IN DEFENCE OF THE LEGEND THAT JESUS WAS NOT
CRUCIFIED AND THAT IT WAS AN IMPOSTOR
The Church says that Jesus was put to death under Pontius Pilate by crucifixion.
The gospels however leave room for doubt. This study analyses the data and gives
possible explanations. Let us take the dubious data of the gospels at face value
in light of the question: Could someone pretending to be Jesus have started off
the resurrection hoax? If Jesus had not died it would have been easy for him to
show up again after his alleged death.
AN IMPERSONATOR COULD HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED
When Jesus went into Jerusalem on a donkey people had to be told who he was.
This does not sit well with the gospel claims about how popular and well-known
he was.
Jesus said at the last supper that he would not drink the
fruit of the vine again until the afterlife. Vinegar was considered the
fruit of the vine according to Jones in Misquoting Truth. Jesus drank that
on the cross. Or is it a hint that it was not Jesus who was on the cross?
Jesus was arrested in the garden and crucified not long
after. Or was it really him?
The New Testament says the Temple Guard knew Jesus from
his visiting the Temple but had problems believing the man they were arresting
in the Garden was him. Perhaps the substitute was arrested in case Jesus would
be lynched in the quiet garden and the real Jesus was tried before Pilate and
the substitute pulled in for the crucifixion.
Judas supposedly had to identify Jesus by kissing him on
the cheek.
The John Gospel says that Jesus told the cohort in the garden three times that he was the man they were looking for and each time they were not sure.
There is no Judas kiss mentioned in this gospel.
Elsewhere, Jesus tells them he does not understand why
they didn’t arrest him in the Temple (Matthew 26:55). This shows that he was not
popular for he could not have thought that they could have arrested him with all
the supporters about. But it shows they knew him. They took some convincing that
the man before them was the same man. They let the apostles go which is strange
unless they hoped they could track them to the real Jesus if this was not him.
Pilate had Jesus scourged (Matthew 27:26) and he was
beaten round the face and crowned with thorns. This would have made it harder to
identify Jesus so this man could have been somebody else. Some would say that
Jesus would still have been recognisable so that nobody could surmise that it
was not Jesus who had been crucified. But nobody would have anticipated a faked
death and they would not have looked that closely. The man probably was
unrecognisable with a face beaten and bloody for we are told he had a crown of
thorns on his head and was battered around the face. Even if we could not be
sure of that nobody could be sure that Jesus or somebody else pretending to be
Jesus died.
Isaiah 52 tells us that God’s servant will be marred and
unlike a human being. The text says that the servant will be exalted and as many
were shocked by his marred appearance will be shocked at him when they see his
glory. If this describes Jesus then Jesus had a terrible inhuman face when
crucified. Most of the Isaiah prophecies with a bit of fantasy can be made to
fit Jesus and the New Testament says they are about him. The New Testament is so
fond of them which suggests that though his text was never said to have been
about Jesus it is said to be by implication. It would say if Jesus had been
recognisable and if that verse were not about him for undoubtedly, there would
have been a rumour that the man on the cross was impersonating Jesus in the
aftermath of the resurrection proclamation.
The impostor not sounding like Jesus would have been put
down to fatigue and stress. Maybe he whispered so nobody would be any the wiser.
The man who was about to be nailed to the cross was first offered a drug which
he refused (Mark 15:23). They wanted him doped in case he would give something
away but he reassured them. Crucifixion was designed to be as painful as
possible and there was no need to dope Jesus to hasten death for the Romans
would break the legs to do that. What was Pilate up to?
The Bible says that the friends of Jesus were at a
distance from the cross (Luke 23:49). John and Mary could have been as well
though Jesus spoke briefly to them. Thus nothing amiss would have been noticed.
The real Jesus would have called out for the people to
repent and love God instead of shouting that he had been forsaken by God. His
outburst would have fuelled the gossips who would say he was accusing God of not
looking after him.
If Jesus had miracle powers then why could he not have
turned somebody into his own likeness to get them crucified in his place like
Judas was metamorphosed into Jesus and crucified as Jesus in the notorious
Gospel of Barnabas? The answer depends on whether we can trust the gospel
account of Jesus’ perfection. We cannot because we are told very selective and
repetitive stuff – and are in fact being told very little, people who know as
much about their boyfriends or girlfriends would not trust them as far as we are
asked to trust Jesus - about him and we have not a single independent witness to
this sanctity but only that of his fans which is not the same thing. Though the
fans might be telling the truth we do not know for all fans exaggerate and
imagine the greatness of their idol. And Jesus himself only told the Jews that
they could not prove he sinned not that he never was a sinner which weakens the
fans estimate of his perfection and we cannot prove that any of them knew him
well or knew enough about his disciples to entitle them to be sure that Jesus
was sinless.
It was not the usual policy to bury executed people. If
Pilate permitted the burial of Jesus as the gospels say, he may have desired to
get the body of “Jesus” hidden from the world for if it were thrown on the dump
like the rest it might be seen by somebody who noticed it was not Jesus. Letting
Jesus have a proper burial would have brought disrepute and more unpopularity on
Pilate so he must have had a good reason for allowing it. The reason was not
bribery. The gospels say it was not bribery. That would have been discovered too
easily for his behaviour was suspicious in any case. The alternative would have
been to allow Jesus to be buried but make sure that nobody knew about the
burial. Pilate had nothing to lose from letting it be thought that Jesus was on
the dump unless the body was not of Jesus.
If Jesus was around after his death that is evidence that
whoever died on the cross was not him.
It is by no means certain that Jesus was really
crucified. It is possible that Jesus was a very useful informer and his death
had to be faked for his own safety.
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