DID JESUS RISE FROM THE DEAD? (3)

                                          DID JESUS RISE             FROM THE DEAD?                     (3)
                                              {copied from 
    Y-Jesus. com}



A Horrific Death And Then ....?

You know what Jesus' last hours of earthly life were like if you watched the movie by road warrior Mel Gibson. If you missed parts of the Passion of the Christ because you were shielding your eyes (it would have been easier to simply shoot the movie with a red filter on the camera), just flip to the back pages of any Gospel in your New Testament to find out what you missed.

As Jesus predicted, He was betrayed by one of His own disciples, Judas Iscariot, and was arrested. In a mock trial under the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, He was convicted of treason and condemned to die on a wooden cross. Prior to being nailed to the cross, Jesus was brutally beaten with a Roman cat-o'-nine tails, a whip with bits of bone and metal that would rip flesh. He was punched repeatedly, kicked and spat upon.

Then using mallets, the Roman executioners pounded heavy wrought-iron nails into Jesus' wrists and feet.  Finally they dropped the cross into a hole in the ground, between two other crosses bearing convicted thieves.

Jesus hung there for approximately six hours. Then at 3.00 in the afternoon - that is, at exactly the same time the Passover lamb was being sacrificed as a sin offering ( a little symbolism there, you think)  -  Jesus cried out, "It is finished"  (In Aramaic) and died.  Suddenly the sky went dark and an earthquake shook the land.

An even greater darkness of depression  annihilated the dreams of those who had become infatuated with His charisma and joyful vitality.
Former Lord High Chancellor of Britain, Lord Hailsham, notes, "The tragedy of the cross was not that they crucified a melancholy figure, full of moral precepts, ascetic and gloomy .. what they crucified was a young man, vital, full of life and the joy of it, the Lord of life itself. '' someone so utterly attractive that people followed Him for the sheer fun of it."

Pilate wanted verification that Jesus was dead, before allowing His crucified body to be buried. So a Roman guard thrust a spear into Jesus' side. The mixture of blood and water that flowed out was a clear indication that Jesus was dead. "The dead do not bleed, ordinarily, but the right auricle of the human heart holds liquid blood after death and the outer sac holds a serum called hydropericardium."  Once His death was certified by the guards Jesus' body was then taken down from the cross and buried in Joseph of Aramathea's tomb.. Roman guards next sealed the tomb, and secured it with a 24 hour watch.

Meanwhile, Jesus' disciples were in shock.  Dr. J.P. Moreland explains how devastated and confused they were after Jesus' death on the cross.
They no longer had confidence that Jesus had been sent by God.  They also had been taught that God would not let His Messiah suffer death. So they dispersed. The Jesus movement was all but stopped in it's tracks.

All hope was vanquished. Rome and the Jewish leaders had prevailed, - or so it seemed.


next post  21st December