THE BONES OF JESUS?

Apparently, the ossuaries of Jesus and his family have been found. I doubt that the timing for the release of this story was coincidental, being released during the Easter season for maximum exposure and maximum profits for the Discovery Channel.

Arguably, the greatest evidence for the truth of the Christian faith is that it exists at all. From day one, Pentecost, 29 A.D. at Jerusalem, the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was preached as being foundational to the faith. It was consistently preached that way, as Paul would later say, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile..." Both friend and foe alike knew the location of the tomb of Jesus. At the first public preaching of the faith, which was heard by thousands of people, the foes could have extinguished the faith by producing the body, but they could not. This accounts for the explosive growth of the faith in the very place where Jesus was crucified.

If Christ has not risen one has to contend with the unlikely scenario that the disciples perpetrated a fraud. It takes about a year for bones to be prepared for an ossuary, so they had to be very secretive about what they were doing. Then it was these same disciples who were perpetrating the fraud that suffered torture and died to defend its truth. People die for false beliefs all the time, suicide bombers are evidence of that. However, people are extremely unlikely to die to defend the truth of a fraud they are perpetrating. James, Jude and each of the apostles of Jesus, suffered torture unto death without recanting the Easter story!

There is no question that the Christian hope is audacious, but it is not delusional! It is founded on the solid truth that Jesus Christ has risen. Whose ever bones are in the ossuary, they are not the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, as the name would have been inscribed on the ossuary of a Galilean.

So, now, have a joyful Easter!!!

Grace&Peace,
Tom