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"WHO
MOVED THE STONE?" or "who ROLLED away
the stone?" (Mark 16:3) is a question
which has worried theologians for the
past two thousand years. Mr Frank
Morison, a prominent Bible scholar,
tried to nail down this ghost(s) in a
book bearing the same title as this
tract. Between 1930 and 1975 his book
has gone through ELEVEN editions.
Through all his 192 pages of conjectures
he failed to answer ,"WHO MOVED
THE STONE?" (Faber and Faber,
London). On page 89 of his book, he
writes, "We are left, therefore,
with the problem of the vacant tomb
unsolved" and proceeds to
advance SIX hypotheses, very nearly
knocking the proverbial nail on the head
with his FIRST supposition, i.e.
"THAT JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA SECRETLY
REMOVED THE BODY TO A MORE SUITABLE
RESTING PLACE". After
confessing that this Joseph "might
himself have removed it for private
reasons to another place, is one
which seems to carry considerable
weight" (italics mine), he
hurriedly disposes this hypothesis on
the flimsiest ground. As you read on,
dear reader, I trust that you as well as
Mr Morison will have a satisfactory
answer to this problem. Let us begin at
the beginning of this problem.
It was Sunday morning,
according to the Bible, the first day of
the week, when Mary Magdalene went to
the tomb of Jesus (John 20:1). The first
question that bedevils the mind is:-
Q1: WHY DID
SHE GO TO THE TOMB?
Ans: The Gospel writers
say that she went to "anoint"
him. The Hebrew word for anoint is
"masaha", which means - 'to rub',
'to massage', 'to anoint'. The word and
its meaning are the same in the Arabic
language also. From this root word
"masaha" we get the Arabic word
"MASEEH" and the Hebrew
"MESSIAH" both meaning the same
thing - "the anointed one" which is
translated into Greek as "Christos"
from which we derive the word
Christ.
Q2:
DO JEWS MASSAGE
DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"
Q3: DO MUSLIMS
MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"
Q4: DO
CHRISTIANS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER
THREE DAYS?
Ans: "No!"
It is common knowledge
that within three hours after death,
rigor mortis sets in - the
breaking up of the body cells - the
hardening of the body. In three days the
corpse starts rotting from within. If we
massage such a rotting body, it will
fall to pieces.
Q5: DOES IT
MAKE SENSE THAT MARY MAGDALENE WANTS TO
MASSAGE A ROTTING DEAD BODY AFTER THREE
DAYS?
Ans: It makes no sense, unless
we confess that she was looking for a
L-I·V·E Jesus, not a dead one. You will
recognise this fact for yourself on
analysing her reactions towards Jesus
when she eventually saw through his
disguise. You see, she had seen signs of
life in that limp body when it was taken
down from the cross. She was about the
only woman beside Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus who had given the final
(?) rites to the body of Jesus. This man
NICODEMUS, somehow, has been
deliberately blotted out by the
synoptists. The Gospel writers of
Matthew, Mark and Luke are totally
ignorant of this devoted and
self-sacrificing disciple of Jesus. His
name is NOT even mentioned in the first
three Gospels in ANY context. "it
is difficult to avoid
concluding that the
omission in the
synoptic tradition of
the mysterious disciple
was intentional", says Dr
Hugh J Schonfield, one of the world's
leading Biblical scholars.
When Mary of
Magdala reached the tomb, she found
that the stone had already been rolled
away, and the winding sheets bundled on
the ledge within the sepulcher. The
question now arises:
Q6: WHY WAS THE STONE REMOVED,
AND WHY WERE THE WINDING SHEETS FOUND
UNWOUND?
Ans: Because it would be
impossible for any tangible material
body to come out with the stone blocking
the opening, and the same physical body
could not walk out with the winding
sheets encasing the body. For a
resurrected body, it would have been
unnecessary to remove the stone or to
unwind the winding sheets. Probably
having the resurrected, immortalized
body, or the spirit of man in mind, a
poet said: "STONE WALLS DO NOT A PRISON
MAKE, NOR IRON BARS A CAGE".
While the poor, dejected Mary was
investigating the sepulcher, Jesus was
watching her from the vicinity. Not from
heaven, but from terra firma,
from mother earth. We must remember that
this tomb was a privately owned property
belonging to his "secret disciple"
Joseph of Arimathea - who was a very
rich, influential Jew, and one who could
afford to have carved a big roomy
chamber, out of a rock which according
to Jim Bishop (a Christian scholar
of note) was 5 feet wide by 7 feet high
by 15 feet deep with a ledge or ledges
inside. Around this tomb was this
"secret disciple's" own vegetable
garden. It is hardly expected of
any Jew or Gentile to grow vegetables 5
miles out of town for other peoples'
sheep and goats to graze upon! Surely,
this husbandman must have provided his
labourers with the gardeners' quarters
to protect his own interests, and
perhaps he also had his 'country home'
around the place where he could relax
with his family during the weekends.
Jesus was watching his lady disciple out
of whom he had cast out seven devils. He
comes up to her. He finds her crying. He
questions her, "Woman, why
weepest thou? Whom
seekest thou?" (John 20:15).
Q7: DOESN'T HE KNOW? WHY DOES HE
ASK SUCH A SEEMINGLY SILLY QUESTION?
Ans: He knew why she was crying,
and he knew who she was looking for and
he was not asking any silly questions.
Actually, he was pulling her leg,
figuratively of course! He knew that she
was looking for him in the tomb, and not
finding him there, was crying in her
disappointment. He also knew that she
would not be able to see through his
disguise. Though he had been through an
ordeal, he still had that sense of
humour to ask her, "Woman, why
weepest thou? Whom
seekest thou?
"SHE SUPPOSING HIM TO BE THE
GARDENER, SAITH UNTO HIM" (John 20:15).
08:
WHY DID SHE
THINK THAT HE
(JESUS) WAS A GARDENER? DO RESURRECTED
BODIES LOOK LIKE GARDENERS?
Ans: Can you imagine the scene on
the RESURRECTION DAY, that you, dear
reader, will be made to look like a
"gardener" and your father-in-law
will also be transformed into a
"gardener" and your son-in-law will
also be made to look like a
"gardener" and your beloved wife
will be left in confusion to find her
husband! Does this make sense? No! The
resurrected body will be you, yourself!
Everyone will readily recognize you. It
will be the REAL you and not your
camouflage. Never mind at what age or
under what condition one dies, everyone
will know one another. Then why did Mary
think that Jesus was a "gardener"?
Ans: Because Jesus
was DISGUISED as a gardener.
Q9:
WHY WAS HE
DISGUISED AS A GARDENER?
Ans: Because he was AFRAID
of the Jews.
Q10:
WHY WAS HE
AFRAID OF THE JEWS?
Ans: Because he had
not DIED and was not RESURRECTED.
If he had DIED and if he was RESURRECTED
he would not have any reason to be
AFRAID. Why? Because the resurrected
body can't DIE twice. Who says
so? The Bible says so: ".... it
is ordained unto
all men ONCE to
die, and after that
the judgment." (Hebrew
9:27). The idea that the resurrected
person cannot die TWICE is further
supported by what Jesus Christ had most
authoritatively pronounced regarding the
resurrection.
The learned men of the Jews came to
Jesus with a poser, a riddle. They said
that there was a woman who had seven
husbands in turn. "in the
resurrection therefore
whose wife shall
she be of the
seven? For they all
had her." (Matthew 22:28).
Jesus could have brushed off the Jews
with some curt retort because here was
another of their tricks to catch him
out. Instead, he has enshrined for us
the dearest statement in the Bible
regarding the resurrected soul. He said,
"Neither shall they
die any more,
for they are equal
unto the angels,
and the children of
God, for such are
the children of
the resurrection" (Luke
20:36).
"NEITHER SHALL THEY
DIE ANYMORE" - that
they will be immortalised. They will not
be subjected to death a SECOND time. No
more hunger and thirst. No more fatigue
or physical dangers. Because the
resurrected body will be 'angelised' -
spiritualised - they will become like
spirit creatures, they will become
SPIRITS.
Mary Magdalene was not looking for a
spirit. She, taking the disguised Jesus
to be a gardener, says, "Sir,
if you have
taken HIM hence, tell
me where have
you LAID him..." (John
20:15). Note, she is searching for HIM
and not IT - a dead body. Further, she
wants to know as to where they had LAID
him, not as to where they had BURIED
him? So that, "I
might take HIM away."
(John 20:15).
Q11: WHAT DOES SHE WANT TO DO
WITH A DECOMPOSING CORPSE?
Ans: She wants to put it under
her bed? Absurd! She wants to embalm
him? Nonsense! She wants to bury him? If
so, who dug the grave? No! No!
'she wants to
take him away'.
Q12:
HOW CAN SHE
ALONE CARRY A DEAD
BODY?
Ans: She is not thinking
of a dead, rotting corpse. She is
looking for the L-I-V-E Jesus. She is
not a "super-woman" of the American
comics, who could with ease carry a
corpse of at least a hundred and sixty
pounds, wrapped with another 'hundred
pounds weight of
aloes and myrrh' (John
19:39) making a neat bundle of 260
pounds. This frail Jewess was not
expected to carry this decaying parcel
like a bundle of straws. Even if she
could carry it, how was she to bury it
ALONE? She might have had to dump it in
some hole like a heap of rubbish. But
dumping and burying are poles apart.
She was looking for a Jesus who was very
much alive, a Jesus she could hold by
the hand and take him home for rest,
relaxation and recuperation, "so
that, I might take him away".
The joke that Jesus was playing on this
woman had gone too far. During the whole
course of the dialogue between Mary and
Jesus, she did not suspect in the least
that she was actually talking to her
Master. She had failed to see through
the gardener's DISGUISE. Jesus must have
been laughing under his breath. He could
suppress it no longer.
"M·A·R·Y!" he uttered. Only one
word, but it was enough. This one word
"Mary!" did, all that
the exchange of words failed to do. It
enabled Mary to recognise Jesus.
Everyone has his own unique and peculiar
way of calling his or her near one or
dear one. It was not the mere sound of
the name, but the way he must have
deliberately intoned it that made Mary
to respond - "Master!, Master!" She
lunged forward to grab her spiritual
master, to pay her respects and to give
reverence.
The Muslims, when they meet their
learned men, or respected elders or
saintly people, hold such person's right
hand in the palm of their own hands and
fondly kiss the back of the respected
one's hand. The Frenchman kisses the
cheeks to show respect and the Arab
kisses the neck. Mary the Jewess would
have done what any Muslim might have
done under similar circumstances.
When Mary makes the effort, Jesus shies
back a step or two, saying,
"TOUCH me not,"
(John 20:17).
Q13:
I SAY - WHY NOT?
Is he a current of electricity or a
dynamo, that if she touches him, she
will get electrocuted?
Ans: No! Don't touch me, because
it will hurt. Though he had given no
indication of any physical pain or
injury he might have suffered, it would
be excruciatingly painful if he now
allowed her to touch him with love and
affection. Can another reason be
advanced for this "Touch me
not"?
Jesus continues, "For I am
not yet ASCENDED
unto my Father;" (John
20:17).
Q14:
IS SHE BLIND?
Could she not see that the man she
was talking to all the time was standing
before her? Does it make any sense when
he (Jesus) says that - 'HE IS NOT GONE
UP', when he is DOWN right here.
Ans: What Jesus is telling Mary
in so many different words is that 'HE
IS NOT RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD', for
in the colloquial language and idiom of
the Jew, the expression, "For
I am not yet ASCENDED unto my Father"
means - "I AM NOT DEAD YET'.
It
is a sad fact of history that though the
Christian Bible is an Eastern Book, full
of eastern metaphors and similes, like -
"Let the dead bury
their dead" (Matthew 8:22)
or "Seeing they see not
and hearing they
hear not" (Matthew 13:13),
all the commentators of the Bible have
come from the West. The Western World is
made to see a Jewish Book, written by
the Jews for a Jewish audience, through
Greek and Western glasses. An Eastern
book ought to be read as an Easterner
would read and understand it. All the
problems would then be solved.
The difficulty lies not only in
apprehending the correct meaning of the
Jewish expressions, but Christendom is
so programmed that Christians of every
race and language group are made to
understand the passages differently or
opposite to their literal connotations.
I will give examples of this anomaly in
Lesson No. 3 under the heading
"RESURRECTION OR RESUSCITATION?"
In that booklet, I will also
endeavor to answer the problem as to why
one woman - Mary Magdalene - was not
AFRAID when she recognised the DISGUISED
Jesus yet ten brave men (the Disciples
of Jesus) were PETRIFIED on recognising
their Master in that 'upper-room', after
his alleged passion.
SIMPLE ANSWER
As
to the original question of this
pamphlet - "WHO MOVED THE
STONE?" the answer is so simple
and so natural that one is at a loss to
understand how this problem has eluded
Christian scholars of the highest
eminence.
The answer to the question, "WHO ROLLED
THE STONE INTO PLACE?" is the answer to
the title of this tract. "....and
HE (Joseph of
Arimathea) rolled a
stone against the
door of the tomb"
(Mark 15:46). St. Mark is here supported
word by word by St. Matthew who in
Chapter 27 and verses 60 states that
"....HE (Joseph of
Arimathea) rolled a great
stone to the
door of the tomb
and departed". If this ONE
man alone could move the stone into
place as witnessed by Matthew and Mark,
then let me be more generous in adding
the name of the other faithful 'secret
disciple' - NICODEMUS. It was JOSEPH OF
ARIMATHEA and NICODEMUS, the two
stalwarts who did not leave the Master
in the lurch when he was most in need.
These two had given to Jesus a Jewish
burial (?) bath, and wound the sheets
with the "aloes and
myrrh", and temporarily moved the
stone into place, if at all; they were
the same two real friends who REMOVED
THE STONE, and took their shocked Master
soon after dark, that same Friday night
to a more congenial place in the
immediate vicinity for treatment.
Reasoning even on the Biblical
narration, Jesus was A-L-I-V-E! He had
escaped death by the skin of his teeth,
as he himself had fortold. Write for
your FREE copy of "WHAT WAS THE SIGN OF
JONAH?", as well as for a detailed
account of the alleged "crucifixon",
under the heading, "CRUCIFIXION or
CRUCI-FICTION?"
Those of you who have already mastered
Lesson No. 1 from the booklet "WHAT
WAS THE SIGN OF
JONAH?" will now do well to
memorise the following verses for your
Lesson No. 2.
"Jesus saith unto
her, Woman, why
weepest thou? whom seekest
thou? She, supposing
him to be the
gardener, saith unto
him. Sir, if
thou hast taken him
hence, tell me
where thou hast laid
him, and I will
take him away.
"Jesus saith unto
her, Mary. She
turned herself, and saith
unto him. Rabboni,
which is to say,
Master.
"Jesus saith unto
her, Touch me
not; for I am not
yet ascended to my
father:...."
John 20:15-17
APPENDIX
The Muslim reader of this and other
allied tracts may be tempted to ask,
"Do we Muslims need
to use the Bible
to get at the
Truth of God?"
The answer is an emphatic NO!
The Muslim position is very clear:
1)
Sin is not inherited.
2) The "Trinity" is a fabrication.
3) Jesus is not God.
4) God does not beget sons or daughters.
5) Christ was neither killed nor
crucified.
These doctrines are expounded in the
most unambiguous terms in the Holy
Qur'an. Why, then, must the Muslim
adduce the Christian Scriptures to prove
his point of view? This is because we
are dealing with a mind which has been
programmed from childhood to accept
dogmas without reasoning. Today, the
Christian is groping for the Truth. He
is asking questions which he did not
dare to ask a few centuries ago.
Questions like:-
a)
IS JESUS GOD?
b) WHAT WAS THE SIGN OF JONAH?
c) IS THE BIBLE GOD'S WORD?
d) WHO MOVED THE STONE?
e) WAS JESUS CHRIST AN IMPOSTER? (A
Christian Magazine "Plain Truth" - April
'77), etc., etc.
It
is the duty of the Muslim to help his
Christian brethren, "The Ahle-Kitab",
i.e. "THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK" - as they
are respectfully addressed in the pages
of the Holy Qur'an, in freeing them from
the shackles that bind their thinking
for the past two thousand years. It
instructs us:
Ye
are the best
Of
Peoples, evolved
For
mankind,
Enjoining
what is right,
Forbidding
what is wrong,
And
believing in
God,
If
only the People
of the Book
Had
faith, it were
best
For
them: among
them
Are
some who have
faith,
But
most of them
Are
perverted
transgressors.
Holy Qur'an3: 110
In
this treatise and others, we have used
the Christians' own book of authority,
the BIBLE, and his own logic, to refute
his claims. This is the system which
Allah Subha nahu Wa
Ta'aala uses when reasoning with
His creatures.
The Holy Qur'an commands the Muslim to
demand from the Jews and the Christians
their authority for their fanciful
claims that "SALVATION" is exclusively
their right.
It
says: "Produce your
proof if ye are
truthful."
Holy Qur'an 2:111
The Christian has already reproduced the
Bible in over a thousand languages and
broadcasts it to the four corners of the
globe, terrifying the nations of the
world to accept the "BLOOD OF THE LAMB",
that Christ died for the sins of
mankind, that he (Jesus) is the only
saviour. All this is
against the clear
evidence of his own
Holy Book.
We
must free him (the Christian) from his
illusions, and there is no better way
than to use his own evidence, his own
logic, to refute his claims. |
