Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Did Pilate Release Jesus?

21 December, 2016
Q In Matthew in the Bible it say that there were two people by the name of Jesus at the crucifixion. And it says that Pilot released Jesus Barabbas i.e. Jesus son of the father. What is the significance of this? What do you think of this?

Answer

Asalamu Alaikum,

Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.

Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:

Transcript:

Aisha KhajaDr. Shabir, the question for today is in Matthew 27, which shows that there were two persons by the name of Jesus at the crucifixion. And it says that Pilate released Jesus Barabbas, i.e. Jesus son of the father. What do you think of this?

Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Dr. Shabir Ally: So, that is an interesting speculation, and we can’t say that this is impossible, but I don’t think that it’s very likely. But let’s understand the situation. Pilate, the Roman governor, has Jesus in his custody. And to him, Jesus is innocent. So, he wants to release Jesus.

But at the same time, the crowd, the Jewish opponents of Jesus, are screaming for his crucifixion. They want him executed as a traitor against Rome. Pilate, now wanting to satisfy the crowd, says to them: well, you know, we have a custom that at the festival, we release a criminal to you of your choice.

So, we have a choice between this Jesus whose crucifixion you’re demanding. And on the other hand, we have Barabbas. And it so happens that Barabbas is also called Jesus. But this is not evident from all of the manuscripts.

And Barabbas means son of the father, “bar” in Aramaic. So, and then, eventually, they said give us Barabbas. So, Pilate then releases to them Barabbas. So, if we think of the person being released is Jesus Barabbas, which is Jesus son of the father.

So, according to this question, the speculation is that maybe that the Jesus that we’re thinking about–the Jesus of Muslim belief, Isa–must have been released to the crowd: and the other person was crucified.

And that might explain why the Quran is saying that they did not kill Jesus because, in this case, Jesus was actually released to the crowd. But I don’t think that theory …

Aisha Khaja: Sorry, no, I was just going to ask, do we believe that?

Dr. Shabir Ally: No, I don’t think that theory is credible because it would mean that everybody at the time knew that that Jesus was actually released rather than crucified. And then it would not account for how this belief arose among Christians to the effect that Jesus was actually crucified.

No, the better theory, I would say, is that Jesus might have been put on the cross. But he was not actually dead on the cross. He was presumed dead, probably he went into a swoon or a state of suspended animation. He was taken down on the presumption that he was dead. He was put in an airy chamber, called a tomb.

And from there, God took him up into heaven, whether in soul alone or body and soul together. This is not necessary for Muslims to specify. But if he was taken up both body and soul that would account for the belief that the tomb of Jesus was found empty a couple of days later.

So, it would mean that his body and soul are taken up into heaven. And, of course, this is a long topic on which we have said much before. So, viewers might want to find some of our old clips on that.


I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.

Walaikum Asalam.

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

Why Did God Make it Appear that Jesus Was Crucified?

Between Islam and Christianity: Did Jesus Die?

Jesus Between Crucifixion and Who Was Crucified?