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There’s a great peace in knowing where you’ve come from, why you’re here, and where you’re going. Christ Jesus satisfies the soul. There is great peace in knowing that God’s Word is true and righteous altogether. His Word dissolves unbelief and clears the mind to see the perfect plan of God for an individual’s life. It simply answers all of life’s questions. Christ Jesus satisfies the soul.
During his exile on the island of St. Helena, the great conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte had this to say concerning Jesus Christ:
The nature of Christ’s existence is mysterious, I admit; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it and the world is an inexplicable riddle; believe it, and the history of our race is satisfactorily explained.
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GOD SAID, John 11:18-44:
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary was still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
GOD SAID, Mark 15:21:
And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
MAN SAID: There’s not one stitch of archaeological evidence that testifies of Jesus Christ. Some go so far as to say that Jesus Christ never existed but was simply the creation of religiously and politically motivated people.
Now THE RECORD: The Christ critics are in denial and their criticism is energized by their own self-serving motivation. Jesus said in John 319-20:
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
If Jesus’s assessment of why men refuse the light sounds exaggerated to you, consider the following comment made by Sir Julian Huxley. Huxley, before his death, was probably the world’s most leading evolutionist. He was the keynote speaker of the 1959 celebration of 100 years of Darwinism in Chicago. Also, he was the president of UNESCO, which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In a television interview, he was asked why he thought that evolution came on so quickly. Huxley answered, "I suppose that the reason that we all leapt at the origin of species was that the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores." [End of quote]
Concerning the criticism that there’s not one stitch of archaeological evidence testifying of Jesus Christ, let me say that there are mountains of archaeological evidences that testify of the King of Glory—not so much in things that He left behind but in the testimonies of those who followed Him. Keep in mind that Jesus was born in a manger, had no wife or children, no home, not even a wardrobe of consequence. He died on a cross between two thieves, was buried in a borrowed tomb, then resurrected from the grave and presently sits on the right hand of the Father. His tomb is empty.
The tomb of Christ is empty, but not the tombs and graves of his faithful followers who continue to testify of His saving grace even from the grave. Earlier we read the passage in the Gospel of John that speaks of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and his sisters Mary and Martha, who all dwelt in the town of Bethany. The book Jesus The Great Debate, authored by G.R. Jeffrey, reports about various burial sites in Israel that archaeologists and historians have uncovered that date immediately after the days of Christ’s earthly ministry and clearly certify His salvation work upon Golgotha’s hill. Some of the very famous work of world-renowned French archaeologist Charles Clermont-Ganneau, who discovered the legendary Moabite Stone, was cited in Jeffrey’s research. Clermont-Ganneau reported startling discoveries in his 1874 Palestine Exploration Fund report. The following excerpt from Jeffrey’s book deals with this matter:
As a Christian, Clermont-Ganneau was amazed to discover the names of "Eleazor" (which is the Hebrew form of the Greek name "Lazarus"), along with the names "Martha," and "Mary" engraved on the sides of three of the ossuaries found in this cave. These significant names from the early Gospel history of the Jewish Christian church in the area surrounding Jerusalem were clearly engraved on the sides of their ossuaries together with the sign of the cross, providing strong evidence that these were Jewish Christian believers. In the Gospel of John, we read the touching story of Christ raising His friend Lazarus from the dead. "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha" (John 11:1). Clermont-Ganneau noted that this was one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made concerning the origin of the early New Testament Church. The Jewish historian Professor Ory N. Mazar discussed the significance of Clermont-Ganneau’s discovery during an interview with the Jerusalem Christian Review. Of particular interest are the inscriptions and dedications found inside the tomb. Clermont-Ganneau, who was a diligent scholar, believed he had discovered a tomb belonging to one of the first families to embrace Jesus’ new teaching. The French archaeologist realized that it was highly probable that these tombs belonged to the family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, the close friends of Jesus. Clermont-Ganneau wrote, “What gives additional value to these short inscriptions is that they furnish a whole series of names found in the Gospels, in their popular and local Syro-Chaldaic forms—the use of the bar for ben (son), for instance. The presence of the names of Jesus, written with its common contraction, and Martha, of which we only know historically that it was the feminine form of the Aramaic, would alone be sufficient to make this collection important for an exegetic point of view. By a singular coincidence, which from the first struck me forcibly, these inscriptions, found close to the Bethany road, and very near the site of the village, contain nearly all the names of the personages in the Gospel scenes which belonged to this place: Eleazar (Lazarus), Simon, Martha . . . and a host of other coincidences occur at the sight of all these most evangelical names. . . .” [End of quote]
Earlier in this article, we read from the Scriptures of one Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross for Jesus. The author of Jesus The Great Debate records the following:
Several years ago archaeologists discovered another Jewish Christian ossuary in Jerusalem that bore the inscription, "Alexander, son of Simon the Cyrene," as well as an inscribed cross. Mark referred to this person when he wrote, "Now they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear his cross" (Mark 15:21) This discovery reveals the probable tomb of the son of the man who carried the cross of Jesus Christ on His way to His crucifixion. [End of quote]
The graves of the righteous declare the glory of God. Finding after finding bears witness, yet carnal man refuses to come to the Light because his deeds are evil.
GOD SAID, John 11:18-44:
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary was still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
GOD SAID, Mark 15:21:
And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
MAN SAID: There’s not one stitch of archaeological evidence that testifies of Jesus Christ. Some go so far as to say that Jesus Christ never existed but was simply the creation of religiously and politically motivated people.
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
King James Bible
Jeffrey, G.R., Jesus The Great Debate, Frontier Research Publications, 1999
Kennedy, Dr., Evolution & You audio tape, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 08/05/03
