“They did not kill him”

One of the major points of divergence between Islam and Christianity is that, in addition to denying Jesus’ divinity, Islam asserts that Jesus did not die on the cross. We find this assertion in Surah 4 of the Qur’an:

Just in case you don’t read Arabic(!), here is the English translation:

[They said] “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah”… [But] they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them… Rather, Allah raised him to Himself… – Surah 4:157-158, Sahih International

By uttering these forty Arabic words, Muhammad declared that Christ did not, in fact, die on the cross. These words are not really explained in any detail in the Qur’an and Muslim scholars have a variety of interpretations as to exactly what these words mean and precisely what happened there on Calvary.

Interestingly, were it not for these forty words, one could read the Qur’an and easily conclude that Jesus did die on the cross. However, with these forty Arabic words the Muslim position is made, that Jesus of Nazareth was not killed on a cross at Golgotha. The question is, should this be believed?

The Christian Witness

The Apostle Paul wrote the following to the Church at Corinth:

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles… – 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

In the Acts of the Apostles we hear again and again in the preaching the the Early Church that Jesus was the Suffering Servant promised by God through His prophet Isaiah:

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, 
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:4-5

It is therefore clear that the witness of the Early Church stands in contrast to the portion of the Qur’an quoted above. The first followers of Jesus asserted that the Christ suffered, was crucified and died.

Historical Reliability

When studying sources in history, the closer the source is to the events being described, both in time and geography, the more it is generally considered to be reliable.

As I mentioned in my introductory series, the religion of Islam was founded by Muhammad in the early 7th Century in Arabia. For centuries Christians had asserted that Jesus had died on the cross, but when Muhammad arrived on this historical scene six hundred years later and seven hundred miles away, this position was disputed.

I would therefore suggest that if we were asked to reject the witness of the Bible, the Early Church Fathers and other ancient non-Christian historians concerning the events on Calvary, the Qur’an would have to offer some pretty compelling reasons for its reliability.

Christ has died, Christ is risen, …

Earlier I said that that Christians asserted that Jesus suffered and died. However, they did not stop there. Not only did they profess His death, but they declared His Resurrection!

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead – Acts 3:15

The faith of the early followers of Jesus is beautifully expressed in an early Christian hymn, quoted by St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
– Philippians 2:6-11

This has been the confession of every Christian since the time of the Apostles. This testimony has been repeated in every country and language for two thousand years: Christ is Risen!