Chapter Twelve

JESUS' MIRACLES

In reply, Jesus said to them: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them. Blest is the man who finds no stumbling block in me." [Matthew 11:4-6]

Human beings have always been fascinated by the supernatural and by miracles. Often the desire to see miracles is stronger than the desire to know the truth.

Jesus encountered this, as is illustrated in Matthew 12:38. He was teaching, after being charged with using the help of Satan to expel the demon from a blind mute man when:

Some of the scribes and Pharisees then spoke up, saying, "Teacher, we want to see you work some signs." [Matthew 12:38]

As if they had not just seen a sign!

WHAT IS A MIRACLE?

Living as we do in an age of modern technological miracles, we have perhaps become somewhat jaded. After all, modern medicine brings about miraculous cures for hitherto hopeless cases on a daily basis. Surgeons have even been known to revive the dead-when they lose someone on the operating table, and then are able to resuscitate them.

For us, many of the most astonishing miracles of Jesus are no longer that exceptional. In fact, many disregard them totally. That is why God sends signs or miracles which speak to the people of the time. For the contemporaries of Jesus, miraculous healings were appropriate signs. For modern times, an intricate code pervading the fabric of a 1400 year old scripture is more effective.

So what is a miracle?

Reginald Fuller begins with the following definition in his "INTERPRETING THE MIRACLES" (Westminster Press, 1963. pp. 8-9):

A...scholarly definition, approved by many modern theologians, is that of St. Augustine: a miracle is an occurrence which is contrary to what is known of nature.

He then expands:

Everything that happens in the realm of what we call nature is the handiwork of God himself....Nature merely furnishes the stage for the major work of God.... History is the arena where God intervenes specifically from time to time, succouring men, pressing his demands upon them and judging them for their disobedience. It is these extraordinary interventions which, properly speaking, are the miracles of the Bible. They are not necessarily breaches of the laws of nature.... But they are sufficiently startling, unusual and unexpected to call attention to themselves.

Thus, for Fuller the miracles of Jesus were the manifestations of God's action through him. This is a good definition for our purposes.

THE PURPOSE OF MIRACLES

The scriptures demonstrate that miracles serve two main purposes:

1. They serve as authenticating proofs that the messengers are indeed authorized by God to deliver His messages. When Moses, for example, was dispatched to Egypt's Pharaoh and assigned the task of delivering the Children of Israel out of Egypt, he was given certain miracles to prove that he was carrying out divine orders. He threw down his staff, and it turned into a serpent before Pharaoh's eyes.

Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron, "If Pharaoh demands that you work a sign or wonder, you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will be changed into a snake." [Exodus 7:8-9] Moses said, "O Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the universe. My assignment is to deliver to you God's truth. I come to you with a message from your Lord: Let the Children of Israel go." Pharaoh said, "If you brought a sign, let us see it, if you are truthful." Moses then threw down his staff, and it turned into a great serpent. He took out his hand, and it looked white to the beholders. [Quran 7:104-108]

This type of miracle was Moses' sign that he was empowered by God to perform miracles and to deliver God's message to Pharaoh.

2. Miracles also can serve as a practical means of carrying out God's plan under extraordinary circumstances. A good example is Moses' parting of the Red Sea. The Children of Israel were being led by Moses out of Egypt, toward the holy land. Pharaoh and his army were in hot pursuit.

Suddenly, Moses and his people found themselves trapped between the Red Sea in front of them, and Pharaoh's army behind them. God inspired Moses to strike the sea with his staff, whereupon the sea split. Thus God carried out His plan of delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians' tyranny.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land." [Exodus 14:15-16]

The Egyptians pursued them towards the East. When the two groups could see each other, Moses' companions said, "We will get caught." He said, "No way; my Lord is with me. He will show me the way out." We then inspired Moses: "Strike the sea with your staff." Whereupon, the sea parted; each part like a great hill (of water). Thus, we enabled them to pass through; we delivered Moses and those who accompanied him, and we drowned the others. [Quran 26:60-66]

JESUS' MIRACLES NOW PROVEN

The miracles manifested through Jesus were numerous and profound. All miracles, manifested through any of God's messengers, have been controversial. Many believers accept such extraordinary events on faith, others harbor doubts, and the majority of people do not believe in miracles at all-even when they have just seen one-like the accusers of Jesus who had just seen him expel a demon and then asked to see a sign!

However, as we have said before, we now have new evidence regarding the miracles narrated in the scripture. We now possess tangible, incontrovertible evidence confirming that such miracles did indeed take place. Thus, any numerically structured narration of an unusual event brings to us not only the event itself, but also a built-in proof that this event did take place.

THE MIRACLES THROUGH JESUS

While some of the miracles attributed to Jesus are mentioned in the Bible, often with the same miracle described in more that one Gospel, a number of his miracles are unique to the Quran. Some of the latter are confirmed in apocryphal writings.

Many books have been written on the miracles of Jesus, with arguments for and against their validity. To my knowledge, none of them reference the Quran. Yet, we now have Quranic verification for a number of those miracles:

1.Jesus' virgin birth is of course the first miraculous phenomenon associated with Jesus. Of all of the descendants of Adam and Eve, Jesus is the only human being to be conceived without a father. For the scriptural references dealing with his birth, see the previous chapter.

2.Jesus spoke as a newborn infant. This miracle was mainly manifested to absolve his mother of an otherwise obvious violation of the extremely strict Mosaic law against sexual activity outside of marriage. Certainly, when a newborn infant speaks, and with great wisdom, the audience listens. Mary was thus absolved of any immorality. Had this not been the case, she would surely have been stoned to death, as required by Mosaic law.

This unique and convincing miracle of speaking as a newborn also established the identity of Jesus as the expected Messiah, and God's messenger to the Children of Israel.

While none of the canonized Gospels make any mention of this significant miracle, it is reported in Apocrypha as well as in the Quran:

The following accounts we found in the book of Joseph the high-priest, called by some Caiaphas:

He relates that Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother: "Mary, I am Jesus, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel to thee, and my father has sent me for the salvation of the world." [LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, I:1-3, p. 38]

Mary returned to her family carrying the baby. They said, "O Mary, you have committed a horrendous crime. O descendant of Aaron, your father was never an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste." She simply pointed to the baby; they gasped, "How can we communicate with an infant in the cradle?" (The infant Jesus) spoke and said, "I am a servant of God. He has decreed that I shall receive the scripture; He has appointed me a prophet." [Quran 19:27-30]

3. Jesus shaped birds from clay, then blew into them, and they became live birds "by God's leave." Again, the canonized Gospels do not mention this `creation' miracle. However, this miracle is described in the Apocrypha, and the Quran mentions it prominently in two places, 3:49 and 5:110. The Quran makes it clear that Jesus' blowing into the clay figures was done "by God's leave" and that it parallels God's blowing into the clay figure of Adam to give him life:

Your Lord said to the angels, "I am creating a human being from aged potters' clay. Once I perfect him and blow into him from My spirit, you shall bow down before him." [Quran 15:28-29]

God taught Jesus the scripture and wisdom: the Torah and the Gospel. He sent him as a messenger to the Children of Israel, saying, "I come to you with a sign from your Lord: I create for you from clay, the figures of birds, then I blow into them, and they become live birds by God's leave." [Quran 3:48-49]

Then Jesus took from the bank of the stream some soft clay and formed out of it twelve sparrows.... Then Jesus, clapping together the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and said to them: Go, fly away; and while ye live remember me. So the sparrows fled away, making a noise. The Jews seeing this, were astonished, and went away, and told their chief persons what a strange miracle they had seen wrought by Jesus. [LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, pp. 60-61]

4. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, miraculous healings were important signs for Jesus' contemporaries. In fact, if you categorize all the miracles of Jesus given in the Gospels, healings and the expelling of disabling demons count as the vast majority. Jesus cured a number of different ailments by God's leave.

In Matthew 9:1-8, we see that he healed a man who was paralyzed:

...[Jesus] then said to the paralyzed man- "Stand up! Roll up your mat, and go home." The man stood up and went toward his home. At the sight, a feeling of awe came over the crowd, and they praised God for giving such authority to men. [Matthew 9:6-8]

Leprosy, a dreaded and incurable disease, was miraculously treated. Lepers were restored to health by Jesus:

A leper approached him with a request, kneeling down as he addressed him: "If you will to do so, you can cure me." Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said: "I will do it. Be cured." The leprosy left then and there, and he was cured. [Mark 1:40-42]

A man with a shriveled hand was cured, as reported in Matthew:

[Jesus] left that place and went into their synagogue. A man with a shriveled hand happened to be there, and they put this question to Jesus, hoping to bring an accusation against him: "Is it lawful to work a cure on the sabbath?" He said in response: "Suppose one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath. Will he not take hold of it and pull it out? Well, think how much more precious a human being is than a sheep. Clearly, good deeds may be performed on the sabbath." To the man he said, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and it was perfectly restored; it became as sound as the other. [Matthew 12:9-13]

The cure of a woman who was hemorrhaging is reported in Luke:

A woman with a hemorrhage of twelve years duration, incurable at any doctor's hands, came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped. Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" Everyone disclaimed doing it, while Peter said, "Lord, the crowds are milling and pressing around you!" Jesus insisted, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone forth from me." [Luke 8:43-46]

There are reports of additional healing incidents. One is where Jesus cured a nobleman's son:

...At Capernaum there happened to be a royal official whose son was ill. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and restore health to his son, who was near death. Jesus replied, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you do not believe." "Sir," the royal official pleaded with him, "come down before my child dies." Jesus told him, "Return home. Your son will live..." He was on his way home when his servants met him with the news that his boy was going to live.... He and his whole household thereupon became believers. [John 4:46-53]

Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus when she suffered from fever:

Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and the first thing they did was to tell him about her. He went over to her and grasped her hand and helped her up, and the fever left her. She immediately began to wait on them. [Mark 1:30-31]

While the Quran does not validate these specific incidents of healing, Jesus' ability to heal, "by God's leave," is documented there. In Chapter 3, Mary is addressed by the angel sent to deliver to her the news of a son:

"As a messenger to the Children of Israel, he will proclaim: `I come to you with proof from your Lord.... I restore vision to the blind, I heal the leprous, and I revive the dead by God's leave....' " [Quran 3:49]

In the Quran's Chapter 5, Verse 110 God Himself addresses Jesus on the Day of Resurrection:

"...You healed the blind and the leprous by My leave, and revived the dead by My leave...." [Quran 5:110]

5. The last two verses quoted directly above tell us that Jesus also restored sight to the hopelessly blind. This is also reported in the Gospel of Matthew:

As Jesus moved on from there, two blind men came after him crying out, "Son of David, have pity on us!" When he got to the house, the blind men caught up with him. Jesus said to them, "Are you confident I can do this?" "Yes, Lord,, they told him. At that he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith it shall be done to you;" and they recovered their sight... [Matthew 9:27-30]

6. The Gospels and the Quran report a number of incidents where Jesus restored life, "by God's leave," to a number of different people who had died:

Soon afterward he went to a town called Naim, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he approached the gate of the town a dead man was being carried out, the only son of a widowed mother. A considerable crowd of townsfolk were with her. Jesus was moved with pity upon seeing her and said to her, "Do not cry." Then he stepped forward and touched the litter; at this, the bearers halted. He said, "Young man, I bid you get up." The dead man sat up and began to speak. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear seized them all and they began to praise God. "A great prophet has risen among us," they said.... [Luke 7:11-16]

Before Jesus had finished speaking to them, a synagogue leader came up, did him reverence, and said,"My daughter has just died. Please come and lay your hand on her and she will come back to life." Jesus stood up and followed him, and his disciples did the same... When Jesus arrived at the synagogue leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a din, he said, "Leave, all of you! The little girl is not dead. She is asleep." At this they began to ridicule him. When the crowd had been put out he entered and took her by the hand, and the little girl got up. [Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25]

God says to Jesus, the son of Mary, (on the Day of Resurrection), "I have bestowed many a favor upon you and your mother; I supported you with the Holy Spirit which enabled you to speak as a newborn infant, as well as when you grew up; I taught you the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel; you created from clay the figures of birds, by My leave; you healed the hopelessly blind and the lepers, by My leave; and you revived the dead, by My leave. I protected you from the Children of Israel when you went to them with these clear signs and wonders; those among them who disbelieved said, `This is no more than witchcraft.' " [Quran 5:110]

The best known incident where Jesus revived the dead, the resurrection of Lazarus, is reported in the Gospel of John:

...Jesus looked upward and said: "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I know that you always hear me but I have said this for the sake of the crowd, that they may believe that you sent me." Having said this, he called loudly, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped in cloth. "Untie him," Jesus told them, "and let him go free." [John 11:41-44]

7. One of Jesus' miracles which is clearly stated in the Quran and in the Gospel of John is that he exhibited extrasensory abilities:

(Jesus said,) "...I can tell you what you ate and what you store in your homes. These should be sufficient signs for you if you are believers." [Quran 3:49]

He also showed these abilities when talking with the Samarian woman at Jacob's well:

He said to her, "Go call your husband, and then come back here." "I have no husband," replied the woman. "You are right in saying you have no husband!" Jesus exclaimed."The fact is, you have had five, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. What you said is true." "Sir," answered the woman, "I can see you are a prophet." [John 4:16-19]

8. According to the Quran, Jesus' disciples challenged him to bring down a feast from the sky. After some hesitation, he prayed for such a feast. God answered Jesus' prayer and a feast descended for Jesus and his disciples:

The disciples said, "O Jesus, son of Mary, Could your Lord send down to us a feast from the sky?" He said, "Reverence God, if you are really believers." They said, "We wish to eat therefrom, and to assure our hearts, and to know that you have told us the truth. We wish to be witnesses thereof." Jesus, son of Mary, said, "Our God and our Lord, send down to us a feast from the sky. Let it satisfy each and every one of us; a provision from you. You are the best provider." God said, "I am sending it down. But then, if any of you disbelieves thereafter, I will surely commit him to such retribution as I never imposed on anyone else." [Quran 5:112-115]

The closest thing to this miracle in the Gospels are the reports of Jesus feeding the multitudes, as in Matthew 14:15-21 where Jesus was reported to have fed five thousand.

All of these miracles make it very clear that Jesus was God's messenger and special servant. In fact, the Quran recognizes that Jesus was given a special honor. It tells us that Jesus was "born as a prophet of God." This is amply demonstrated by the proven fact that Jesus preached the worship of God alone from the time he was a newborn infant.

This prophethood from birth is reflected in the fact that the Quran reports errors committed by many other prophets and/or messengers of God, including Moses, Abraham, Muhammad and all of the best known prophets, but no mistakes are attributed to Jesus.

CONCLUSION

While the Quran stresses the humanity of Jesus, it also honors him as a prophet from birth. In its mathematically guarded verses, it relates many miracles which God performed through him. In doing so, it confirms the validity of those miracles.

For the first time in human history we know for a fact that indeed Jesus did raise the dead, heal the hopelessly blind and the afflicted.

We also know that these, and his other miracles do not in any way confer divinity upon him.

Chapter Thirteen

JESUS' DEATH

It was now around midday, and darkness came over the whole land until midafternoon with an eclipse of the sun. The curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two. Jesus uttered a loud cry and said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." After he said this, he expired. The centurion, upon seeing what had happened, gave glory to God by saying, "Surely this was an innocent man." [Luke 23:44-47]

Almost all Christians believe that Jesus was tortured and then crucified to death. Still, there is a great deal of conjecture and speculation about the last days of Jesus. As mentioned before, some rather radical theories exist regarding the crucifixion, including that someone else was crucified instead,or that Jesus did not die but was in a coma when removed from the cross.

There are no reports of the event from neutral or even hostile sources. For Christians the only source of information on this extremely important event has been the Bible. Even the Gospels are full of contradictions regarding this event.

MATTHEW & MARK

The Gospel of Matthew gives the following account:

The procurator's soldiers took Jesus inside the praetorium and collected the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and wrapped him in a scarlet military cloak. Weaving a crown of thorns they fixed it on his head, and stuck a reed in his right hand. Then they began to mock him by dropping to their knees before him, saying, "All hail, king of the Jews!" They also spat at him. Afterward they took hold of the reed and kept striking him on the head. Finally, when they had finished making a fool of him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucifixion. On their way out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon. This man they pressed into service to carry the cross. Upon arriving at a site called Golgotha (a name which means Skull Place), they gave him a drink of wine flavored with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink. When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among them by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Above his head they put the charge against him in writing: "THIS IS JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS." Two insurgents were crucified along with him, one at his right and one at his left. People going by kept insulting him, tossing their heads and saying: "So you are the one who was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days! Save yourself, why don't you? Come down off that cross if you are God's Son!" The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, also joined in the jeering: "He saved others but he cannot save himself! So he is the king of Israel! Let's see him come down from that cross and then we will believe in him. He relied on God; let God rescue him now if he wants to. After all, he claimed, `I am God's Son.' " The insurgents who had been crucified with him kept taunting him in the same way. From noon onward there was darkness over the whole land until midafternoon. Then toward midafternoon Jesus cried out in a loud tone,"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" [Matthew 27:27-46]

While the Gospel of John, like Matthew above, narrates that the procurator's soldiers were the ones who took Jesus inside to torture him and crucify him, the Gospel of Mark states that "the chief priests, with the elders and scribes (that is, the whole Sanhedren) bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate." Generally, however, Mark's account is similar to that given in Matthew's Gospel.

LUKE

Luke's narration of Jesus' death is significantly different from that of Matthew and Mark. According to Luke, Jesus was sent by Pilate to Herod, then back to Pilate, then he narrates that Jesus delivered a short sermon on route to his crucifixion:

As they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon the Cyrenean who was coming in from the fields. They put a crossbeam on Simon's shoulder for him to carry along behind Jesus. A great crowd of people followed him, including women who beat their breasts and lamented over him. Jesus turned to them and said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. The days are coming when they will say, `Happy are the sterile, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' Then they will begin saying to the mountains, `Fall on us,' and to the hills, `Cover us.' If they do these things in the green wood, what will happen in the dry?" Two others who were criminals were led along with him to be crucified. When they came to Skull Place, as it was called, they crucified him there and the criminals as well, one on his right and the other on his left. [Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing."] [Luke 23:26-34]

JOHN'S ACCOUNT

Jesus was led away, and carrying the cross by himself, went out to what is called the Place of the Skull (In Hebrew, Golgotha). There they crucified him, and two others with him: one on either side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate had an inscription placed on the cross which read, JESUS THE NAZOREAN THE KING OF THE JEWS. [John 19:16-19]

John's report of the events immediately preceding the crucifixion has Jesus carrying the cross himself. The inscription on the cross is quite different here from that in the other Gospels.

There are many other discrepancies among the narrations of Jesus' death. From the Bible alone it is impossible to know what really happened at that time.

Some of these discrepancies can be understood by the fact that Jesus' contemporaries had different understandings of his death. Willi Marx sen clearly points this out (see JESUS AND EASTER, Abingdon Press, 1990. pp. 54-55):

It cannot be disputed that different circles in early Christianity held to different understandings of the death of Jesus. In the material of the Synoptic tradition there is the thought that the death of Jesus was a consequence of his activity. Jesus is portrayed there as one who by his activities risked persecution, and even death. He is not, however, portrayed as one who had wanted his own death, or even as one who had understood it as a vicarious or atoning death. The idea of the death of Jesus as an "atonement" is foreign to the material of the Synoptic tradition (although it was later inserted at two places, Mark 10:45 and 14:24). Rather, Jesus dies because he hazarded death in the way he carried on his activity.

In the formulas and especially in Paul's letters, the understanding of Jesus' death as an atonement is evident. Historically and theologically this idea has been of greater significance, yet it is only one understanding of the death of Jesus.

The fact remains that from the Bible alone we can not get a clear picture of what actually happened.

QURAN'S MATHEMATICALLY CODED ACCOUNT

Fortunately, with the discovery of mathematically authenticated scripture, we have a reliable reference that enables us to sift through the various narrations of this event.

The account of Jesus' death in the Quran is startling. It states: "they never killed Jesus; they never crucified him; they were only made to think that they did." :

They claimed that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God. In fact, they never killed him; they never crucified him; they were only made to think that they did. Indeed, those who speculate about him are full of doubt about their own accounts; they are never sure. They only conjecture. What is absolutely certain is: they never killed him. Instead, God raised him to Him. God is Almighty, Most Wise. [Quran 4:157-158]

Undoubtedly, this Quranic narration represents a new and profound account of the death of Jesus. It is bound to shock most people, so some explanation is in order.

The Quran consistently talks about the `real person,' i.e., the soul, when talking about anyone. The Quran differentiates between two human entities: a temporary entity, the BODY background="bg.gif", and an eternal entity which is `the person.' The temporary entity is considered a shell or a garment worn by the lasting entity. The Quran does not regard this temporary shell as `the person.'

The importance of the BODY background="bg.gif", or the person's outer shell, is in serving the real person by effecting sufficient growth and development of the soul in preparation for the real, eternal life (of the Hereafter). If we look upon one's BODY background="bg.gif" as a wild horse, one attains the required growth and development by taming and controlling the whims of this horse. At the end of one's predetermined interim in this life, one sheds the shell and moves on towards the eternal Hereafter; the BODY background="bg.gif"'s role ends.

Thus, when the Quran states that "they never crucified Jesus; they never killed him," the word "him" here refers to the real Jesus, not his BODY background="bg.gif".

The BODY background="bg.gif" may be present somewhere, but the person may or may not be present with it. People who are familiar with `out-of-BODY background="bg.gif" experiences' know that the BODY background="bg.gif" is nothing more than a garment or a physical vehicle for the soul. In out-of-BODY background="bg.gif" experiences, the intellect remains with the person, not with the BODY background="bg.gif". Those who practice out-of-BODY background="bg.gif" (or astral projection) experiments often describe the BODY background="bg.gif" as just laying there like an inanimate object.

The Quran explains clearly that Jesus, the real person, was `raised to God' prior to any torture or crucifixion. Those who believed that they were torturing or crucifying Jesus were in fact dealing with Jesus' BODY background="bg.gif", an empty shell devoid of feelings and knowledge.

Being `raised to God' indicates another important fact-that the righteous go directly to heaven, and do not wait for the Day of Resurrection to attain Paradise:

THE RIGHTEOUS DO NOT DIE;

when their lives on this earth come to the predetermined end, the angel of death simply invites them to leave their earthly bodies and move on to Heaven, the same Paradise where Adam and Eve once lived. Heaven has been in existence since Adam and Eve. We learn from 89:27-30 that God invites the believers' souls: "Enter My Paradise."

The above quote is from an article written by Dr. Rashad Khalifa, the discoverer of the Quran's mathematical code (SUBMITTERS PERSPECTIVE, Masjid Tucson, Feb., 1990). He continues:

As far as people on earth are concerned, the righteous "die." People do not realize that the righteous simply leave their bodies, and move on to Paradise....The righteous go to Paradise, while their friends and relatives are still living on earth. Like going to Hawaii and waiting for us there.

He cites several verses which are well worth examining:

Give good news to those who believe and work righteousness that they will have gardens with flowing streams. When provided with provisions of fruits therein, they will say, "This is what was given to us in the past." They will be given similar provisions, and they will have pure spouses therein. They abide therein forever. [Quran 2:25]

The indication in this verse is that the righteous are in a place similar to gardens of the Hereafter, with similar provisions. This would certainly be the case if they had been waiting in the Garden of Eden (also called Paradise), until the Day of Resurrection. Coupled with the following verses, that is the clear conclusion:

Do not think that those who are killed in the cause of God are dead; they are alive at their Lord, being provided for. [Quran 3:169]

Do not say about those who are killed in the cause of God, "They are dead." For they are alive, but you do not perceive. [Quran 2:154]

(At the time of his death) he was told, "Enter Paradise." He said, "I wish my people (on earth) knew that my Lord has forgiven me and honored me." [Quran 36:26-27]

In the case of Jesus, all these mathematically coded verses show that God raised the real person, Jesus' soul, leaving his BODY background="bg.gif" for the torturers and crucifiers. Thus, they never tortured Jesus. They never crucified him. He was gone long before any torture or crucifixion of his BODY background="bg.gif":

They plotted and schemed, but so did God; God is the best schemer. Thus, God said, "O Jesus, I am putting you to death; raising you to Me, and ridding you of the disbelievers. I will make those who follow you high above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is the ultimate destiny of all of you. Then I will judge among you concerning your disputes." [Quran 3:54-55]

It is astonishing to find this phenomenon, the separation of the real person from the still living BODY background="bg.gif", indicated in the New Testament, and even more specifically stated in some apocryphal literature. There is an especially straightforward reference to this phenomenon reported by James Brashler in THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY (Harper & Row, 1977).

The Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of ancient documents unearthed at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. They are described as containing "the sacred scriptures of the Gnostic movement that emerged and rapidly grew in the cradle of civilization at the time of Jesus and early Christianity. Its codices are a priceless periscope into the tumultuous world of ideas brewing during one of civilization's great turning points."

James Brashler describes a vision seen by the apostle Peter, in his introduction to the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter (Ibid., p. 339):

The first visionary scene, is depicting the hostile priests and people about to kill Jesus (72,4-9)....The second scene (81,3-14) describes Peter's vision of the crucifixion of Jesus. The accompanying interpretation by Jesus makes a distinction between the external physical form and the living Jesus; the latter stands nearby laughing at his ignorant persecutors.

A clear distinction is thus made in this ancient literature, very close to the time of Jesus, between "the external physical form," i.e., the BODY background="bg.gif" of Jesus, and "the living Jesus." According to this narration, the real person of Jesus was unphased by the torturers and persecutors of his soulless BODY background="bg.gif".

Looking at the translation of the Apocalypse of Peter itself (Ibid., p. 344), we find the startling vision of Peter:

When he had said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by them. And I said, "What do I see, O Lord, that it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing, on the tree? And is it another one whose feet and hands they are striking?" The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is the fleshy part." [Apocalypse of Peter, VII, 3, 81]

A careful examination of the Gospels of Mark and Luke reveals that Jesus was in fact gone prior to crucifixion. He did not respond to the surrounding chaos. This confirms the apocryphal account reported in the Nag Hammadi Library, and agrees with the mathematically authenticated account of the Quran:

The chief priests, meanwhile, brought many accusations against Jesus. Pilate interrogated him again: "Surely you have some answer? See how many accusations they are leveling against you." But greatly to Pilate's surprise, Jesus made no further response. [Mark 15:3-5]

Herod was extremely pleased to see Jesus. From the reports about him he had wanted to see him, and he was hoping to see him work some miracle. He questioned Jesus at considerable length, but Jesus made no answer. The chief priests and scribes were at hand to accuse him vehemently. Herod and his guards then treated him with contempt and insult.... [Luke 23:8-11]

Putting all these accounts together, this possible picture emerges:

1. The human being consists of two main distinct entities:

a. the BODY background="bg.gif", which serves as a mere shell or garment, and

b. the soul, which is the real person.

2. In accordance with a predetermined plan, the time came for Jesus to complete his mission as God's messenger to the Children of Israel and as the Messiah. This coincided with the scheme of Jesus' adversaries to crucify him. Just before executing their plot, God's plan was implemented, and Jesus the real person was summoned or "raised to God."

3. Jesus' BODY background="bg.gif" was left for his persecutors to torture and crucify; they were dealing with an empty shell devoid of all feelings or understanding.

4. Thus, the Quran's mathematically coded statements that "they never killed Jesus, they never crucified him; they were led to believe that they did," are accurate and proven facts.

MODERN DEMONSTRATION

Rashad Khalifa draws an interesting parallel between what he understands to be the case in Jesus' death, and that of a modern patient who underwent an historical surgical procedure. (See Khalifa's QURAN THE FINAL TESTAMENT, Ibid. Appendix 22, p. 667)

On November 25, 1984, William J. Schroeder, from Jasper, Indiana, received an artificial heart at Humana Heart Institute International of Louisville, Kentucky. The NEW YORK TIMES of Monday, November 26, 1984 published the following news item:

SURGEONS IMPLANT MECHANICAL PUMP TO REPLACE HEARTLOUISVILLE, KY, Nov 25 -- A 17-member surgical team today removed the diseased heart of a 52-year old man and replaced it with a plastic and metal pump....Dr. Devries leaned over Mr. Schroeder and said, "Everything went well, perfectly."

On Wednesday, December 12, 1984, the 18th day after receiving the artificial heart, Mr. Schroeder was so normal and so alert that when President Reagan talked with him he complained about a delay in sending his Social Security disability check. On the nineteenth day, December 13, 1984, the world was told that Mr. Schroeder "suffered a stroke."

What really happened was that Mr. Schroeder, the real person, departed. William J. Schroeder died. His BODY background="bg.gif", the empty shell, continued to function through artificial means. The artificial heart continued to pump, and all other life processes of Mr. Schroeder's BODY background="bg.gif" continued to work. Significantly, from that moment on, he never recognized the date, the day or time. The WASHINGTON POST of Friday, December 14, 1984 published the following news:

LOUISVILLE, Dec. 13---William J. Schroeder, who became the world's second recipient of an artificial heart 18 days ago, tonight suffered a stroke in his hospital bed as he ate dinner with his wife, doctors reported.... (Dr. A. M.) Lansing replied, "unequivocally, no," when asked if the stroke could have been a result of Schroeder's many activities recently. These included a telephone conversation with President Reagan Wednesday and fast government action earlier today to deliver a Social Security disability check that he had told Reagan was overdue.

At Humana Hospital - Audubon, where the implant took place, Lansing said Schroeder was talking to his wife when "she noticed suddenly he stopped feeding himself and was just holding his food in his right hand." He appeared "drowsy, his eyes rolled back, and he became somewhat limp," Lansing said.

The stroke was not "life threatening," Lansing said. Shortly afterward, Schroeder was somewhat "stuporous" and "not talking intelligently," Lansing said.

In retrospect, it is obvious that William J. Schroeder actually left his BODY background="bg.gif" on the nineteenth day (December 13, 1984) after receiving the artificial heart on November 25, 1984. Schroeder was raised to God about 600 days-19 months-before his BODY background="bg.gif" finally ceased to function.

According to the Quran, this is precisely what happened to Jesus: he was raised to God before the crucifixion of his empty BODY background="bg.gif":

They claimed that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God. In fact, they never killed him; they never crucified him; they were led to believe that they did.... For sure, they never killed him. Instead, God raised him to Him. God is Almighty, Most Wise. [Quran 4:157-158]