By David Coy
Sunrise
his holiday is a difficult time for those who are in the midst of coping with loss in their journey with grief. As recent as this past week, some had communicated dread as the day of this December holiday approached. Last week, we began a series of articles examining the evidence for the resurrection of Christ as the greatest hope and encouragement consolation, especially for those who are struggling in their grief during this holiday season. We shared facts that prove that Jesus was a real historical figure and not a myth as some allege. Our second point builds upon the first. If Jesus lived, then being human, he is subject to the human frailty. Much of the same evidence that we shared last week can be used, and we offer as emphasis.
Tacitus a Roman historian (A.D. 55-117) made this statement, “Nero fabricated scapegoats, and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians…Their originator Christ, had been executed. In Tiberius reign by the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilatus….” The Babylonian Talmud records this, “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged….” In 1961, a team of archaeologists from Milan, Italy, were excavating at Caesarea, just north of modern Tel Aviv. While excavating at an amphitheater that was built by Herod the Great (ca. 73 – 4 B.C.) in which they discovered a limestone slab with a translation which reads, “The Tiberieum (a temple dedicated to Tiberias) of the Caesareans Pontius Pilate Preaefect of Judea has given.” Alan Millard, Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages stated this represents, “the only know inscription from his lifetime naming Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus” (1997, 327). Jesus lived, and he died, two facts of more to come.
This is Sunrise Aftercare.
