Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 25
All this shows that Jesus comported himself, after the event of the crucifixion, all the time, according to the requirements of a physical, material body, eating, drinking, sleeping and travelling, which activities are utterly inconsistent with his having discarded his physical body, and having assumed a glorified spiritual manifestation. It is worthy of reflection how, having been invested with a glorious and immortal body, free from the needs of a mortal body, with which he was to sit on the right hand of God. Almighty, and which was free from every stain, pain or defect, and was illumined with eternal Divine glory, he still bore the marks of his injuries and suffered pain and was subject to all the needs and requirements to which a physical body is subject. . It is thus obvious that Jesus did not die upon the cross, nor was he invested with a new glorious body but had become unconscious on the cross and had the appearance of one who had died. . The reported affirmation of Jesus: "But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matt. 26:32), does not cast any doubt on his deliverance from the cross. It is no wonder that a person who was nailed to the cross and had become unconscious so that he appeared to be dead, should, after regaining consciousness, feel that he had risen again. In this context, the expression "risen again" cannot mean coming back to life after suffering death. There is no doubt, however, that the deliverance of Jesus, in all the circumstances of his crucifixion, was a great miracle and was not a normal event. . The Holy Quran affirms that neither the Jews, nor the. Christians, had a firm belief that Jesus had died on the cross. God. Almighty had created circumstances at the time of the crucifixion, wherefrom the Jews and the Christians assumed that Jesus had died on the cross, but they had no clear proof available to satisfy them that Jesus had died on the cross for certain. The evidence that has now become available establishes that God. Almighty had delivered Jesus from death on the cross. . God Almighty has caused the proofs and the reasons which had remained hidden, to be manifested in the days of the. Promised Messiah, whereby it has been established, as clearly as the bright day, that Jesus did not die on the cross and that loved one of God was spiritually exalted. In this context the following pronouncement of the Promised Messiah has great significance: "It was God's design that the shining weapon, and the truth27