Luke 23: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture
Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin presents the eighth lesson on chronological bible storying of Luke 23 with Muslims.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture:
Welcome to lesson 16 which is our 8th lesson, in chronological bible story for Muslims and we are now coming to the very significant passage of Luke chapter 23 verses 26 to 49. Here, we’re going to talk about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and what it means. It means how he gains forgiveness for us for our sins. Let’s read through this passage and then ask some questions and see how this can be related, to your Muslim friend. Jesus is led away to be crucified.
As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene who was on his way in from the country and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.
Then they will say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Some questions of the text here. Jesus going to the cross. Who carried the cross for Jesus?
Well, that’s a easy question for your Muslim friend to answer. This fellow from Cyrena, Simon is his name. Now, the reason we ask this is because, in Islam, as you’re probably aware, the Quran itself denies that Jesus was crucified. It says that it only appeared to be so, but there was someone else, crucified in his place. And Simon of Cyrene is one of those suggested by Muslim scholars as being the one who was actually crucified and the idea is something like this that God somehow changed the appearance of the person who was with Jesus and that that person by mistake was crucified in Jesus’ place while God himself took Jesus up to be with himself. Luke 23
Now, a couple of things about this that are really profoundly disturbing. First of all, it implies that God here is a terrible trickster, who has caused an innocent person to be executed in the place of Jesus by making him look like Jesus. He’s pulled Jesus up into heaven with himself, but at the same time, has left the Christians in the dark about what he’s doing. And this isn’t revealed, apparently, until 600 years later when Mohammed reveals in the Quran this rather interesting story. Interestingly enough, Muslims have at least 8 different explanations as to who it was who was crucified in Jesus’ place.
Probably their favorite is, Judas Iscariot, although Simon of Cyrene is suggested. Barabbas is also suggested by some Muslims that it was all a matter of a mistake somehow. Now, the reason why Muslims say this is because, they can’t believe that a prophet of God could be subjected to this kind of, torment, and they considered it a great insult that anyone would say that a prophet could could lose or be put to death in this kind of a horrible way. Of course, they’re misunderstanding entirely the message of the cross, why the cross is so essential. But, from a historical point of view, there are 2 major problems with the Muslim position.
First of all, it gives the view that God is a profoundly evil character who tricks people and then causes Christians to be fooled into worshiping a Christ as crucified who was not crucified. What kind of a God is this? Certainly not a God that I would wanna follow, or or worship or or serve. That God would be more like Satan, frankly, in tricking people to worship, especially if it was Judas who was crucified in Jesus’s place. So, the Christians are worshiping the evil betrayer Judas as the savior of their sins?
Insane. Doesn’t make sense at all. Secondly, from a historical perspective, it’s very interesting even in Islam it stated that when three witnesses give the same testimony, that testimony is true and this is particularly interesting when you realize that the 3 groups of people who testify about what happened to Jesus are opposed to each other. You have the Jews, you have the Romans, and you have the Christians. Jews were opposed to Jesus. Luke 23
Christians were obviously followers of Jesus. Romans were, relatively speaking, neutral on the subject, and yet all three groups who were eyewitnesses to the crucifixion testified that Jesus was crucified, And the fact that they disagree with each other about the interpretation of the event certainly gives great credence to the historicity of the event. The Jews said he was crucified therefore he cannot be Messiah. The Christians said he was crucified and that’s how he is Messiah. And the Romans say he’s crucified.
So what? Well, all of this indicates the historicity of the crucifixion of Jesus, and it also indicates that there’s a major mistake in the Quran. Is the Quran a truly najil kitab or tanzil? Is it really revealed if it contains within its pages historical errors? Now, you may not suggest that directly to your Muslim friend, but some people do and ask their Muslim friend is it possible that this could be a mistake in the Quran?
And what does that say about what the Quran is as a document? Well, and again, the question you can ask your Muslim friend is have you ever heard that Jesus was not crucified? And get their explanation of what actually took place. And ask the question why do some people say that? And then you can often ask the question what have they misunderstood about Jesus?
Because as we’ve been showing all the way from chapter 3 of Genesis, all the way through the sacrifice of Abraham’s son, the story of the suffering servant, all of these things are pointing to the reality that there is going to be a kafada. There is going to be an atonement made for the sins of the world. These people have not understood the reason why Jesus came. It was his purpose to come to be the perfect sacrifice for sins. The perfect kafara to bring atonement for our own evil deeds. Luke 23
Let’s move on to the next part of the passage, which is a very powerful thing for Muslims. It’s where Jesus forgives his executioners. 2 other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him along with the criminals. 1 on his right, the other on his left.
Jesus said, father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. By the way, this is, Jesus living out the very thing that he had taught, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew where Jesus said love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you. That’s, Matthew chapter 5 verses 43 to 48. That passage is also very powerful passage for Muslims, because they recognize that in a culture where revenge and violence and foundational, coercive violence is foundational to the structure of society, there is no peace.
There is violence, and hatred, and ongoing infighting, and wars, really forever. And so, Jesus gives a teaching and then he lives it out in which he forgives his enemies. He forgives the very people who crucified him. He breaks the cycle of violence and retribution. Friends, if we look across the Muslim world today, this is the message Muslims desperately need.
The message of forgiveness and reconciliation. That’s what the message of the cross is all about. You could spend a lot of time talking with your Muslim friend about the need for forgiveness and reconciliation in the Muslim world and that it’s based on what Christ has done for us on the cross. Here are some questions. Again, what does forgiveness mean? Luke 23
We talked about this. Forgiveness means I take the consequences of your actions on myself when I forgive you. That’s really the message of the cross. God taking the consequences of our actions upon himself. How did Jesus love his enemies?
He loved his enemies by bearing their very sins in his own body. So he forgave them. He had authority to forgive because he was making payment for their sins. Now, another question you can ask is who really crucified Jesus? Well, you could say, oh, well the Jews condemned him to death.
Oh well, the Romans crucified him, but the message of the gospel is we all crucified Jesus. Whoever sins is worthy of death in the eyes of God. The relationship is broken. But Jesus took the sins of everyone in his own body and opened the doorway to forgiveness and to being adopted into God’s family as sons. So we are all guilty of the cross of Christ.
It’s not the Jews who are guilty of it or the Romans who are guilty of it. It is all of humanity that is guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus because every sin every human being ever committed was laid upon Jesus at that time. That’s why he has authority to forgive. Also, this passage of Jesus forgiving the criminal on the cross. Let’s read this together. Luke 23
The people stood watching and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, he saved others. Let him save himself if he’s the Christ of God, the chosen one. The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar, and said, if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.
There was a written notice above him which read, this is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung here hurled insults at him. Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other criminal rebuked him.
Don’t you fear God, he said. Since you are under the same sentence, we are punished justly for we’re getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth. Today, you will be with me in paradise.
This is a powerful passage where Jesus shows what forgiveness is really all about, an adoption into the kingdom of God and into his family. The worst sinner in the world is potentially redeemed through the blood of Christ, through his sacrifice on the cross, and the the first one to enter heaven with Jesus is not some great saint of the past, not some great prophet of holiness, but a man who was crucified for his sins. A criminal, a thief, is the first to enter the kingdom of Jesus. It’s a powerful message of forgiveness and reconciliation to our Muslim friends. How does Jesus minister to the thief on the cross? Luke 23
He ministers to him by means of forgiveness and hope. So why is the cross so important to the Christian faith? You can ask this of your Muslim friend. Why is why are churches all adorned with crosses? Why do Christians wear crosses around their necks?
Why is it so important? Well, the cross is so important to us because it’s the means of forgiveness. It’s the way in which God has created an eternal perfect kafada, a perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. How should believers in Jesus act towards those identified by the culture as evil? Well, this is the amazing thing.
A Christian is called to love every person, even those who are evil, even those who would hurt them. Now, it doesn’t mean that society shouldn’t exist or that there isn’t going to be crime and punishment in society, but it says that the Christian sees every person, no matter how bad, as potentially redeemable through the cross of Christ. Islam seeks to purge the evil. Take the adulterer out and stone him to death. Take the thief out and chop his hand off.
The gospel says these are people who can be saved and transformed through experiencing the forgiveness and adoption into the family of God. Now, we come to the death of Jesus. It was now about the 6th hour and darkness came over the whole land until the 9th hour. For the sun stopped shining, and the curtain of the temple was torn in 2. Jesus called out with a loud voice, father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Luke 23
When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion seeing what had happened, praised God and said, surely, this was a righteous man. When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things. Couple of quick questions.
Why was the temple veil torn in 2? You can ask your Muslim friend that. There was a veil in the temple and it was ripped in half when Jesus died. What does that mean? And if they probably won’t know, so you can explain it to them.
It means the temple veil prevented human beings from coming close to the actual altar of God, God’s presence in Israel. The ripping of the veil says now anyone can come into the presence of God. What happened in Genesis chapter 3 and the separation from intimate relationship with God, this veil that has prevented us from drawing near to God has been ripped apart, and now, as sinful human beings, we can be purified through the death of Christ and come into intimate relationship with God. What prompted the centurion to make his confession concerning Jesus? Why is it that he said that this was a righteous man?
He was a soldier. He’d seen many people crucified. I’m sure he had never heard words of forgiveness before from a man he had crucified. He had never seen a person die like Jesus died with forgiveness and mercy even for a thief on the cross next to him. He understood this was not a normal human being. Luke 23
Who do you think Jesus is? What do you confess him to be? What do you think of Jesus in this aspect of his suffering? How do you explain it? Here’s a chance to let your Muslim friend talk about Jesus.
What he or she thinks about the Lord Jesus Christ and, it would be good to just take some time to have that kind of a conversation and see what they think about Jesus. Many questions may arise about what they believe about Jesus and who he is, but really the whole message of the New Testament is to explain Christ to people and so that’s our purpose at this point in time to talk about who Jesus is.