Son of God

Son of God

Note the interesting facts or points and your thought and reflections on these points.

The real man....

• Jesufi was one of the 80 sources to write about Jesus, confirms Jesus was a real man.

• From simple pathways specialist are able to build and picture what the town was like before it was covered in water.

• Some believed that there no journey to Bethlehem.

• There were ideas that said Jesus born in a cave.

• Bethlehem was built on a hill and there were caves under houses where they were used for stables.

• Scientists claim that Jesus was not born on 1 A.D; that Jesus was born 6 years earlier than what the history currently says.

• Scientists are using archaeology, science and history to find more evidence.

• ‘Murk’, scented oil, used 2000 years ago to anoint kings.

• Expensive, hard to find.

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• Controversial discussions on how Mary was unmarried when she conceived Jesus.

• Discussions on why Christians believe Mary was conceived when it is biologically impossible.

• People who are not Christians are skeptical; they believe that there is something dodgy about Mary’s conceiving of Jesus.

• In the Middle East, the traditions from thousands of years ago must still be followed or face brutal death.

• Rules such as forbidding losing virginity before marriage.

• In Mary’s days, a woman who had lost her virginity before marrying would have been stoned to death.

• Upturning the market tables at the temple- a symbolic act.

• Jesus believed that the temple was not the place for exploiting people to obtain money but the place to worship God.

• Jesus calls Judas His ‘friend’; this impacted on the disciples to be shocked when Jesus told Judas to ‘do what he has to do’ at the Passover meal.

• Jesus was in great agony when He was in city of Bethany, as he understood what He had to be done. He sweated blood.

• It was proved that the physical condition of sweating blood was actually possible under great anxiety, where the arteries burst.

• This showed that Jesus was suffering very human emotions.

• He was in turmoil because He knew He was going to die.

• Judas was portrayed as a traitor for many years due to his act of selling Jesus over.

• However, there is a new theory about Judas: the word ‘betrayal’ has been translated incorrectly and that Jesus chose Judas to carry out the act due to Judas’ high reliability and the connection to the high priest.

• The receiving of thirty silver coins by Judas was because there was no other way of handing someone over in the Jewish system, not because of greed.

• Kaiafus (?) had to accuse Jesus of a sin to condemn him to punishment. He therefore stated that Jesus was causing disruption by acting as the Messiah. He was therefore charged of blasphemy (bringing God down by stating that someone was equal to God).

• Arguments about where Jesus was nailed; experts say that it could not have been His hand and must have been the wrist as the weight of Him would have torn Him off the nail.

• Jesus’ mother, Mary and Mary McDillan watched Jesus’ painful execution.

• People say that Jesus was slightly frustrated when He was dying, as if He was saying: “God where are You? Where are You now when I need You?

• Women came to visit His tomb three days after His death; however they did not find His body and ran away, terrified.

• Theory 1: The body was never taken down to the tomb.

• Theory 2: Jesus’ body was stolen.

• Mandrake, a strong anaesthetising plant, was stirred into the vinegar that Jesus drank and hence, Jesus survived the crucifixion.

• This theory has many flaws; Jesus would not have survived even with anesthetics due to loss of body fluids and extreme physical injuries. Also, He had been pierced on His side, where blood and clear liquid (the sac around the heart) flowed out. This proved that He was dead after crucifixion.

• Another reason why this would be true is the fact that the women had discovered the tomb; if the story had been altered, it would have been altered to men discovering the tomb due to sexism in the society.

• A crucial piece of evidence is shown through the early followers’ minds; from being skeptical they were changed to being prepared to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs. This would show that they strongly had faith in Christianity and therefore, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Compile a list of your thoughts/reflections about the findings/discoveries

I believe that through the various research scholars have done on the passages from the Bible does not make me skeptical about Jesus and the events that occurred as stated in the Bible. I think it makes me understand that the events and passages in the Bible can be interpreted differently by people. However, I don’t think it really helped me with my appreciation of Christianity because I honestly could not comprehend why we would go to such an extent to explore about the life of Jesus. I think that it actually confused me as I wasn’t really sure what the DVD was ultimately portraying; it wasn’t really clear on whether the events in Jesus’ life really occurred or not. I think that Christianity is about personal belief and experience with God and therefore I don’t really think I need to understand and know every aspect of Jesus’ life that happened. I believe what is in the Bible as it has been stated literally. Nevertheless it was interesting that excerpts from historical documents could be related to the time in Jesus’ life.