JCSM Shareware Collection 1993 November/JCSM Shareware Collection - 1993-11.iso/cl040/study21j.lzh/AROSE2.TXT

Text File | 1989-11-27 | 10KB | 163 lines

                       DID THE RESURRECTION REALLY HAPPEN?

                                  SECTION B

Illegal Trials First, Jesus was subjected to SIX  TRIALS, three Roman and three
Jewish. The actuality of a man called  Pontius Pilate was considered fable
UNTIL 1961, when archaeologist in  the city of Caesarea uncovered a large
inscription which read, "Pontius  Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has  presented the
Tiberium to the Caesareans" and proves that such a  Roman Governor did exist.
The  trials were:

[1] Annas, the high  priest
[2] Caiaphas
[3] the Sanhedrin
[4] Pilate
[5] Herod and
[6]  Pilate.

History records that there  were two Sanhedrin bodies.  One consisted of 23
members and tried  cases of capital punishment, another consisted of 71 members
and was for trials of Heads of State,  High Priest or matters of crimes  against
the Temple.  The Sanhedrin of 23 was the most probable body that  tried Jesus.
Second, the very death by crucifixion was invented by  the Persians who felt
that the  ground was concecrated to their Gods and a death on the ground would
be against the gods; so they  invented a method of death that would not defile
the ground by placing  the people on a stake and later a  cross bar on a stake
to lift them off  the ground and allow the  punishment of death to take place
without defilement to the gods.

Alexander the Great utilized the  crucifixion as a major deterent force.  The
Romans felt the death was so  degrading that a Roman citizen could  not be
crucified except by order of  the Emperor and then this was  usually after the
person's  citizenship was stripped from him.  The Romans usually reserved the
punishment for political cases.  The very accusation against Christ was
directed at political as you can  read in Luke 23:2. The Romans  added;
However, another twist to  the process of crucifixion. The  added the
"scourging" of the  criminal. This consisted of a period  of time that was set
by the trial or  could be set by the scourgers,  themselves, of beating the
accused  with a form of brass knuckled fist  and consisting of a minimum of
six  men. This usually left the facial  features of the accused
unrecognizable.

The next step of  the scourging consisted of the  whipping of
the accused with a Flagrum. This whip had numerous  leather thongs of various
lengths  and braided into each of the  thongs were bits of metal and bone.
One Dr C.T. Davis has described the  whipping with the flagrum in this
manner: "The heavy whip is  brought down with full force again  and again
across the accused's  shoulder, back and legs. At first  the heavy thongs cut
through the skin,  only. Then, as the the blows  continue, they cut deeper
into  the subcutaneous tissues, producing  first an oozing of blood from the
capillaries and veins of the skin,  and finally spurting arterial bleeding
from the vessels in the  underlying muscles. The small balls  of lead first
produce large deep  bruises which are broken open by the  subsequent blows.
Finally the skin  of the back is hanging in long  ribbons and the entire area
is an  unrecognizable mass of torn,  bleeding tissue. When it is  determined
by the Centurion that  the prisoner in near death, the  beating is finally
stopped". A  historian of the third century,  Eusebius writes "The sufferer's
veins were laid bare and the very  muscles, sinews,and bowels of the  victim
were open to exposure. After this ordeal, Christ had a crown  of thorns
jammed into his head.  The blood from this act must have  been severe.

Jesus was then  subjected to another beating with a  rod! After all this, our
Lord was  then forced to carry His "patibulum"  to His place of execution. At
the place of execution, Christ was  nailed to his cross. History was  devoid of
any proof that nails  were used until the discovery in  1968 of another tomb
that  contained the remains of a person  who had been nailed, both hands and
feet, to a cross. History then came to the defense of the Gospels and  once,
again, the Bible is proven  correct.

This theory neglects  to consider the points of:

[1] Jesus  went through SIX TRIALS (3 Roman and 3  Jewish in less
than 24 hours),
[2]  Had been scourged by the Romans.
[3]  Jesus was too weak to carry His  patibulum.
[4] Spikes had been  driven through His hands and feet.
[5]  The Roman guard thrust his spear  into Jesus's side and "blood and
water came out".
[6] Four Roman  executioners confirmed the death of  Jesus - could experienced
executioners  - four of them - really be wrong?
[7] The women placed the 100 pounds of spices and wrap around Jesus and  encased
His body with the gummy  substance that the spices would have  made which would
have made  breathing difficult if not impossible
[8] the tomb was cold and damp (40  degrees was suggested based on  similar
temperatures read in such tombs). This would have reduced any  circulation of
Jesus even further.
[9] The two ton stone was lodged  against the tomb opening. The stone  was cut
in such a manner to to make a  tight seal against the opening and  was, most
likely, sealed further. The  need to eliminate the smell of  decomposition was
great!
[10] The Roman guard was posted outside the  tomb and
[11] The seal was present.

This theory would then have you  believe that this Jesus was
revived  by the coolness, burst out of the  burial wrappings, pushed the
boulder  AWAY from the tomb, fought off this  highly trained fighting guard
unit and  appeared to the Disciples as the  Lord of Life with no after effects
of  such an ordeal. I, personally, would  have to contend that this
explanation  is a miracle in itself! How  could a man who had suffered  these
terrible punishments have  been able to make His disciples believe that He
was the Lord of Life  and was victor over death? How could  such an appearance
have changed  cowards into the most powerful force  for God on earth as
happened to EACH  ONE of the disciples? The answer  is SUCH AN APPEARANCE
COULD NOT HAVE  - ONLY THE RESURRECTION AS IT IS TOLD  IN THE GOSPELS COULD
ACCOUNT FOR  SUCH A CHANGE.  D. Passover Plot  Hugh Schoenfield proposed a
variation  of the "swoon" theory in his book  the PASSOVER PLOT. It is
proposed  in this book that Jesus had studied  the scriptures and had
structured  His life in such a manner as to comply with the prophesies of the
Messiah  and convince the people that He was  the Messiah. The conspirators
consisted of Jesus, Joseph of  Arimathea and a "young man".

Now the  plot was to have Jesus administered  a drug that would feign His death.
This was based on the fact that the  "bitter water" given to crucified  victims
usually contained a narcotic  to allow the person to sleep ***.  Now the plan
was to have Joseph take  the body to the tomb and revive  Jesus. The plot was
short circuited  when the guard thrust his spear into  the side of Jesus. Jesus
was taken to the tomb and revived but only lived a short time. Joseph  and the
"young man" then disposed  of the body and emptied the tomb. Now  this "young
man" was mistaken to be  the risen Lord by a hysterical Mary  and later the
confused disciples  also mistook the "young man" as  Jesus. History does not
record that  Joseph or the "young man" ever  corrected these misimpressions.
Mr Schoenfield does what most  proponents of "alternate  possibilities" do -
he selects what  "evidence" he wants and negates or  ignores or disputes any
"evidence" he  does not like. He adopts a completely arbitrary basis for
acceptance of evidence and "no  rules" is the only rule.

In the  circumstance of the Roman guard  placed at the tomb, Schoenfield
rejects this as it is only mentioned  in Matthew and if only one writer
comments on the matter then it can  be rejected. However, the matter of  the
spear is a mainstay of Schoenfield's theory and it is only  mentioned in John!
The very idea  that the change in the disciples and  the conversion of so many
people  could be attributed to a case of  mistaken identity is so absurd as to
be rejected as the ramblings of a man who finds the matter "foolish".  III.
CHRIST'S TOMB WAS EMPTY   DUE TO SUPERNATURAL CAUSES  A. Bodily Resurrection
The Historical and Gospel facts show  that each and every one of the so- called
Natural explanations are  invalid and would not hold up in a  court of law. The
reverse,  though, is clearly shown in that  the resurrection is a provable,
logical, historical and factual  occurance.

The mind of man that  will not accept the fact that God  the Creator of all
things injected  His presence into the course of  Human History, will also
accept illogical, unproven fantasies to  prevent being face to face with the
living God, Jesus Christ our Lord and  Savior. This being now shown as the ONLY
true  alternative, based on historical  facts and logical deduction, then we
can be assured of the promises he  made to each of us because HE IS  RISEN!!!!!!
We follow the "Lamb of God" who died  for us and we are aware of HIS  sacrifice
on our behalf.

If you now  see the error that you presently live  in, we ask that you
pray this prayer:  FATHER, I AM SORRY FOR MY SINS AND MY  SIN OF IGNORING YOUR
WORD AND FOLLOWING MEN TO BE THE ONES WHO CAN LEAD TO  SALVATION. I NOW KNOW
THIS IS WRONG AND  AGAINST YOUR WORD AND HUMBLY ASK FOR  YOUR FORGIVENESS AND
MERCY. I  ACKNOWLEDGE THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS AS  PAYMENT FOR MY SINS AND THANK
YOU FOR  THIS RELEASE. LORD JESUS, COME INTO MY  HEART AND LIVE THERE AND
GUIDE MY STEPS  FROM THIS DAY FORWARD. ALLOW ME TO BE  YOUR VESSEL ON EARTH TO
CARRY THE TRUE  MESSAGE OF YOUR LOVE TO ALL MEN. THESE  THINGS I NOW PRAY IN
THE NAME OF MY TRUE  SAVIOR AND LORD, JESUS CHRIST. AMEN  If you just prayed
this prayer,  please leave a message at the time of  termination of this
call.

                       ****** END OF TEXT *****