Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 90
90 with the statement of the centurion about the death of Jesus and readily gave the order that the body may be handed over to Joseph of Arimathaea. The above reconstruction is in exact accord with the Biblical description and the affirmation of the Quran on this subject. God's assurance to Jesus, according to the Quran was that he would die a natural death and would be spiritually exalted towards God; that is to say, he would not suffer death upon the cross. There is a very significant and most emphatic affirmation in the Quran, which corroborates the above assurance: 51 And their claiming: We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary who claimed to be the Messenger of God, whereas they slew him not, nor did they compass his death upon the cross, but the semblance of death was created for them. . . They have no definite knowledge about it, but only follow conjecture; they certainly did not compass his death; indeed, God exalted him to Himself; God is Mighty, Wise. Several biographers of Jesus have, in recent years, expressed grave doubts about his death on the cross. Moreover, recent discoveries from around the Middle East and India provide irrefutable evidence against Jesus' death on the cross. According to the available evidence, the circumstances surrounding the event of the crucifixion point very strongly to the probability that he escaped such a death. Excerpts from some of the biographers follow: a) Pilate, then, would have liked to save Jesus. . . . According to a tradition, Jesus found a supporter in the wife of the Procurator himself. . . and the idea that the blood of this beautiful young man was about to be spilt, weighed upon her mind. Certain it is that Jesus found Pilate prepossessed in his favor. The Governor questioned him with kindness, and with the desire to find an excuse for sending him away pardoned. 52 b) Therefore Pilate endeavored to release him, but the Jews cried out: 'If thou release this man, thou art no friend of Caesar. Whosoever claimeth to be a king denieth the claim of Caesar. ' On hearing these words Pilate brought Jesus forth and sat down on the judgment-seat in a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was the preparation-day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews: Behold your King; but they cried out: Away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them: Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest replied: We have no King but Caesar. When Pilate perceived that his efforts were of no avail, but on the contrary a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. All the people replied: His blood be on us, and on our children. Their clamours, and those of the chief priests prevailed; for Pilate, desirous to satisfy the multitude, gave sentence that their demand should be executed. So he released to them Barabbas, imprisoned on account of sedition and murder, whom they had desired, and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. 53 c) It may be interesting to call attention to the fact that nowhere in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is the positive statement as an observation of one of those disciples that Jesus died on the cross or that he was dead when they removed him from the cross and placed him in the tomb. 54 d) Crucifixion was a much more lingering kind of death, and, in its earlier stages, much less excruciating than we are apt to imagine, or than otherwise it would have been. As there was but