Three Main Reasons Jesus Did NOT Die on the Cross
The first thing to remember is that:
it takes belief to be deceived. If you don’t have facts you only have opinions. Truth is based on fact, not belief.
Three main reasons:
-
- Belief that Jesus was raised from the dead — a requirement for salvation.
- Jesus appeared to his disciples in his wounded physical body — in secret.
- Large amounts of herbs that were known at the time to be curative were brought to the tomb.
There are several other pieces of evidence that make up parts of the hypothesis that Jesus did not in fact die, but the three strongest ones are the ones listed above, in my opinion.
- A requirement for salvation
This first one should be obvious, but the whole of Pauline Christianity has swallowed this LIE, “hook, line and sinker”.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
In the first place this requirement flies contrary in the face of the teachings of Jesus himself. What’s more is this requirement is not found in any other place in the whole Bible. If you don’t believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, you don’t believe he died and you don’t believe God raised Jesus from the dead, therefore: you go to Hell. This is contradictory to the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. (There is more on this in other articles.)
If God didn’t raise Jesus from the dead, then obviously he didn’t die. Why should belief in the resurrection be a requirement for salvation unless there was much doubt about it? If there were no resurrection, then the basic premise of Christianity falls flat. Just the necessity to make this premise solid reveals it was very shaky to begin with.
If there were no requirement for belief in the resurrection of Jesus, then there would be no reason to believe that he even died in the first place, nor any reason to believe that God raised him from the dead.
The resurrection is the success of the Christian religion. The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is what gives Christianity exclusivity over all other religions, since Jesus supposedly died for the sins of the world. If you don’t believe Jesus died for your sins, you are destined for Hell for all of eternity.
This doctrine had to be an invention of Paul who was considered by most of the early church to be a liar and apostate and was, by some accounts, excommunicated from the church by James the brother of Jesus. Moreover, Paul was physically thrown out of the temple and would have been killed by a group of Jews who wanted to see him dead him for teaching against the Law and was only saved by Roman soldiers. Paul was forced to leave Asia and lived the rest of his life under the protection of Rome — the very ones who persecuted the the Jewish people.
- Jesus physical appearance — alive!
The Gospels themselves give an account of Jesus appearing to his disciples in secret in his physical body — alive! And it also states that not only did he appear with his physical body but with all the wounds from his unsuccessful execution. Just because he shows up with a lot of wounds, doesn’t prove he died, much less does it prove that God raised him from the dead.
His disciples all believed that he had died, obviously, since they didn’t even believe it was him. And the writers of the New Testament would have us believe that God raised Jesus from the dead to be the reason for his appearance.
Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have (Luke 24:39).
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19)
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. (Jn 20:26)
Two things to note here: It is clear that Jesus is alive and in his flesh and bone body and they locked the doors in fear. If Jesus were actually God then why would they be afraid of anyone? If his resurrection had been prophesied, then would God have allowed Jesus to be executed again? There seems to be a lot of invention here.
It is very common that people who appear dead are only in a coma. There are also many cases of near death where people appear to be dead and then later resume heart beat and breathing. In those days people were ignorant of the scientific knowledge we have today. From all the evidence that the Gospels themselves provide us, the most probable case is that Jesus only appeared to be dead. But if the men brought herbs with medicinal properties… That leads to the next point.
- Medicinal herbs brought to the tomb
Two men, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, that brought Jesus to the tomb, as we are told in the Gospel of John, brought a huge amount of herbs, known in those days to be medicinal. These same herbs are known today as having potent, medicinal curative power.
And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (Jn 19:38-40)
The myrrh and aloes have been used for centuries for their medicinal effects
In recent studies the synergistic effects of these two substances have been revealed to have great medicinal properties such as:
-
- analgesic
- antiseptic
- anti-inflammatory
- anti-bacterial
- treat and protect wounds
- aid in the healing
- help stop bleeding
It says that they “wound the body of Jesus in linen clothes with the spices” inferring the practice of embalming. However, it also says: “as the manner of the Jews is to bury” and it is unlikely that they used the herbs for embalming since this was not the “manner of the Jews”.
“I die this day at the age of one hundred and nineteen years before your eyes. None shall bury me in a costly garment, nor shall ye cut my body to embalm it, but ye shall carry me to Hebron.” Having spoken these words, Judah sank into death.” (Legends of the Jews 2:2)
The Jews did not use embalming as the Egyptians did since they cut the body to embalm it. The two men basically wrapped the body, as it says, “in linen clothes with the spices”. It doesn’t say they embalmed the body. Even if the Jews did embalm the dead, they certainly wouldn’t embalm Jesus if they thought he might not be dead yet!
It is very unlikely that they used aloes for embalming since they brought a large amount of myrrh. One hundred pounds of aloes and myrrh is more consistent with treating a person who had undergone something as horrible as beating and a crucifixion. And since, obviously, dead bodies don’t heal, it is very unlikely that they would have brought medicinal herbs if they knew Jesus was dead.
Logic tells you that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea at least suspected that Jesus was still alive since they brought medicinal herbs. They also took the body away secretly for fear that Pilate might have taken Jesus back for execution to please the Jews.
Conclusion
- Requirement for Salvation?
To be required to believe in the resurrection for “salvation” is based on an untruth. Just because Paul said it doesn’t make it true. The fact that Paul said it makes it more inclined to be a lie. Christianity is based principally on the writings of Paul and the Gospels were written decades after the crucifixion. How can one base one’s salvation on a concept that very likely has no basis in fact, and must be taken totally on faith? Belief is required to be deceived. Truth is based on fact.
- Appeared Alive and Wounded — in Secret
Jesus appeared alive to his disciples, still with wounds in his flesh. There is no factual evidence that he actually died. We have lots of verses from the bible that probably have been made up by Paul and company. If God actually did resurrect Jesus, why the fear of being killed again by Pilate? There is no logic to this.
A lot of fabrication has been done to the Gospels, but some true things have seemed to seep through. It’s not all or nothing at all with the Bible. Lots of forgeries have some truth mixed in to get people to swallow it. The difficulty is discerning the difference since there are no original manuscripts.
- Medicinal Herbs for His Healing
The fact that a large amount of herbs, known at that time to have medicinal properties, were brought to the tomb, strongly suggests that they knew or at least suspected Jesus was still alive and that their intention was to treat his wounds — which no doubt they did.
- After His Execution — the Flight
Jesus traveled a long way from Pilate to avoid being executed and killed for real the next time. How do I know that Jesus traveled away? Because he was actually seen in Arabia, and his existence there was recorded in the writings of Islam.
Muslims to this day declare that Jesus was not crucified, because he was seen alive and recognized in their country. Ask them. That’s what they’ll tell you. What’s more, they believe that Jesus was a true prophet of Alah. There is a grave in India where followers of Jesus believe that Jesus was buried and they pay homage to the site regularly.
Read Also:
Next: Who Was Jesus Part 2 | Did Jesus Really Die? Part 2