Neither do men put new wine into old wine skins: else the skins burst and wine run out, and the skins perish: but they put new wine into new wine skins, and both are preserved. Matthew 9:17
And Aaron shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering... And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited (Hebrew a land of separation): and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:5-22
We know that Yahshua (Jesus) made the atonement for Israel, but how could the ritual of the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat and sacrifice, possibly be fulfilled by Yahshua, since he was only one person? There is no sufficient answer to that question within the present Christian or Messianic framework of understanding.
However, there are verses of the New Testament that throw some light upon the subject which has hardly been considered. An awareness of the nature of Yahshua is central to understanding the fufillment of the scapegoat & sacrifice:
John 1:14 teaches that "the Word was made flesh", the only Word of God in existence at that time, of course was the Law (Torah) and the Writings of the Prophets, so we can see that Yahshua was the fulfillment & embodiment of the Law and Prophets in human flesh. When he returns to earth, he will still be the Word of God, as shown in Revelation 19:13.
However, some New Testament verses "stand out like a sore thumb" in describing what was slain on the cross, in opposition to the Word-made-flesh PURE nature of Yahshua:
2Corinthians 5:21 "God made Yahshua to be SIN"
Colossians 2:14 "the writ (legal document) of our transgressions against the Law was nailed to the cross"
Ephesians 2:16 "enmity to the law was slain on the cross"
Romans 6:6 "our old man is crucified with, that the body (slave) of sin might be destroyed"
Romans 8:3 "the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh"
All of those verses indicate that it was NOT Yahshua (the Word made flesh) who died on the cross but something else entirely (sin, enmity, transgression against the Word).
Coupled with the requirement that Jesus fulfilled scripture in making atonement for Israel, the need for a substitution on the cross is undeniable according to the Bible.
Two Nag Hammadi manuscripts shed further light upon this subject :
The Apocalypse of Peter (excerpts)
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apopet.html
As the Savior was sitting in the temple …he said to me, "Peter, blessed are those …who are built on what is strong, that they may hear my word, and distinguish words of unrighteousness and transgression of law from righteousness…”
And as he was saying these things, I saw the priests and the people running up to us with stones, as if they would kill us; and I was afraid that we were going to die.
And he said to me, "Peter, I have told you many times that they are blind ones who have no guide…”
"Come therefore, let us go on with the completion of the will of the incorruptible Father. For behold, those who will bring them judgment are coming, and they will put them to shame. But me they cannot touch...”
When he had said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by them. And I said "What do I see, O Lord? That it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing on the tree? And is it another one whose feet and hands they are striking?"
The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness.
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First Apocalypse of James (excerpts)
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/1ja.html
It is the Lord who spoke with me: "See now the completion of my redemption. I have given you a sign of these things, James, my brother... Behold, I shall reveal to you everything of this mystery. For they will seize me the day after tomorrow. But my redemption will be near."
James said, "Rabbi, how, after these things, will you appear to us again? After they seize you, and you complete this destiny, you will go up to Him-who-is."
The Lord said, "James, after these things I shall reveal to you everything, not for your sake alone but for the sake of the unbelief of men, so that faith may exist in them. For a multitude will attain to faith and they will increase…
(narration continues now after crucifixion event at which James was not present)
...And the Lord appeared to him. Then he stopped (his) prayer and embraced him. He kissed him, saying, "Rabbi, I have found you! I have heard of your sufferings, which you endured. And I have been much distressed...”
The Lord said, "James, do not be concerned for me or for this people. I am he who was within me. Never have I suffered in any way, nor have I been distressed. And this people has done me no harm.”
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These considerations, of course, are extremely foreign to modern day Christianity by virtue of the fact that the predominant form of Christianity, before and through the Dark Ages, and still today for that matter, was the trinitarian anti-nomian tradition established by Constantine and those who followed him. Their intolerance to everything which countered their teachings led them to destroy Hebrew manuscripts and any other collections of Scripture which they viewed as "unorthodox". The reason that the Nag Hammadi manuscripts were hidden in the first place, was exactly that: they were hidden to keep them from being destroyed by the totalitarian trinitarians.
Now, however, there is clear light that enables spiritual men to discern the "wrong turn" that Christianity took AND amazingly, there is preserved in Leviticus 16 a clear prophetic passage showing that there was much more to Yahshua's Atonement than Christianity realizes.
For instance, look at these requirements from Leviticus 16:10 & 21:
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But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat...
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Now look how this was fulfilled in Yahshua's arrest and trial: the mob from the high priest "laid hands on Yahshua and took him" (Matthew 26:50, Mark 14:46), then "the high priest confessed all the iniquities of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins", which centered in their unbelief in, rejection of, and blasphemy against Messiah whereby they accused him of blasphemy. (Matthew 26:62-68/ Mark 14:60-65)
This is definitely "new wine for new wine skins" so be careful not to let your capacity for understanding burst asunder!
But how else could the Law/prophecy of the scapegoat have been fulfilled if the one on whom the high priest laid hands and confessed all the iniquities of Israel had been slain instead of being set free to bear away all Israel's iniquities, as Leviticus 16:10, 21, 22 specified?
Remember that according to Leviticus 16:10 it was also the scapegoat that made the atonement, not just the goat that was slain! The scapegoat ritual was not some minor detail of the law, it was the fulfilling of the Day of Atonement for all Israel. So how could that have been fulfilled by Yahshua if he was really slain instead of going free?
Admittedly, it is highly doubtful that anyone immersed in Christian and Messianic tradition can even remotely consider the possibility that the real Yahshua actually didn't die upon the cross, even though it's all there in black and white in Leviticus 16!
However, it may please you to know that there are some "NEW wine skins" who can receive this teaching : Muslims ! The Quran gave them notice of one aspect of this scenario while Christianity was in the Dark Ages: The Arabic of 4:157-158 makes it very plain that the identity of the one on the cross was NOT what the Jews thought. Christians have been aware that Muslims have a reticence to even consider the possibility that Jesus died on the cross, but there is a specific Arabic word of the Quran which makes them so decided. Here is Yusuf Ali’s translation, with the Arabic text and analysis following :
004.157 That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger 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:-
004.157 Waqawlihim inn[a] qataln[a] almasee[h]a AAees[a] ibna maryama rasoola All[a]hi wam[a] qataloohu wam[a] [s]alaboohu wal[a]kin shubbiha lahum wa-inna alla[th]eena ikhtalafoo feehi lafee shakkin minhu m[a] lahum bihi min AAilmin ill[a] ittib[a]AAa a(l){thth}anni wam[a] qataloohu yaqeen[a](n)__
According to a strict Arabic understanding, the verse says:
'wal[a]kin shubbiha lahum'
(but instead it was made to appear to them as such)
'wa-inna alla[th]eena ikhtalafoo feehi lafee shakkin minhu'
(and those who differed in his identity follow conjecture)
Feehi means in WHO he was, in his identity, in his persona.
Fee Zalik = in IT. This addresses an object or Event.
Feehaa = In HER.
Feehi = in HIM, (in his identity, in his persona, in WHO he was and so on).
That said, there are several varying theories amongst Muslims as to what really happened at the cross. Some think another person such as Judas Iscariot, Simon of Cyrene, or a young disciple of Yahshua was made to resemble Yahshua and was slain in his stead. Others think that it was actually Yahshua on the cross but that he never really died, but only lost consciousness and was later revived.
Going strictly by what is written in the Quran and Torah in Leviticus 16, along with the verses of the New Testament which specify that "the body of sin" (& etc.) was slain at the cross, we now have a clearer understanding of what happened at Calvary, though we do not know just exactly HOW it was made to happen. Nevertheless, either spiritually or figuratively, if not physically, the sacrifice and scapegoat ritual of Atonement was fulfilled by Yahshua. Allah knows best!
The only other alternatives to that reality is for one to conclude that either the Atonement for Israel was not made by Yahshua, or that the scapegoat was Barabbas (a murderer) who helped make the Atonement when he was set free. Both of those theories are unacceptable for obvious reasons.
Muslim means one submitted to God, i.e. one who believes in the Most High, commits all his trust and understanding to Him, believing in all His revelations without quibbling about details. Islam (submission) is the religion of Muslims.
I'm not suggesting that Jesus crucified and risen from death is in the Quran, nor in Islam. That is the central feature of the NT, which Muslims have been taught to neither believe NOR DISBELIEVE since it has been "edited" by the "people of the gospel".
But the Quran says to Christians:
...Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed, they are those who rebel. (5:47)
Yet the very next verse gives Muslims further information:
5:48 To thee We sent the Scripture (Quran) in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah. it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;
The differences between Christian faith and Muslim faith were ordained (to an extent) by Allah. One who believes Him realizes our common goal and seeks understanding from Him as to "the truth of the matters in which we dispute".
As a "person of the Gospel" I was told by the Quran to judge according to the things revealed in the Gospel, and as I came to believe the Quran, I learned to "judge between what different people say about the Books of Scripture by what Allah has revealed in the Quran".
The whole idea of blood atonement is foreign to the Quran, but it was a central feature of the OT fulfilled by Yahshua's "offering" in the NT. Most people were never under the law of blood atonement revealed in the OT, so why should we expect that the Quran would promote that idea-- seeing that Allah designed the difference in His Revelations to "test us in what He has given us" ?
Yet Islam does commemorate Abraham's intention of sacrificing of his son (which Christians recognize as the clearest foreshadowing in the OT of Jesus being offered as a sacrifice). Yet according to the Bible, there was a substitute sacrificed instead of Abraham's son. So why should we object to a substitute (of any sort) being sacrificed instead of Jesus ? (the one who intended the sacrifice was accounted righteous for fulfilling Allah's Will in both cases)
I trust you realize that I'm not the one who interwove all these themes into the Books of Scripture !
For one who believes all the books of Scripture, it is undeniable that a substitution of some sort happened before or on the cross: the foreshadows of Abraham's sacrifice, the scapegoat/sacrifice, and the revelations contained in 2Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:15,16, Colossians 2:14, Romans 6:6 AND in 4:157 of the Quran make it very plain, even without reference to any "gnostic" texts.
Remember what Jesus said in John 6:53, that "except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood ye have no life in you" ? He meant that figuratively, not literally or physically and stressed that it was of the utmost importance. So if figuratively "eating his flesh and drinking his blood" is necessary, why do people object to his offering of himself on the cross being figurative as well ?
Christians "eat" a figurative substitute for his physical body to receive his spiritual life, and "drink" a figurative substitute for his physical blood for the same reason, so why is a figurative substitution on the cross objectionable and not rather to be expected and accepted ?
According to Luke's gospel, Jesus sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane as he submitted himself to the Will of Allah while facing the threat of death on the cross. His submission to Allah then and there accomplished all that was necessary to follow, and submission to Allah's Will is what all believers must necessarily actualize in their own lives as well. Jesus' literal, physical, flesh and blood are not what is important, but his spiritual life derived from his submission to Allah IS important.
The Bible teaches that "the soul of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11) and that "the soul that sinneth shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4), BUT Jesus never sinned so how could his soul die ? His soul didn't die, but the soul of Jesus, his submission to Allah's Will, was figuratively transferred into the souls of those who believe in him, just as the sins of those who believe on him were figuratively transferred into the body of sin destroyed on the tree. There is a definite transfiguration which took place both on the cross AND in the lives of those who truly followed Jesus !
Paul described that transfiguration: I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Galatians 2:20
The bottom line is that all of the above IS in the books of Scripture, though they are not included into the predominate Islamic understanding, they are not exclusive of Muslims either.
1John 4:2 gives us THE standard of judgement by which Christians are supposed to determine whether or not a spirit or prophet is from God:
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh IS of God.
Judging by that standard, you know that the Quran IS of God, for it clearly proclaims that Jesus (as) is the Messiah who came in the flesh.
In opposition to what many Christians think, no one who believes and confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and writes a book stating that will then continue his book by writing some lies ! That is the plain inference of 1John 4:2: a spirit that confesses Jesus as Messiah come in the flesh IS OF GOD, not a lying devil.
Christians look at the cross from a strictly Christian point of view: that it matters utterly that a person MUST believe that Jesus died on the cross for his/her sins. However the historical viewpoint is that Allah opened up another channel of His Mercy and Forgiveness independent of the cross after Christianity had distorted the teachings of Jesus via trinity doctrine and other unscriptural traditions.
I want to direct your attention to some very specific words of Jesus which reveal the tremendous trust enjoined by Jesus upon his disciples which Christianity eventually betrayed:
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them: and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. John 20:21-23
If you know church history, you realize that eventually the majority of Christians decided upon the Athanasian Creed which declares that one cannot be saved unless he believes in the trinity and in the deity of Jesus. That is still the position held by most Christians and is the means by which they collectively DENY remission of sins to anyone outside their own ranks !
I suggest that THAT is not what Jesus came to establish in the earth and that THAT is one big reason why Allah sent Muhammad to express a broader measure of forgiveness and hope for mankind-- free from the bonds of Christian traditional dogma.
I understand that Christians do not want to deny the crucifixion, and that they have doubts about Islam because of the Quran's statement as to the difference between the appearance of what happened and the reality, as well as greatly increased doubts due to tafsir's endorsement of a physical substitution for Jesus dying on the cross. However, I hope you can see the bigger picture: that Allah HAD TO circumvent Christian tradition in order to open up to all men the Mercy He revealed through the life of Jesus (as) but without the trappings of trinity and Jesus=God dogma.
As related previously, what happened on the cross, even according to the New Testament, was far more than what met the eye of man, notwithstanding all the differing perspectives, opinions, and conjectures as to what exactly happened there. The point is: Allah's Mercy is not entirely dependent upon the events of Golgotha, but is available to anyone, anywhere who calls upon His Name in Truth while bringing forth repentance and seeking forgiveness for sin.
May this writing further the understanding of progressive revelation throughout the ages and help all who read it to marvel and submit themselves to the Word and Works of the Magnificent Majesty on High. Allahu Akbar !