QUE:Did the resurrection really happen?

              SECTION 2

            Illegal Trials

(intro to upcoming arguments C and D)

First,   Jesus  was subjected to   SIX
TRIALS,   three   Roman   and    three
Jewish.  The actuality of a man called  
Pontius   Pilate was considered  fable 
UNTIL  1961,   when archaeologist   in 
the city of Caesarea uncovered a large 
inscription  which   read,    "Pontius 
Pilate,    Prefect   of   Judea,   has 
presented   the    Tiberium   to   the 
Caesareans"  and proves that  such   a  
Roman    Governor   did  exist.    The 
trials  were  [1]  Annas,   the   high  
priest  [2] Caiaphas [3] the Sanhedrin 
[4]   Pilate  [5]  Herod    and    [6]  
Pilate.  History  records  that  there  
were   two   Sanhedrin   bodies.   One 
onsisted  of  23 members  and   tried  
cases    of    capital     punishment,  
another   consisted   of  71   members
and was for trials of Heads of  State,  
High  Priest   or  matters  of  crimes 
against the Temple.  The Sanhedrin  of
23  was  the most probable  body  that 
tried  Jesus.       Second,   the very 
death  by crucifixion was invented  by  
the   Persians   who  felt  that   the 
ground   was  concecrated   to   their  
Gods  and a death on the ground  would 
be  against   the   gods;    so   they 
invented a method of death that  would  
not   defile  the  ground  by  placing 
the people on a  stake  and  later   a 
cross  bar on a stake to lift them off  
the     ground    and    allow     the 
punishment  of  death to  take   place  
without   defilement   to  the   gods.  
Alexander   the  Great  utilized   the  
crucifixion as a major deterent force.  
The  Romans felt the  death   was   so
degrading  that a Roman citizen  could 
ot   be  crucified except by order of 
the   Emperor  and  then   this    was
usually      after     the    person's 
citizenship  was stripped  from   him.   
The   Romans  usually   reserved   the  
punishment    for   political   cases.  
The  very accusation  against   Christ  
was   directed at political as you can 
read  in Luke 23:2.       The   Romans  
added;   However,   another  twist  to  
the   process   of  crucifixion.   The 
added   the   "scourging"   of     the  
criminal.  This  consisted of a period 
of  time that was set  by the trial or 
could   be  set  by   the   scourgers,  
themselves,   of   beating the accused 
with  a form of brass  knuckled   fist  
and  consisting  of a minimum  of  six 
men.   This  usually  left  the facial
features      of      the      accused 
unrecognizable.  The  next   step   of  
the    scourging  consisted   of   the
whipping   of   the  accused  with   a 
Flagrum.    This  whip  had   numerous  
eather   thongs  of  various  lengths 
and   braided  into   each   of    the  
thongs  were bits of metal  and  bone.  
One Dr C.T.   Davis has  described the 
whipping  with  the  flagrum  in  this 
manner:        "The    heavy  whip  is 
brought  down  with full  force  again  
and   again   across   the   accused's 
shoulder,   back and legs.  At   first 
the heavy thongs cut through the skin, 
only.   Then,  as   the    the   blows  
continue,    they   cut  deeper   into   
the  subcutaneous  tissues,  producing 
first  an oozing of  blood  from   the 
capillaries  and  veins of the   skin,
and    finally   spurting     arterial  
bleeding  from  the  vessels  in   the  
underlying  muscles.   The small balls
of  lead  first  produce   large  deep 
bruises  which are broken open by  the  
subsequent  blows.  Finally  the  skin 
of  the  back  is  hanging   in   long  
ribbons   and  the entire area  is  an 
unrecognizable    mass    of     torn,  
leeding    tissue.    When   it    is  
determined   by   the  Centurion  that 
the  prisoner  in  near  death,    the 
beating   is  finally   stopped".    A  
historian   of  the   third   century,  
Eusebius    writes   "The   sufferer's 
veins  were  laid bare  and  the  very 
muscles,   sinews,and  bowels  of  the 
victim   were   open    to   exposure.      
After this ordeal,  Christ had a crown 
of  thorns  jammed  into   his   head.
The  blood from this act   must   have  
been    severe.     Jesus   was   then 
subjected  to  another beating with  a
rod!   After  all this,  our Lord  was 
then forced to carry His   "patibulum"  
to   His place of execution.   At  the  
place   of   execution,   Christ   was  
nailed  to  his cross.   History   was  
devoid   of  any  proof   that   nails  
were   used  until  the  discovery  in  
1968     of   another    tomb     that  
contained  the  remains  of  a  person 
who had been nailed,   both hands  and  
eet,   to a cross.  History then came 
to  the  defense of the   Gospels  and 
once,   again,  the  Bible  is  proven 
correct.

            C. Swoon Theory

        This   theory   neglects    to
consider  the   points  of  [1]  Jesus
went through SIX TRIALS (3 Roman and 3
Jewish in less  than 24  hours),   [2]
Had been scourged by the  Romans.  [3]  
Jesus   was  too  weak  to  carry  His 
patibulum.    [4]   Spikes  had   been 
driven through His hands and feet. [5] 
The  Roman guard  thrust   his   spear 
into  Jesus's  side  and  "blood   and  
water   came  out".   [6]  Four  Roman 
executioners  confirmed the death   of 
Jesus - could experienced executioners 
- four  of them  -  really  be  wrong?  
[7]  The women placed the  100  pounds  
of   spices and wrap around Jesus  and 
ncased  His  body  with   the   gummy 
substance  that the spices would  have 
made    which   would    have     made  
breathing  difficult if not impossible  
[8]  the  tomb  was cold and damp  (40 
degrees   was   suggested  based    on
similar   temperatures  read  in  such 
tombs).   This would have  reduced any 
circulation  of  Jesus  even  further.  
[9]  The  two  ton  stone  was  lodged 
against the tomb opening.   The  stone  
was  cut in such a manner to to make a 
tight  seal  against  the opening  and 
was,  most likely, sealed further. The 
need    to  eliminate  the  smell   of 
decomposition  was  great!   [10]  The  
Roman   guard  was posted outside  the 
tomb and [11] the  seal  was  present.      
This   theory   would  then  have  you 
believe  that  this  Jesus was revived 
by  the  coolness,   burst out of  the 
burial  wrappings,  pushed the boulder 
AWAY from the  tomb,  fought  off this 
highly trained fighting guard unit and 
ppeared  to   the  Disciples  as  the 
Lord of Life with no after effects  of
such an ordeal.  I,  personally, would 
have to contend that  this explanation 
is  a  miracle  in  itself!        How  
could    a   man  who   had   suffered  
these   terrible   punishments    have  
been   able  to  make  His   disciples  
believe   that He was the Lord of Life 
and was victor over death?  How  could 
such   an  appearance   have   changed 
cowards  into the most  powerful force 
for  God on earth as happened to  EACH 
ONE  of  the  disciples?   The  answer 
is  SUCH AN APPEARANCE COULD NOT  HAVE  
- ONLY THE RESURRECTION AS IT IS  TOLD 
IN  THE   GOSPELS  COULD  ACCOUNT  FOR 
SUCH A CHANGE.

           D. Passover Plot

Hugh  Schoenfield proposed a variation
of  the  "swoon"  theory  in his  book
he  PASSOVER PLOT.   It is   proposed
in  this  book  that Jesus had studied 
the  scriptures  and  had   structured  
His life in such a manner as to comply 
with  the  prophesies  of the  Messiah 
and  convince the people that  He  was  
the    Messiah.     The   conspirators  
consisted   of   Jesus,    Joseph   of 
Arimathea and a "young man".   Now the 
plot  was to  have  Jesus administered 
a  drug  that would feign  His  death.  
This  was based on the fact  that  the 
"bitter  water"  given  to   crucified 
victims  usually contained a  narcotic 
to  allow  the  person to  sleep  ***.  
Now  the plan was to have Joseph  take  
the   body  to  the  tomb  and  revive
Jesus.   The plot was short  circuited 
when  the guard thrust his spear  into 
the  side   of   Jesus.    Jesus   was  
taken  to  the tomb  and  revived  but  
only   lived  a  short  time.   Joseph 
and  the  "young  man"  then  disposed 
of the body and emptied the tomb.  Now 
his  "young  man" was mistaken to  be 
the  risen Lord by a  hysterical  Mary  
and   later   the  confused  disciples 
also  mistook  the   "young   man"  as 
Jesus.   History  does not record that 
Joseph  or   the   "young  man"   ever 
corrected     these    misimpressions.      
Mr   Schoenfield   does   what    most 
proponents        of        "alternate  
possibilities"  do  - he selects  what 
"evidence"  he wants and  negates   or 
ignores or disputes any "evidence"  he 
does    not    like.   He   adopts   a
completely    arbitrary   basis    for 
acceptance   of   evidence   and   "no  
rules"  is the  only  rule.   In   the  
circumstance   of   the  Roman   guard  
placed   at  the   tomb,   Schoenfield 
rejects  this as it is only  mentioned 
in  Matthew  and  if only  one  writer 
comments  on  the matter then it   can  
be rejected.  However,  the matter  of 
the    spear   is   a   mainstay    of 
Schoenfield's  theory and it  is  only 
entioned in John!       The very idea 
that  the change in the disciples  and 
the   conversion  of  so  many  people 
could  be  attributed to a   case   of  
mistaken  identity is so absurd as  to 
be rejected as the  ramblings of a man 
who finds the matter "foolish".

     III. CHRIST'S TOMB WAS EMPTY
      DUE TO SUPERNATURAL CAUSES

        A. Bodily Resurrection

The  Historical  and Gospel facts show
that   each  and  every one of the so-
called   Natural   explanations    are
invalid   and  would  not hold up in a
court    of    law.    The    reverse,  
though,   is   clearly  shown in  that 
the  resurrection   is   a   provable,  
logical,    historical   and   factual 
occurance.   The  mind  of  man   that 
ill  not  accept the fact  that   God  
the   Creator  of all things  injected 
His  presence  into  the  course    of  
Human  History,    will  also   accept  
illogical,   unproven   fantasies   to  
prevent  being face to face with   the  
living  God, Jesus Christ our Lord and 
Savior.

This  being now shown as the ONLY true 
alternative,   based  on    historical  
facts  and logical deduction,  then we
can   be   assured of the promises  he 
made  to  each  of us  because  HE  IS  
RISEN!!!!!!

We  follow the "Lamb of God" who  died 
for  us  and  we  are  aware  of   HIS 
sacrifice  on our behalf.  If you  now 
see  the error that you presently live 
in, we ask that you pray this prayer:

  FATHER,  I AM SORRY FOR MY SINS AND MY 
SIN OF IGNORING YOUR WORD AND  FOLLOWING 
MEN  TO  BE  THE ONES WHO  CAN  LEAD  TO
SALVATION.  I NOW KNOW THIS IS WRONG AND 
AGAINST  YOUR  WORD AND HUMBLY  ASK  FOR 
OUR    FORGIVENESS   AND    MERCY.    I 
ACKNOWLEDGE  THE  SACRIFICE OF JESUS  AS 
PAYMENT  FOR MY SINS AND THANK  YOU  FOR 
THIS RELEASE.  LORD JESUS,  COME INTO MY 
HEART  AND LIVE THERE AND GUIDE MY STEPS 
FROM  THIS DAY FORWARD.  ALLOW ME TO  BE 
YOUR  VESSEL ON EARTH TO CARRY THE  TRUE
MESSAGE OF YOUR LOVE TO ALL  MEN.  THESE 
THINGS I NOW PRAY IN THE NAME OF MY TRUE 
SAVIOR AND LORD, JESUS CHRIST.   AMEN

   If   you  just  prayed  this  prayer, 
please  leave a message at the  time  of 
termination of this call.

   Computers For Christ - San Jose
