Recently there has been a T.V. documentary on the possible discovery of the tomb of the human Jesus, son of Joseph. It is an interesting fabrication and manipulation of various information. It suggests that Jesus did not rise from the dead, or at least did not ascend into heaven just before Pentecost, but lived on earth till he died a normal human death, was married to Mary Magdalene and had at least one son. It even suggests that they have DNA evidence that supports this claim. Unfortunately it does so by making huge leaps of speculation and also mis quotes biblical sources as a way to support its claims. There are a lot of other possible explanations for their evidence that they don’t explore. It seemed to me more a case of looking for something that you want to find and finding it, not because it is there, but because you want it to be. We can all make the evidence, or statistics, say what we want to hear if we manipulate them enough. Sadly, it will likely confuse people and undermine their faith.

It was the same problem that the early church faced when they first proclaimed the Easter message that Jesus had risen from the dead. There were people who discounted it and didn’t want to believe it. I think that is likely why Luke, who investigated this claim back then, says in his Gospel, that” Jesus showed himself to these men and gave them many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1: 3). The bible also warns us that many will come with false reports and try to deceive the believers and to lead them astray. Part of the proof of what the disciples claimed was not just their witness that he had arisen, but that God’s spirit was still with them and empowering their works. They showed that God was alive and well within the world. This is something that God has been doing ever since.

We worship the Risen Lord, Jesus the Christ, not just because of what the bible says, but because of how the Holy Spirit confirms that witness for us today. He is still alive and active, showing himself in various ways to those who believe in him and have a living relationship with him here and now. We can verify from our own experience that God loves us and is with us always, and will be even to the end of the age. At least one good thing about some of the recent attempts to discredit the Christian faith is that it continues to make people ask questions and gives us more opportunities to witness to others about the truth of the Jesus who is indeed alive and not in the tomb. If you are someone who is asking questions then by all means explore the issues more fully and get the real answers. Don’t just swallow speculative explorations and manipulations of the facts. Find out not just about the historical Jesus, but the living Jesus who is still with us... You’ll be glad you did, both for now and for eternity.

Rev. Tijs, at St. Giles Presbyterian Church.

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