jesus was not resurrected. If not he could have easily passed through like a ghost. Further if we see the linen cloths were unwound and kept inside. It concludes Jesus was a physical body like you and I (ALIVE).

Marry Magdalen supposed Jesus to be the gardener. Do resurrected bodies looks like gardeners? The answer is NO. Marry supposed Jesus to be the gardener because he was ALIVE.

“Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Do you think Marry alone can carry body of Jesus Christ if he is dead as she says “I will take Him away” ? Absolutely not. (Note that all the disciples when their home by then according to John 20:10)

She asked for it because she knew that the Jesus was ALIVE.

“Do not cling to Me” because Jesus was ALIVE and imaging if someone clings on a person undergoing such severe pain due no nailing a cross. And here Jesus clearly says he has not resurrected “I have not yet ascended to My Father”

The Upper Room

³⁶ Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
⁴⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” ⁴² So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.⁴³ And He took it and ate in their presence.

= Luke Ch 24: V 36-43 =

Why were they terrified to see their lost master? Because they have heard their master was killed but they were not eyewitnesses as they flew away according to Mark 14:50. Disciples thought it was ghost of Jesus. Jesus went on proving them that he is not a ghost, but ALIVE. Handle my hand and feet, spirit has got no flesh and bones as you see I have. When they did they came to understand that he is ALIVE so overjoyed and excited. Yet they couldn't believe completely, so Jesus asked them if they have any food so that Jesus can eat it and get them ridge of all the doubts they were having in their minds. So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb and he ate it.

One last question is do Ghosts eat? Answer is no he was not a ghost, he was ALIVE.

Soul sinned shall die

²⁰ The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

= Ezekiel Ch 18 : V 20 =

So according to above statement in Bible you are responsible for your sin, not Jesus.

So I conclude here with a verse from holy Quran

[017:081] And say: "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Surely, falsehood is ever bound to vanish."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/50180406/Crucifixion-of-Jesus