The Lost Tomb of Jesus?

The recent Discovery Channel show with the above title has been a source of irritation to most of us. Much like The Da Vinci Code, it seems not to be an attempt at finding objective truth, but rather a focused attempt at discounting the central facts of the Christian faith. The show doesn’t deal so much with pseudoscience as with science that is stacked; much like stacking a deck of cards in favor of a predetermined conclusion.

The Lost Tomb of Jesus was directed by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici. Their show focused on a first-century tomb (the Talpiot tomb discovered in Jerusalem in 1980 by Professor Amos Kloner) that contained several ossuary-urns. On the urns, various names were engraved, including the names Jesus, Mary, another Mary, Matthew, Joshua, and Judah. Jacobovici suggests that this could be the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.

Watching the show that followed, The Lost Tomb of Jesus: A Critical Look, made me conclude that the filmmaker, Simcha Jacobovici, had already determined that the New Testament’s historical narratives were false since he was merely trying to share “compelling evidence” of his theory that the Talpiot tomb was the tomb of our Lord. But, his bias against the reliability and accuracy of the New Testament is evident when one realizes that the “compelling evidence” the New Testament gives is just the opposite of Jacobovici’s. Just one example from the New Testament is from the Apostle Peter’s inspired sermon on the Day of Pentecost when he says King David “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:31-32) Again and again, the New Testament documents describe a bodily resurrection of Jesus, witnessed by many people. (John 20:11-27; Acts 9:3-9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) Later, it also describes his ascension to heaven. (Acts 1:9-11) The New Testament makes it clear that there was nothing left on earth to place in an urn!

But, The Lost Tomb of Jesus completely discounts the evidence from the New Testament. I think Dr. Jesse Long, chairman of the Bible department at Lubbock Christian University, and an archaeologist himself, made the best comment about the film. He said it “is a good example of misusing archaeology and statistics.”

Ronaldo Ricardo Guzmán