Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 61
Chapter Four—Early Documentary Evidence 61 The Esseer Brotherhood, according to the letter, told Jesus when he insisted on going among the people to tell them that God had saved him. … ‘Thou art not safe in this country, for they will search after thee. Do not, therefore, go any more among the peo- ple to teach, for what thou hast taught will live among thy friends for ever, and thy disciples will publish it to the world. Remain, I pray thee, dead to the world … Live in the seclusion of wisdom and virtue, unknown to the world…’ (p. 91–92) The circumstances endorsed the wisdom of the aforesaid plan. It was accordingly decided that Jesus should remain ‘dead to the world’. It appears from the letter that Jesus’ death and his burial were not seen by the author himself, and it was hearsay only, which was presumably made known by Joseph and Nicodemus as planned that Jesus should remain ‘dead to the world’ so that his opponents make no search for him. And if this statement about the death and burial of Jesus would have been factually true, at least some traces of his grave would have been found in the vicinity of the Dead Sea during the past centuries. At any rate, it is crystal clear from the letter under reference that Jesus did not die on the cross. Comments of the German Translator In his closing remarks, the German translator says: