Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 116
' 116 said, later underwent a change. In order to determine this point, we now turn to the mental attitude of Jesus at the time of crucifixion. There is only one Hebrew sentence preserved intact in the entire text of the New Testament, which the Messiah uttered on the occasion. It is Eli Eli lama sabachthani (St. Matthew, Ch. 27:46). When the Messiah (peace be on him) was put on the Cross and his hands and feet were nailed, in extreme agony, he prayed to the Lord. God saying, "O my Lord! O my Lord! why hast thou forsaken me?” In other words, "For what fault didst thou abandon me and turn away from me thy merciful gaze?". This prayer also confirms the fact that the Messiah was not agreeable to be crucified of his own free will. On the contrary, he was under the impression in his last moments, that God had forsaken him, leaving him in that misfortune. . In other words, the Messiah was not agreeable at heart to be crucified and when he was not agreeable to it at any time, either before the fact or after crucifixion, his crucifixion cannot, therefore, be properly termed as an act of redemption. . WAS JESUS FREE FROM HEREDITARY SIN?. Another question which comes up for examination simultaneously is whether the Messiah (peace be on him) was free from the sin of Adam to be worthy of offering atonement. . The theory of vicarious atonement is based on the premises that man cannot be pure, for, he is begotten of Adam who had sinned and since the progeny inherits, the parent, the children of Adam inherited sin and have no escape from it and, therefore, they cannot attain to salvation. As no sinner can atone for another sinner, it became imperative that there should be one who had not sinned and could of his own free