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A Clear Picture of Christ’s Crucifixion, Part 1
- Fred Farrokh
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Recently, my sister and I were helping my aging parents with some documents. I live in a different city than my sister, so she sent me a picture from her phone of one document we needed. However, the photo was so blurry that I could not read it. Fortunately, I checked my computer and found that I had an original digital copy of the document in question. That document was crystal clear. We all have seen the difference between a clear picture and a blurry picture. We can apply this comparison when we look at a historical event as important at the Crucifixion of Christ.
Focusing on the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ
Christians are now celebrating an important season in their worship calendar. The season leading up to Easter is called Lent. Easter marks the Resurrection of Christ. In fact, a “holy week” of events leads up to Easter. These include remembrances of the “Last Supper” Jesus ate with His disciples on Thursday of Holy Week. The next day marks “Good Friday”—the anniversary of the day of Jesus’ Crucifixion. After Friday, and then Saturday, comes the third day—Easter Sunday—marking the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
What Pictures Do Other Religions Give of Jesus’ Crucifixion?
In Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the holiday of Easter is not celebrated. Jesus is largely unknown in Hinduism and Buddhism. So, the lack of an Easter celebration in those religions is not surprising.
In Islam, Jesus is revered as a prophet.. The main scriptural text referenced by Muslims regarding the Crucifixion is Q4:156-158. In that text, Jews are rebuked
"for their denial and outrageous accusation against Mary, and for boasting, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ But they neither killed nor crucified him—it was only made to appear so. Even those who argue for this crucifixion are in doubt. They have no knowledge whatsoever—only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him. Rather, Allah raised him up to Himself. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise."
Quran.com, from which the quote is taken, provides this tafsir:
The popular belief among Muslims is that a conspiracy was made to kill Jesus. Allah made the main culprit who betrayed Jesus look exactly like Jesus, then he was crucified in Jesus’ place. Jesus was raised safe and sound to the heavens.
In short, this is the Islamic Substitution Theory of Jesus’ crucifixion.
As one may notice, Muslims must rely on commentators to understand what happened at the Cross. The Qur’an merely states “it was only made to appear” that Jesus was crucified. A substitution is implied but not specifically stated. Commentators provide details to clarify the vague picture, suggesting it was Judas who was crucified in Jesus’ place.
In summary, the picture of Jesus’ Crucifixion is non-existent in some religions, whereas in the Qur’an, the picture is vague.
Prophets and Details
The Islamic scholar Smail Baliç provides a helpful description of Qur’anic prophets in “The Picture of Jesus in Contemporary Islamic Theology.” He notes that the Qur’an generally refrains from giving detailed pictures of prophets:
In Muslim discussion, Jesus does not possess the importance which is His in Christianity. In the Koran Jesus is simply a subject of the history of the prophets. …In general, these groups of Koranic passages consist of sidelights, fragments and intimations. There are no complete accounts. All of this indicates that they are intended to play only a secondary role in the total plan of the Koran.
…According to this interpretation, which is increasingly accepted nowadays, the tales of the prophets are a sort of literary material designed to while away the evening hours, and at the same time to serve as a basis for discussion of other revealed religions. What is important in these stories, according to this view, is not so much their contents but their effect as aids in strengthening the faith of a particular audience. They incite and stimulate the pious mind.[1]
Dr. Baliç provides helpful insights worthy of review. First, stories of prophets in the Qur’an are not complete, detailed accounts. Second, the role of these stories is to bolster the faith of believers rather than to provide historical reporting. Third, Jesus’ role is less prominent in Islam than it is in Christianity. For these reasons, a clear portrayal of Jesus’ Crucifixion in Islam remains elusive.
Comparing Jesus in the Qur’an to Enoch in the Bible
According to the Bible and the Qur’an, Adam and Eve are the parents of all humanity. Enoch (Idris in Islam) emerged as a righteous man seven generations later. The first book of the Bible merely gives this brief description of Enoch: “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5:24). Admittedly, this description is quite vague.
The New Testament adds its own commentary to the life of Enoch, though that explanation only constitutes one verse: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5).
Overall, the picture of Enoch is somewhat similar to the picture of Jesus in the Qur’an. Both were holy prophets. Both had faith in their Creator. God raised them up to heaven prior to them dying of old age. Very few details are given about these respective deaths. In the case of Enoch, no details are given, other than that God raised him up. As for the Qur’anic treatment of Jesus’ death, scant details are provided. We read only that to the bystanders “it appeared” Jesus was crucified (in Arabic, “shubbiha lahum” شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ).
What Information Do Believers Need?
Though the picture of Enoch being raised to heaven is not given in vivid detail, no one frets about this. That historical event does not impact believers now. His example may strengthen believers, but the faith of believers does not rest on this event.
God did not see fit to give more details about the raising of Enoch because it simply was not that important as it relates to eternity. In such cases, believers must defer to the wisdom of the All-Knowing One. If He did not see fit to provide such details, then believers must conclude that God knows best. Muslims often say, in such cases, “Allahu ‘Alam” (Only Allah knows).
This concepts leads back to the discussion of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. Muslims are taught to believe that Jesus was not crucified, but was simply raised to heaven. Christians testify that He was raised to heaven after He was crucified and resurrected.
Two questions emerge:
1. On what basis do Christians testify that Jesus was indeed crucified and resurrected?
2. Does this discrepancy carry eternal significance, or is it simply a matter of vague details, as we observe with Enoch?
In the next blog, we will consider these questions one-by-one.
[1] Smail Baliç, “The Image of Jesus in Contemporary Islamic Theology,” in We Believe in One God, 1-8. edited by Abdoldjavad Falaturi and AnneMarie Schimmel (New York: Seabury Press, 1979), 2, emphasis added.
