Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Dry Bones
April 15, 2007
By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.
Who has not heard by now of the much ballyhooed find of the bones of Jesus and some of His family? If you missed the news reports, and how could you have unless you were on another planet, you may have seen the "documentary" The Lost Tomb of Jesus that was on the Discovery Channel. Jamey Tucker, who writes a religious column for News Channel 2, said "It was not a total waste of time..." Maybe not, but I would have to say almost. I'm afraid my appraisal of the film was not nearly as kind as Jamey's was. If James Cameron, the director of the movie blockbuster Titanic, were judged solely on this film about Jesus' tomb they would take back his Oscars. Cameron was the producer of this film, and Simcha Jacobovici, a man who has made life, it seems, making films that question the reliability of scripture (The Exodus Decoded; James: Brother of Jesus, and numerous other films about controversies in Jewish history), was the director. He has been described by the credible scholarly community as nothing more than a modern day, self proclaimed "Indiana Jones".
This film on Jesus' tomb was poorly done, and there was so much speculation. If you watched it, do you remember how often we were told, "if this or that happened, then this..."? That little word "IF" leaves a lot of wiggle room. They did more than stretch the truth to get at the conclusion they wanted. They twisted it and choked it. One of the things that upset me, as a student of God's Word for at least 60 years is that it perpetuated old myths and stereotypes. For example, they made it sound as if the lie that was told by the Roman guards being paid for by the Sanhedrin, was a very plausible explanation (Matthew 28:11-15). It was and is a lie. Jesus' disciples did not move His body. He moved His own body when He arose from the dead just as He had promised (John 10:17, 18).
Another erroneous point they tried to get across was that there was no harm in anybody saying that Jesus arose spiritually but left His body behind. No person who ever read the Bible and studied it would have come to such a ridiculous conclusion. If Jesus Christ of Nazareth did not arise from that grave on that Sunday morning almost 2,000 years ago in His physical body, then He is not the Messiah, and we need to look for another one. Mary Magdalene, the first to the tomb with some other woman found the tomb empty, and then as she was walking about the garden where the tomb was located she saw Jesus, not a spirit (John 20:1,2,11-18). He told His disciples "Feel Me, touch Me" (John 20:19-29). He also said, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). The physical body of Christ was transformed, even as ours will be on the day of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Philippians 3:21), before He ascended into heaven because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50).
While Cameron and Jacobovici touted their use of scientific research and DNA evidence, doesn't even common sense tell you that will not prove anything? First of all, if they find that the DNA of the woman, they say was Mary Magdalene and that the bones of the man they claim is Jesus match the man they say was Judah (Yose) and prove that he was there son, what does that prove? Second, you'd have to prove that Jesus and Mary were in fact married, or that they had sexual relations which would have been fornication a violation of God's law, for which there is no credible evidence for either of these conclusions. Then you would have to prove that the man in the ossuary they claim was Jesus, actually was Jesus of Nazareth. Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar in Jerusalem and that it is unsure that the name "Jesus" even appears on any of those ten ossuaries. He said the name is most likely "Hanun". You'd also have to prove that the Mariamene in that ossuary was in fact Mary Magdalene. A fact which is very disputed.
Brotherly;
Sellers
