I took this picture of these ossuaries, or bone boxes, just outside of Jerusalem. There are thousands of these in the Holy land which have been discovered and stored in the Israel Antiquities Authority.The Lost Tomb of Jesus?
On Sunday, March 4 the Discovery channel will air the documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus. In the program it is stated that in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem a tomb has been unearthed which is believed to be the family tomb of Jesus. Actually, the tomb has been "unearthed" twice before, so there is no new discovery here. In the Talpiot Tomb (which is just one of about 900 in the area) ten ossuaries were found in 1980 with names etched on the outsides. As published, they read as follows:
Yeshua` bar Yehosef - "Jesus son of Joseph" (It is debated whether this inscription could read Hanun bar Yehosef)
Maryah - "Mary"
Yoseh - "Joses," short for "Joseph"
Mariamene e Mara - "Mary also known as Mara" - (the only inscription in Greek)
Mattiah - "Matthew" (no relation ever given of a Matthew as being related to Jesus)
Yehudah bar Yeshua` - "Judas son of Jesus"
These bone boxes were removed, catalogued, and stored with thousands of others in the Israel Antiquities Authority many of which were also inscribed with the names Jesus, Mary, very common names in the first century.
The $4 million documentary will try to convince viewers that this is the burial tomb of Jesus, that he and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child together whom they named Judah. (Can you say, Da Vinci Code?) The producers and staff of archaeologists, theologians, and statisticians will also insist that such a belief will do no damage to anyone’s Christian beliefs.
Simcha Jacobovici, who incidentally has written a book, The Jesus Family Tomb said on Larry King Live, "We don’t challenge the resurrection...I spoke to theologians, they said, if he rose from one tomb, he could have just as easily have arisen from a second tomb...most Christians believe in a spiritual ascension and bodily resurrection." (Emphasis mine.)
Why Christians should be very skeptical:
1. The timing makes it suspect every lenten and Easter season at least one of the networks will produce a program and news magazines will publish stories which are designed to cast doubt on the resurrection, the divinity of Christ, and the Christian faith.
If it could ever be finally proven that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead,and that the resurrection was a fraud or a hoax, then Christianity fails and becomes worse than a myth or fairy tale.
2. The producers claim that recent "DNA evidence" will strongly suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.
Upon hearing of DNA, most would assume there is an attempt to identify Jesus directly which is impossible because there is no other DNA to compare.
3. An ossuary is a small, limestone box which is used to rebury the skeletal remains of someone after the body and organs have decomposed. If there is an ossuary which held Jesus’ remains then there was no bodily resurrection and the Bible cannot be believed at any point.
The Bible plainly teaches that the resurrection of Christ was bodily, and not spiritual, and that after He died Jesus’ body did not see corruption.
Yeshua` bar Yehosef - "Jesus son of Joseph" (It is debated whether this inscription could read Hanun bar Yehosef)
Maryah - "Mary"
Yoseh - "Joses," short for "Joseph"
Mariamene e Mara - "Mary also known as Mara" - (the only inscription in Greek)
Mattiah - "Matthew" (no relation ever given of a Matthew as being related to Jesus)
Yehudah bar Yeshua` - "Judas son of Jesus"
These bone boxes were removed, catalogued, and stored with thousands of others in the Israel Antiquities Authority many of which were also inscribed with the names Jesus, Mary, very common names in the first century.
The $4 million documentary will try to convince viewers that this is the burial tomb of Jesus, that he and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child together whom they named Judah. (Can you say, Da Vinci Code?) The producers and staff of archaeologists, theologians, and statisticians will also insist that such a belief will do no damage to anyone’s Christian beliefs.
Simcha Jacobovici, who incidentally has written a book, The Jesus Family Tomb said on Larry King Live, "We don’t challenge the resurrection...I spoke to theologians, they said, if he rose from one tomb, he could have just as easily have arisen from a second tomb...most Christians believe in a spiritual ascension and bodily resurrection." (Emphasis mine.)
Why Christians should be very skeptical:
1. The timing makes it suspect every lenten and Easter season at least one of the networks will produce a program and news magazines will publish stories which are designed to cast doubt on the resurrection, the divinity of Christ, and the Christian faith.
If it could ever be finally proven that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead,and that the resurrection was a fraud or a hoax, then Christianity fails and becomes worse than a myth or fairy tale.
2. The producers claim that recent "DNA evidence" will strongly suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.
Upon hearing of DNA, most would assume there is an attempt to identify Jesus directly which is impossible because there is no other DNA to compare.
3. An ossuary is a small, limestone box which is used to rebury the skeletal remains of someone after the body and organs have decomposed. If there is an ossuary which held Jesus’ remains then there was no bodily resurrection and the Bible cannot be believed at any point.
The Bible plainly teaches that the resurrection of Christ was bodily, and not spiritual, and that after He died Jesus’ body did not see corruption.
The Lost Tomb of Jesus strikes at the heart of several Christian doctrines:
A. Bodily Resurrection:
Luke 24:36-43...A spiritual ascension (as the producers of "Lost Tomb of Jesus" imply would also assume a spiritual resurrection which the Bible denies. The bodily resurrection of Christ is taught all through the gospels: Matt. 28:1,2; 16-20; Mk. 16:1-8; Lk. 24; John 20,21; and Acts 1:6-11.
John 2:14-21...In the cleansing of the temple Jesus spoke of His bodily resurrection.
Christians are dependent upon the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ for their own bodily resurrection, Rom. 8:23; I Cor. 15.
A. Bodily Resurrection:
Luke 24:36-43...A spiritual ascension (as the producers of "Lost Tomb of Jesus" imply would also assume a spiritual resurrection which the Bible denies. The bodily resurrection of Christ is taught all through the gospels: Matt. 28:1,2; 16-20; Mk. 16:1-8; Lk. 24; John 20,21; and Acts 1:6-11.
John 2:14-21...In the cleansing of the temple Jesus spoke of His bodily resurrection.
Christians are dependent upon the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ for their own bodily resurrection, Rom. 8:23; I Cor. 15.
Even Job, writing many hundreds of years before the advent of Christ believed in and had the hop of his own bodily resurrection, Job19:25,26..."For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall see God.
B. The Bodily Ascension: The ascension of Jesus Christ was also physical...Mark 16:19; I Tim. 2:5
When Jesus was born in Bethelhem, by the miracle of the virgin birth, He had two natures; the divine and the human,neither of which He gave up when He ascended back to God the Father. Paul writes in I Tim. 2:5 of "the man Christ Jesus" and not "the spirit Christ Jesus."
C. The Body of Jesus Experienced No Physical Corruption:
Prophesied...Psalm 16:10
Fulfilled...Acts 2:25-32
The producers of The Lost Tomb of Jesus claim that Jesus could have been buried in the garden tomb, the tomb of Joseph of Arimethaea, and then moved to the Talpiot Tomb, but Matthew 27:62-66 tells us that Roman soldiers were sent to guard the tomb where Jesus lay and no mortals could have removed the body.
In the final analysis, The Lost Tomb of Jesus has many agendas. Some of which are:
1. To further the Da Vinci Code myth,
2. To make money for its producers,
3. To cast doubt on the divinity of Christ, and the truth of the resurrection, and to doubt the inspiration and truthfulness of the Bible.
C. The Body of Jesus Experienced No Physical Corruption:
Prophesied...Psalm 16:10
Fulfilled...Acts 2:25-32
The producers of The Lost Tomb of Jesus claim that Jesus could have been buried in the garden tomb, the tomb of Joseph of Arimethaea, and then moved to the Talpiot Tomb, but Matthew 27:62-66 tells us that Roman soldiers were sent to guard the tomb where Jesus lay and no mortals could have removed the body.
In the final analysis, The Lost Tomb of Jesus has many agendas. Some of which are:
1. To further the Da Vinci Code myth,
2. To make money for its producers,
3. To cast doubt on the divinity of Christ, and the truth of the resurrection, and to doubt the inspiration and truthfulness of the Bible.
