The ‘Burial Cave’ of Jesus

From: Franklin ter Horst ( 9 march 2007)(up date: 9 september 2012)

During the last 2000 years the world has been able to read in God’s infallible Word that Jesus died, rose from the dead and was taken up into heaven. The women (Lk. 24:9) who opened the tomb two days after His burial were upset at finding the grave empty. “And it happened, as they were perplexed about this, that behold two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them: ‘Why do

you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!’” (Luke 24:4-6)

The Bible contains four Gospels: those of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These books tell of the life, the preaching, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived around the beginning of our era, wrote: “About this time there lived a man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was called the Messiah. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him

did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life.”

He rose right through the linen shrouds. Everything was lying there, unchanged, in the form of His body (Jn. 20:7). But the resurrection of Jesus, as described in these books, is nothing more than a fable if we are to believe 33rd-Degree Freemason, triple Oscar winner and film-maker James Cameron (with the films Titanic and The Terminator to his credit) and the originally Israeli but now Canadian documentary-maker Simcha Jacobovici. Both these gentleman are sending shockwaves around the world with the statement that there is “scientific evidence” that they have located the grave of Jesus of Nazareth. In a 90-minute documentary entitled “The Burial Cave of Jesus” they proclaim that Jesus did not rise from the dead but was buried in a cave in Talpiot in Jerusalem.

It is alleged to be about a 2000-year-old grave discovered as long ago as 1980. The gentlemen in question base their findings on years of investigations by archaeologists, historians, writing experts and DNA specialists. In the small cave experts found ten remains of caskets with – among others – the following names engraved upon them: Jesus, son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, twice Maria, as also Mary the mother of Jesus and finally Mary Magdalene. According to the documentary,Jesus is alleged to have been married to Mary Magdalene and they had a son called Judah. Jacobovici is of the opinion that the discovery does not need “to change belief in Jesus”. He says that we can most certainly speak of an ascension into heaven – though spiritual rather than physical. What an incredible fool! The media world-wide published the news on the front pages, and various international TV broadcasters also paid it extensive attention. A BBC documentary in 1966 was the first to suggest that it was the grave of Jesus and His family.

Meanwhile the claim made by these two men has been the subject of serious criticism, and not just from Christians and Muslims but is also rejected by a growing band of unprejudiced scientists.The prominent Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who was responsible in 1980 for the excavations in and around the tomb, rejected the film as “nonsense”. Kloner investigated the graves thoroughly and deciphered the inscriptions, and characterises the claims as “a great story for a TV film”, but says that any evidence is lacking. As early as 1996 Professor Kloner published his findings in the Israeli journal Atigot: “The names on the graves may be the same as those of the family of Jesus of Nazareth; for one thing, all the names discovered were very common among the Jews in the first centuries before and after Christ.” Kloner rejects the combination of names as a coincidence. The IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority), the Israeli authority responsible for antiquities, is keeping the caskets in its archives in Beit Shemesh and refuses to comment.

Tomb in Talpiot, Jerusalem Storage place for burial caskets

Beit Shemesh

The film was shown on Discovery Channel. This channel draws millions of viewers in 170 countries and has the reputation of being reliable, scientific and non-partisan. The fact that scientists, archaeologists, statisticians and DNA specialists co-operated on the documentary will cause a great many people to believe that the bones really are those of Jesus. What Cameron and his companion have presented is nothing more than the so many-th attempt to undermine Christianity.“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” (I Corinthians15:14) The closer the world comes to the return of Jesus the more accounts will come denying the existence of a risen Jesus. Before His return it must be made clear to the world that His death, resurrection and His return should be regarded as a mere fairy tale. Eventually many Christians will start to see Jesus as nothing more than one of the many “Teachers of the World”, in the same league as Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and others. The Antichrist will claim to be the true Saviour and the people will believe him and follow him en masse. Those preparing the way for the Antichrist will do everything in their power to ban the belief in Christ from the world. James’ ossuarium Inscription on the ossuarium

Five years ago Discovery Channel started to promote the ossuarium (bones casket) of James, suggesting that it contained James’ bones. In October 2002 an article in the journal “Biblical Archaeology Review” attracted attention when the French palaeographer André Lemaire of the Sorbonne University in Paris made it known that he had discovered a limestone ossuarium dated 63 AD bearing the Aramaic inscription: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. It was said to be the oldest reference to the existence of Jesus. The “Israel Antiquities Authority” (IAA) examined the ossuarium and its inscription and stated on 18th June 2003 during a press conference that the ossuarium itself was real but the inscription as a whole was fake: “The inscription is not genuine, but is written in modern characters by someone trying to imitate the ancient characters”.The casket is probably “of Christian origin” dating from the time after Luke and Matthew had written their Gospels. Even if the ossuarium does indeed date from the first century, there is still no proof that it refers to the Jesus of the Bible. The owner of the casket, the Israeli collector Oded Golan, states that he bought it in Jerusalem for about 200 dollars.

And the “Gospel of Judas” was world news, extensively promoted by the National Geographic Society, that also financed its reconstruction and translation and trumpeted the affair round in practically all the world’s major news publications. National Geographic paid around a million dollars for the restoration and the rights to publish the text and to tell the story of its discovery.The newspaper USA Today announced: “Long-lost gospel of Judas recasts ‘traitor’”.The Gospel of Judas is a 26-page codex placing Judas in a positive light as the one disciple who really understood Jesus, and betrayed Him only because he was instructed to do so. The document was discovered in a sandstone tomb, in the neighbourhood of the Egyptian place of El-Minya. It is written in Coptic, the language spoken and written by the so-called ‘Christian’ inhabitants of Egypt.

Tomb from Jesus’ era in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem

According to Irenaeus (Greek Church Father ca. 135-202 AD) this document was produced by the Egyptian-Gnostic movement of the Cainites who stated that Cain, Esau, the Sodomites, Korah, Judas and other suspicious characters in biblical history were actually all enlightened heroes who bravely kept alive the Gnosis (1), or the knowledge of the truth. According to this movement a god named Hystera created the world and another divinity, named Sophia, who – it is said – assisted the aforementioned people. Some of those who explained this gospel stated that its discovery would contribute to a considerable positive re-evaluation of Judas, making it no longer possible for him to be seen as a traitor. He is alleged to have freed Jesus from his earthly body by giving Him up for crucifixion so that Jesus could continue His existence as a spiritual entity. Thus a ritual murder in the interests of Jesus and His followers. In many respects the only aim ofthe Gospel of Judas is that of denying the Resurrection and the Return of Jesus.

Jesus is said to have told Judas that the world was created in a way different from that stated in Genesis and that an ‘evil god’ named Nebro, rules the lower world of men. Judas is the ‘thirteenth spirit’ appointed to free Jesus from the physical body in which he was imprisoned. The Gospel of Judas celebrates Judas rather than Jesus: he goes into a ‘radiant cloud’. The Gnostic Jesus in this document is not the Almighty God or Creator of the world; He did not die for the sins of men and did not rise bodily from the dead. Egypt, where the majority of such writings originate, was a breeding ground of apostasy and fanaticism in the early centuries AD. Many other strange gospels, inspired by the Devil, were written there, including the Gospel of Thomas that pretends to give details of the childhood of Jesus. Up till now something like thirty-five such gospels are known, some of them discovered in Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. The novelist Dan Brown also found inspiration in these discoveries for his “Da Vinci Code”. The Gnostics represented a very early movement – in fact, a perverse twisting of the truth and a direct attack on God’s Word. The Gospel of Judas is nothing more than slander and a frontal attack on the person of Jesus and His followers.

There will be many more attacks, since it is in the interests of God’s opponents to destroy the belief in Jesus. Satan uses lying miracles and false evidence to attain his goal. The ‘lord of the strongholds’ uses every weapon in his armoury to deny the resurrection of Jesus and has at his disposal a veritable army of lackeys and fools for that purpose. Over the centuries many attempts have been made but in recent years we have seen an increasing number of denials of the resurrection of Jesus. Among the elite in the West you are more credible if you doubt the Bible and the belief in the Living God of Israel or, better still, if you reject it totally. It is alleged that belief in the person of Jesus Christ has caused the world to stray. Across the centuries the resurrection of Jesus has been reasoned to be an impossibility, as a fairy tale that ended badly for Jesus. But Jesus went bravely to the altar of sacrifice. His only expectation, as He well knew, was insults and ridicule by the people, torture and scorn, but also a glorious victory as a closing event of his mission.“For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spat upon, and they will scourge Him and kill Him…” (Luke 18:32-33)

But Man, motivated by Satan, is spiritually blind and deaf and bothers not at all about God’s Word. People simply do not wish to believe God’s infallible Word and thus they pour out blasphemies over the world. Whoever obstinately, deliberately and in full knowledge and will refuses the invitation of the Gospel – that is the one who hardens his heart. He ends up by hiding the Lord away to such an extent that the greatest foolishness appears to him as his personal happiness. He is no longer capable of denying his foolishness. God selects for Himself a people that, despite all, continues to believe in Him and does not falter at every attack on belief.“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

Satan’s storm is racing over the earth. This opponent is only too happy to prevent the Thousand Year Empire of Peace from becoming a fact. But he will fail, despite his finding all kinds of willing instruments on the battlefield. These are exciting times for Bible-fast believers who, as never before, will see the fulfilment of the biblical prophecies and can look forward with hope to the return of Jesus.

(1) ‘Gnosis’ is a Greek word meaning ‘knowledge’, knowledge that is above ordinary knowledge or belief that rests on divine inspiration. The Gnosis is a central concept of religious or philosophical movements from the late ancient world and the early centuries of Christianity. The basic assumption of the Gnosis is that we can attain a perfect and absolute form of knowledge, separate from biblical revelation, whereby we can solve all problems relative to God, Man and the world.

Sources:

Grote Nederlandse Larousse Encyclopedie, Vol. 10, p. 617.

Cutting Edge Weekly Newsletter, 23rd February 2007.

http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.ii.xxxii.html

http://cuttingedge.org/articles/db067.htm

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54474

http://www.heaven77.50webs.com/finddeceptions.html