This post examines the Biblical evidence for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, contrary to the Islamic claim that Jesus was neither crucified nor killed. According to traditional Islamic teaching, Allah rescued Jesus from his enemies and raised him to heaven, while another person was made to resemble him and was crucified in his place. This raises an important question: who was the man who was allegedly substituted for Jesus and suffered crucifixion instead?
The New Testament consistently affirms that Jesus was arrested, tried, crucified, died, and was buried before rising from the dead on the third day. These events are recorded in multiple independent Gospel accounts and are central to the Christian faith. In contrast, the substitution theory is not explained in detail in the Quran, leading to various interpretations among Muslim scholars regarding the identity of the alleged substitute.
Some Muslims have appealed to the Gospel of Barnabas in support of the substitution theory. However, this document is widely regarded by scholars as a medieval work, dating many centuries after the time of Jesus and long after the writing of the canonical Gospels. As such, it lacks the historical credibility and early attestation of the New Testament accounts.
The following Biblical verses clearly testify that Jesus was crucified, suffered death on the cross, and was buried, providing strong evidence for the historic Christian belief in the crucifixion of Christ.
1. [Psalm 22:16] For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
2. [Matthew 20:19] Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
3. [Matthew 26:2] “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
4. [Matthew 27:26] Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
5. [Matthew 27:35] And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
6. [Matthew 27:38] Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.
7. [Matthew 27:44] And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
8. [Matthew 28:5] But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
9. [Mark 15:15] Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
10. [Mark 15:24] And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
11. [Mark 15:25] It was the third hour when they crucified him.
12. [Mark 15:27] They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
13. [Mark 15:32] Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
14. [Mark 16:6] “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
15. [Luke 9:22] “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
16. [Luke 23:23] But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
17. [Luke 23:33] When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals— one on his right, the other on his left.
18. [Luke 24:7] ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
19. [Luke 24:20] The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
20. [John 19:16] Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
21. [John 19:18] Here they crucified him, and with him two others— one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
22. [John 19:20] Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
23. [John 19:23] When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24. [John 19:32] The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.
25. [John 19:41] At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.
26. [Acts 2:23] But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.
27. [Acts 2:36] “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
28. [Acts 4:10] Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.
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