Jesus didn’t come to die on Cross
Early Christianity was a mishmash of different ideas. Many believed that Jesus
was an apparition or a symbol and not a man and others believed things similar
to what modern Christians believed about him. Then it is no surprise if the
gospels then have contradictory materials about Jesus. We will see that some
traditions in the gospels say he didn't intend to die on the cross and others
say he did.
Generally however, the gospels have to explain how Jesus could have been
crucified and be the son of God. Their answer is that he planned to die on the
cross and predicted it before it happened and said it was necessary to ransom
sinners and save them. This is a pack of lies. It is just what you would
expect.
JESUS DIDN’T INTEND TO DIE ON CROSS
Jesus said the Old Testament prophecies spoke of him. But they never predicted
that the Messiah would die and rise again. Even Psalm 16 that is used to prove
the resurrection was predicted never actually speaks of a dead man returning to
life but of a sick man getting well. If there was a historical Jesus, he never
expected to die on a cross though he did expect to suffer greatly. The
amazing Psalm 22 speaks of a future person suffering crucifixion does it?
Does it mean Jesus? The majority of Hebrew manuscripts claim the wording
of the Psalm here is “They are at my hands and feet like the lion” or even, “My
hands and my feet are withering and shrivelling.”
When read carefully the Psalm best describes a person who is kidnapped and abused and starved.
1 Peter 5:8 perhaps is telling us that the lion is the Devil.
The most important insight is that the Psalm is not about anybody but the composer.
The lack of prophecy shows that if Jesus
intended to be crucified for sins he did not have any authority from
a God to do so.
On the night he was arrested prior to his crucifixion, Jesus said that God would
send a legion of angels to rescue him from the cross if he asked (Matthew
26:53). Christians say it implicitly means if it is God’s will but since it is
not God’s will and not Jesus’ they won’t be asked for.
Prior to his arrest, Jesus told his apostles to sell what they had and procure
weapons. He was then shown two swords and said, “Enough” (Luke 22:36-38). So,
perhaps the enough meant “wise up I don’t mean real swords” or he thought that
two swords would be enough to defend him. Perhaps he thought that only a couple
were going to arrest him. It would show he had no intention of dying.
Perhaps he wanted the disciples to be under-armed because he had a team ready to
pretend to be arresting him. He would go under cover. Crucifixions would take
place. Everybody would assume he was one of the crucified. Then he would
reappear again to implement the greatest religious hoax of all time.
There were a lot of lies told decades later in the gospels about the Jewish
crowd forcing Pilate to kill him. This would suggest that this scenario could
well have been the right one.
Perhaps Jesus was claiming that God was going to magically enable his men to
destroy a cohort with two swords. That would be a sign of mental disturbance or
of over-confidence in his psychic abilities.
Christians say the two swords were required only as symbols of the uselessness
of earthly weapons.
But whatever, there is no evidence for the symbol interpretation of the two
swords. When Jesus could have been speaking literally that is what he should be
taken to be doing. Don’t see symbols where they need not be. Jesus let them
carry the swords and Peter even used his on the high priest’s slave proving the
literal interpretation. The proper interpretation has Jesus deciding to go back
on his promise to let himself be arrested and put to death (Mark 10:34; 14:24).
He broke this promise when he asked God to save him in the Garden (Mark 14:36).
It was still breaking his word though he instantly changed his mind. Yet the
gospels say he spoke as a prophet and predicted that he would die on the cross
and rise again. He had a lot of faith in his ability to see the future hadn’t
he? The fact that the Old Testament considers the power to see the future and
the will of God to be the mark of a real messenger from God and the gospels give
prophecies that could be written after the event shows that the Old Testament is
being trampled upon and that there was no honesty or divine inspiration in those
gospels at all for proof of being made before the event would be necessary to
fit the strict Old Testament standard. If Jesus approved the gospels he was a
fake and an antichrist.
Jesus told them first that when they were sent out by him they never lacked
anything and then he told them to sell their garments and buy swords. Obviously,
this means that they will have no problem getting them so he wanted them to get
literal swords. He also told them to keep a tight hold on their purses and bags.
It seems that Jesus was planning to make his escape with his disciples or was
planning to disappear and leave them to face the mob. He felt that when the mob
saw that Jesus was not there the disciples would have been okay. The swords were
just a precaution in case two or three overzealous Jesus haters would attack
them and perhaps to deter such attacks as well.
Jesus said that in his mind he was willing to undergo the crucifixion but that
his flesh held him back (Matthew 26:41). If he sincerely wanted to endure it he
could have. This was a hypocritical lie. He said that when Judas arrived with
the band that he and his apostles must escape (Matthew 26:46). Jesus had changed
his mind and he wanted to get away despite claiming that it had to happen as the
scriptures foretold. He was denying that the prophets were truly prophets. The
fact that he let his men carry weapons proves that his prayer in the Garden was
for salvation from crucifixion when he asked his Father to take the cup away
from him.
SINS IN THE GARDEN
In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before he was arrested to be killed, Jesus in
agony at the thought of being crucified prayed, “Abba, [which means] Father,
everything is possible for You. Take away this cup from Me; yet not what I will
but what You [will]” (Mark 14:36).
Some Christians have started lying that he is not praying
to be able to retreat from the cross but praying for it to go as planned and
then pass to give way to the resurrection. But that would mean praying
"What I will is what you will." The interpretation is far-fetched.
If we want to see a sin in Jesus' prayer we have to focus on the word yet. The
word yet shows that he was aware of having opposed God and was repenting it or
just meant, “I am asking this of you but it is your decision”. But Jesus said
that prayer was in essence, “Thy will be done”. This translates as, “I ask this
only if it is your will yet your will be done.” But this is ridiculous. Also, if
God told Jesus he had to die on the cross, and Jesus said he did tell him and
saw that he would, then Jesus knew he had no right to pray for deliverance from
the cross and indeed there would be no point in it. If Jesus prayed to avoid
crucifixion then Jesus sinned. Jesus sinned and then corrected himself. That is
the understanding of the words.
Some say that Jesus prayed only that the cup of suffering would be taken from
him only if the suffering would make him sin against God. But if the Bible says
that Jesus could not sin and God could not drive his own Son to sin what they
say is unacceptable. And if Jesus’ prayer meant that, he would have been
accusing God of not knowing what he was doing.
Christians say that Jesus would not have gone back on his promise to get
crucified so “this cup” refers to the agony of fear and horror that allegedly
made him sweat blood there. This is false for a man who could go for crucifixion
could have borne the pain. Besides he would still be putting a bit of rebellion
in his prayer so the answer does not help at all. The “yet” is still not
accounted for in terms of Jesus being the sinless Son of God. It cannot be.
Jesus asked for the cup to pass from him. A cup represented his shed blood at
the Last Supper it would be likely that this cup stands for shed blood in the
passion. A cup is for holding liquid. Luke says that Jesus’ sweat was like blood
for it was so plentiful not that it was blood. The cup was the suffering of the
cross as signified by the blood.
It is thought that since Matthew and Mark say that Jesus prayed during his
heartbreaking sadness and sweat he meant the pain he was feeling then. It was
that he wanted to be delivered from. But he knew he could not avoid the cross
and it was it that was on his mind not the pain in the garden. He didn’t suffer
the agony in the garden just for the heck of it. It was over the impending
crucifixion. Why ask to be delivered from pain when you know in a few hours you
will have worse to endure? Better to endure the lesser pain in the hope that it
gives you strength for later on.
In Luke 22, we see that Jesus prays for deliverance and then an angel appears to
console him and his anguish gets worse and his sweat becomes like drops of
blood. This shows that it was the crucifixion Jesus was dreading and it was it
he wanted to be rescued from. God tried to help him with the anguish in the
garden but Jesus couldn’t be helped.
If Jesus meant the agony in the garden, God willed that Jesus should suffer for
his prayer was ignored. Despite the comfort of the angel, Jesus was still
suffering terribly and it got worse. If Jesus could ask God to do what God never
intended to do then he could ask him to rescue him from impending execution
though both had decreed that it should happen. If Jesus wanted the crucifixion
postponed then that would have been a sin for it would have been better to get
it over with and it was still God’s will that he endure the cross.
Consider this, “Jesus might have been asking God to preserve him from too much
pain in the crucifixion instead of asking him to save him from the crucifixion
altogether.”
This doesn’t explain the yet either. There was still an element of rebellion.
The “yet” proves that Jesus was not the Son of God and certainly was not God.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?
“And they crucified Him; and they divided his garments, And at the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which means, My
God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Mark 15:24, 34).
This episode sticks in the mind of many a Bible reader simply because it is so
shocking and not what you would expect the very Son of God or God incarnate to
come out with. And the fact that it is a dying man saying it makes it worse.
A good God would never forsake anyone especially the supposedly only fully
righteous man who ever lived. Jesus asserted that God was always with him and
would never desert him. For him to accuse God of turning his back on him would
mean that he was admitting that he was a liar and that God was not good or that
he wanted to insult God by smearing him as unreliable and lazy and evil.
The Christians try to get out of the implications of Jesus’ outburst by pointing
out that what he said was the first line of Psalm 22. It is claimed that since
the Psalm ends with trust in God that it was no insult against God for Jesus to
use it. But if it starts with an insult it is still an insult and there is no
evidence that Jesus recited the entire Psalm. Jesus would have chosen a better
Psalm if he desired to honour God. He could have paraphrased and said, “My God,
I feel abandoned by you”, which would not necessarily be saying that he believed
God abandoned him. Why quote this verse when better ones are in the Psalm?
Go for the simplest and most straightforward interpretation. Jesus was accusing
God of abandoning him. When you have the most simple and plain interpretation,
it is only foolishness and obfuscation to go looking for others.
It is argued that the Psalm is not one of despair. “When the composer asks why
God has forsaken him he only means he is wondering why God has abandoned him to
his foes and to suffering. He is supposed to think that God has permitted this
for a purpose so in leaving him at their mercy he is really not abandoning him
but is helping them as best he can under the circumstances. He is only
abandoning in a sense. Jesus is just asking why he is suffering. It could be a
rhetorical question to make people wonder why God would make his son suffer. The
line poses no threat to orthodox Christianity”.
But the composer complained that God was not helping him and said God was far
from saving him and ignoring his prayers (Psalm 22:1,2). He was refusing to
believe that God was doing him a favour by letting his enemies torment him. And
the very fact that he was asking why it was happening to him shows that he did
not trust God. If he had he would have been asking no questions. Then he changed
his mind and decided that God was right. But there is no evidence that Jesus did
the same even if he did commend his spirit to God.
Others say that Jesus did not mean it literally. If that is right then he broke
his commandment against saying prayers you don’t mean in Matthew 6. He wouldn’t
have said it if he didn’t mean it.
If Jesus was quoting the Psalm he was not the Son of God for he gave into
despair.
And if Jesus was not quoting the Psalm but just used his own words that happened
to match it we have the same bad implication. The Bible does not say that Jesus
was quoting the Psalm at all. When the Jews said that he was calling Elijah he
must have said something else that proved he was not reciting the Psalm but his
heart was breaking for he was shouting that Elijah was not coming. They would
not have sneered like this about a real Psalm in public. They had to revere the
scriptures at least in front of the people. Elijah was to appear before the end
of the world and if Jesus were hoping to make the world end and bring in the new
kingdom of God by his death he would have called on Elijah to come.
There is no evidence that since Jesus shouted in Aramaic about “Eli, Eli” that
this was misheard and thought to mean Elijah. The Jews were not that stupid.
They testified that Jesus wanted to be saved from death by Elijah coming to take
him down from the cross. They would not let a man give him bad wine for they
wanted to see if Elijah would come (Mark 15:35,36). There must have been a drug
in the wine so that he would die quicker but they did not want that in case
Elijah would come and find him already dead.
It is significant that the note about the Psalm in the Amplified Bible presumes
that it is bold to say that Jesus recited this Psalm on the cross.
A man who demanded to know why he had been crucified and not rescued could not
be the Son of God because he does not have much confidence in God. He should
have been making his peace with God instead of asking stupid questions at such a
sombre and solemn time.
He even shouted it out not caring what people made of it. It was meant to pour
scorn on his God. There is a sin called final impenitence. It is dying in an
attitude of hostility to God. Chances are that Jesus died like that.
It is no answer to say that since Jesus was made guilty of our sins that he was
abandoned and hated by God for that is an unjust theory. A just God could not
accuse his Son of what he never did. It denies that Jesus was sinless when he
was able to become responsible for the sins of others. And if he was God, God
cannot abandon God.
It is no answer to say that Jesus did not know what he was saying for the
gospels say that he was lucid even to the very end. He told John to look after
his mother. Jesus did not blaspheme like that when he endured the overpowering
agony in the Garden.
Did God let darkness come over the mind of his Son so that he thought he was
abandoned? If he did he would not have let him say so. If Jesus succumbed to the
temptation to lose faith in God then we cannot trust him as God’s revelation.
The Son of God cannot die putting his foot in it like many normal men wouldn’t.
Jesus said before he died that he would rise and reign in Heaven. Some deny this
on the basis that the gospels really meant that he gave up on God on the cross.
The gospels did mean that he lost his faith in God and his belief that he could
come back and be king in Heaven. Jesus saying that he would have happy times
does not mean that he could not have times of despair until they happen.
Jesus Christ was not God or the Son of God. Many saints suffered worse than
Jesus did and didn’t abandon God.
Conclusion
Jesus Christ did not come to die on the cross. He prayed to escape his death and
he complained on the cross and insulted God when he wasn’t rescued. The notion
that he is our saviour who died for us is nonsense.
WORKS CONSULTED
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undated
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East Sussex, 1995
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Jesus Lived in India, Holger Kersten, Element, Dorset, 1994
Jesus the Evidence, Ian Wilson Pan, London 1985
Mind Out of Time, Ian Wilson, Gollanez, London, 1981
Mother of Nations, Joan Ashton, Veritas, Dublin, 1988
The Bible Fact or Fantasy? John Drane, Lion Books, Oxford, 1989
The Encyclopaedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason W Archer, Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 1982
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry
Lincoln, Corgi, London, 1982
The Jesus Conspiracy, Holger Kersten and Elmar R Gruber, Element, Dorset, 1995
The Messianic Legacy, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry Lincoln, Corgi,
London, 1987
The Metaphor of God Incarnate, John Hick, SCM Press Ltd, London, 1993
The Passover Plot, Hugh Schonfield, Element Books, Dorset, 1996
The Resurrection Factor, Josh McDowell, Alpha Scripture Press Foundation, Bucks,
1993
The Resurrection of Jesus, Pinchas Lapide, SPCK, London, 1984
The Truth of Christianity, WH Turton, Wells Gardner, Darton & Co Ltd, London,
1905
The Turin Shroud is Genuine, Rodney Hoare, Souvenir Press, London, 1998HoarHo
The Unauthorised Version, Robin Lane Fox, Penguin, Middlesex, 1992
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Press, New York, 1973
The Womb and the Tomb, Hugh Montefiore, Fount – HarperCollins, London, 1992
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Why People believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer, Freeman, New York, 1997
