Letter: The real Jesus

Sir: The idea that because Simon of Cyrene was made to carry Jesus' cross, Jesus took advantage of an identity swap, evaded the Roman centurions, and was "laughing triumphantly at the success of his escape by deception" is palpable nonsense. When they stripped Jesus/Simon at Golgotha and noticed this criminal had not been scourged, wouldn't the professional executioners have rumbled a substitution? Like others before him, Jesus needed someone else to carry his cross because he was too weakened by his flogging to sustain it himself.

The Rev RICHARD JAMES

Ripon, North Yorkshire