The Qur'an tells us that jesus(as) did not die on the cross, "but it was made to appear so" .. The ones who wanted Jesus(as) dead were deceived into believing he had really died, but the truth is that he did not die at all.
Who are you talking about---"the ones who wanted Jesus dead were deceived into believing he had really died"? Who "wanted Jesus dead"? Not His disciples. The Pharisees and the other Jewish religious leaders "wanted Jesus dead." So THEY were "deceived into believing he had really died"?? So is THAT why they requested that guards stand watch over the tomb to make sure His disciples didn't steal His body and claim He rose from the grave?
Jesus' disciples did NOT want Him dead, but they all believed He was crucified. His dead body was taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb:
Mark's account:
Mark 15:
37. And
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and
breathed His last.
38. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39. Now
when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!''
43.
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage,
went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
44.
Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.
45. And
when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
46. Then
he bought fine linen,
took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
John's account:
John 19:
32. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.
33. But
when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35. And
he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
36. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken.''
37. And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced.''
38. After this,
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.
39. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
40. Then
they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
41. Now in the place where
He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
42. So
there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
They took the dead body of Jesus, not someone else. They handled His dead body. They wrapped His dead body. They laid Jesus' dead body in a tomb. What do these verses mean, if not what they say?!?
Plus, He had told them several times BEFORE He was crucified that He WOULD be crucified. Did He lie to them?
Mark 9:31 (NASB)-- For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later."
Furthermore, His death was fulfillment of prophecy, specifically, Isaiah 53:
5. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not his mouth.
8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For
He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9. And
they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at
His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
That prophecy of Isaiah come as Isaiah was "moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), and the Holy Spirit moved him to say or write of Christ's death, not some supposed rescue by God so someone else would die instead!!
After Jesus' death, it was His
resurrection that His own disciples initially refused to believe. Not His death, but His resurrection. His death was a given. His resurrection had to be proved before they would believe.
Mark 16:
11. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her,
they did not believe.
12. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.
13. And
they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
14. Afterward He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and
He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
And don't forget "doubting Thomas" who refused to believe He had risen:
John 20:
24. But Thomas, called Didymus, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25.
The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord.'' But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.''
26. And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!''
27. Then
He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.''
28. And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!''
I suppose these historical accounts that you mention of, were written by these people who were deceived.. so we as muslims cannot take that as evidence as we know it is faulty. Seeing is always believing.. but this was a miracle of Allah swt. And if you find this hard to believe, you might as well reject the many miracles performed by Jesus(a.s) on similiar grounds.
Please tell me --- what was the purpose of this supposed "miracle of Allah"?? To deceive people into thinking one thing when something else actually happened? And for what purpose? Why did Allah not want Jesus to pay for our sins? So we could pay for them ourselves for all eternity in the lake of fire?
No, it is obvious to me that the writer of the Quran was wrong, wrong, wrong. The whole account as given in the Quran makes no sense, has no reason, is totally inconsistent with everything else said in verse after verse in both Old Testament and New Testament. It is so out of place as to be obviously erroneous. In fact it creates a contradiction with every other statement, dozens and dozens, to the contrary.
But the saddest part of it all, is that your eternity hinges on this most crucial fact of history, that Jesus died for our sins. If He didn't, you have to pay for them. If He did, and you reject that, you'll have to pay for them. It is not the disciples and historians that were deceived. It is YOU if you believe He didn't die for YOUR sins.
Peace
