Peace be upon you Jim,
Do you honestly believe that putting someone like Jesus Christ on the cross for 3 hours only, - a person who was able to fast for 40 days without eating anything, - and expect him to die?
Take care,
Osama Abdallah
First, you need to get your facts straight! Jesus was not only three hours on the cross. Mark wrote:
And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
(Mark 15:25)
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?'
(Mark 15:34)
That is six hours. And that was on top of the scourging and other abuse which obviously caused Him to lose a tremendous amount of blood.
Isaiah wrote of Him (about 700 years earlier) that
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
(Isaiah 52:14)
The type of beating to which Jesus was subjected was so severe that at times people would not even live through it to be crucified. But Jesus did survive, as we read, and did go on to be crucified, although he collapsed while carrying the cross from the beating and the loss of blood.
You haven't apparently bothered to do any independent thinking on this - I suppose you're just parroting what others have said without really thinking. Be that as it may, I still need to answer your question/objection.
The simple fact is that the Lord Jesus **willingly** laid down His life --
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
This charge I have received from my Father.
(John 10:18)
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished,"
and he bowed his head and **gave up his spirit**.
(John 19:30)
Why should He suffer beyond what was necessary to complete the work set out for Him to accomplish? For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. But those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
He was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:5)
He was not pierced for His own transgressions, as He had committed none. He was not crushed for His own iniquities, as He had none. He was crushed for the transgressions of others, as a Substitute - and when the penalty for those transgressions had been fully borne, He cried "it is finished" and gave up His Spirit. Should he suffer needlessly? So when His work was accomplished, He allowed Himself to die.
Peace be upon you Jim,
And again, the NT is clear that Christ was ALIVE in the tomb. Listen to the debate, and please respond to Dr. Zakir Naik's points, directly.
Take care,
Osama Abdallah
First, the NT is clear that He died and was dead when He was laid in the tomb. If you think that those Roman soldiers couldn't tell when a person was dead, you're sadly mistaken. How many deaths had they witnessed do you suppose? Hundreds? Thousands? They were perfectly capable of telling when a man was dead, as we read:
But when they came to Jesus and saw that **he was already dead**,
they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side
with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
(John 19:33-34)
The piercing of the side of Christ obviously penetrated to the heart and the fact that water and blood came out is clear proof that he was already dead.
But, in saying that the NT is clear that Christ was ALIVE in the tomb is patently ridiculous. I suppose you will bring up Jonah at this point? I will just be blunt - Dr. Naik's arguments are genuinely dumb. But, if you're so keen on trying to prove your point, feel free to post what you think is the best of his arguments and we can discuss it.
In Christ,
Jim