The Lost Tomb of Jesus

Alright, many of you have probably already heard about "The Lost Tomb of Jesus". A documentary that will air on the discovery channel Sunday night. This documentary will present the idea that Jesus family tomb has been found, with some evidence of Jesus and Mary Magdalene having a son (named Judah, ironically).

I'm going to point out the facts about this whole find right now; because otherwise the skeptics will have a field day with this, perhaps even moreso then they did with the Da Vinci Code (which has been refuted and completely debunked, by the way; a work of fiction with no historical backing).

First, lets look at some of the theological considerations. In fact, I'll go straight to what the Discovery channel says on their website: " It is a matter of Christian faith that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion circa 30 C.E. This is a central tenet of Christian theology, repeated in all four Gospels. The Lost Tomb of Jesus does not challenge this belief." (Bold emphasis theirs). So there you have it, one might just dismiss the whole matter right there. But I'll go a little deeper into it. The term translated "Jesus" that is found in the tombs is the Hebrew name "Yeshua", which is indeed the name for Jesus; but also the name for Joshua. So perhaps Joshua and Mary had a son named Judah, this would explain the second Mary found in the tomb; and eliminate any theories about Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene.

But I'll go even deeper then that. What they are thinking could possibly be Mary Magdalene is in Greek "Mariamene e Mara", they translate it as "Mary, known as master". Well there are a few other possibilities here. First Mara is a diminutive of Mary, they say that right on their site. Second, it is from Aramaic they get "master" because mara is Aramaic for master; but the lettering of this inscription is Greek! Not Aramaic. Third, though the lettering is Greek, mara in Hebrew means bitter. So there are at least three possibilities of translation there; they chose "known as master" because it fits Mary Magdalene; but there is no reason I can concieve to believe it should be translated that way over the others (especially the Greek, since that inscription is in Greek).

The next thing I would like to examine is why are there three different languages for the inscriptions? (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic; ironically the languages of the Bible). If these people were a family, they would have died relatively close in time to each other; and it would make sense the inscriptions would have been put there by people speaking the same language, around the same time. I would also like to ask is what period have we dated these coffins and inscriptions to? Where the inscriptions put there at the burial or after the burial? If after the burial, by whom? And would that person be trustworthy? These are just questions I have.

Next, I would like to cite www.internetmonk.com on an article they did on it entitled "Resources and Responses to 'The Tomb of Jesus and His Family' Story".
This is a portion of what they had to say:

"But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense."

Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that "Jesus son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.

"There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb," Kloner said. "They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE."

Well, I honestly think that answers the claims about "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" and any serious argument a skeptic might try to use from it. Please take the time to examine the evidence for yourself: "http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/explore/explore.html"
Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html

God bless!