Topshelf

Lost Tomb Of Jesus? Real? Hoax? Mistake?

James Cameron, of Titanic fame, has made a documentary that, in the words of ABC news anchor Charles Gibson, strikes at the heart of Christianity. Frankly, I do not believe that. The documentary is about an archaeological dig in the 80's where they uncovered a tomb that had small coffins in them called "ossuaries" that held bones of family members. The documentary maintains that these bones belonged to Jesus of Nazareth, family and son. The original archaeologist disagrees saying that the names Jesus and Mary were particularly common at the time of uncovered bones. In addition, he states that the names on the ossuaries were very difficult to read and hard to interpret.

It seems that James Cameron, whether by mistake or design, is trying to discredit the beliefs of many hundreds of thousands of Christians. It may be that he is not doing this deliberately but there are others who are only too happy to discredit any Christian but are ecstatic to try discrediting Jesus of Nazareth. However, that is not possible. Jesus is Who He says He is according to the Bible. There is entirely too much proof of His existence and His deeds. The only real question is.....did He die on the cross, get buried and then rise from the dead? My Bible says yes!!! But you will need to determine that answer for yourself.

The scriptures are quite clear that in the last days (end times) there will be things coming up that will sway the faith of those who do now believe. I tried for a long time to figure out what event could possibly make so many people defect if they were truly dedicated and believed in the Lord Jesus.

There was a book some years ago, I believe it's called The Skeleton in God's Closet", a fictional account of just this scenario finding what appeared to be the bones of Jesus. In the end, it proved to be a hoax. Today, there is another hoax being put forth to the public designed specifically to destroy the faith of those who are already believers.

The scriptures are also quite clear that there comes a time when there is a "falling away" (2 Thessalonians 2:3, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,"). The Greek word for falling away is "apostasia". That says that there will be people who have proclaimed a belief in the Lord Jesus who will leave that faith and go against all they have believed, denying the Lord.

Many folks like to think that this is talking about people who said they were Christians but were not. However, that does not work here. The word "apostasia" means to fall away from something or forsake. You cannot fall away if you never had it to begin with. A person can only forsake something that they already believed to be true. The question then becomes...what could possibly make people forsake the Lord? Now we have come full circle.

Lost Tomb Of Jesus? Real? Hoax? Mistake?

Feb. 26, 2007 — In late 1982, Tova Bracha's family moved into a modest apartment in a cluster of cookie-cutter housing units in Talpiyot, a Jerusalem neighborhood.

A few days after moving in, her children were playing in the construction debris downstairs and came across what James Cameron's new documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Christ," maintains is the tomb of Jesus and his family.

Two years earlier, Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner was the first to find the tomb. He found the tomb and the ossuaries — the urns or vaults used to hold the bones of the dead — interesting but of no particular archaeological importance. He said there are more than 900 buried tombs just like the "Jesus" tomb within a 2-mile radius of Talpiyot. Of them, 71 bear the name Jesus and two Jesus, son of Joseph. The tomb in Talpiyot is one of them. But the inscription, he said, was barely decipherable and therefore questionable.

Have they found the bones of Jesus? I say a resounding NO! NO! NO! they have not. It is a hoax, mistake, or whatever you choose to call it. What it is not is reality.

This is something that each individual has to face for him/herself. Come before the Lord, seeking the answers to the questions you ask and He will give them to you. Ask for forgiveness. That is a free gift from God. Believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, personally, and you will find salvation, freedom, safety. However, if you buy into the belief that the bones of Jesus have now been found, you will lose more than you can possibly understand or know.

For more information about this and other questions you may have, please come to my website.

Lura's Bookcase

This ministry is determined to tell the truth about the Lord, to teach about Him, to love Him, to witness of Him. Please come.