Evidence of Jesus WRITTEN ON STONE

On Wednesday morning (March 14), Judge Aharon Farkash acquitted two defendants of forgery charges in the so-called “forgery case of the century.” Some seven years ago the Israel Antiquities Authority contended that the defendants forged an inscription reading “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” written on a first-century bone box (ossuary).

According to Professor Ben Witherington III, (The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family, p.93) “The discovery of the ossuary may well be the most significant biblical archaeological find of our time and the first-ever physical link to the historical Jesus of the New Testament.” The New York Times believes “this could well be the earliest artifact ever found relating to the existence of Jesus.”

Almost ten years ago I read the story of James’ ossuary in Biblical Archaeology Review (biblicalarchaeology.org [November/December 2002]). Following the article by Epigrapher André Lemaire, I closely followed the charges brought by the Israel Antiquities Authority, alleging that the inscription was forged.

Because the ossuary was purchased from an unauthorized source, and not found in its original setting, some scholars question its authenticity. For this reason, the antiquities dealer who bought the item was accused of forgery. However, after more than five years, 138 witnesses and thousands of pages of testimony, the judge ruled that the writing on the artifact was not forged.

WHAT ARE OSSUARIES?

Ossuaries are bone boxes made of limestone. Following death and entombment, the bones of the deceased were taken and placed in a bone box or ossuary. The ossuary was inscribed with the name of the deceased. This process would take place sometime after one year of entombment. Ossuaries would then be stored in a crypt (vault) like books are stored in a library. Of the roughly 900 catalogued ossuaries from the first century, 250 bear inscriptions.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

To date, we have much papyrus or manuscript evidence of Jesus. The absence of artifactual (objects) evidence has given some scholars reason to question the historicity of Jesus. Like Professor Craig Evans (Jesus and the Ossuaries, p.122), I believe we are in possession of a truly significant artifact that confirms and clarifies several important aspects of the life and impact of James, an important leader in the early church.

Agreed, the ossuary may not convey any new information for Christians, but it does seem to provide further confirmation that the Bible often is speaking of real historical figures and real historical events. Ben Witherington III was correct in concluding that “the ossuary evidently provides us with the earliest physical evidence that Jesus, James and Joseph all existed, and lived as devout early Jews tied to the Holy Land, practicing Jewish burial customs and sharing Aramaic, the spoken language of Jews of that locale.”

Apart from the historical significance of the ossuary, one cannot ignore the fact that it was found in our age of visual and tactile learners. Christians can now submit, a physical artifact, not only manuscripts for discussion.

The fact that James’ ossuary, prepared so long after the death of Jesus, should mention the name of Jesus as the deceased's brother, clearly confirms the increasing interest in the Jesus story. This point is consistent with the findings of credible historians - within 30 years the Christian message had spread to all of the major cities of the Mediterranean.

Here we are, almost 2,000 years later, and the interest in the same Jesus, has not lessened. Leaders who lived during the time of Jesus would have been lost in the pages of history. Our interest in their lives is primarily because they interacted with Jesus.

With Easter approaching, it might be appropriate to ask the question, why has no one found Jesus’ ossuary? Christians contend that would never happen in that Jesus was not in the tomb one year later. By the third day following His death, He was resurrected. An ossuary was never necessary and attempts to find same have proven to be worthless.

In one of his letters, Paul argued, “if Christ (Jesus) has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is [y]our faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). In essence, if anyone ever finds an ossuary belonging to Jesus, Christianity can be considered to be of no use.

The story of Christianity is not information about a dead guru – it is a message of hope about a resurrected Savior. Whereas the message from ossuaries were written on limestone, the message of the resurrected Jesus can be found in credible manuscripts and in the lives of billions of His followers around the world and throughout history.