The events after the resurrection simply show that Jesus, according to the Biblical events, had in fact resurrected. Even the earliest account we have of Jesus, in Paul, claim that he was resurrected. To be resurrected, one has to die. What this tells us is that, nearly immediately, it was known that Jesus had in fact died on the cross. There is no suggestion otherwise.
On resurrection
The earliest attested form of the belief in Jesus' resurrection occurs in 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul compares the general resurrection to that of Jesus and thus implies his conception of the latter. The risen Jesus "became a ... Spirit" (v. 45). His was a spiritual, not a natural body (v. 44) and did not have flesh, since such is entirely unsuited to immortality (v. 50). (Robert Price, The Resurrection, [1]
The ultra-conservatives keep insisting on a physical resurrection of Jesus. Paul, whose work pre-dates the first Gospel, insists on the exact opposite. His fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians could not possibly be clearer. I invite you to read to reread that passage for yourself. This passage is almost pure Platonism. Paul knows only a spiritual resurrection. (Tom Harper, The Pagan Christ, p. 174)
That the original Christians believed in a spiritual resurrection is hinted at in many strange features of the Gospel accounts of the appearances of Jesus after death, which may be survivals of an original mystical tradition later corrupted by the growing legend of a bodily resurrection, such as a Jesus that they do not recognize, or who vanishes into thin air. But more importantly, it is also suggested by the letters of Paul, our earliest source of information on any of the details of the original Christian beliefs. For Paul never mentions or quotes any of the Gospels, so it seems clear that they were not written in his lifetime. This is supported by internal evidence that suggests all the Gospels were written around or after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., well after Paul's last surviving letter, which was written around the year 58.
Jesus was placed on the cross and did not die; he survived the crucifixion. The evidence proves Jesus was deliberately drugged to make him appear dead (John 19:30), so the Roman soldiers wouldnt break his legs to expedite his death. The Jews already knew Jesus was accursed (Deu 21:23), executed on false charges (Luke 23:22). The body had to be removed before the Sabbath so the land wont be defiled.
Yet Paul never mentions Jesus having been resurrected in the flesh. He never mentions empty tombs, physical appearances, or the ascension of Jesus into heaven afterward (i.e. when Paul mentions the ascension, he never ties it to appearances in this way, and never distinguishes it from the resurrection event itself)
There are many historical errors in Jesus trial and crucifixion
Secular Web Kiosk and Bookstore :: Jewish Law, the Burial of Jesus, and the Third Day
The Problem with Jesus' Arrest and Trial
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/sanhedrin.html
Why Jews Can't Believe in Jesus - Trial of Jesus
Tract 13c - The Hebrew Trials of Christ
When Jesus expired after drinking the vinegar, the Pilate gave permission to Joseph to remove the body and wrap in healing spices.
Interestingly, there is also the possibility that Pilate was bribed. This would account for the crucifiction taking place at the Garden of Gethsemane (private land), and for the body being taken down so quickly. In short the evidence is overwhelming that the
Cruci- fixion was instead a
Cruci- fiction
Another explanation is provided by a strong tradition that Pilate was got at with a sizable bribe amounting to the equivalent of 30,000. If what is described in the Gospels is true, then it is obvious that Pilate did have a vested interest in the drama enacted that day in Jerusalem
Finally, there is another significant fact. In the calendars of the Saints of the Coptic Church, both in Egypt and in Ethiopia, Pilate and his wife appear as saints. This could be possible only if we accept that Pilate, knowing full well that his soldiers had made a wrong arrest, knowingly condemned Judas in place of Jesus, and allowed the latter to escape.
Let us quote the passage Luke 23:51-56
(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them
he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. (Luke 23:51-56)
Apparently, the women knew Jesus was alive, thats why they prepared spices to anoint Jesus body.
No one knows the exact date on which the crucifixion occurred. The synoptic Gospels and the fourth Gospel locate it near the time of Passover. I see no reason to doubt that. There is, however, too much agenda in both the synoptics attempt to identify the Last Supper with the Passover feast, and the fourth Gospels attempt to identify the day of crucifixion with the day on which the Paschal Lamb was slain, for me to take either assertion literally.
How long was Jesus on the cross before he died? I do not think anyone knows. Remember, those who might have noticed and relayed that information had all forsaken him and fled. The appearance of Joseph of Arimathea, the darkness over the land, the split in the temple veil, the ecstatic cry of faith from the centurionall were elements of the developing legend. The hasty burial before the Sabbath was but a part of the burial legend. Thus no one knows how long Jesus lived on the cross, how he died, when he was taken down, or where he was buried, for they all forsook him and fled. That means there was no first-day-of-the-week visit to the tomb by the women to anoint him, since there was no tomb and no sense of when he died or of where he was buried. (John Shelby Spong, Resurrection: Myth or Reality, p. 241)
The apostles were not eye-witnesses to the crucifixion (Mark 14:50). The Bible says they all forsook him and fled
Jesus survived the cross so Christians are not saved. Now if Christians reject the Quranic version, they must accept the Biblical evidence that Jesus was kept alive, only to be resusciated on the third day before sunrise. The Gospels say the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. Obviously, Jesus did not stagger out by himself; his body was taken by the Essenes who restored him back to life.
The scholar Ahmed Deedat answers the question:
WHO MOVED THE STONE - By Ahmed Deedat
But it doesnt matter who moved the stone, the crucifixion was a conspiracy to keep Jesus alive. The Essenes were the followers of Jesus:
The name of the Essenes had been changed previously from Hassidim to Essenes. Philo calls them Therapeutae, and Eusebins says the Therapentae were Christians. [1]
The Essenes followed Jesus after John was beheaded, they were strict adherents to the Law (Matt 5:17-20) which solved the problem of lawlessness. They supported Jesus when he favored the Jewish Law and denounced Pharisaism.
The man dressed in white at the tomb was Essene.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. (Mark 16:5)
And they despise wealth, and do not turn away from sharing their goods with those that are destitute. No one amongst them, however, enjoys a greater amount of riches than another. For a regulation with them is, that an individual coming forward to join the sect must sell his possessions, and present the price of them to the community. And on receiving the money, the head of the order distributes it to all according to their necessities. Thus there is no one among them in distress. And they do not use oil, regarding it as a defilement to be anointed. And there are appointed overseers, who take care of all things that belong to them in common, and they all appear always in white clothing. (Hippolytus of Rome, Tenets of the Essene, [1]
Let us expose the undeniable facts:
1. The Roman soldiers were bribed.
2. The body of Jesus was stolen.
3. The story of the empty tomb is mythical
4. The resurrection of Jesus was symbolic
5. Paul contradicts the Gospels
6. There are no crucifixion prophecies in the Old Testament