“I GUESS THIS MEANS WE’RE JEWISH.” Part 1 of 3 Reactions to The Tomb of Jesus Controversy

At least that was my roommate’s reaction to the recent announcement of a Discovery Channel documentary. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, producer James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator, Aliens) and Emmy winner Simcha Jacobovici recently announced the debut of a new documentary claiming the bones of Jesus Christ (yes, that Jesus Christ), his…ahem…wife, Mary Magdalene, and his son, Judah, have been found in an ossuary in Jerusalem.
I will be commenting through three different posts. That is the plan anyway, who knows if I’ll have more to say later. But, for now, the intention is to begin with a brief explanation of the content in I Corinthians 15 regarding the resurrection of Christ and how it is central to the gospel message, therefore the Christian faith as a whole. Why is this necessary? It is necessary because of the filmmakers’ assertion, and I quote directly from their interview on The Today Show with Meredith Vierra, “[The implications] are huge, but they are not necessarily the implications that people think they are. For example, some people are going to say, ‘This challenges the Resurrection.’ I don't know why. If Jesus rose from one tomb, he could have risen from the other tomb.”
Therefore, I think it is important to begin by taking a look at what The Apostles believed about the Resurrection and whether Jacobovici’s above statement is that of an informed “documentary/journalist filmmaker.” I should also add that while he tries to shrug off any responsibility for the stir he may create behind the lable, "filmmaker/reporter" he is simultaneously vocal about his theological inadequacy. “We are not theologians,” he says.
I wonder then, what qualifies him to conclusively state the impact of his hypothesis on a Faith he, apparently, knows nothing about?”
I humbly suggest that both Mr. Cameron and Mr. Jacobovici are thoroughly ignorant. The conclusions drawn, based on quotes from their interviews on Larry King and Today, do, in fact, reject the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
Let’s start with Cameron’s statement, “Where you get stuck is the physical ascension to heaven, taking his bones and body with him to heaven, instead of leaving them behind on earth.”
The ignorance in this statement is that of the orthodox, mainstream, and consistent Biblical interpretation/belief that the Resurrection was a bodily resurrection, that is, the body that died is the body that rose. A significant and profound teaching on the resurrection is found in Paul’s 1st Epistle to the Corinthians.

Here, we see clearly that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the very heart of the Gospel. It is the very foundation for the Christian Faith. Without it, we are liars to be rightfully pitied by the entire world. But let’s look at what Paul says.

He begins in 15:1 with this statement, “Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel…” he defines it (the gospel) in verses 3 and 4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…”
He then goes on to give account of the eyewitnesses (500 +) that saw and recognized Jesus after the resurrection.

His entire purpose in summarizing the gospel message here is to teach them about not just Christ’s resurrection, but the resurrection of the believer as well. He goes on in verse 12, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”

Paul’s audience is suffering from a misunderstanding regarding their eternal fate. Possibly stemming from a prominent belief in dualism, the idea that the material is evil and the spiritual is good. Therefore, the train of thought goes something like this, “if material is evil, and my body is material, I won’t be resurrected when I die, therefore, there is no resurrection, therefore, let’s party like it’s 1999!” Ok, so I made up that last part, but this is basically the thing Paul is responding to. An interesting note to make is that despite the Corinthians’ confusion, their presupposition is that resurrection involves their bodies. Hmm.

So, Paul continues with his defense in verse 35, “But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’ How foolish! What you sow does not come to live unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.”
Paul continues with a set of illustrations along this line of reasoning, concluding, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

Indulge me a bit here. I think the nature of the biblical teaching on the resurrection is painfully obvious if you just replace the pronouns in the above verse. “The body that is sown is perishable, [the body] is raised imperishable; [the body] is sown in dishonor, [the body] is raised in glory; [the body] is sown in weakness, [the body] is raised in power; [the body] is sown a natural body, [the body] is raised a spiritual body.”
A bit repetitive, I know, but I think it emphatically demonstrates the biblical concept of resurrection.

In case you’re wondering, “spiritual body” does not mean disembodied spirit, which must be Jacobovici understanding of the resurrection. We've already seen that the Corinthian audience, even in their error, we're unwilling to divorce a tangible body from the idea of resurrection (i.e., "with what body will they come?") Paul defines his terms earlier in I Corinthians. “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Paul states that there is a resurrection from the dead, and if you love, believe, and serve the One who was raised this resurrection will “change” (I Cor. 15:51) your natural, sinful body to an incorruptible, immortal one; a body defined and sustained by God’s Holy Spirit. Paul makes a very important point in all of this, and, while it does not directly address the current controversy, it would be a disservice to the text not to mention it. His point can be seen in verses like this…
I Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’ Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.”
I Corinthians 15:54-58, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?’
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Paul centers his entire message around the idea that Christ’s resurrection glorified God, our resurrection will glorify God, and because we have this glory to look forward to, our lives should be lived to glorify God.

So, Mr. Jacobovici, don’t try to tell us your “theory” is not a rejection of the resurrection. It is not only a rejection of the resurrection but also a rejection of the Gospel itself.

Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

Dr. White has just put this up on his Blog. I had forgotten about this one. Pay now or pay later.

From Snow To Flood

There was a little concern by the State of Kansas that Scott County might have some major flooding problems. As you can see, their concerns were not unfounded.



It is simply amazing to see fields turned into lakes. (Yes, I know. There is a major flaw in this particular stitched photo.)



Keep in mind now. There isn't supposed to be any water here.



My wife's cousin had to shut down the power to this tower. When the power was cut, the generator decided to do its job. Some poor soul (I won't mention Cooper's name) was brave enough to venture out via a loader and shut it down.



In the end, the damage has been fairly minimal. Most homes that were sandbagged seemed to have survived. The Mennonites also came through with their hard work. The Lord has been gracious.

Groover MP3s

Pastor Groover from Dighton, KS has joined the 21st century of podcasting his sermons. His first sermon is on 2 Peter 3:11-18, Living in the Present With the Future in Mind. It is a great encouragement to hear a sermon that is actually based within the text that is initially read (much like DH's).

May God be glorified in the proclamation of his word.

Soli Deo Gloria

DH Preaches

An acquaintance of mine, Dave Hewitt, preached a sermon on Ephesians 1 yesterday. Now many of us have heard sermons preached on Ephesians 1, but if you like listening to sermons listen to this one and contrast it to what you may have heard in the past.

What I mean is this. How many times have you listened to sermons that refer to you getting rich? In DH's sermon, notice the God centeredness of the Gospel. Notice how much time he spends actually exegeting the text. When he speaks of spiritual blessings, notice that he actually defines what that means according to the text! Frankly, it is not about you. Salvation is always to the glory of the Father and His glorious grace.

Calvin Is RC?

“I suspect Calvin's own Catholic infant baptism really left an impression on him. He was not re-baptized for he believed that the Romish baptism was valid. It's hard to get around that creedal statement "I believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins", not one baptism for the sign of forgiveness of sins.”

The above quote is from Tiber’s Blog. He has been citing John Calvin as if John Calvin were really a sacramentalist of the Roman Catholic stripe. This is odd since every reformed person I know of would never see Calvin in that way. Perhaps all of these Reformed churches and Reformed people that I know have been in error for centuries now as to their own beliefs about Calvin? What an odd thing that would be.

As for Calvin not rejecting his baptism, is Tiber not familiar that the Reformed Tradition still clings to paedobaptism (yes there are reformed credobaptist people such as myself. I am simply referring to Presbyterian churches)? Some Reformed teachers would still defend Roman baptism as being valid today (anyone listen to the debate between White and Douglas Wilson?) Yet does Wilson believe in the sacraments in the same way as a Roman Catholic? If I were to use Tiber’s interpretative method, I could just as easily consider Wilson a Roman Catholic.

Calvin was a man of his times. He debated about the issues that were pressing in his day. He firmly taught Sola Fide, Sola Gratia and Sola Christus, and shockingly enough, he even taught Sola Scriptura. Perhaps if the situation were different he would have gone against the notion of infant Baptism. As one Reformed Baptist has noticed, “I can agree with Books 1,2 and 3, but book 4 (of Calvin’s Institutes) goes south” [my own paraphrase].

In other words, Calvin’s teaching is solid throughout his Institutes until he attempts to defend paedobaptism. The beauty about being a Reformed Protestant and standing firmly in that Tradition, is that I may test all things in light of Scripture. Tiber may not.

India Is Far From Solving Their Problems

Dr. Mohler comments on a very important abortion story reported in the Associated Press. In the Nation of India, it has now been recognized that abortion is killing millions of women in the womb while male babies being given life. This has caused a crisis in the population. So the Indian Government has sought to solve the situation.

"Dubbed the "cradle scheme," the plan is an attempt to slow the practice that international groups say has killed more than 10 million female fetuses in the last two decades, leading to an alarming imbalance in the ratio between males and females in India, Renuka Chowdhury, the minister of state for women and child development, told the Press Trust of India news agency in an interview published Sunday."

Mohler comments:

"Well, this is a crisis situation by any estimation -- and it is a good thing that the Indian government is finally admitting the problem. Why did it take the deaths of 10 million girl fetuses motivate the government to do something?"

I have to disagree with Dr. Mohler here (I know, I know, it is always tough to disagree with a man of his ability and character.) The Indian government is not admitting the problem by any means. Am I to believe they now know that abortion is murder? Are they now actively bringing charges against those who would murder the weakest of society, in this case that being baby girls?

No Dr. Mohler, they have not acknowledged their problem. Even the use of the term "deaths" instead of "murder" betrays their motives. They have only decided to deal with a situation that is not in their nation's best interest. That being "an alarming imbalance in the ratio between males and females". This is still "might makes right" philosophy. They are only doing what is expedient for their nation, not because of any inherent evil they are committing.

Until they acknowledge the fact they have suppressed the knowledge of the true God in order to maintain power over the weak, the problems in that nation will only take on new forms, even if they manage to solve this one temporarily.

In the past, the Scott City Christian School and the First Baptist Church of Scott City have supported an Indian missionary couple in the nation of India. They are in the battlefields for the minds and hearts of the people. There are many others as well. We should all pray for these missionaries. They are in a struggle for literally the lives of women and souls of men and women and their nation at large.

This couple must not reduce their proclamation to a mere moralistic campaign. They must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation for every one who believes. (Romans 1:16) It is this Gospel that will truly save and bring true repentance to a lost people.

Soli Deo Gloria

Another Apology

A Pastor friend of mine helped me to see another error I have made. The link I made in my public apology is to a sermon I preached several months ago at the same church. This probably explains why Algo would actually spend time listening to it. It was by far a better recording.

If you decide to listen to the sermon preached last Sunday, keep in mind I used my new MP3 player, which only shows to prove that newer isn't always better. Next time I'll use my old MP3 player/recorder.

Here is the link. It is on the Parable of the Soils. Sorry. My inability to read and copy links properly is not the best.

:-)

PS. I just made a new MP3 file. It is basically the original, unedited version (I only edit out the music. If I don't edit this out the file is 50% larger and it is a .WAV file). In the first link above, I tried to fix the bad hum, but it also makes the words that I am saying very difficult to hear. So this link has the hum but I think the audio is easier to understand. Link here.

Semper Reformanda

Crossed the Tiber's recent posts have been interesting. By his standards, I would not only be anti-catholic, I would be anti-everything from Hinduism to Evangelicalism since I critique everything.

He regrets at one point, "How could Catholicism be true if my parents were so messed up? This uses the incorrect paradigm of judging the veracity of a religion by those who don't practice it, which seems to be the way most of us, if we are honest, decide which church we will belong to."

I agree. We should not judge the veracity of a religion based upon people being inconsistent with their said faith. Yet he states in the next paragraph, "If I had to do it over again, (but there are no "undo" buttons in this life) I would have put much more time and effort into learning about what I was rejecting and starting to rail against."

Now I find this ironic. I realize I am just being anti-catholic here (he is never anti-Protestant...right?), but how many times has he had his erroneous understanding of Sola Scriptura pointed out to him? The fact that he read "100's of Jack T. Chick tracks read cover to cover as a 14 year old" only supports my argument. Now he is simply beyond hearing any correction at all, endlessly copying and pasting quotes as if he were not assuming the worldview he reads them in.

It is too bad modern Evangelicalism has departed much of its roots. When the Gospel becomes so shallow as to allow converts absolutely no understanding of basic doctrines, the "What we win them with is what we win them to" becomes the "what we must keep them with", and we can not keep converts in lousy, shallow theology forever. This is why churches must go back to the Scriptures.

Semper Reformanda...Always Reforming

Public Apology

A public apology to Gospel Fellowship in Shallow Water, KS. I was asked to "fill in" this morning as the guest speaker. Every time I prepare a message, I think I do not have enough material. I preached through the Parable of the Soils in Matthew 13. I just checked the MP3, and I have found that the message was just under an hour long. The message should have been split in half. I apologize. The people of Gospel Fellowship were very easy to speak to and seemed to be paying attention. When there is a good congregation, it is easy to get carried away. They are a very gracious people.

For those who desire to know if I am accurate in my handling of the Word and desire to suffer through the sermon, here is the link.