Date: September 2007 Series: "Raiders of the Lost Tomb of Jesus" Title: Part 2

     “Lost Tomb” - What do the Pros think?  The ossuaries were examined by Amos Kloner, district archaeologist for Israel’s Antiquity Authority, back in 1980 and he continues to assert that the inscriptions from which the names were taken are not clear enough to base such claims upon.  He doubts that the tombs have anything to do with the family of Jesus of Nazareth.  When the BBC did a brief documentary on these ossuaries back in 1996 and made inferences similar to those of Cameron and Jacobovici, Kloner criticized the failure to hold up archaeological standards in favor of “profitable television.”  Stephen Pfann, scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, also disputes the clarity of the names, asserting that what is claimed to be “Jesus” is more likely “Hanun.”  The inscription from which “Mary/Maria/Miriam” was taken may be more valid, but even then one must remember that this name was given to perhaps 25% of first century Jewish women in ancient Israel.  Shimon Gobson, senior fellow at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, is curious and would like to see more information, but also remains skeptical.  Lawrence E. Steger, professor of archaeology pertaining to Israel at Harvard, suspicions that most of the excitement about this is due to the number of Biblically illiterate people around the world who are gullible and open to what he called “fantastic archaeology.”  No wonder the archaeologist who first examined these ossuaries, Kloner, and most of the other professional scholars interviewed recently are skeptical - there just isn’t enough reason to believe that these ten caskets ever contained the archaeological “find of all finds”!

     Revisiting Resurrection Alternatives - Over the years, skeptics have offered a number of alternatives to evade the Christian doctrine of Jesus’ resurrection, not because they had valid evidence that cast doubts on the Gospel story, but because they didn’t want to believe the original story and wanted to fabricate an alternative.  All of these alternatives are skeptical non-sense - if Jesus was not raised, then what did happen to His body (hidden away in a Jerusalem burial cave and totally forgotten by everybody for 1900 years - right!)?  Let’s run through the alternative stories and note why they are pure nonsense.

     The Disciples Stole the Body - This is the oldest alternative “un-Gospel” story and originated with the Jewish authorities (Matthew 28:11-15).  First of all, there is the problem of the Roman Guard placed on the tomb to keep this very thing from happening (Matthew 27:62-66).  Since death was the penalty for failing to protect that which you were charged to guard (Acts 12:19; 16:27), you can bet the guards checked the contents of the tomb before sealing it and standing guard on it!  That alone should let what little air there is out of this one.  But, let’s humor the skeptics and think further on this one.  If the disciples somehow did take/hide the body of Jesus, then we are asked to believe that these blue-collar fishermen, a tax-collector, a zealot, etc. were all willing to give up their businesses/professions/passionate political agendas, etc. and spend the rest of their lives in poverty preaching the message that Jesus died and rose again and then die horrible deaths to foist a massive hoax (that they knew was false) on humanity - give me a break!  What is going on with Islamic suicide bombers in Iraq does not validate their cause, but their sincerity and commitment are beyond question!  The disciple’s lives/martyrdom deaths do not guarantee the validity of their message, but they do validate their sincerity and integrity - and they were in the best position to know if Jesus had really risen or stayed dead!

     Jewish or Roman Authorities took the Body - Although pretty weak, this is the second best alternative story.  Why would Jewish or Roman authorities take the body? - sealed in a tomb under guard is exactly where they wanted the body of Jesus.  If, in fact, the Jewish or Roman authorities stole and had possession of Jesus’ dead body, then why didn’t they produce the body on Pentecost and shut down the Christian movement before it could even get started?  Obviously, neither the Jewish or Roman authorities had Jesus’ body.

     The Apostles Went to the Wrong Tomb - Third (and yes, the alternatives do go from “dumb to dumber”), some have suggested that the disciples were so overwrought with sorrow that they went to the wrong tomb and mistakenly concluded that Jesus had risen from the dead!  Come on, they all had that bad of memory and forgot within a couple of days where a major figure in their lives and a loved one was buried?  Are we also to believe that Joseph of Arimathea forgot where his own family tomb was located?  My Dad has been dead for over eight years and all of my grandparents passed away at least 15 years ago, but I remember exactly where all of them are buried to this day.  What foolishness!

     Spiritual Resurrection - Fourth, the notion has been suggested that Jesus was raised - in a spiritual body.  However, it was to eliminate this notion that Jesus met with the Apostles and allowed them to touch His body (John 20:24-28; 1John 1:1-3), as well as eating a piece of fish in their presence (Luke 24:36-43).  If you are willing to buy into a “spiritual resurrection story, why not just accept the original story of Jesus’ resurrection?  This view still has another problem - what happened to the body of Jesus?  I know, God had the “death fairy” secretly hide Jesus’ body in the “Lost Tomb” so a couple of 21^st century film-makers could “cash-in” and finish-off Christianity for good!  But wait, why would God leave Jesus’ body around to invalidate what He had worked to accomplish?  Ridiculous, let’s move on.

     Jesus Survived Crucifixion - Fifth, the most hilarious alternative, to my mind, is the view that Jesus did not really die!  That’s right, this view alleges that Jesus somehow survived scourging, crucifixion, a spear thrust into his chest cavity, three days with no medical care inside a guarded tomb, and then, in brutalized condition and with torn-up feet, rolled away the stone, outran the guards and lived in total obscurity afterwards?  If a willingness to believe goofy stories was a NASCAR race, I would have to say that the skeptics take the checkered flag by several laps!!!!!  (to be continued)