A Leap Of Faith

Good Friday has always be a somber day. But this year an absurd shadow hangs over this important holy day of reflection. The National Geographic Society recently made a major news splash over the discovery if a third century document of the Gnostic religious sect that highlighted their absurd beliefs that Judas was a good man who only did as Jesus requested in turning him over to his captors, that ignores all the Bible images of Judas as a cowardly conspirator and a man with a bad heart.

THE DAVINCI CODE movie will soon hit the theatres, with an absurd conspiracy theory involving the Roman Catholic Church. And a major book by a British author promotted the absurd theory that Jesus somehow survived the Crucifixion.

This last book is especially absurd. The terrible torture and execution of Jesus left no doubt that no man could survive such abuse and survive.

The Roman style whip that Jesus was beaten with likely involved either lead balls, or even bits of sharp bone and bronze. It may have involved hooks on the end as well. Condemned prisoners were beaten with this device almost to the point of death as the hooks or other sharp bits tore away the skin and caused extreme bleeding and likely exposed muscles or the hooks could have even caused some holes and tears into the lungs or other vital organs, weakening and damaging them. Without immediate intensive care medical attention almost any prisoner so beaten would surely bleed to death.

Evidence of the weakened Jesus were written of in Scripture as Jesus stumbled and fell and could not even carry his cross after the severe bleeding had so weakened him.

And after being nailed to the cross, many would die of the combination of the bleeding from the beating or shock and heart failure from the severe abuse. But Jesus hung onto the cross for six hours, six hours of struggling to breathe as he slowly sufficated to death and died of cardiopulmonary failure. A spear was was even stuck in his side, and many water ran from his side as most of blood had ran out of the severe wounds caused by the morbidly cruel 39 stroke scourging and the serious nail wounds in his wrists and feet.

There was no need to break his legs like the other condemned prisoners hanging on crosses that day to cause death before the Sabbath. Jesus was dead from all his wounds and injuries. Nearly 100 pounds of oils and spices were used to embalm his body by his friends.

There is no way that any mortal man could survive such abuse. It is a real leap of faith for the new book to claim that Jesus somehow survived this execution and went on to a married life with Mary Magdeline or other nonsense claims of some modern revisionists.

The fact is a very great man who was the son of both God and Mary, a human, performed great miracles when he called on the name of his father, inspired thousands, and was severely mistreated and murdered by a execution that he did not deserve to save mankind. Modern revisionists may attempt to put forth absurd theories about Jesus, but all fall far short when facts about his life or Scripture are brought into the argument.

Good Friday is a somber day. But the resurrection of Jesus is a great event. No modern revisionist nonsense can tarnish that.