The Master Christ, may his glory be exalted, said to John, peace be upon him: "Thus, I did not suffer any of the torments that they will attribute to me. More than that, this torment that I showed to you and the others while I was dancing, I want it to be called a secret."1
Strange, he dances! {They plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.}
A Gnostic scholar, Basilides, said: "Jesus did not die, but he forced Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross. His likeness was cast upon him, and they believed it was Jesus, so he was crucified by mistake and ignorance. He (Jesus) took the form of Simon of Cyrene and stood aside, laughing at them."2
Basilides also says: "The Messiah appeared as a human being outwardly only, but he did not suffer or die. Rather, Simon of Cyrene was killed in his place."3
The Priest Hanna Jirjis Al-Khadri says: "And John in his works describes the person hanged on the cross, who said: 'I am not Jesus who is hanged on the cross.'"4
The Master Christ, may his glory be exalted, said to his disciple John, from him is peace: "The wooden cross that you will see when you come down from here is not me, nor am I the one on the cross. I am the one you do not see now, but you only hear his voice. I have been considered what I am not, and I am not what I am with respect to the public. More than that, they will speak about me in a contemptible and unworthy manner. Since the place of rest cannot actually be seen or described, it will also be impossible for me, who is the Lord of this place, to be seen or described."5
The Father is unbegotten, and the one without a name. Since He knew that they would perish, He sent His first-born Son, who is called the Christ, to free those who believe in Him from the authority of those who made the world. Thus, He appeared on earth as a man to the people of those powers, and performed miracles (and He Himself did not die),