Assuming the bible is basically true (which is a major assumption), and assuming Jesus actually existed as a historical person (which is also a major assumption) the circumstances of the Crucifixion were such that Jesus did not necessarily die on the cross. Instead, a reasonable alternative to the Christian interpretation is that Jesus, with an intent to become the messiah by fulfillment of prophecy, deliberately faked his death on the cross.
This is undoubtedly the most important tenet of Christian belief. If it fails the basic tests of credibility, the entire Christian religion falls with it.
Jesus Consciously fulfilled Prophecies:
Jesus wasn't the only Messiah wannabe, as the writers of the Gospels admit:
"Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, . . . and said unto them (Peter and the other apostles),Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed."Acts: 5.34 to 38.
Many times Jesus says "My hour has not yet come." That does not give us the impression that the behavior of Jesus was anything other than a well-conceived plan. He knew what was going to happen, and he knew what he wanted to happen. He wanted to be the person everyone believed to be the true Messiah. He could do that, if he could pass himself off as a person who had risen from the dead.
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a colt obtained especially to fulfill prophecy (Mt 21.1-25.46; Mark 11.1; Luke 19.30), the debacle at the Temple (Mt 21.10; Mk 11.15; Luke 19.45), Jesus' knowledge at the last supper that his betrayer was present (Lk 22.21, Jn 13.21), and his refusal to defend himself from the charges of subverting taxes and claiming to be the king of Israel (Mt 27.1, Mk 15.1, Lk 23.1), all point to Jesus as consciously attempting to antagonize authority to the point of crucifixion. Jesus, therefore, was clearly motivated to be crucified, and even chose the day it would happen.
The question is then: Did Jesus really die on the cross?
Jesus Avoided a Real Crucifixion:
Even if the story of Jesus' crucifixion is mostly truth, Jesus could have survived the crucifixion. Crucifixion was intended to be a slow torture, lasting for several days. Jesus, however, was crucified on the eve of the Sabbath, when Jesus would have known it was customary to remove the torture victims that evening. Jesus didn't spend several days on the cross; instead, he spent several hours.
The gospels contradict themselves on this matter. John says Jesus was crucified at noon, while Mark says it was the third hour, or 9:00 a.m. (Jn 19.14, Mk 15.25). In any event, Jesus spent from three to six hours hanging from a cross, torture that traditionally was survived for three to six days.
Jesus's Body Was Left Intact
No one could have survived a real crucifixion, even Jesus. Bodies were left hanging on the cross, to be eaten by dogs, and picked at by vultures. No bible passage even hints that Jesus' body was mutilated in this matter.
Jewish custom, however, mandated that corpses remain intact. They were not disemboweled; instead, corpses were anointed with spices and perfumes, wrapped in cloth, and placed in natural caves. Had Jesus been buried according to the customs of other lands, his resurrection would have been more impressive. Could Jesus have risen from the dead, had he been embalmed, Egyptian style? Egyptians surgically removed the brain, intestines, and other organs. The removed parts were then washed in palm oil, and placed in jars filled with herbs. Body cavities were filled with powders and perfumes. The entire body was then wrapped with cloth bandages and entombed. Had Jesus risen from the dead after being disemboweled as described, the gospel story would have had much more force. Of course, that never happened.
It is only in the Jewish culture that a human could survive death rites. In Ecuador and Peru, certain tribesman roast the bodies of the dead over fires. Southern Australian tribesman, believing it better to be eaten by friends rather than worms, consume the bodies of the dead. Could Jesus have survived any of that? What about cremation? Suppose the Persian custom of placing the bodies where they were eaten by vultures had been employed?
Jesus did not even have to survive a burial in the ground. John 19.40.
Jesus's Injuries Were Not the Cause of Death
Crucifixion was intended to be a slow death, from a combination of starvation, dehydration, exposure, shock and exhaustion. Jesus, allegedly a hardy carpenter, did not die from just a few hours of this abuse. According to Mark 15.44, Pilate "marveled" at the quick death of Jesus.
The only injury to Jesus, other than having his hands and feet punctured with nails, was the alleged spear thrust to the side. Only John reports this (Jn 19.34) which makes it suspect. Did the other three gospel writers not know about this spearthrust? Or did they not believe it, or did they consider it too trivial to mention?
Even assuming there was a spear thrust, followed by an emission of blood, this is clearly not what killed Jesus. Warriors throughout history have survived a single spear thrust. More importantly, at the time of the spear thrust, Jesus was already unconscious. The spear thrust is therefore not likely a cause of death.
That Mysterious Sponge.
The Gospel writers disagree on many points, such as the hour of the crucifixion,
who arrived at the tomb, when they arrived, whether it was dark or light,
and so forth. One point of agreement is the time of Jesus' "death". In Matthew
27.48-51, Jesus dies, or passes out, almost immediately after taking a drink
from a soaked sponge. Mark 15.36 tells us that Jesus gave up a loud cry,
and died, after taking a drink from a sponge. John 19.30 also verifies this.
Was the sponge soaked with vinegar, as the gospels report? Vinegar would have had a stimulating effect. It would have woke him up, rather than rendered him unconscious. The sponge was not soaked with vinegar.
Was there a drug, readily available, with which Jesus could have simulated death?
The Drug: Opium.
All sorts of drugs were available to the ancients, including opium. Opium is mentioned in the first century A.D., by Dioscorides in De Materia Medica. Assyrian writings mention opium. Opium was well-known in the first century A.D., and the poppy flower(Papaver Somniferum) was commonly available in the first century Israel, as it grew wild all over the Mesopotamian region. Jesus, therefore, had the opportunity, if he desired, to acquire Opium.
Opium is a source of various natural narcotics including morphine. Opium is a particularly good choice of a drug for one wishing to simulate his own death. The narcotic effect on the central nervous system would have caused respiratory depression. Jesus would have appeared not to be breathing. Actually, his breath would have been very slow. The depressive effects would have lowered his heart rate, slowing that, also. His heart would not have appeared to be beating. The cumulative depressive effects would have lead to unconsciousness. Jesus would have appeared dead, but would have been merely asleep.
The effects of a heavy dose of opium would have lasted for several hours. That was plenty of time for the body to be taken down from the cross, and rescusitated at a remote location. The gospels agree Joseph of Arimethaea took the body from the Romans at the site of the crucifixion. No one knows what he did with the body. Did he put it in the tomb? Or did he bring it to his residence?
Perhaps that is why the tomb was empty. Jesus was never there, in the first place. The gospels fail to record anyone who can verify Jesus was placed in the tomb.
Post-Crucifixion Sightings.
The appearances of Jesus after the crucifixion all read like Elvis sightings. Some parts, however, have an oddly truthful ring to them. For example, Jesus not being recognized in the post-crucifixion sightings is a common denominator throughout the gospels. Jesus' wounds are not healed. Jesus didn't stay with the apostles, after the resurrection. And, when the apostles see Jesus, whom they've known for years, they don't recognize him. Finally, one of Jesus' speeches has uncanny morbidity to it.
The apostle Thomas reportedly touched the wounds of Jesus. Why weren't they healed? Wouldn't a real deity have the common decency to heal his open sores? On the other hand, if Jesus survived the crucifixion as described above, wouldn't his wounds still be visible?
That is another odd aspect to the post-crucifixion stories: The apostles, uniformly, didn't believe Jesus actually rose from the dead. Why would that be, if Jesus was, in fact, a miracle working deity? If that was true, it would be no surprise Jesus rose from the dead. On the other hand, if they knew Jesus was a faker, of course they would doubt the resurrection. Even the women who approached the tomb (whoever they were, the gospels disagree) were hardly expecting a resurrection.
There's an odd passage in the bible which occurs after the resurrection, where Jesus appears on a beach to the apostles while they are fishing. He tells them to toss their nets in a different direction, and there they find fish. Now, you really can see fish from the shore, as they churn the surface feeding. But, that's not the point. Jesus sort of appears out of nowhere, which implies he wasn't staying with the Apostles. Odd, that is, if you think about it. It's as if Jesus is hiding somewhere, nursing his injuries, trying to hold on to life a little longer, while he is in reality dying of multiple infectious wounds.
We are told: ". . . Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus." John 21.4 (King James Version). Why is this, if Jesus is the man they knew for years? Perhaps it is because Jesus looked like death warmed over. No wonder the disciples didn't recognize him. He couldn't eat, because of the stomach wound. He was feverish from infection, and dying.
The speech which follows has a morbid touch to it:
" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." John 21.18 KJV
In plain English, Peter (to whom the passage refers) was to grow so old, and so feeble, that people would have to carry him around in his old age. Are these the words of a risen deity? Or, instead, is it the rationalization of a dying man, who, like the fox who can't leap to reach the sour grapes, is happy that he won't reach the age where he needs to be carried about? Peter, young and healthy, will have the dubious honor of experiencing old age, something Jesus knew he would never live to see.
Of course, if you don't like that interpretation, just tell yourself Jesus was making a prophesy as to how Peter would meet his end.
CONCLUSION:
Based on the Gospels, it is reasonable to infer that Jesus was motivated to be crucified, to become the true Messiah. He had competition, of that the Gospels admit. He consciously sought to fulfill the Messianic prophecies; of that, the gospels also leave no doubt. Jesus suffered wounds which were survivable, if only for a few days or weeks. He wasn't disemboweled, nor did he suffer any burial rituals that would have been fatal. He had access to a drug, which would have been effective in simulating death. The apostles didn't even believe in the resurrection, until they saw Jesus, here and there.
The "resurrection of Jesus" may be the biggest fraud in history. Either that, or there's really an invisible deity who killed his son over a 4,000 year old incident involving a talking snake, an unknown garden, and a forbidden fruit tree!
Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, in Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982), argue convincingly that Jesus was crucified on private property, and buried in a private grave; this bolsters the possibility of a conspiracy to fake a crucifixion.