The Objection and Its Hidden Assumption

One of the most common Islamic polemical objections against Christianity is framed with ridicule: “If Jesus was God’s prophet, why would God allow him to be humiliated and crucified?” The objection assumes that divine approval must always appear as visible earthly protection, public triumph, and escape from suffering. On that assumption, the cross looks like defeat. Scripture rejects that assumption from beginning to end. Jehovah’s servants often suffer in a wicked world because sinful men resist God’s truth, Satan opposes God’s purpose, and rebellious rulers hate the light. The death of Jesus Christ was not evidence that Jehovah abandoned Him. It was the very means by which Jehovah’s justice, love, wisdom, and saving purpose were displayed.

The Bible never presents the crucifixion of Christ as a divine accident, political miscalculation, or satanic victory. Jesus Himself taught that His death was necessary. In Gospel of Mark 10:45, He said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” That statement is decisive. Jesus did not merely predict that enemies would overpower Him. He explained why He came. His life would be given as the ransom price for sinners. The Islamic argument treats crucifixion as though it must mean shame without purpose. Scripture teaches that the cross is humiliation willingly accepted for the sake of redemption, followed by resurrection, exaltation, and final judgment.

The Cross Was Foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures

The crucifixion did not appear suddenly in Christian preaching after the fact. The Hebrew Scriptures prepared for a suffering Messiah. Psalm 22 contains the language of righteous suffering that finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Psalm 22:16 says, “For dogs have surrounded me; a company of evildoers has encircled me; they pierced my hands and feet.” The mockery surrounding the sufferer is described in Psalm 22:7-8, where bystanders deride him and say that Jehovah should rescue him if He delights in him. That very pattern appears in Gospel of Matthew 27:39-43, where the rulers and passersby mock Jesus as He hangs on the cross. The point is not that Jesus failed to be rescued because He lacked divine approval. The point is that mockers unknowingly fulfilled Scripture.

Isaiah 53 is equally direct. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:6 says that Jehovah “has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:10 says that Jehovah was pleased to crush Him in the sense that this suffering fulfilled the divine purpose of guilt removal, not because the Father delighted in pain. Isaiah 53:12 says He “poured out his soul to death” and “bore the sin of many.” These words do not describe a prophet who merely escapes danger. They describe the Servant who suffers innocently, bears guilt substitutionally, dies, and is afterward exalted.

The objection that God would never allow His chosen one to suffer ignores the Bible’s own revealed pattern. Abel was murdered by Cain. Joseph was sold by his brothers. Jeremiah was persecuted. Daniel was opposed by jealous officials. The apostles were imprisoned and beaten. The wickedness of men does not disprove the faithfulness of Jehovah. Rather, Jehovah can bring His purpose to completion despite human rebellion. The cross is the supreme example: sinful men acted in hatred, Satan acted in opposition, yet Jehovah’s saving purpose stood.

Jesus Went to the Cross Voluntarily

The argument that Jesus was “defeated” on the cross collapses when His own statements are read carefully. In Gospel of John 10:17-18, Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself.” This is not the language of helpless defeat. It is the language of voluntary obedience. Jesus had authority to lay down His life and authority to take it up again. His enemies were morally responsible for their actions, yet they did not seize Him outside the boundaries of Jehovah’s purpose.

Gospel of Matthew 26:53 gives another concrete clarification. When Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword, Jesus said He could appeal to His Father, and more than twelve legions of angels would be provided. Then Gospel of Matthew 26:54 adds, “How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?” Jesus did not avoid deliverance because He lacked access to divine power. He refused deliverance because the Scriptures had to be fulfilled. That is the opposite of defeat. He obeyed the Father’s will with complete awareness of what would happen.

The same truth appears in Gospel of John 18:4-6. Jesus knew all things coming upon Him and stepped forward to meet His arresting party. When He identified Himself, they drew back and fell to the ground. This detail prevents the reader from thinking of Jesus as a frightened victim swept away by stronger men. He displayed authority even at the moment of arrest, then submitted to the path of sacrifice because the hour had come.

The Cross Reveals Justice, Not Weakness

The Islamic objection often assumes that forgiveness should require only a divine declaration. “Why not simply forgive?” Scripture answers that Jehovah is perfectly holy and righteous. Sin is not a small defect that can be ignored. It is rebellion against the Creator, a violation of His moral order, and a corruption that brings death. Genesis 2:17 warned Adam that disobedience would bring death. Romans 5:12 explains that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jehovah’s forgiveness does not deny justice; it satisfies justice through Christ’s sacrifice. Romans 3:24-26 says that believers are justified through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed as a propitiatory sacrifice through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness. That passage is central. The cross shows that Jehovah does not excuse sin as though righteousness were negotiable. He provides the sacrifice that upholds His justice while extending mercy to repentant sinners.

This is why the ransom is necessary. A ransom is not a theatrical gesture. It is a corresponding price. Adam, a perfect man, sinned and brought death upon his offspring. Jesus Christ, as the sinless last Adam, offered perfect human life in obedience. First Corinthians 15:45 calls Jesus “the last Adam.” Romans 5:18-19 contrasts Adam’s disobedience with Christ’s obedience. This is concrete, judicial, and coherent. The cross is not God losing. It is Jehovah providing the exact means by which sin can be judged and sinners can be saved.

The Resurrection Shows That the Cross Was Victory

If the story ended with the tomb, the objection would have more force. But the apostolic proclamation never ended with death. First Corinthians 15:3-4 says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The resurrection is Jehovah’s public vindication of His Son. Acts of Apostles 2:23-24 says that Jesus was delivered up according to God’s determined purpose and foreknowledge, crucified by lawless men, and raised up because it was not possible for Him to be held by death.

Acts of Apostles 2:36 then declares that God made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom they crucified. The very one mocked, condemned, nailed to the cross, and buried was exalted. That is why the cross cannot be interpreted through the shallow lens of worldly honor and shame. Men saw disgrace; Jehovah accomplished redemption. Men saw weakness; Jehovah displayed power. Men saw death; Jehovah brought resurrection.

Philippians 2:8-11 gives the full movement: Jesus humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross; therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name. The “therefore” is vital. The exaltation follows the obedience. The cross was not a detour from glory. It was the appointed path to exaltation.

Why the Islamic Denial Cannot Stand Beside the Earlier Biblical Witness

The Islamic denial of the crucifixion comes centuries after the apostolic testimony. The Gospels, Acts, apostolic letters, and Revelation all present the death of Christ as central. Gospel of Matthew 27, Gospel of Mark 15, Gospel of Luke 23, and Gospel of John 19 give detailed accounts of the crucifixion. Acts of Apostles repeatedly preaches the crucified and risen Christ. First Peter 2:24 says that Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree.” Revelation 5:9 says the Lamb was slain and by His blood purchased people for God.

This is not a marginal Christian belief. Remove the cross, and the gospel collapses. Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 10:12 says that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and sat down at the right hand of God. Denying the crucifixion removes the sacrifice, the ransom, the fulfillment of Isaiah 53, the meaning of Passover, the apostolic message, and the basis of forgiveness.

The biblical answer to mockery is not embarrassment. Christians do not need to soften the cross to make it more acceptable to human expectations. First Corinthians 1:18 says that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those being saved it is the power of God. First Corinthians 1:23-24 says that Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. The cross has always offended human pride. That offense does not disprove it; it confirms that fallen man resists salvation on Jehovah’s terms.

You May Also Enjoy

Islam Mocks Christianity: How Can God Have a Son If He Has No Wife?

About the Author

CLICK LINKED IMAGE TO VISIT ONLINE STORE

CLICK TO SCROLL THROUGH OUR BOOKS