Truth does not blush. - Tertullian
I remember all the hoopla surrounding the movie "The Da Vinci Code." The general public thought it was pretty exciting - proving it by showing up for opening weekend to a tune of $77,073,388. The total lifetime grosses worldwide were $758,239,851! Christians went on the defense - refusing to see the movie. Christian authors went on the attack, scrambling to write books to explain the assault on our faith.
I admit to never seeing the movie. Didn't have the heart to sit through a show in which my Lord's integrity was assaulted. But then, out comes the Discovery Channel's "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." Again, I didn't watch it, but the questions from friends regarding the possibility that Jesus' body had been found - piqued my interest. Before I fully weighed in on the latest rumor "attempting" (and I place quotations due to the preposterous nature of these tantalizing reports) to tear down the Christian faith as we now know it, while single-handedly crushing the belief of millions of followers worldwide ... I thought I would do a little research.
One of my first groundbreaking discoveries - James Cameron, Ron Howard and Dan Brown are not the first to question the basic tenets of Christianity! (I know, it was a shocker for me too!) The religious leaders of Jesus' time were not about to let the idea of a risen Savior get out! They wanted Jesus crucified for his proposed blasphemy and his followers scattered: "The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they said, 'we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, "After three days I will rise again." So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.' 'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. 'Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.'" (Matthew 27:62-65)
Perhaps Jesus' enemies were more familiar with the Master's words than even his own disciples as seen in Mark 9:30-32: "They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.' But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it."
Throughout the ages, the resurrection has been disputed and debated over and over! Why? Why so much conflict and struggle over one man's body? The answer is quite simple really - so simple that the Jewish religious leaders were going to do everything they could to downplay this miracle: "While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, 'You are to say, "His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep." If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.' So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day." (Matthew 28:11-15)
Now present-day arguments supporting the discovery of Jesus' dead body have reached another worldwide frenzy. The two sites I am quoting below are just the tip of the information iceberg we call the World Wide Web:
http://www.tombofjesus.com/2007/home/welcome.html: "This Web site presents and offers evidence that Jesus Christ is dead and buried in a tomb in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, and will not be returning to earth. The Web site examines a range of topics from the Shroud of Turin to the Israelite origin of the people of Asia. It aims to bring together research and material related to this theory from a variety of sources. This site is devoted to presenting the hypothesis that Jesus Christ physically survived the crucifixion as an "ordinary" human being, then traveled eastwards to join Jewish tribes that had been scattered to the northern tier of Afghanistan and also Kashmir, Northern India. The theory put forward on this Web site continues that after surviving the crucifixion, Jesus Christ arrived in Kashmir, where he took up residence for the remainder of his life. There he ministered to Israelite tribes of the area, continuing to preach. The Negaristan-i-Kashmir book allegedly says that he eventually married a woman named Maryan, who bore him children. He died at the ripe old age of 120 years. His tomb is located in the Mohala Kan Yar district of the capital city of Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, Northern India, and is called the Roza Bal ('The Site of the Honored Tomb')." (Quoted directly from their Welcome Site.)
http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/movie_overview/disclaimer.html: "The Lost Tomb Of Jesus" does not challenge the fact of the Resurrection. It does, however, ask viewers to consider the possibility that it occurred from another tomb ... For example, if Jesus ascended into Heaven, does that mean Heaven is "up"? Did Jesus really sit in a throne at the right hand of God or is this actually a metaphor? And finally, was the ascension spiritual or physical? Did Jesus leave his body behind or did he take it with him? If Jesus' mortal remains have indeed been found, this would contradict only the idea of a physical ascension. However, it says nothing against the possibility of a spiritual one nor does it dispute the idea of the Ascension." (Quoted directly from their Introduction Site.)
Space restrictions will force me to continue next week - the day before Easter: the Celebration of Jesus' resurrection for millions of Christians around the world.
Have an issue that you would like addressed? Maybe a question you would like answered? Or maybe you have an opinion you would like to share? Compose an e-mail and send it to me at
mayflowerchild21@hotmail.com If you prefer to utilize the postal service, please send it in care of The Sentinel, P.O. Box 9, Hanford, CA 93232 (March 31, 2007)