Quote:
Originally Posted by glyn
That is how 'John' reported it in the gospel ascribed to him.
It is not what happened. The three who were crucified together were 'Jesus', 'Judas Iscariot' and 'Simon'. Describing the other two as common criminals is at best contentious as they were all in the same religious sect. The Jewish Council was the Sanhedrin and they were violently opposed to the sect. It was they who called in Pilate. All three survived the crucifixion due to the timing of the punishment. Jesus appeared dead but the other 2 had their legs broken and all three were thrown into a latrine as Judaic law would not permit them to remain on the cross so close to the sabbath. Simon was a Magi and administered medicine to Jesus, reviving him. Judas was thrown from the latrine into the adjoining ravine where he 'burst assunder'. Jesus was soon able to walk again but Simon (at this time probably his closest friend) needed tending until his broken bones healed. Simons standing rose considerably for saving Jesus from apparent death. In fact it had been arranged for somebody to administer a drug to him when on the cross by means of a sponge to the mouth. Jesus of course was in on the plot, so took it even though it tasted foul.
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Glyn:
It happened so long ago that we are bound to have many accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection. The one you relate is clever. It offers a plausible explanation instead of the miraculous one that forms a basic tenet of Christianity. I would argue that the Gospels are basically accurate, but what took place was not a miracle, but the manipulation of an extraordinarily charismatic man possessed of a high degree of consciousness. This takes nothing away from his teachings since it was to spread them that he went through with the ordeal.
Many who knew Jesus believed him to be the Messaih, but the ultimate test lay in a series of prophecies going back to Moses. Any Jew whose life played out strictly according to these prophecies could be proclaimed the long awaited Messiah. There are about 30 of them. Although the Jews fervently believed God would send a Messiah to save them, they didn't want to be hoodwinked. The prophecies were their answer. Together, they set a bar so high that no ordinary man could get over it. This makes sense if you don't look at the prophets as seers. They weren't predicting the future. They were setting up hurdles. Why not? Afterall, what were a few hurdles to the son of God? It's ironic that they were accusing in advance their own people of failing to see when the right man came along, and that is exactly what happened. Power politics and greed did their thing.