A Cup with Jeremy: The Lost Tomb of Jesus

Monday, March 5, 2007

The Lost Tomb of Jesus

Last night, I watched the Discovery Channel's special documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which has been stirring some heated controversy. Here's just a few of my candid thoughts on the show:

First of all, based on many other programs that the Discovery Channel has aired in the past, it is quite apparent that DC has an anti-Christian/Bible agenda. Therefore, it's hard to fathom that this documentary was presented in an unbiased, objective manner.
I am fascinated by man's eagerness throughout history to disprove that there is a God and that Jesus was/is the Messiah. But what's even more fascinating is that these arguments seem to pop up and fade away with every turn of the corner. A couple of years ago, it was the Da Vinci Code; then it was the Jesus Paper's; and now it is The Lost Tomb of Jesus. With each controversy, faith always seems to prevail.
The weakness of the documentary's hypothesis (that Jesus was possibly married, had a son, and did not "physically" ascend into heaven) is that it is based on an unlikely chain of "if/then" statements, and the if's are very big if's. Therefore, the theory presented is extremely speculative and completely interpretive as to what answers you want to find. I couldn't help but sense that the journalist doing the documentary had already drawn his own conclusions before the research was even done.
I do not believe that Jesus was married, or that He had children (history and credible artifacts cannot support this); nevertheless, I wouldn't have a problem knowing that He had. I do not believe it changes any part of the doctrine of Christ; rather, only reveal more about His humanity.
As for the idea of a metaphysical ascension, I am still uncertain. 1 Corinthians 15:50 says, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." In 2 Corinthians 5:6, it also says, "Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord." These Scriptures would, indeed, imply that Jesus' ascension was not physical or material, but was metaphysical.

Nevertheless, it still does not fully address the issue of what happened to His physical body - His flesh and bones. Luke 24:39 says, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." So, here you have Jesus, post-resurrection, in physical form (flesh, bones, and all). Therefore, would He not have ascended also in physical form?

We know, or we can assume by what Scripture says, that what the people saw on the day of His ascension (Lk. 24:51 & Acts 1:9-11) was probably a physical body. And with that in mind, consider also that Elijah was "physically" thrust up into a whirlwind in the sky and Enoch was "physically" zapped into oblivion, neither of them ever to be seen again. So where did their bodies go? Where are their bones? Could God have immaterialized their flesh and bones right into thin air? Or did He leave them behind? Who knows?

Consider also that Jesus, while in His physical form, was miraculously able to walk through a wall, and Philip, too, was instantaneously teleported to another land. Their bodies somehow turned metaphysical, yet while they were still physical. For a moment, their physical form became completely immaterial. Therefore, if the two, physical and metaphysical, are somehow linked together, shouldn’t it be reasonable to believe that if Jesus' physical body immaterialized during His ascension, that His flesh and bones would probably have vanished with Him, perhaps just like they did with Elijah and Enoch. For this reason, I would find it difficult to believe that Jesus' bones could ever be found.

Either way, whether Jesus ascended materially or immaterially, whether He left bones behind or not, I remain fully resolved as a Christian to hold to my faith, above any circumstance or piece of information, no matter how troubling or convincing, and to trust in God's sovereignty that He could have done whatever He felt like with His body. I know that satan's primary objective is to deceive the Body of Christ into thinking that there is no God, which I know with utter certainty there is. Dealing with extreme claims, such as these, that are intended to be pernicious to Christianity, does not damage my faith; rather, they cause me to dig deeper into my faith. After all, "We walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I welcome your comments.

I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.
Saint Bernard

posted by JK1 at 8:53 AM

2 Comments:

good explanation of the metaphysical...though metaphysics is my least favorite portion of philosophy...you that whole bit about standing in the river, but never being able to stand in the river b/c the river is always moving...blaaahhh

Dan M. Deaton, at March 5, 2007 3:22 PM

My opinioun is so politicaly bias that I can not really comment with out bring politics in to this. It makes me mad,but I agree with jeremy, I may write something on my blog just to get it off my chest. however, the daughter of house speaker Nancy Polesi is doing her own documentary close to this subject. aaaahhhhh, OK i am going to take a chill pill

Mark G Pogue, at March 5, 2007 3:55 PM

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