By A. Abdul Aziz.

 Bible confirms the survival of Jesus from Crucifixion!

 In this Forum, the events of crucifixion not yet presented in detail by our Muslim and Christian readers as it is so important to highlight what really happened for the seekers after truth.

The crucifixion of Jesus was an attempt made on his life, like any attempted murder. If an attempt is made on someone’s life and the attempt fails, it cannot be said that the intended victim was murdered. So we believe, that only an attempt to murder Jesus was made; crucifixion being the instrument of the attempted murder. After a few hours of intense suffering upon the cross, before death could overtake him, he was taken down from the cross in a state of deep coma from which he was revived later on.

We prove from the Bible that God did not abandon him and saved him from the ignoble death upon the cross. This can be studied in the light of the facts relating to the period before the Crucifixion, as well as the facts of the Crucifixion itself and after it, as related by the New Testament. Long before that incident, Jesus promised that no sign would be shown unto the people other than the sign of Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.(Mathew: 12;40)

Now it is obvious that Jonah did not die in the belly of the whale; all that happened was that he went into a swoon or a coma.  The holy books of God bear witness that Jonah, by the grace of God, remained in the belly of the whale alive came out alive, and his people ultimately accepted him.   If then Jesus had died in the belly of the earth, what resemblance could there be between the dead and the living, and vice versa?  The truth is, that Jesus was a true prophet and he knew that God, who loved him, would save him from an accursed death (Deut: 21;23).  Therefore, on the basis of divine revelation, he prophesied in the form of a parable, and positively intimated that he would not die on the cross, nor would he give up his ghost on the accursed wood; on the contrary, like the prophet Jonah, he would only be in a state of swoon.  In the parable, he had also hinted that he would come out of the bowels of the earth and join his people and would be honoured like Jonah.

The second important piece of evidence is that Jesus told his people that the sheep of the house of Israel who dwelt in and around Judea were not the only sheep, and that he was sent by God not only to them but also to the other sheep of the same flock. Just as he had come to retrieve them he would also go and retrieve the others as well. (John: 10;16) This was the other very strong reason for Jesus to have immigrated from the land of Judea to those foreign lands where the Jews had settled over a period of many centuries.

Now according to common knowledge, between the time of his promise and Crucifixion, he never left the land of Judea for anywhere else. The question is, if Jesus ascended to heaven eternally, had the lost sheep of Israel also ascended earlier? Did Jesus actually forget his commitment to the house of Israel and left straight for the heavens?

We believe that he was a true prophet of God and could not have made a false promise. What he meant by the lost sheep were the ten tribes of Israel, who had earlier migrated from Judea and had gone to remote eastern lands. His promise, therefore, was that he would not be killed on the cross but would be given a long life to pursue his mission and that he was a prophet not just for the two Israeli tribes living around him but for all the Israelites. Together, the above two pieces of evidence provide the positive indication of what was to happen to Jesus Christ after the Crucifixion.

Another point relevant to this issue relates to the fixing of the date and time by Pilate for carrying out the Crucifixion. Even before he fixed the date and time we read of other things, which one should not be surprised to believe, might have played an important role regarding his final decision. First of all we know on the authority of the New Testament that Pilate’s wife was strongly averse to her husband passing judgement against Jesus because of the influence of a dream she had the night before Jesus’ trial. She was so terrified by the effect of the dream, which led her to believe that Jesus was absolutely innocent, that she thought it imperative to disturb the court proceedings to convey the message of the dream to her husband. (Matthew 27:19) Perhaps it was this urgent protestation by his wife that led Pilate to make a show of absolving himself of the responsibility of his condemnation of Jesus.

When Pilate saw that he was getting no where, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘it is your responsibility!’ (Matt 27:15–17)

It amounted to a confession on his part that Jesus was indeed innocent and that the harsh judgement passed by him was under duress. It is quite clear from the New Testament that the powerful Jewish community had colluded against Jesus and were determined to have him punished. So any decision by Pilate contrary to Jewish wishes could have resulted in a grave law and order situation. This was Pilate’s compulsion which rendered him helpless and was displayed in the act of washing his hands.

He was quite obviously against the idea of sentencing Jesus. It was in this psychological state that he fixed Friday afternoon to be the day and time of the execution. What actually happened, leaves one to believe, was a clear indication that he did it on purpose because the Sabbath was not very far from Friday afternoon and he, as the custodian of law knew better than anyone else that before the Sabbath began by sunset, Jesus’ body would have to be taken down; and that is exactly what happened.

Could this incident not be a key to the enigma of Jonah? As it was a common practice for a condemned person to hang on the cross for three days and nights, this rings a bell indeed in one’s mind about the similitude between Jesus and Jonah as mentioned earlier. He is also supposed to have remained within the body of the fish for three days and three nights. Maybe he too was delivered alive by God’s design within three hours instead of three days. So what happened in the case of Jesus becomes a mirror reflecting and replaying the tragic drama of Jonah.,

Now turning to the events during the Crucifixion. even at the last moment Jesus stood firm to his protestations: ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?,’ O my Lord! Why hast thou forsaken me?” How deeply tragic, how painfully expressive of his disillusionment. How subtly pointing at some earlier promise and assurance which God the Father must have given him, otherwise, no sense whatsoever can be read in this exclamation. It is a denial both of his wish and willingness to carry, by volition, the load of other people’s sin and of the view that he was looking forward to that hour of death. Why this deep cry of anguish when the punishment was demanded by him in the first place. Why should he reproach God, or even pray for deliverance? It should be read in the context of what happened before. He was praying to God throughout to take the bitter cup from him. It is impossible that God did not accept that prayer, because, Jesus was pious and holy person.

He must have been told that the prayer had been accepted. I do not believe that he gave up the ghost on the cross. With me there is no contradiction and everything is consistent. His death was only the impression of an observer who was neither a physician nor had he any opportunity to medically examine him. An onlooker, watching with such anxiety and concern lest death should overtake his beloved master, merely observed the dropping of the tired head with chin resting against the chest of Jesus. And ‘Lo,’ he exclaimed, ‘He gave up the ghost.’

The point which is roundly established therefore is that whether he swooned or died, his painful surprise at what was about to happen strongly proves that he expected otherwise. If death it was that he sought then the surprise that he showed had no justification at all.  Jesus was only surprised because he was given a promise of deliverance from cross by God during his supplications the night before. But God had other plans, He caused Jesus to merely swoon so that the sentries on guard could be misled to believe that he had died and as such to release his body to Joseph of Arimathea, to be delivered to his kith and kin. The surprise which we notice in the last words of Jesus Christ was also shared by Pilate himself: ‘Already dead,’ is what he exclaimed when the incident of death was reported to him.  (Mark 15:44).

He must have had a long experience of crucifixion during his tenure as Governor of Judea and could not have expressed his surprise unless he was convinced that it is unusual for death to overtake a crucified person, within the short period of only a few hours. Yet he had to accept the plea to release the body under mysterious circumstances. That is why he is forever accused of conspiracy. It is alleged that under the influence of his wife he saw to it that the execution of Jesus took place at an hour very close to the hour of Sabbath. Secondly, he conceded to the request to release the body despite doubtful reports of Jesus’ death. This decision of Pilate caused grave concern among the Jews who petitioned to him and expressed their doubts and suspicions regarding the death of Jesus. (Matthew 27:62–66).

We also observe from the Bible that when his body was taken down his legs were not broken. Whereas the legs of the two thieves, hanging along with him, were broken to make sure that they died. (John 19:31,32).

This act of sparing Jesus would certainly have helped his revival from the coma. It cannot be ruled out altogether that the sentries had been instructed by some emissaries of Pilate, not to break the legs of Jesus Christ. Perhaps as a mark of respect for him and the innocent Christian community.

Again according to the Bible, when his side was pierced blood and water gushed out.

But when they came to Jesus and found him already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (John 19:33,34)

If he was dead and his heart had stopped beating, such active bleeding as causing the blood to rush out or gush out would be impossible. At most coagulated blood and plasma could have passively seeped out. But that is not the picture which the New Testament presents, it says that blood and water rushed out. As far as the mention of water is concerned it should not be surprising for Jesus to have developed pleurisy during the extremely exacting and punishing hours of trial that he spent upon the cross. Also, the stress of the Crucifixion could have resulted in exudates from the pleura to collect likes bags of water, which is medically termed as wet pleurisy. This condition, which is otherwise dangerous and painful, seems to have turned into an advantage for Jesus because when his side was pierced the swollen pleura could easily have played the role of a cushion protecting the chest organs from being directly penetrated by the spear. Water mixed with blood rushed out because of an active heart.

Another piece of evidence is as follows. According to the Biblical account, after the body was handed over to Joseph of Arimathea, it was immediately removed to a secret place of burial, a sepulchre with enough room not only for Jesus but also for two of his attendants to sit and take care of him.

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent down over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been. (John 20:10–12)

Moreover, we are informed in the New Testament (John: 19;39) that an ointment, which had been prepared in advance was applied to Jesus’ wounds.6 This ointment, prepared by the disciples of Jesus, contained ingredients which have properties of healing wounds and subduing pain etc. Why was there all this fuss about going through the laborious exercise of collecting twelve rare ingredients to prepare an ointment at all? The prescription used is recorded in many classical books such as the famous medical textbook Al-Qanun by Bu Ali Sina. So what was the need of applying ointment to a dead body? This could only make sense if the disciples had strong reasons to believe that Jesus would be delivered alive from the cross and not dead. St. John is the only apostle who has ventured to offer an explanation justifying the act of preparing and applying an ointment to Jesus’ body. This further supports the fact that the act of applying ointment to a dead body was considered extremely odd behaviour, inexplicable to those who believed that Jesus was dead when ointment was applied. It is for this reason why St. John had to offer an explanation. He suggests that it was done so merely because it was a Jewish practice to apply some sort of balm or ointment to the bodies of their dead. Now it is a very important fact to note that all modern scholars who have researched into this, are in agreement that St. John was not of Jewish origin, and he proved it by this statement of his. It is known for certain that Jews or the Children of Israel have never applied any ointments whatsoever to the bodies of their dead. As such the scholars contend that St. John must have been of non-Jewish origin otherwise he could not have been so ignorant of Jewish customs. So there has to be another reason for this.

The ointment was applied to save Jesus from near death. The only explanation lies in the fact that Jesus was neither expected to die by his disciples nor did he actually die upon the cross. The body which was taken down must have shown positive signs of life before the application of the ointment, otherwise, it turns out to be an extremely stupid, unwarranted and futile exercise on the part of those who indulged in it. It is unlikely that those who had prepared this ointment in advance had done so without a very strong indication that Jesus would not die upon the cross but would be taken down alive seriously wounded, very much in need of a powerful healing agent.

It should be borne in mind that the location of the sepulchre where Jesus lay was kept a closely guarded secret, known to a few of his disciples. Obviously for the reason that he was still alive and was yet not beyond danger.

As for what happened in the sepulchre, this is debatable on many counts; it cannot stand critical examination or prove that the person who walked out had really died and then been resurrected. The only evidence we have is the belief of Christians that the Jesus who walked out of the sepulchre possessed the same body which was crucified, bearing the same marks and wounds. If he was seen walking out in the same body, then the only logical conclusion which could be drawn would be that he had never died.

Another piece of evidence pointing to the continuity of Jesus’ life is as follows. After three days and three nights he is seen, not by the public, but only by his Disciples. In other words, by people whom he trusted. He avoids the light of day and only meets them under the cover of darkness at night. One may safely infer from the Biblical account that he seems to be moving away from the source of danger with a sense of urgency and secrecy. The question is, if he had been given a new and eternal life after his first death, and was not to suffer another, why was he hiding from the eyes of his enemies; that is both the government agencies and the public? He should have appeared to the Jews and the representatives of the Roman Empire and said: ‘Here I am, with an eternal life, try and kill me again if you may, you will never be able to.’ But he preferred to remain hidden. Not that the idea of appearing in public was not suggested to him, on the contrary, it was specifically suggested to him to reveal himself to the world, but he refused and continued to distance himself from Judea so that no one could follow him.

Then Judas said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’ (John 14: 22)

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going further. But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. (Luke 24,28–29)

This very strongly presents the case of a mortal who is not beyond the reach of death or injury to his person. It only signifies that Jesus had not died in the sense that he was delivered of the human element in him but he remained exactly the same in his nature, whatever it was, and there was no death separating his old self from the new. This is what we call continuity of life in human experience. A spirit or a ghost belonging to another world certainly does not behave like Jesus behaved during his secret meetings under the cover of night with his close friends and followers.

The question of Jesus being a ghost is emphatically ruled out by none other than Jesus himself. When he appeared to some of his disciples, they could not hide their fear of him because they believed him to be not Jesus himself, but a ghost of Jesus. Jesus Christ understanding their difficulties dispelled their fears by denying being a ghost, asserting himself to be the same Jesus who was crucified and invited them to examine his wounds which were still fresh. (John 20:19–27)

His appearance to his disciples etc, by no means established his revival from the dead. All that it established was simply his survival from the throes of death.