THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
TRUTH OR HOAX?
A Response to the “Lost Tomb of Jesus” Documentary
Terrance Hawkins
February 27, 2007

Once again like clockwork just in time for Lent season and Resurrection Sunday another attack has been made on the validity of the Christian faith. This time the puppets in satan’s hands being used to damage and shake the faith of believers, and to deter and strengthen the unbelief of those that do not follow Christ are Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and Oscar winning director (for the Titanic) James Cameron. They will air a documentary on the Discovery Channel in early March entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”. The documentary will claim that in a 2000 year old tomb, the bones of Jesus, his mother Mary, his supposed wife Mary Magdalene, and their supposed son Judah were found. According to the Discovery channels website this is a result of 3 years of extensive research of DNA evidence, historical evaluation, and statistical study. Obviously, if the information is true it could be explosive and really lead to the fall of Christianity. As the Apostle Paul stated in 1st Corinthians 15:15-16 “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up…And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” To paraphrase Paul, if Christ was not physically resurrected then Christianity is a false religion and we are still unsaved sinners destined for hell. But we must also say, as Paul did, “Let God be true and every man a liar”! This is no new phenomenon my friends. Satan has sought to fund a lie to disclaim the resurrection of Christ since the beginnings of Christendom. When the roman soldiers reported back to the Chief Priest that Jesus had risen, the bible says “they assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying ‘Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept’….So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, Peter Jennings' “In Search of Jesus”, and now this “Lost Tomb of Jesus” are modern repeats of money switching hands for lies to be propagated against Christ. The Discovery channel has invested millions in this documentary, and right on cue, before the documentary airs they have a press conference to stir up a buzz about their so-called findings. Obviously this is all for publicity. I think it not strange that this would happen right around the time when churches tend to preach the cross, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (i.e. the gospel) more. Sadly, many preachers and believers have forsaken the preaching of the cross, to preach a seeker-friendly gospel that places more importance on living out the American Dream than fulfilling the Great Commission. The enemy doesn’t like the fact that our tradition of celebrating this season causes us to focus on the staples of the faith. So to counter-attack this season, he puts out bait for the weak-minded and unsaved Christmas and Easter church goers to bite. He does this in hope that many will bite the bait and forsake even going to church at all. Satan has and always will hate the message of the gospel. He purposely sends false prophets preaching another (false) gospel in many congregations. He knows if the true gospel is preached: lives, cities, states, and nations will change. Please don’t lose courage brothers and sisters. Take heart in the fact that Christ will prevail. The gospel will continue to rescue lost souls from the powers of darkness in the marvelous Kingdom of God. But we must not forget the fact that Jesus expands His kingdom through the work of His church (called-out ones). If you are truly saved that means you have a responsibility to “contend earnestly for the FAITH which was once delivered to the saints”.(Jude 3) So this short essay is to expose the lies of our enemy in “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” , to build your faith, and also to equip you to “be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”.(1 Peter 3:14)
To start this, let’s just take a look at what we know so far are the claims made by the documentary. One thing I must note is that I’m writing this prior to the documentary being aired so I’m not working with all the information. But, they have already made public statements in a press conference and on the Discovery Channel website detailing the content of the documentary. These claims are faulty and need to be addressed in light of valid historical data, logical reasoning, and of course the Holy scriptures. First of all let it be known that the tomb in question is no recent discovery. It was first discovered in 1980 and the archaeological work was overseen by Professor Amos Kloner. He reviewed the evidence and determined that there was no evidence to suggest that this was the tomb of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He stated yesterday to the press that “It makes a great story for a TV film. But it's completely impossible. It's nonsense.” But, it now has been revisited by the Discovery Networks team to investigate “new” findings. The infamous tomb that is getting all this attention is called a talpiot tomb. This is basically a family tomb where members of families are buried together. In Jewish culture they would allow the body of the deceased to decompose for a full year and then return to the tomb to place the bones in a box that’s called an ossuary.
The producers of the documentary do rightfully state that the tomb and ossuaries found in it date back 2,000 years, between the years of 30 AD and 70 AD. They then claim that the 6 of the 10 ossuaries (bone boxes) have names inscripted on them. Those names are Jesus son of Joseph, Mary, Joseph, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, and Judah son of Jesus. Cameron and Jacabovici speculate that these are the actual bones of the well known biblical figures with the same names. They assert the same lie that DaVinci Code made famous, that the second Mary in the tomb was Jesus’ wife. Then the documentary takes it a step further by speculating that Judah is the son that two of them had together. Also it is important to note that they have supposed DNA evidence that the Jesus and the Mary Magdalene skeletal remains found don’t match as being apart of the same family, allowing them to believe they were married. Now, that we have all the claims spelled out I will give you 10 reasons given by top scholars why this story is “full of holes, conjectures, and problems” said Dr. Ben Witherington, author of What Have They Done With Jesus?.
There is no DNA evidence that this is the historical Jesus of Nazareth
The statistical analysis is untrustworthy
The name "Jesus" was a popular name in the first century, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries
There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child
The earliest followers of Jesus never called him "Jesus, son of Joseph"
It is highly unlikely that Joseph, who died earlier in Galilee, was buried in Jerusalem, since the historical record connects him only to Nazareth or Bethlehem
The Talpiot tomb and ossuaries are such that they would have belonged to a rich family, which does not match the historical record for Jesus
Fourth-century church historian Eusebius makes quite clear that the body of James, the brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount and that his tomb was visited in the early centuries, making it very unlikely that the Talpiot tomb was Jesus' "family tomb"
The two Mary ossuaries do not mention anyone from Migdal, but simply has the name Mary, one of the most common of all ancient Jewish female names
By all ancient accounts, the tomb of Jesus was empty, making it highly unlikely that it was moved to another tomb, decayed for one year's time, and then the bones put in an ossuary.

For more refutation from a non-Christian source here is a transcript of an interview with Professor Amos Kloner who was the overseer of the first archeological research of this tomb done 1980. Here it is below.
What do you make of the assertion that Jesus and his family were buried there?
It makes a great story for a TV film. But it's completely impossible. It's nonsense. There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb. They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle class family from the 1st century CE.
But there is apparently such a confluence of resonant names.
The name "Jesus son of Joseph" has been found on three or four ossuaries. These are common names. There were huge headlines in the 1940s surrounding another Jesus ossuary, cited as the first evidence of Christianity. There was another Jesus tomb. Months later it was dismissed. Give me scientific evidence, and I'll grapple with it. But this is manufactured.
What of the assertion that the 10th ossuary disappeared from your care and may be none other than the "James" ossuary?
Nothing has disappeared. The 10th ossuary was on my list. The measurements were not the same (as the James ossuary). It was plain (without an inscription). We had no room under our roofs for all the ossuaries, so unmarked ones were sometimes kept in the courtyard (of the Rockefeller Museum).
Why, if you dismiss the claims, has the IAA loaned out ossuaries to the filmmakers?
I don't care what the IAA gets up to. I don't work for the IAA anymore. but it's very foolish. The left hand there doesn't know what the right hand is doing."
Now we will look further into God’s word and other historical facts that should stir your faith and equip you to defend and contend for the faith. If you will, please try to put yourself in the shoes of the original disciples. Their master rabbi who they followed for 3 ½ years is betrayed by one of his closest associates and handed over to the Jewish religious authorities. He is then taken to Pontius Pilate who is demanded by the crowds to crucify Him. The disciples being known followers of Jesus were really next in line for the same fate. Aware of this, Peter denied he even knew Christ 3 times. He even went to the point of cursing to deceive those that questioned his allegiance with Christ. The bible says that the only male disciple that stuck around to witness the horrible execution of Christ on the cross was John. The rest had locked themselves away in hiding for “fear of the Jews” according to John 21:19. These men had become depressed, disappointed, cowards, and were held captive to fear. Their hopes of the Messiah ushering in the Kingdom of God had been crushed with the death of Jesus. Not remembering that Christ predicted His resurrection, they had obviously slipped into hopelessness. But after being confronted by the resurrected Christ a radical change occurred. The gospel of Luke says that they left the town of Bethany after the resurrected Christ had ascended to Heaven before their eyes “with great joy”. (Luke 24:52) What was the cause of the joy they had? It was only the fact that Jesus Christ had done what He said He would. He died on the cross for the sins of the world and proved Himself as God by being resurrected from the dead. His mission had been accomplished. The provision needed for salvation, glory and honor to be bestowed upon Him had been made. The Kingdom of God had not been postponed, but Christ was establishing it in the hearts of those that would believe. The same Peter that denied even knowing Christ 3 times later boldly proclaimed the Gospel to the same Sanhedrin that had handed his Master over to be crucified. After being arrested with John and forbidden from even speaking the name Jesus he said “...we cannot but speak the things which we have SEEN and heard.” These corrupt religious leaders marveled at his and John’s boldness and stated they these uneducated and untrained men had to have been with Jesus. (Acts 4:1-20) Even the enemies of Christ witnessed to the fact of the resurrection. In fact the first to proclaim the truth of the resurrection were the Roman soldiers that had been assigned to guard the tomb that Christ rose from. As stated earlier they came to the chief priest reporting what happened and were bribed into telling a lie.
The disciples who now were apostles went out witnessing of Christ’s resurrection all over Jerusalem and to the whole world. What could make men risk their lives for a “lie”? They all were martyred for their preaching of Christ. What else could have fueled their boldness and willingness to die other than the fact that they had seen the resurrected Christ? Paul records that Christ “rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom a greater part remain to the present {were still alive when he wrote this} but some have fallen asleep.” So Paul tells us that 500 people saw him at the same time, which discounts the argument that they were hallucinating. People don’t have identical and simultaneous hallucinations. In this same text Paul goes on to say “After that He was seen by James...” James was Jesus’ biological brother who was a skeptic and did not believe His brother to be the Son of God. But after Christ proved Himself to be resurrected even he became a disciple and wrote one of the books of the New Testament. Another of the first skeptics of the resurrection of Christ was His own disciple Thomas who said “Unless I see His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Of course after his encounter with the RESURRECTED LAMB OF GOD he exclaimed “My Lord and my God!”, and he eventually was martyred for His relentless passion to preach the gospel. Last, but certainly not least, proof of the resurrection of Jesus is the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Scripture and history reveal that Paul was a persecutor of the church who oversaw the execution of Christians. The bible says that on his way to Damascus “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” he was stopped dead in his tracks by Christ. Needless to say, this encounter with the King of kings resulted in his conversion and Paul went on to be considerably the greatest champion of the faith. The very man that was so sure that Christianity was false, that he led a terrorist campaign to extinguish all Christ-followers from the face of the earth, wrote 2/3 of the New Testament. If that doesn’t prove our God rose and is alive I don’t know what will!
Many will discount the bible as just another book, and Jesus as just another moral teacher, but when faced with the facts only a fool would say in his heart that Christ isn’t the divine Son of God and that the bible isn’t divinely inspired. If you read the Old Testament with your spiritual antennas you will notice a developing theme of: a coming Redeemer. Right after Adam’s fall God made it clear that He would send One to clean up the mess that man would make in his rebellion against God. Genesis 3:15 reads “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; HE shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This is the promise God made to satan after he deceived Eve in the garden of Eden. This is a prophecy of the work that JESUS THE MESSIAH would fulfill on the cross as He crushed the head of Satan with His bruises suffered on the cross. Messiah means Chosen One or Anointed One in the Hebrew language. The Israelites longed and prayed for the promised Messiah to come. There are 60 major messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and 270 ramifications that were fulfilled in one person’s life. That Person is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. God went through great pains to stamp His Son’s address in history before He even came. He wanted there to be no doubt to the honest seeker that Christ is who He claimed to be. “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” uses some unfounded statistics to claim that the chances of their being people in one tomb with the exact names found as 1 in a 100 chance. Well, the chances of one man in all of history fulfilling 48 of these old testament prophecies according to the science of probability is one in 10 to the 157th power. I’m gonna use up some paper just to show you that Christ fulfilling these prophecies rules out all coincidences. This is the number spelled out. The chance of one man fulfilling 48 of these prophecies is a 1 in 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 chance! WOW! GLORY TO GOD! You’ve got a better chance at being struck by lightning, being president of the United States, or of being ran over by a train than one person has to fulfill all those prophesies. Some would say that Christ intentionally fulfilled the prophecies because he knew them from reading the old testament. This claim is very faulty because a lot of the prophecies He had no control over. He didn’t make the soldiers gamble for His clothes. He didn’t tell the soldiers after His death not to break one of His bones. My friends there are many more examples that prove it was impossible for Christ to intentionally fulfill them, but I’ll stop there.
Another aspect of these prophecies is the unmistakable accuracy and vivid accounts of Christ’s life long before He lived. One such prophecy is found in Psalm 22. It was written by King David over 1000 years before crucifixion was even invented. Only Divine inspiration could account for the accuracy of this prophetic passage. It reads, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?…I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him…..For dogs have surrounded ME; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced my hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide my garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots.” (portions of Psalm 22:1-18) Isaiah 53 is another passage that vividly describes the “Suffering Servant King”. Furthermore there are prophecies where God through prophets gave exact time lines of future events. The most awesome one in the old testament is Daniel’s prophecy of a 490 year period known as the “Daniel’s 70 weeks”. In it Daniel by the Holy Spirit predicts to the exact year when the Messiah would be “cut off” (crucified). History proves that every detail in the prophecy spanning over 400 years was fulfilled! (see Daniel 9) For further proof of Christ’s divinity and the divine inspiration of the scriptures is the prophecy found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke known as the Olivet Discourse. In this prophecy Christ predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This prophecy was the equivalent of someone predicting that the New York City and the World Trade Tower would be completely destroyed 40 years before it happened. And our Lord did just that, saying “most assuredly this generation (his contemporaries) will not pass till all these things take place”. History tells us that just less than 40 years after that prophecy, Jerusalem and the temple was completely destroyed by roman armies. (see Matthew 23:31-29, Matthew 24:1-2, Luke 21:20-24)
It’s sad that you won’t hear anyone on these secular shows exposing all these awesome proofs. That’s why it is up to us to make sure that the TRUTH of CHRIST is proclaimed everywhere. Does your life reveal the fact that Christ was crucified and resurrected? Are you being salt and light in the world? Are you fighting the good fight of faith? Is it obvious to those around you that Christ lives in you by your lifestyle? We are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses of believers that “loved not their own lives to the death”. As of the year 2000 there had been over 69 million Christians who were not only willing to die, but did die for their testimony of Christ! There are brothers and sisters in the Lord in other parts of the world that are dying as we speak. Where will you stand in the day of judgment next to them? We boast of being Christ-followers because we attend church services once a week, pay tithes, and have our names on a church role. Anyone can do those things but it takes true believers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Christ. My prayer for the Body of Christ is that we use this recent attack on our Faith to wake us from our sleep and fulfill the Great Commission. May the RESURRECTED SON OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST bless you with His grace to trust Him more and to prove Him more.