Did Jesus Die on the Cross? (Part 3)

      Out of all the information already laid out, the most odd and questionable events actually happen during the gospel resurrection accounts.

   In Part 1 you will read the the Bible explicitly states that after you die you become spirit, that there is only one death then Judgement. So if Jesus died he would therefor be spirit and would have ascended to God immediately upon his death.

   When the women arrive in three of the four accounts the stone has been rolled away. In Matthew 28:2-15 the stone is still closed when the women arrive, an angel causes an earthquake and the stone rolls away. The angel says that Jesus is not there and to meet him in Galilee. This is the only gospel that insinuates that Jesus was actually spirit. The other three gospels specifically have the stone moved away and also the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in was still in the tomb.
   I think it's important to note that Marks gospel ends with a man telling the women to tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee.  "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." Mark 16:8 Verses 9-20 are widely agreed upon that do not make up Mark's original ending as they are not found in any of the earlier manuscripts(See my manuscripts post). The women fled... and told NO ONE! I find this to be quite interesting. Scholars believe that Mark did have an ending that extended this one, but that it is lost. If there was scripture that had an alternative ending where Jesus lives as an earthly man and ventures out to seek the lost tribes of Israel like he was supposed to do as the Jewish Messiah, it would make sense that it became "lost".

  The other gospels have a resurrection account though. Back on Matthew's there really isn't much interesting going on here except one thing... there were witnesses to the angel creating the earthquake and the stone being moved revealing an empty tomb. Matthew 28:11-15 Not only did they witness the event, they rushed to the priests and told all that they seen. They were bribed by the priests to tell Pilate a different story. These verses seem to show the priests caring about the fate of the guards and make a story up so they won't be in trouble, the problem is the story is a decent story and I am pretty sure the guards would have forked their own money out in thanks to the priests.
   In every gospel except Matthew we have the stone moved back, Jesus not being in the tomb, and some cloth in the tomb. Showing that Jesus left the cloth in spirit but for some reason couldn't exit the tomb in spirit.
   In Luke 24:5 the two men at the tomb spoke to the women and asked them “Why do you look for the living among the dead?" What would make the men think the women were looking for the "living". Why is this statement here if Jesus is presumed dead to them?

   Moving on to Jesus' appearances. John 20:13-18 Mary Magdalene sees the empty tomb and starts crying, Jesus appears to her and she doesn't recognize him. Okay so she isn't startled, Jesus apparently isn't a spirit/ghost. Actually she thinks he is quite human and has the appearance of the gardener. This is interesting because if Jesus were to have survived, the nearest available clothes would have been the gardener's clothes from the nearby gardeners shack. She asks him where he had placed Jesus so that she can go get him. How was Mary supposed to carry Jesus' 150+lbs body by herself? No body is mentioned here, she specifically asks where Jesus was. 
   It wasn't until he speaks her name until she recognizes him as Jesus. Did Mary startle, jump back, and freak out that Jesus was standing there alive?  No she does quite the opposite, she goes to embrace him, glad that he is alive. Mary already knew from whatever she saw two nights before, Jesus could be alive. Jesus stops her and says “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." Jesus is literally saying he is not "dead" here, that he is an alive body of flesh, and he hasn't gone to God yet. Why would Jesus not let Mary embrace him? Was it because he was a spirit and she would have passed right through him? No, nothing up to this point shows he is a spirit and the events after this specifically prove he had a solid flesh body. Then why? The most logical reason would be that Jesus was still alive, still alive with the fresh wounds from his crucifixion. A hearty embrace would have caused great pain to him and instead of worrying her about it he tells her to go off to tell the disciples that she has seen him.
   Continuing on with John, John 20:19-20 Jesus meets the disciples and shows them his wounds and they were overjoyed. Jesus' wounds still exist after death? If Jesus has died and is risen with his wounds does that mean anyone who has died a horrific death(burning, decapitated, etc..) will they also be risen with these wounds? Doesn't make sense. Later when he meets with Thomas he tells him to touch his wounds. Why does he offer up the touch to Thomas but not to Mary earlier in the same gospel? He is flesh.
   In Luke 24:13-35 Jesus meets up with a couple disciples on a road. Again he is isn't recognized until later when they actually sit down and face him to eat. And yes i said "eat" Does a spirit need food? Why did Jesus need to eat? Verse 23 they tell Jesus(not knowing they are speaking about jesus himself) about his own recent events at the tomb they had heard from the women... "but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive."
Yes ALIVE. He later meets up with the disciples and they are frightened. Why are they frightened and think they have seen a ghost? Because as stated in Part 2 the disciples weren't near Jesus during his death, all the know is what little they could see and what was told to them. All they knew was that Jesus was dead. Jesus assures them he is no ghost. "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” He proves he is not a ghost/spirit and again here offers them to touch him. Then like in John he eats with them. All signs point to alive.

   The ascension of Jesus portrayed in the gospels are contradictory. No mention in Mark and Matthew. In Luke however we have Jesus ascending not long after his meal with his disciples. John makes no mention of Jesus ascending, but in the final verses of John John 21:25 it states "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." So apparently it took Jesus quite some time to ascend as he did so many things afterward that it would fill the world with books. Well to me that would seem that Jesus was walking around healing and performing miracles for many many years to be able to fill up that many books.
  Later in Acts, the final appearances of Jesus are stated....

 Acts 1:3-4 
" After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

"After is suffering" Not after his death or resurrection.
"Convincing proofs that he was ALIVE" yes alive.

In chapter 4 again, he eats. Why would they mention this again and again? to prove he was ALIVE.

Recap:
* Jesus had secret disciples in the Sanhedrin, the same group of priests that plotted to kill him.
* The person that sentenced Jesus to death did not want to. In fact Pilate made many attempts to free him.
* Jesus at one point drank something that should have revived him and immediately "died"?
* The people who were close and knew Jesus watched the crucifixion from a distance.
* Upon Jesus' death something strange happened that caused everyone to flee except those that knew him.
* Jesus was on the cross no longer than 6 hours.
* Pilate freely gave Joseph Jesus' body, even though he was part of the Sanhedrin. (Pilate had to of known Joseph's loyalty to Jesus.)
* The substances that Joseph and Nicodemus used on Jesus are proven to have healing properties.
* The women came with the same substances 2 days later, a practice that should have happened that night.
* The stone was rolled away. Jesus didn't need to stone to be rolled away if he was spirit.
* Mary seen Jesus disguised as the gardener and asked him where he placed Jesus so she(alone) could take him?
* Jesus wouldn't let Mary embrace him(an embrace would have been painful compared to a touch), yet let other disciples touch him and feel his wounds.
* Unlike Mary who had seen Jesus in the tomb on the night of the crucifixion, the disciples were startled to see Jesus.(They had heard, or from what they could see from far away he had died)
* The disciples did not understand even after they seen the tomb empty why Jesus had to die?
* Jesus assured the disciples he was alive and was of solid flesh by letting them touch him, and by eating with them multiple times.
* Multiple verses in the bible state that Jesus was alive.
* The book of Acts states Jesus spent 40 days trying to convince people he was alive.
* The ending of the gospel of John states Jesus did so many things after the crucifixion, that there wouldn't be enough room in the world for the books. This suggests that Jesus lived for a long time after the crucifixion.
* Either way Jesus did not fulfill his final prophecy. Matthew 12:38-45
Jesus states he will be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. If you count the 1st day a full day and even the last day a full day(which he was gone by sunrise), you still are short 1 night. Jesus was only in the belly of the earth for 2 nights. Also Jonah went into the belly of the whale "alive" was in the belly for 3 days and 3 nights "alive", and came out of the belly "alive".