The God Code

The God Code - J.L. Robb - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8330

 

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene... No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase-mongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot."  Albert Einstein

 

Quote taken from "What Life Means to Einstein," The Saturday Evening Post, October 26, 1929. Einstein was a physicist and professor at Princeton University. He lived from 1879-1955.

 

"Jesus does not exist," the gentleman in the booth across the aisle said, talking to his companion. She and the gentleman looked about the same age, maybe forty, and were absorbed in their somewhat heated discussion.

 

I was at Ruby Tuesday's having an early lunch and tried not to listen, well, not really; I couldn't help but listen. I have heard these comments before but have always considered the sources as ignorant, stupid and non-informed. This was not the case with these two.

 

The lady had a Bible, well-worn, a Bible that had been studied and analyzed diligently. She took him to the cleaners, telling the man he would not believe DNA evidence were it available. Her comment was true, and it meant I did not have to butt my nose into the conversation. But I know my ears grew as I continued to listen to her rebuttal. She mentioned Flavius Josephus and Disraeli and quoted them knowingly. I made mental notes.

 

When I got back home, the first thing I did was conduct a Google search for Flavius Josephus quote about Jesus.

 

It is difficult to fathom that anyone would believe that the story of Jesus is mythology. There is just too much evidence that proves otherwise. There are the Gospels, there is the story of the Roman Jew, Paul, and there are all those predictions that Jesus made that are coming to fruition. Mythological predictions never come true.

 

Last week I read an article from National Geographic that Jesus' tomb had been uncovered, again. This was news to me, because I did not know that the location of Jesus' tomb was confirmed. If I had known this when I was at Ruby Tuesday's, I could have ended the discussion in the next booth. Proof.

 

After uncovering Christ's burial slab for the first time in centuries last week, archaeologists have examined the interior of the tomb in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The tomb is a limestone shelf or burial bed hewn from the wall of a cave, National Geographic reports. Covered by marble cladding since at least 1555 A.D., it was exposed Oct. 26 as part of a major restoration project at the church. An initial inspection by a team from the National Technical University of Athens revealed a layer of fill material beneath the marble cladding. Additional work revealed another marble slab with a cross carved into its surface, according to National Geographic.  FOX News Science, October 31, 2016

 

It turns out that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built by Emperor Constantine around 325 AD, after he demolished a Temple to Aphrodite built by one of his predecessors, Hadrian. Hadrian built the pagan temple over the site of Jesus' burial site according to the Christian community at that time.

 

Emperor Constantine brought a lot of changes to the early church, not all good; so I wonder how we would know for sure that this truly was Jesus' burial site or a legend. How would we know? It was about 300 years after the crucifixion that Constantine built this church.

 

The National Geographic article continues, stating that Christ's burial bed was carved out of the limestone wall of the cave "according to Christian tradition." This assumption makes little sense, because there was not a "Christian tradition" at the time of Jesus' crucifixion. It would have been Jewish tradition.

 

Suppose that the researchers who reopened Jesus' tomb had found samples of blood staining the limestone bed. Then they could compare the DNA in the blood with the blood on the Shroud of Turin and possibly get a match.

 

Were this to happen, the gentleman debating the existence of Jesus probably would think the DNA results were doctored. If there is blood, sweat or tears present, there is DNA. In the case of Jesus, there were blood, sweat, tears and serum from the piercing of his side, a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

 

Almost two thousand years ago in the land of ancient Israel (Judah), a Jewish man was chosen by Rome to write a history of the Jewish people and a history of their wars. He was well-aware of the existence of the man everyone called Yeshu'a, the Teacher and Miracle Worker, and declared he may not have been a man at all.

 

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man.  For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease.  He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him.  And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.  Flavius Josephus- Jewish Antiquities, 93-94 AD

 

Throughout the years I have heard very few Jewish people deny the existence of Jesus. They may not consider Jesus to be the Messiah but recognize his reality. Many famous Jewish scholars have documented their belief in the reality of Jesus. Here are some examples:

 

"In all church discussions we are apt to forget the second Testament is avowedly only a supplement. Jesus came to complete the law and the prophets. Christianity is completed Judaism, or it is nothing. Christianity is incomprehensible without Judaism, as Judaism is incomplete without Christianity." Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of England, 1804-1881

 

When asked why he had "given up the synagogue for the church," Zolli replied, "I have not given it up. Christianity is the completion of the synagogue, for the synagogue was a promise, and Christianity is the fulfillment of that promise."

 

"Once a Jew always a Jew." Israel Zolli, Chief Rabbi of Rome 1943

 

I think DNA is God's special code for life. It is abundant in all forms of life, plant or animal; and I am convinced that God knows each-and-every code. We are made in His image, and His only Son bled and cried for us. Based on what is happening in the present world, I think Jesus is still shedding tears for the lost. I think Jesus is rejoicing for those who believe without DNA evidence.

 

Back to the couple in the booth across the aisle- her final question to him before I left: How do you explain the Jews? I should have awaited his answer.