Greetings and may the Peace of our Risen Lord and Saviour be with you,

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ our Lord,

I wanted to take a brief moment to address the latest news reports about the so-called findings of our Lord’s tomb. Let me give you a quick summary of events as I understand them. According to news reports the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ has been located. Actually, from what I understand it was discovered years ago, but the claim was quickly dismissed. Why or how it has resurfaced at this time I cannot say. In the tomb some boxes were found that house remains with inscriptions on them. One box has inscribed “Mary” the other has “Mary Magdalene”., but it is the third box that has drawn the attention of the world, it says “Judas the Son of Joseph”.

I would like to make a few points. During my rebuttal of these findings I will be referring to the works of Mr. Brad Cummings. Brad wrote a wonderful book in 2004 called “The Fingerprints Of God” It took Brad ten years and extensive research to write this book. He left no stone unturned. He gives undeniable evidence to the existence of God, the inerrancy of the Bible, the birth, life, death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I of course cannot give every bit of evidence that brad does, but I will give brief summaries. Due to this reason I recommend that you buy a copy of this book. It is a great ministering tool to those who continue to not believe.

Let’s get started.

The following is a passage from Brad in chapter 10 “The Reality Of The Resurrection Of Christ” Page 286. “The Resurrection news of Christ was not a minor event to be forgotten…if it was a lie, it would have been dealt with quickly and efficiently by those who would have had major motivation to do so. Both the Romans and the Jewish religious authorities would have certainly corrected the apostles if they could prove they were lying. If Christ did not rise from the tomb, there would be at least a few documents or letters from the Jewish authorities, who hated Christ, the Roman government or other eyewitnesses to deny the resurrection news that was sweeping the region. But there are none. This is because the fact of the empty tomb was not an issue for either the early Christians or their enemies…all involved knew that is was true.

The Jewish authorities were so afraid that the disciples of Christ would steal His body to give credibility to their stories that they went to Pilate asking him to dispatch guards to guard the tomb against such a thing happening. Matthew 27: 62-66 As Brad says above, if the Jewish or Roman authorities could find any proof to discredit the resurrection stories don’t you think they would have? If there was a body to be found then it would have popped up then, not 2000 years later. Even if the disciples did steal the body do you really think they would be that stupid to bury the remains with His family then put an inscription saying here lies Jesus the son of Joseph? No my friends not even close.

The following is a passage in the same chapter page 291. “There is nothing human which could have removed such a formidable guard of 4 armed Roman soldiers from their posts at the entrance to Christ’s tomb, especially considering the death penalty the guards would have paid for doing so. Two of the tortuous ways guards were put to death for leaving their posts or falling asleep was by being crucified upside down and by being stripped of their clothes and burned alive in a fire started by their own garments. It is not reasonable to believe that all the soldiers guarding Christ’s tomb left their posts or fell asleep with such an unpleasant death threat over their heads. They would have fought to their deaths to protect the tomb…if the tomb really had been raided, four dead soldiers would have been left as evidence. But, as history clearly records, the soldiers were alive following the disappearance of Christ from the tomb. Brad explains in the beginning that the theories of the guards falling asleep, or leaving their post have been totally discounted and proved otherwise today. Even the most staunchest critic today has admitted that these theories are ludicrous.

Matthew 28: 2-4 gives the account of what happened to the guards as Christ was resurrected. Pilate tells the Jewish the authorities in Matthew 27: 65 to find the guards of your choice and set the watch. Matthew Henry says in his commentary “that Pilate was referring to the constant guard that was kept in the tower of Antonia, out of which Pilate allows them to detach as many as they pleased.” This gives me a very important clue as to who the guards were they chose. They were probably the best of the best that the Jewish authorities could find and the ones they most trusted. So if anyone is thinking that these soldiers may have been in league with the apostles, then you are very wrong. Maybe one, but never all 4.

The following is a passage in the same chapter page 294. Gregory of Nyssa said,”…that the disposition of the clothes in the sepulcher, the napkin that was about our Saviour’s head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself, did not bespeak the terror and hurry of thieves, and therefore, refutes the story of the body being stolen.” Brad continues to explain “by Jewish custom, the body of Jesus was bandaged tightly from the armpits to the ankles in strips of linen. Between the folds of the linen was placed a gummy, aromatic substance which acted as both a preservative and cement that glued the wrappings together into a solid covering that clung tenaciously to the body. The truly amazing thing, as shown by history , is that the grave clothes of Jesus remained in the solid form of a body, but His body was not in it. This is a highly significant fact since it is absolutely impossible for a living or dead man to wriggle out of tightly wrapped clothes without disturbing them even slightly….in other words, the body of Jesus must have exited the grave clothes in a supernatural manner. The undisturbed grave clothes serve as a powerful witness against the stolen body theory…if someone was determined to steal the dead body of Christ, they would have taken Him, grave clothes and all. They would not have had enough time to unwrap Him and them neatly fold the clothes.

John 20:3-7 gives the account of what Peter saw at the tomb. I have mulled it over time and again in my head on how the body of Christ could have been stolen. As I stated earlier, it was bad enough that there were 4 seasoned Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, but to have to tackle the grave clothes would have made it even more impossible. What thief have you ever heard of that goes into your house, throws all your belongings all over the place, finds what he/she is looking for, then takes the time to clean the mess up? Not many. It would have been the same for anyone robbing Christ’s body. No, they would have taken the whole body out grave clothes and all.

Brad actually deputes 5 theories in his book. I have covered the ones I thought would give the best proof. I would like to cover two more topics. “ Without the Resurrection of Christ Christianity would not Exist” and “Prophetic Proof”

I am going to give my thoughts only, on this topic. 1Corinthians 15: 12-21 Tells us that there will be days were many will claim the resurrection never happened. Ask yourself this question. Why would the apostles and the early Christians die defending a lie? Remember that under the rule of Emperor Nero the early Christians were put to death in the most horrible ways. Many watched their families burned alive, flayed, crucified and eaten by lions just to name a few. All they had to do was make claim that the stories of Christ and His resurrection were false and they would live. History has proven that they never denied the resurrection, but died defending it even with their last breaths. Why would they have done this if it was all a lie. Even the apostles, except John, died horribly defending the faith. Including St. Paul who was beheaded. If the stories were false then someone would have caved in and denied. No one ever did.

In Chapter 9 “Unmasking the Divine Designer” page 239. Brad talks about the Prophecies that Christ fulfilled . “At least 61 distinct Old Testament Messianic prophecies (some scholars have placed this number near 300) have been fulfilled in exact detail by Jesus Christ alone through His birth, life, death and resurrection. The truly amazing thing about the Old Testament prophecy is that each prediction was given more than 400 years before it actually happened, as admitted by even the most radical critics of the Bible.” Let me know give you some astonishing statistics. According to statistical research performed by Peter Stoner there is a 1 in 10 to the 17^th power (that’s 1 in one hundred million billion) chance that just eight detailed messianic prophecies to be written by men several hundred years before they occurred. To help you visualize this immense impossibility, imagine that if the state of Texas were covered 2 feet deep in silver dollars with only one marked, the pile was then mixed up, and a volunteer was blindfolded prior to the mixing, that person would have a 1 in 10 to the 17^th power chance of jumping into the pile and randomly selecting the one marked silver dollar. It has also been determined using the science of probability that the odds of men accurately nailing 48 of these prophecies on the head are only 1 chance in 10 to the 157^th power. (remember that any event with odds more then 1 chance in 10 to the 50^th power is considered statically impossible.) Yet Christ did.

After reading the above information the only conclusion you could come up with is that our Lord Jesus did in fact die and three days later He did in fact Rise from the dead, body and all. He fulfilled all the prophecies written about him, defying all the odds. No mere man could have ever done this, but Christ did. Given the above odds, and if I were a betting man, then I truly believe that He fulfilled the prophecies about His resurrection as well. Why, well because the odds are just that good.

May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

Your Fellow Servant in our Resurrected Lord,

Matt+

Works cited and credits

Brad Cummings Author of “The Fingerprints Of God”