After all that has been stated, it should be kept in mind that in the gospel of Barnabas, which must be available in the British Museum, it is stated that Jesus was not crucified, not did he die on the Cross. Now we can very well say that though this book is not included in the gospels and has been rejected summarily, yet there is no doubt that it is an ancient book, and it belongs to the period in which the other gospels were written. Is it not open to us to regard this ancient book as a book of history of ancient times and to make use of it as a book of history? Does it not follow from this book that at least at the time when the event of the Cross took place, people were not unanimous as to Jesus’ dying on the Cross?
Yes. Fortunately Jesus left His Holy Spirit to guide His followers into all truth, and they recognized that the gospel of Barnabas was not accurate.
paarsurrey;2403914:
Again, apart from this, when in the four gospels themselves there are such metaphors as the one about a dead person, that he is not dead but asleep, it is not beyond reason to suppose that a state of swoon might be described as a state of death.
Certainly reasonable. However, we know that is not the case, as Jesus left us a prefiguring in the raising of Lazarus, who had also “fallen asleep” but had been dead for four days, so that there would be an odor.
I have already stated that a prophet cannot lie.
If you really accepted what Jesus had to say, then you would accept these words of His:
"Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.Rev 1:17-18
Jesus testifies to Himself that He died, and rose from the dead. Therefore, if you say he did not die on the cross, you call Him a liar.
paarsurrey;2403914:
Jesus compared his three days’ stay in the tomb to the three days of Jonah in the belly of the whale. This only shows that just as Jonah remained alive for three days in the belly of the whale, so did Jesus remain alive for three days in the tomb. The Jewish tombs of those days were not like the tombs of to-day; they were roomy and had an opening on one side, which was covered with a big stone.
paarsurrey, Jesus is God Himself, and to the extent that He is divine, He cannot “die” from the human point of view. His human nature suffered death, but His divine nature remained in the state of beatific vision.
And, presently, I shall prove in due course that Jesus’ tomb which has been recently discovered in Srinagar in Kashmir is of the same type as the one in which Jesus was placed in a state of swoon.
Well, good luck there.
In short, the verse I have just quoted shows that Jesus after coming out of the tomb went to Galilee. The gospel of St. Mark says that after coming out of the tomb he was seen going on the road to Galilee, and ultimately he met the eleven disciples when they were at their meal; he showed them his hands and feet which were wounded and they thought that he was perhaps a spirit. Then he said to them:
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is myself; handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.*
He took from them boiled fish and a piece of honeycomb and ate them in their presence. **
These verses show that it is certain that Jesus never went to heaven; rather, coming out of the tomb, he went to Galilee; – like an ordinary man, in normal clothes, with a human body.
Jesus showed Himself for 40 days prior to ascending to heaven, and you cannot claim that this passage “proves” that he went to Galilee, without accepting the following text that He ascended into heaven . Either all of it is true, or none.
Jesus was not an ordinary man, but he did wear normal clothes, and had a human body. Rather, He was previously in the form of God (being divine) but did not count equality with God something to be grasped at, but humbling Himself, He became a man, born of woman, and became flesh. He is God in the flesh.
If he had been resurrected after death, how was it that this body of spirit could still have borne the wounds inflicted upon him on the Cross? What need had he to eat? And if he required food then, he must be in need of food even now.
*Luke 24:39.
**Luke 24:42, 43
Thanks
Jesus did not require food, even prior to His death. He had meat to eat the world knows not of. He chose to eat food so that he could demonstrate His humanity.