Was Jesus Crucified?

Our praises for Allah, peace and blessings be upon his last and final messenger, upon his family, his companions and all those who follow him up until the day of resurrection. First of all I want to give everybody a hearty welcome, I want to welcome everybody, I want to apologize for the delay and also apologize to the people who are standing as well, as you can see we are full to capacity here.

So just a few announcements, first of all I want to welcome Dr. James White here to Birmingham and also Brother Zakir Hussain as well, both of them are prolific speakers who have participated in many high profile debates as well so we give them both a hearty welcome.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

They crucify him. But the resemblance of Isa was put over another man, and they killed that man. And those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture, for surely they killed him and not Jesus, the son of Mary.

But Allah raised him with his body and his soul unto himself, and Allah is all-powerful, all-wise. And there is none of the people of the scripture, but they must believe in him, Jesus, the son of Mary, as only a messenger of Allah and a human being.

And on the day of resurrection he will be a witness against them.

The words of the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53. Who has believed our message, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we consider him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

And so he did not open his mouth, but oppressed and judged he was taken away, yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave of the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord who will crush him and cause him to suffer, and the Lord makes his life an offering for sin.

He will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge. His righteous servants will justify the many and bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion of the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong. Because he has poured out his life unto death and numbered the transgressors, for he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Well, good evening to everyone. I hope you don't mind if I stand. If I sit, I figure I'm lecturing in a lecture hall, and you all need to be taking notes and have a final exam to be preparing for or something like that.

It's good to be with you. It's great to see such a big crowd. We have people standing around outside. It's good to see a good mixture of folks. I hope afterwards there will be some good conversations between the Christians and the Muslims who have gathered here this evening.

I hope you didn't come to see some kind of prize fight. I have no interest in trying to go for a knockout blow or anything along these lines. We are here to talk about very important things, and I am convinced that the attitude that you bring to these issues represents how much you actually honor the topics that are being discussed.

And so I think there is a way in which these things should be discussed with one another. We do not believe the same things, Christians and Muslims, on this subject. We cannot because of 40 Arabic words in your scriptures and because of many, many Greek words and Hebrew words in our scriptures.

We believe different things, and this is the heart of where our difference lies as to what Jesus Christ did, what he accomplished, and what took place, especially in regards to the cross of Calvary, therefore the resurrection, et cetera, et cetera.

But this subject must be addressed, I believe, in a respectful fashion by everyone, and I hope that's what we will have taking place this evening. It is an honor to be invited here, and I am very thankful to have this opportunity to be with you.

I would say that the Christian faith is centered upon the cross of Jesus Christ. We do not worship the cross. We worship the one who made us, and we believe that in the person of his son, he entered into human existence as the person of Jesus Christ who voluntarily gave himself upon Calvary's tree.

And hence the apostle Paul could say in Galatians chapter 6, may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

As a Christian each and every day, I interact with the world around me as a person who has died with Christ. The Bible teaches that I've been united with him, and therefore if I'm united with him in his death, therefore his burial, his resurrection, the new life that I have is because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished.

And so the cross is an everyday reality to the believing Christian. Notice I said the believing Christian. We know that there are Muslims who are Muslims in name only. They don't really pray the prayers.

They don't really believe things. There are Christians who are Christians in name only, just cultural Christians. Tonight we're having a conversation between believing Muslims and believing Christians, people who really believe that what we confess and what we profess is true.

And for a believing Christian, every day is the reality of the cross of Jesus Christ. So this is an extremely important issue. Now, all the way back to the period of the early church, we have testimony concerning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Around AD 107 to 108, we have the testimony of Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch, and he says, I glorify Jesus Christ. Please notice his language, by the way. This is some of the earliest writing outside the New Testament.

I glorify Jesus Christ, the God who made you so wise, for I saw that you were established in an unshakable faith, having been nailed, as it were, to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in both body and spirit, and firmly established in love by the blood of Christ, totally convinced with regard to our Lord that he is truly of the family of David with respect to human descent, son of God with respect to the divine will and power, truly born of a virgin, baptized by John in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him, truly nailed in the flesh for us under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch, from its fruit we derive our existence, that is, from his divinely blessed suffering, in order that he might raise a banner for the ages through his resurrection for his saints and faithful people, whether among Jews or among Gentiles, in the one body of his church.

This is written by the first generation after the time of the apostles. Very high theology, the deity of Christ, the crucifixion, the resurrection, our union with him, all the theology that makes the Christian faith what the Christian faith is, found in Ignatius, writing in that very next generation.

The idea that this is something that developed at a later time, very easily refuted by an honest examination of the earliest materials that we have in regards to this subject. Historically, scholarship, whether believing and conservative or unbelieving and liberal, acknowledges that Jesus of Nazareth died in the early fourth decade of the first century, and that by crucifixion.

We have more evidence of the time and method of Jesus' death than for almost any person in ancient history. 99 .9999 of all human beings who died in that era and all the way up to the modern period, we don't know how they died, we don't know when they died, we don't know the means by which they died, but we do know those facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth.

This is something that has come down to us with great clarity. Every documentable source that can be meaningfully placed in the first 100 years after Jesus' death, that is up to about AD 130, says the exact same thing.

Jesus of Nazareth died upon a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem. The sources that testify to this include the aforementioned Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred around AD 107 to 108. The epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, dated as early as AD 95 in some sources, clearly makes reference to the common belief of Christians in the death of Jesus Christ.

For example, in verse 49 of that epistle, Jesus Christ, our Lord, in accordance with God's will, gave his blood for us, and his flesh for our flesh, and his life for our lives. Another early Christian leader, a man by the name of Polycarp, makes reference to the death of Christ in his letters as well.

He is dated concurrently with Ignatius and Clement. Josephus makes reference to Jesus in Antiquities 28, 63 through 64, and it is highly unlikely that the portion about Jesus' death is a later Christian interpolation.

Some people argue that some other portions of Josephus' words might be a later interpolation, but not in regards to his death, and that's from around AD 85 in the first century. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing around AD 115, makes derogatory reference to the early Christian movement and mentions that the founder of the movement had been executed under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius.

Notice the historical reality of the crucifixion. You know who was in charge, Pontius Pilate, Herod the Tetrarch. This is something Ignatius mentions. This is something Tacitus mentions. This is not how myths and fables are presented to us.

This is something that took place in history. There simply is no evidence of conflict or confusion on the matter of Jesus' death by crucifixion in any of these sources. In fact, John Dominic Crossan, the co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, a man way, way, way to my left, says these words.

He says that he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be since both Josephus and Tacitus agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact. Now, you need to understand, Crossan is about as much of a skeptic as you can get.

He's a great guy. He's a really nice guy. I've told him that he's my favorite heretic, and so he accepts that. But he's as far away from my position into liberalism as you could possibly go. And yet, even from his perspective, this is a certainty in regards to Jesus' life.

And of course, another individual that I've also debated, Bart Ehrman, says one of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate.

And again, Ehrman is not a Christian. He is a former Christian. That makes him an apostate. But he is probably the best-known English-speaking critic of the Christian faith around. And he says one of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified.

Of course, the most important witness to the crucifixion of Jesus is to be found in the multiple witnesses comprising what is called the New Testament. Despite the skepticism of atheists and liberals, the New Testament presents to us multiple streams of witness, with important elements of that witness coming from within less than a matter of a few years from the time of the death of Jesus.

The testimony included in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 through 5, provides an ancient creedal statement of the church, which includes the direct assertion of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

These words predate Paul's use of them by a number of years, placing them in the most primitive possible timeframe, some believe within 18 months of the actual events themselves. These are not things that developed over time as people were trying to make things up.

This is as primitive as you can go. The Pauline Corpus of Writings presents to us firm, contextual, historical witness to the belief of the crucifixion of Jesus dating to as early as A .D. 48. Given that his letters were sent to cities all around the Mediterranean, clearly the belief in the death of Christ by crucifixion was widespread despite how repulsive the idea was to the intellectual elite of the day.

If anybody tried to make up a religion that would be popular in the Roman Empire, this was not the way to do it. Crucifixion was repulsive to people. There were certain people who wouldn't even use the term.

They considered it almost off-color because it was such a horrific way to die. We'll have more to say about that later on. There is no compelling reason outside of embracing naturalistic principles. To date, the gospel is as late as most modern scholars do.

Strong internal arguments can be presented for a pre-A .D. 70 date for the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And if in fact Luke Acts was meant to be an amicus brief for Paul's trial, this would put Mark, if it was written earlier, into the mid -40s.

That's very, very, very early. Theologically, the crucifixion is central and definitional to the entirety of the proclamation of the gospel. What were Christians doing all those years? They were proclaiming the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is the self-giving of God in his son, the reality of his wrath, the necessity of atonement, the perfection of the God-man's work as high priest, as sacrifice, and as mediator that forms the very bedrock of the Christian message itself from the very beginning in the earliest sources.

Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet, yet repeatedly Jesus himself spoke of his impending death at the hands of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. For example, in Mark chapter 8, verses 31 through 32, and he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again, and he was stating the matter openly.

Gospel of Mark, considered by many to be the earliest, very clearly, this is Jesus teaching that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected and be killed, and after three days rise again. In fact, Jesus said it was necessary that this take place.

In Luke chapter 22, for I tell you that this which is written must be the Greek term there is di, which means it is necessary, fulfilled in me, and then he quotes from Isaiah chapter 53, and he was numbered with transgressors, for that which refers to me has its fulfillment.

Jesus says Isaiah 53 is about him. That is his teaching. In fact, that tremendous text, which we heard read in Isaiah 53, is cited by Peter, Paul, Luke, Matthew, and Mark, all having its fulfillment in Jesus' death by crucifixion.

There is no question the earliest New Testament traditions focus upon the cross as a prophetic fulfillment. Let me remind you of the last portion of what was read to us, the last two verses. As a result, the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied.

By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will what? Justify, make righteous the many, as how will he do that? He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great, he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.

These words were written 700 years before the birth of Christ. 700 years before the birth of Christ. In whom are they fulfilled? They are fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Psalm 22, we have these words. For dogs have surrounded me, a band of evildoers has encompassed me, they pierced my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones, they look, they stare at me, they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

So clear are the prophetic words that modern liberals like to say, well, obviously the New Testament writers are just ransacking the Old Testament, making this whole story up. So clear are these prophetic words.

Now, we as Christians and Muslims, you can't join with the liberals and question the existence of prophecy, not if you're going to continue to believe that Muhammad is prophesied in the New Testament, can you?

You have to accept the reality of prophecy, and it is found right here in regards to the subject of this evening. Hence, we have a unanimous witness to the crucifixion from every relevant source within the first century of the time of Christ's death.

Remember, the majority of what Muslims believe about Muhammad has no literary testimony until, well, after 100 years after his death. So is the Muslim consistent in his application of standards at this point?

I just used the term consistent. Who won the game? I'm not sure, but I just used the term consistent. Everyone was expecting me to use that term, so there you go. There's someone out there named Ejaz that's very happy right now.

Now, the real reason that we're here this evening is because of 40 Arabic words written 600 years after the events of Christ's life. That's why we're here this evening. We're not here because of any of the historical information.

We're here because of these words, which were read to you in Arabic, and then a very interesting translation used, which maybe we'll get to discuss, was provided in English. Surah 4, 157, that they said in boast, we killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the apostle of Allah, but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts with no certain knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.

This is why we are here this evening, these 40 Arabic words. The next verse says, Nay, Allah raised him up, Rafahoo, unto himself, and Allah is exalted in power and wise. So, the problem is that there is no authentic interpretation of this one ayah to be found in the Hadith literature.

There are numerous other ayat of the Quran that are interpreted within the Hadith literature. This is not one of them. As a text, it stands alone. It stands without context. In fact, if we were to read other texts in the Quran, such as Surah 355 in 1933, it would naturally be referring to the death of Jesus.

We have some questions about the text. What Jewish person would ever call Jesus the Messiah? What does it mean it was made to appear to them? Shabihallah. What does that mean? The translation that was used in the reading beforehand said his appearance was put on somebody else.

Well, that's a real stretch. That's an interpretive interpretation. It simply means it was made to appear to them. Well, what does that mean? Many Muslims believe he was made to look like someone else.

Well, there are many other Muslims that don't see it in that way. Appear to whom? To the Jews? To the Romans? To everybody? It doesn't say. We can't tell. It is not clear. As I said, both Surah 355 and 1933, both speak of Jesus' death, as long as you translate them correctly.

Surah 1933 is parallel to Surah 1915. Look at the Arabic there. And the words in Surah 1915 are applied to John the Baptist, who surely died. Because if you don't remember, how did John the Baptist die according to the Bible?

He was beheaded. I can assure you that is a very effective means of bringing about death. There isn't any question about John the Baptist's death, yet the very same words are used of Jesus. Forty Arabic words written 625 years after the ministry of Jesus, in a different culture, 765 miles from Jerusalem, no first-hand contact, in a completely different language.

And what we're being asked is to take all the united testimony of everything from the first century, of all the apostles of Jesus, the original followers of Jesus, the next generation after Jesus, the secular historians.

We are supposed to abandon the consistency of the fact that Romans, especially in Judea, had been using crucifixion a great deal at this point in history. All of the historical sources confirm that they were utilizing this as a method of seeking to control the people.

And so we have the consistency of who was in control, what was going on at that time, the history is right, the names are right, the dates are right, the times are right, and all the sources say the exact same thing.

And yet we have 40 Arabic words from 600 years later, upon which all of that is to be dismissed. You can see why, as Christians, we truly have a problem with that. So the unanimous testimony of the relevant historical sources from the first century after Jesus, all testify to his crucifixion in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate.

Both secular and religious sources testify to this fact in numerous ways. Non-historical Gnostic gospels and movements in the 2nd and 3rd centuries deny the crucifixion for purely theological and mystical reasons, as we may need to get into.

I'm not sure what Zacher's position is going to be. And as such, those, if we do hear them raised, are utterly irrelevant to any serious truthful examination of the issue. Jesus and all his apostles not only taught about the crucifixion, the entire message of the Christian faith and of the prophetic witness that testified to him as the Messiah is bound up in this single redemptive act culminating in his resurrection from the dead.

And so here's what I want to communicate this evening to all of us. We can have meaningful discussion. I've heard various objections. Well, you know, maybe some of the Gnostics did have some historical foundation, what they were saying, or, you know, what about the possibility maybe we could see some difference in approach between the synoptic gospels or something and all that kind of stuff.

We can talk about those things, but let's just make sure that both sides understand what's being discussed this evening. As a Christian, I want the Muslims to understand what you're asking me to do. You're asking me to believe that someone can come along over half a millennium after the founding of my faith, who had no contact with the original founders of my faith, did not speak the languages of the founders of my faith, and had no firsthand knowledge of the writings of my faith, and with only 40 words overthrow the centrality of the historical core of my faith.

That's what you're asking of me. And I've always asked my Muslim friends, put yourself in my shoes. If someone comes along 600 years after Muhammad, not knowing Arabic, not knowing the Quran, living somewhere in France, and says that the mirage in Israel never took place, that you should not be reading the Quran, it was not sent down from God, and I say this because I'm a prophet.

Now, that's exactly the situation that you would be in, that you're asking us to put ourselves in, when you deny with only 40 Arabic words, and they are unclear. We don't know exactly what they mean or what they're saying.

Could it just be saying that the Jews didn't do it, the Romans did? That is a possibility, grammatically speaking. And since there is no authentic Hadith narration of interpretation of this text, who is to say?

That's why there have been many interpretations down through history. And so this is the issue that we are facing this evening. Now, as a Christian, let me say to my Muslim friends, you need to understand something.

Many of you will say, well, you know, Christians are cross-worshippers. Well, I imagine you've probably seen some people bowing down before crosses and things like that, and doing things that they should not do, in a lack of purity of worship.

I get it. But you need to understand why the cross is so central. Not that we worship the cross, the cross itself is an instrument by which Jesus voluntarily gave his life. What you need to understand, I hear what the Quran is saying.

If you look carefully at the Quran, look at the other places where crucifixion is mentioned. I think for the author of the Quran, Jesus could not have been crucified, because the only people who are crucified are bad, evil opposers of God, and Allah would not allow one of his prophets to die in that way.

I think that was the primary argument that was being made there. I get it. I hear it. What's the response to that? To understand what the author of the Quran never heard, and those were the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John.

No one takes my life from me. I give it of my own accord. Jesus voluntarily gives his life. It is the purpose of the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, to glorify themselves in this specific manner.

It's freely done, out of his great condescension to us. You see, when we look at the cross, my friends, what we see, first of all, is the holiness of God. God's law demands that sin be punished. God cannot simply allow his law, which represents his own nature, to be broken and trampled upon.

So, that sin must be punished. And yet, he desires to redeem a people, not because of anything in and of themselves, but because of his own goodness, kindness, mercy, and love. How is he going to do that?

Well, he gave us sort of pictures of it in the Old Testament, but it only comes to fruition when Jesus Christ, according to John 1 .14, the Word made flesh, entered into human flesh. He lived a perfect life.

He was obedient to the Father in all things. And then he voluntarily, he said, it's necessary that I go to Jerusalem. I must go. And he did. And what we see on the cross is God's power. The world sees weakness.

The world sees Rome crushing a small man. We see the one who made the very wood of the tree upon which he has been nailed, controlling that power, so as to bring about the greatest good that mankind has ever seen, the redemption of a people in and through his work.

That's what we see when we see the cross. And that's why we boast in it. And that's why we're here this evening. You don't believe that. We want you to. You want us to stop believing that. That's what we're talking about this evening.

No one's hiding anything. We're putting all our cards on the table, so to speak. That's the subject this evening. I thank you for being here. Thank you very much.

Ready to go? I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise to Allah, the one true God of Abraham, on whom be peace, who, I testify, has not only begotten sons, the only true creator of the worlds.

May he shower his blessings on all the prophets, especially the last and final messenger, Muhammad al-Mustafa, on whom be peace. May he continuously give us the means to defend the true status of the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, on whom be peace.

And may he guide us and keep us all on the straight path. I would firstly like to thank the brothers who organized this debate, especially Brother Tasneef, who worked very hard behind the scene, and also the brother for moderating.

I would like to give a special thanks to Dr. White for agreeing to grace us with his presence. I would also like to thank all of you for attending. The topic of today's discussion is, Was Jesus Crucified?

Why is this topic so important? This topic is important because of the fact that when the Qur 'an denies such a thing, it is in fact denying the very heart and foundation of mainstream Christianity, the claim that God had to die for the sins of the world.

Also, if the Qur 'an is denying that Jesus died, then by default it is also denying that Jesus resurrected, which is also one of the most important beliefs of mainstream Christianity. I will get to what the Qur 'an has to say on this topic towards the end of this opening statement, but first I would like to go back, and I mean way back.

There is a story recorded in the Torah that I believe may be the key to unlocking the answer to the question of whether Jesus died on a cross or not. This story has been seen through the centuries by Christian scholars and theologians as a key foreshadowing of the event of the crucifixion.

This story is known by the Jews as the Akheda, or in other words, the sacrifice of the only begotten son of Abraham. In this story, Christians maintain that there is imagery of the father sacrificing his only begotten son.

Interestingly enough, this story actually proves the opposite of what the Christians claim. Next slide. If in this prophecy Abraham represents the father and his only begotten son represents Jesus, then this means that Jesus was saved from being killed, as in the story God provided a ram with his horns locked in the thickets in the place of Isaac on whom be peace, who according to another way of reading the Hebrew is called the lamb.

If Isaac represents Jesus in this prophecy, then who was the ram that God substituted to be killed in the place of the only begotten son at the last minute? We will get to the answer very soon. Interestingly, although the only begotten son does not die in the story of the sacrifice, but instead has a near brush with death and is saved, the Israelites spoke of the story in the sense of having death and resurrection and atonement.

Next slide. The rabbis teach that scripture credits Isaac with having died and his ashes having lain upon the altar. Another source of rabbinic material says,. So Jews understood that because Isaac was willing to be sacrificed, it was as if he literally was killed and resurrected and atoned for the sins of his descendants who looked to his example as a way to repent and live in a better way.

Here we see that Jesus was willing to submit to God no matter what was in store for him. When he was saved by God at the last minute, his disciples in the language of the Israelites, who speak of someone who survives dying by the skin of the teeth, spoke of Jesus as dying and resurrecting just like Isaac.

Also, just like the example of Isaac was seen as a metaphorical atonement for Israelites, in the same vein the disciples had seen the example of Jesus' metaphorical death as an example for them. This is confirmed by the theology of Luke, which does not promote vicarious atonement, but the theology of Jewish martyrs, where people who give their life for God cause other people to repent and thus these martyrs are seen as atoning for the sins of others.

Next slide. Now let us get to the question of how Jesus was saved. It is reported in the Gospels that Jesus prayed to be saved from the cup of crucifixion in Mark, Matthew and Luke. In Matthew 26, verse 39 it says,.

In this prayer, no less than three times did he ask God to be spared from being crucified, but yet as a true submitter to God, he left it in the hands of God by saying,. Muslims maintain that God had accepted the request of his beloved Messiah, as it is attributed to Jesus in John chapter 11 that God always accepts his prayers.

Next slide. Also, another passage in the New Testament confirms that Jesus' prayer was accepted by God. There were cries and pleadings with a loud cry and tears to the one who could rescue him from death and God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

Raymond Brand in his monumental book entitled Death of the Messiah on page 228 mentions that Hebrews 5 -7 was an early Christian hymn with its wording clearly based on Psalms 116. Amazingly, when one goes to Psalms 116, one realizes that it is about someone who praises God for answering his prayers and delivering him from a close encounter with death.

Also, the name of the Messiah is foreshadowed in the Hebrew text. Muslims are not inconsistent. The same way we maintain that the name of the Seal of the Prophets is foreshadowed in Song of Songs chapter 5 verse 16 is the same way we see the name of the Messiah foreshadowed in the Psalms in numerous places.

Any Jewish follower of Jesus who believed that the prayer of Jesus was accepted, as Hebrews 5 -7 states, would easily connect it to Psalms 116 and would clearly see the name of the Messiah alluded to in the Psalms.

The name Yeshua is in the Hebrew text of Psalms 116 as well as multiple times in Psalms 91, a text that Jesus affirmed was about him in the temptation. Let me read some of the passages found in these Psalms.

I will be reciting key verses in these Psalms and will skip some due to time constraints. I would like everybody to pay attention to the Hebrew idioms that seem to sound like they are talking about somebody dying and resurrecting when in reality every single time it is speaking about somebody coming close to death but actually being saved from dying.

Also please remember that Jesus prayed to be saved from dying in the first place. Bear this in mind when I recite verses where the Psalms say God heard his prayers. Next slide. Psalms 116. I love the Lord because he heard my plea for mercy and listened to me.

As long as I live I will call to him when I need help. The ropes of death tightened around me. Verse 6 I was in serious trouble and he delivered me. Yehoshua is in the Hebrew. Verse 13 has the name Yeshua in it.

Any Jewish Christian who followed Jesus would see clear cut allusions to the name of the Messiah in the text. Verse 16. Yes Lord I am indeed your servant. I am your lowest slave. You saved me from death.

Next slide. Psalms 30. I will extol you oh Lord for you have drawn me up. This is about the ascension. And have not let my foes rejoice over me. Oh Lord my God I cry to you for help and you have healed me.

Oh Lord you brought up my soul from Shul. You have kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit. Next slide. To you oh Lord I cry and to the Lord I plead for mercy. What profit is there in my blood?

Now Christians tell us that there is profit in the blood of Jesus atoned for the sins of the world. Yet this rhetorical question is implying there is no profit in the blood of Jesus. Psalms 86. Verse 6.

Give ear oh Lord to my prayer and give heed to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I shall call upon you God and Gethsemane. Verse 14. God arrogant men rise up against me. While a company of ruthless individuals want to kill me.

Verse 16. Turn to me and have mercy on me. Show your strength in behalf of your servant. Save me because I serve you just as my mother did. That's an allusion to his righteous mother Mary. Who the Quran describes as one who served Allah in the temple.

A female priestess. Next slide please. Psalms chapter 31 which is confirmed by the New Testament as messianic. In you Lord I have taken refuge. Let me never be ashamed because you are righteous. Deliver me.