Jesus' Tomb

[FearNot7]

Okay then, thank you.

Here's my question... is it true that people still visit the same exact place that Jesus' body was put and resurrected at? If they do, is there anything anyone can tell me about it, or how they know it belonged to Jesus?

 

[Gwenyfur]

Well, I don't believe we know exactly where it's at...but since I'm a mod, I'll help ya out and put your post in the Biblical Archeology forum Someone there would surely know more than I on such a subject

 

[FearNot7]

Well I guess part of the reason I ask, is because I asked my dad about it in the car on the way home last night. I asked him if he believes God is real, and I think it was the first time in my 18 years of life that I asked him that. He doesn't seem like a Christian, I don't think he is, but for my dad to tell me that he believes God is real, it's amazing.

I asked him why he believes God is real, and he said that they found the place where his body was put and then resurrected from, he said that people have been visiting it for many years. He also said that there's this light that always lights itself at 12am (the time he said Jesus resurrected), that the light always lights itself. I could have misunderstood him, but that's what it sounded like he was saying.

The part that makes me wonder is that I don't know if my dad was talking about the same tomb that some people found containing what they say is "Jesus' family". But everything they said they found didn't really make sense to me. I think they even said they found JESUS' ACTUAL BODY, but that would be impossible if he resurrected, the Bible says that when they went to Jesus' tomb, they said that his body had disappeard.

But anyway, I just wanted to know if someone knew the truth about all this.

Another thing that I've been wondering is... the cross Jesus was crucified on can likely still be out there somewhere, so has anyone found it? Didn't it have a sign on it that said "King of the Jews" or something like that, which would make it different from any other cross?

I've been wondering about these things for a while now. And I'm sorry my post is so long. I talk a lot on forums.

 

[Stinker]

If the resurrection were as public back in 33 A.D. as we have been taught in our New Testament, we would know the exact tomb and not a day would have went by in the over 2000 years where it would not have been venerated by throngs of Christians.

It was not as public as we would picture in our minds and we do not know the exact tomb where this is written to have taken place. However, we have great circumstantial evidence that this tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea does exist and that Jesus was resurrected.

 

[kamikat]

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built on the tomb of Jesus and is the headquaters for the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
From http://orthodoxwiki.org/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre_(Jerusalem)

The initial building was founded by Constantine the Great in 335, after he had removed a pagan temple on the site that was possibly the Temple of Aphrodite built by Hadrian. Constantine had sent his mother St. Helen to find the site; during excavations she is said to have discovered the True Cross. The church was built around the excavated hill of the Crucifixion, and was actually three connected churches built over the three different holy sites, including a great basilica (the Martyrium visited by the nun Egeria in the 380s), an enclosed colonnaded atrium (the Triportico) built around the traditional Rock of Calvary, and a rotunda, called the Anastasis ("Resurrection"), which contained the remains of the cave that St. Helen and St. Macarius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, had identified with the burial site of Jesus. The surrounding rock was cut away, and the Tomb was encased in a structure called the Edicule (from the Latin aediculum, small building) in the center of the rotunda. The dome of the rotunda was completed by the end of the 4th century

 

[Tinkerbell33]

The cross Jesus died on was made out of wood, wood doesnt last 2,000 years.

 

[KSchmetzer]

with it being Jesus's cross and everything, maybe the wood did last 2000 years. i doupt it did tho. we probably would have found it by now.

 

[Stinker]

By the time Constantine's mother found the cross, it would have been around 302 years old.


The Church of the Holy Sepulchre would come the closest as to being the most accurate 3 day burial site of Jesus Christ.

 

[BereanTodd]

There are two sites in Israel that are visited with great frequency by Christians as possible sites of the actual burial. One is the site marked by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is cared for more by RCC's/Orthodox. The other is the Garden Tomb spot, which tends to be more revered by protestants.

Both could possibly be the real place, or neither could be the real place, and there is no real archaeological consensus at all.

I will say this, having been there. My feeling walking about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was one of real sadness and spiritual darkness. People bowing down and kissing rocks, pictures and idols everywhere. It was sad. And almost every protestant I've known who went there has felt similar.

On the other hand, the Garden Tomb site, whether it is legitimate or not, is one that was very peaceful, spiritually powerful and moving, and which brought my entire group to tears of joy. One of the most powerful sites I visited in Israel.

 

[wmlbrn]

Many have claimed to have found the tomb, but prove it i say. There is no way to. And so what if they could. It is empty of JC's body. There could be someone elses in there.

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[CovenantRay]

Dear FearNot7:

So nice to have you ask these questions! As previously mentioned, there are two sites that are thought to be the tomb where our Messiah was laid briefly. In my opinion, the garden tomb is more likely of the two, however the exact location is NOT important. What IS important is that despite the flogging and public execution, being placed in a tomb, wrapped in a shroud, with a huge stone to block the entrance, surrounded by a Roman guard, and other details.

Our Messiah rose on the third day, as he said he would. He was seen by hundreds before he ascended to heaven.

If the above was NOT true, all the Romans needed to do was show the body. This NEVER happened because they couldn't do it.

Regarding the "true cross", I believe that Constantine's mother was said to have found it, and I have my doubts. There are slivers of wood in special cases called reliquaries, that are thought to be of the "true cross", and again, I have my doubts.

My opinion here:

If physical objects, like the "true cross" were preserved, they would be come objects of worship, rightly called idols.

For a biblical example, in Numbers 21:9, Moses raised a "bronze serpent" in the wilderness. Later on, in 2Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah destroyed the "bronze serpent" as it became an object of worship.

These objects and/or places don't deserve our worship, rather the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, deserves all of our worship!

I hope this helps and that you'll forgive me if I got on my soapbox for a while, I'm done and turn it over now.

Shalom,

CovenantRay