If Jesus is the son of God, why did he have to taste the gall? Did He not know? Why did He cry so loudly? Was He responsible for His death?
Those sentences which are colored in orange are from Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati book Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) and those which are colored in black are Jerry Thomas’s response.
"And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered to never a word: in so much that the governor marveled greatly. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be called. When he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, saying, Hail King of Jews! And they spit upon him and took the reed, and smote him on the head."
"And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and led him away to crucify him. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him. And set up over his head his accusation written…Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads. And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the son of God come down from the cross. Likewise also the Chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders said. He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ELI, ELI, I AM A SABACHTHANI? That is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." (26:11-14, 22, 26 – 31, 33- 35, 37 – 48, 50.)
C. Those wicked people treated Jesus very badly indeed. But Jesus was also to be blame, since he pretended to be the son of God. Now God has no son, nor is He the father of anyone, because if this be the case, He would also be the father-in-law, brother-in-law, etc., of some one. Besides, when the governor asked him, "Art thou the King of the Jews, etc., he ought to have told him what he knew to be the truth. Had the miracles supposed to have been worked by him been true, he would have then come down from the cross and thereby converted them all.
Again had he been the Son of God, He too would have saved him. Had he been a seer, he would have refused to take the drink of vinegar and gall that was offered without tasting it. He would have known its composition before-hand. Had he possessed any miraculous power, he would not have cried so much before he yielded up the ghost. This shows that a man may be ever so clever the truth will be out. It is also clear that Jesus was a little better than other men of his time who were all savages. He did not possess any miraculous power nor was he the Son of God, nor was he an enlightened man else he would not have suffered from mental anguish at the time of his death.
Answer: Yet again Maharishi tries to bring accusations against LORD Jesus Christ due to Maharishi’s ignorance of the Holy Bible.
The first objection that LORD Jesus Christ cannot be the Son of God because God cannot have son is a mark of Maharishi’s ignorance. No one had argued that LORD Jesus Christ was the biological son of God. The word son can have many meanings like the biological son, legal heir, figurative son etc. When one says Gandhiji is the father of the nation or that person is the son of the soil, no one would take it in the biological sense. Therefore, there is no reason why we should take the LORD Jesus Christ as the Son of God in the biological sense.
Maharishi along with the enemies of LORD Jesus Christ argues that had LORD Jesus Christ been God, (a) LORD Jesus Christ would have saved Himself (b) He would not tasted vinegar and gall (c) the anguish at the cross would not have been there if LORD Jesus Christ was an enlightened soul (d) LORD Jesus was also (morally?) responsible for His death.
However, neither the enemies of God of crucifixion nor Maharishi realized that God in His omniscience had foretold all things centuries before and in the cross, the omniscience and justice of God was clearly being displayed.
(a) Why the God did not save LORD Jesus from Cross?- The prophetical fulfillment.
Prophet King David, centuries before wrote in his prophetical Psalms about Messiah:
Psalms 22: 1-18 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!" But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
(b) Why LORD Jesus tasted gall and vinegar?
Prophet David further wrote about in his prophetical Psalms about Messiah:
Psalms 69:20-21 “Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
Thus we see that this again proves that LORD Jesus Christ is the messiah as He claimed.
(c) Why was the anguish at the cross? What does it indicate?
Prophet David in his prophetical Psalms about Messiah wrote exactly the same words that LORD Jesus Christ uttered in the temple:
Psalms 22: 1-3 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
(d) Was LORD Jesus Christ also responsible for His death?
First the judge who judged Jesus Christ said:
Luke 23: 4 “So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man."
Luke 23: 13-15 “Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast). And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let [Him] go.” But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.”
It is very clear that LORD Jesus Christ was not responsible for His death. That is the verdict after being examined by two judges.
Prophet Isaiah prophetically wrote about Messiah:
Isaiah 53:3-5 “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
In other words, it was not that He was smitten or afflicted because of Him but for our transgressions and iniquities.
Thus we see that all arguments that Maharishi had attempted against LORD Jesus Christ in this question are rather fulfillment of prophecy which conclusively proves that LORD Jesus Christ is what He claimed to be. Maharishi was blissfully ignorant.
