THE SHROUD OF TURIN,

"WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?"

For 2,000 years the Shroud of Turin has been venerated by many as the true

burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. Millions of people throughout the centuries

have stood in line to be able to walk past this faint image of what appears to be

a crucified man, faintly visible on an old linen cloth.

You cannot see much of the evidence by just briefly walking past the shroud

and viewing it from a distance. This faded image of a scourged and crucified

man is hard to see, but if you take the time to look at this cloth more closely

you'll find that it is miraculous, and extraordinary in many ways.

For hundreds of years there had been no way of seeing or understanding all

the image’s unique hidden mysteries until May 28th 1898, when the Italian

photographer, Secunda Pia, took the first photographs of the Shroud.

In his darkroom lit only by a dim red light, as he developed the photos
Seconda Pia was expecting the pictures to turn out faint and blurred, but
to his astonishment when he saw the image of Jesus for the first time
staring him in the face, he almost dropped the plate.

During the development of the photographic plates, Secunda Pia noticed that the

negative image on the Shroud looked like a photographic positive picture on

the glass plates. Pia discovered that the image on the Shroud was a mirror

image of the front and back of Jesus' body. So when you take a picture of the

shroud and then take the film into the dark room and develop it. You get a negative

picture of a negative, which equals a positive. The image on the Shroud cloth is

a photographic negative. So when you take a picture of the faded image on the

Shroud cloth, you get a positive much clearer image of the actual scourged and

crucified body of a man that everyone will admit looks like Jesus.

If you were to show the picture of the man on the Shroud to someone, they would

instantly know who it is. They may not believe in Jesus as their God and Saviour,

but they certainly know who He is. And there is a universal understanding of whom

He claimed to be, and what He stood for.

But few people know much about the mysterious image that Jesus left behind on

His burial cloth. Like a flash of light from a copy machine leaves a black and white

picture on a sheet of white paper. The flash of light from Jesus' body when He

rose from the dead, left a ghostly image on a first century burial cloth. Sothe Shroud is a unimpeachable witness to the whole world, presenting absolute proof

of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. What greater proof can there be that Jesus

was a real historical person, brutally beaten, surged, crown with thorns, suffering

a slow agonizing death nailed to a cross; and then rising up through the burial

cloth on the third day, leaving His picture behind for everyone to see and

remember what He did to save people from all ages.

Notice that the man in the Shroud had a ponytail. Both Jesus and John the Baptists were Nazarite's which means that they did not cut their hair or drink alcohol. It is obvious that the person in the Shroud was a Nazarite and it would have taken him a life time to grow his hair that long. This is another strong indication that the man in the shroud was Jesus.

If you do a little research into all the amazing three dimensional characteristics of

the Shroud, you might find it worth digging into a little feather. Recent experiments

over the last 50 years have raised all kinds of Scientific questions about this

miraculous cloth, which have not been fully answered or understood. Neither have

Scientists been able to figure out how the 3D image was made, or how it got on the

cloth.

The Shroud's three dimensional properties cannot be reproduced by anyone today.

No one on earth can put three-dimensional properties into a two-dimensional

photograph or white cloth. The Shroud is sacred and it is a key part of God's salvation

plain; and the Shroud still exists today as absolute proof that the price for the sins of

many has been paid in full, and God has raised His only begotten Son Jesus Christ

from the dead.

This 14’ 3” long and 3’ 6” wide ancient linen burial cloth contains a full-length
picture of both the front and back of Jesus’ body, etched onto the thin surface
fibers of the cloth, by a bright burst of light given off at His resurrection. The
faint image left on the surface fibers of the Shroud was not made by any paints, inks,
dyes, pigments, chemicals, rubbing, stains, burns, or scorching. The only known
explanation for the formation of the image is an intense burst of ultraviolet light
radiation (equivalent to the output of 14,000 excimer lasers) emitting light evenly
from every three-dimensional point within the body wrapped in the Shroud.
Believers claim it to be the miraculous image of Jesus formed as He rose from
the dead.

An intense burst of ultraviolet light produced a discoloration on the uppermost surface of the Shroud’s fibrils (without burning or scorching it), which created a perfect photographic three-dimensional negative image of both the frontal and dorsal parts of the body. This evidence of the Resurrection suggests that Jesus transformed from His dead human body, into His spiritual glorified one.

The Miraculous Details of the Shroud

1. The image on the Shroud is a photonegative.

2. The image is composed of yellowed fibers hyper-aged from UV radiation.

3. The image is only on the top most fibers of the front side of the Shroud.

4. The shading of the image is accomplished by the pointillistic proximity of

the image fibrils to each other.

5. The image produces three-dimensional data when digitally analyzed in

a computer.

6. The light partials were projected vertically from all points around the body

through empty space onto the Shroud, not by contact with the body.

7. The Shroud is a mirror image - photo negative, of the front and back of the

scourged body of the Crucified Christ.

8. The image reveals the body was in rigor mortis when the image was

projected onto the Shroud.

9. The bloodstains are type AB + with Y-chromosomes.

10. The bloodstains contain serum, fibrin, and white blood cell from fresh open

wounds trying to clot, which is only visible with ultraviolet light.

11. The bloodstains are physiologically accurate for a death by crucifixion,

including the nail wounds through the wrists, and the scourging, crown of

thorn, and spear piercing the heart of Jesus, from a Roman soldier.

The Shroud is the most intensely researched artifact in History. Hundreds of

thousands of hours have been spent by numerous scientists, researchers,

surgeons, and doctors who have studied the Shroud, and haven't come up with

one ligament reason to show that it's a fake. Looking at all the evidence you could

safely conclude that the Shroud is the linen cloth that wrapped the body of the

Historic Jesus.

The Shroud of Turin has undergone all kinds of rigorous scientific testing and twentieth-century analysis, and this first-century burial cloth has been found not to be a medieval “painting” or a “forgery;” It is an image of a real man who was tortured beaten, scourged, crucified, and shed real blood with a unique DNA and AB positive blood type, leaving behind an 3D image on the cloth which is humanly impossible to “duplicate.” Nothing like this unique burial cloth has ever been found or reproduced.

Second, the anatomical precision of the bloodstains that soaked all the way through the burial cloth shortly after Jesus was taken down from the cross and wrapped in the white linen cloth. This has been proven to be real human blood that congealed on the Shroud before the formation of the image, and is in precise anatomical correlation to the image itself. There is no image formed under the bloodstains. This means that the image on the Shroud must have been formed sometime after the burial. How could a medieval forger have accomplished this? The bloodstains on the man in the Shroud come from a crucifixion event identical to the one described in the four Gospels. This is very unusual, if not unique, in many ways — such as being crowned with thorns, flogged, and pierced in the heart with a Roman spear. To this very day, you can still see the red blood stains from the spear wound in the heart; as if the blood had soaked into the shroud just hours ago. "This blood after over 2,000 years has not turned brown or black, and is still red and alive like fresh human blood!"

WRAPPED IN A CLEAN LINEN CLOTH

Matthew 27:57-60 "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."

The linen that Joseph bought was the most expensive cloth you could buy at the time. The scripture says: “That Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man, bought a fine linen cloth.” There is another translation of this verse which says: “Joseph of Arimathaea bought a clean linen cloth.” Now clean is an interesting word because clean doesn’t mean they just washed it. It means that the cloth is ritually or ceremonially clean, from the standpoint of Jewish Law. This has a very important hidden truth.

Starting with Aaron, Moses’s brother, who was the first High Priest, and all the High Priests that follow him. They were all commanded that when they went into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant; They were to take off their street clothes, bathe, and put on white clothes of fine twisted linen.

Now all of the curtains in the Old Testament Tabernacle were also made of fine twisted linen. The fine twisted linen represents the Holiness of God. Thou shalt make the habitation with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and crimson, and scarlet double-dyed. (Exod. 26:1; 36:8).

When the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John on the mountain, His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as light. (Matt. 17:2); And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. (Mark 9:3); And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening. (Luke 9:29).

Colossians 1:15-19 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; And he is before all things, and by him, all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning the firstborn from among the dead. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.”

In the book of Revelation, the Angels are wearing fine linen. “An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.” Matt. 28:3

The Saints when they are raised from the dead to be with the LORD are going to be wearing fine linen, which represents the righteous deeds of God’s Children. “The time of the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Then to her was granted that she should be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” (Rev. 19:7, 8);

“He that sat upon the white horse was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word. His armies in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” (Rev. 19:13, 14).

So this white linen cloth that Jesus was buried in, has great meaning and significance. Joseph of Arimathaea was a Pharisee and he was attached to the Temple, which meant that He had access to the Temple store. And when he purchased the fine linen to cover Jesus, he purposely purchased the fine clean linen that was used by the High Priest to enter into the Holy of Holies, to offer sacrifice. Because Jesus, when He died on the cross, became our High Priest by offering His sinless, innocent blood, on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, as the innocent Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the World.

"But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (tent), not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh; How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Heb 9:11to14

1. THEY FOUND JESUS' CRUCIFIXION SITE, TOMB, AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT BURIED UNDER A TRASH PILE AT GOLGOTHA.
Click here: http://arkofthecovenant2.blogspot.com

Rev. 7:13,14. “And one of the elders answered saying to me, "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And from whence have they come?" And I said unto him Sir, thou know. And he said to me, "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Philippians 2: 5-8. “Christ Jesus, Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross.”

THE SHROUD OF TURIN RESEARCH TEAM

In 1978, a team of over 40 American scientists was the first and only research team ever to be given permission to do an in-depth scientific examination of the Shroud of Turin. They spent 17 months from 1976 to 1978 preparing and planning all the different tests that they wanted to perform; determining how long each test would take and what equipment they would need to bring with them to do the test.

They went to Turin Italy with over 10 tons of gear filling over 70 crates of equipment. And the Vatican gave them 5 days and nights, to put the Shroud through all kinds of rigorous testing.

They had gone there, to try to answer the question of how the image on the Shroud was made. These Scientists had designed a whole battery of tests to try to determine what is on the Shroud, and what the image is made of? They had really prepared to go in and do a throw examination of the Shroud.

They had an operating plan where they literally planned minute by minute every moment that they would have alone with the Shroud. They knew that they had a limited amount of time and that the Vatican was not likely to do this again, any time soon. So they did everything they could to make the best use of their time.

The team began detailed preparations to build and collect specialized instruments and work out a schedule working around the clock both day and night, making sure they had enough time to perform all their tests.

One of the first experiments that they did on the Shroud was to separate the
Linen Shroud from its protective backing cloth in a small area about 4 inches
long. This allowed people for the first time in 400 years, to look at the backside
of the Shroud.

Then Professor Reachey inserted an endoscopic camera between the two
clothes.

When they saw the fluorescent light under the number 3 bloodstain, they turned
off the room lights and they saw for the first time that bloodstains had soaked
all the way through the cloth, but the image did not.

Right away they made a significant discovery. When viewed from the
front of the Shroud, both the image and the blood are seen clearly. But
when the light is shown through the back of the shroud, the bloodstains
are visible but the image is not.

This was something that nobody knew until that moment; which was proof
that the image could not be a painting or there would be a layer of paint
on the shroud which would show in transmitted light photography.

They also took samples with sticky tape; placing tape on the Shroud at specific locations then carefully removing these tapes and putting them onto glass slides for later study. With a photo-microscope, the team members could make a close study of the burns, “bloodstains” and the body image.

A long tilting metal table had been built upon which the linen Shroud was held by magnets and clamps so that the Shroud table could be turned on its side, and every inch of the Shroud could be photographed and examined closely under a microscope, without having to lean over the table.

They took pictures through a microscope to document important characteristics

of the Shroud.

Whereby it was discovered that the blood soaked through the cloth and was trapped in the crevices of the weaved cloth, but the yellow stain of the body image was found only on the top fibrils of the threads. Moreover, they reported that no pigment could be seen on the cloth, even under high magnification.

Barrie Schwortz, a Jewish photographer said that he was a total skeptic when he arrived. He figured that the Shroud was some kind of painting and that they would quickly determine that it was a fake and come back home. Barrie was convinced that the Shroud was not real, because all the bloodstains on the Shroud were still red as if they were fresh blood, and had not turned dark brown or black over the last 2,000 years.

Dr. Alan Adler, a world-renowned blood expert, who is also a Jew, found a large amount of bilirubin in the blood, consistent with someone dying under great stress or trauma, making the color of the dried blood red, instead of brown or black. He said: “People who have been tortured go into shock and the liver floods the bloodstream with bilirubin and the blood of that nature stays red forever.”

When a person is cruelly tortured, the blood undergoes a terrible hemolysis, when the hemoglobin breaks down, and the liver produces an enzyme called bilirubin. When this happens, the blood stays red forever. Which indicates that the man on the shroud suffered terrible torture. Dr. Alan Adler has discovered a very high quantity of this substance in the blood on the Shroud. It is this substance that, when mixed with methemoglobin of a certain type, produces that vivid red color. The color of the blood belonging to the ‘Man of the Shroud’ is chemical proof that, before dying, he suffered terrible torture.

One would expect the blood marks on the shroud to fade over time. But even today, anyone who views the Shroud with their naked eyes, attest to the visual predominance of the blood marks over the image.

Suddenly and unexpectedly Barrie realized that the last bit of evidence had come in, and Barrie had no choice but to accept that the Shroud was authentic. The man on the Shroud whoever he was, had been tortured, beaten, scourged, capped with a crown of thorns, crucified and speared in the heart between the 5th and the sixth ribs.

This burial cloth is a two-thousand-year-old document written in blood that precisely coincides with the four gospel accounts of what happened to Jesus. When it comes down to what tortures were applied to this man, everything that was mentioned in the gospels and the Old Testament prophecies are documented with forensic accuracy on this piece of cloth.

Professor Fanti says that the blood contained high levels of substances called creatinine and ferritin found in patients who suffer forceful traumas like torture. “Hence, the presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud.”

Pathologist Pierre Ballon found that the blood on the Shroud was human blood type AB, a very rare blood type. And they did thirteen tests that confirmed that there was human blood on the Shroud. The researchers concluded that: “The blood on the Shroud has remained red, and why it has not darkened by time and oxidation is unexplainable.”

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THEIR RESEARCH

The primary goal of the Shroud of Turin Research Project was “to determine the scientific properties of the image on the Shroud of Turin, and what might have caused it.” A team of over 40 scientists concluded that:

Only the top fibers on the threads were discolored to form the image of a naked crucified man.
“The Shroud is an image of a real human form of a brutally scourged and crucified man.
The bloodstains on the cloth are not artist’s pigment but are real blood.

The bloodstains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin.”
The bloodstains were applied to the cloth prior to the formation of the image.
Historians say the stains are consistent with crucifixion, including puncture wounds from a crown of thorns and scourge marks from a Roman whip.
A puncture wound in the man's side is consistent with a Roman lance. And the wound marks showing nail holes through the wrists and heels, which is consistent with Roman crucifixion.
Traces of stone dust, dirt, and pollen found on the front and back of the Shroud is proof that it comes from the Holy Land.
All attempts at forgery have failed to produce details of blood + discoloration.

Some skeptics will claim that an artist could have painted on the human blood found on the Shroud; but the blood experts who examined the blood on the burial cloth came to the conclusion that the blood on the Shroud is real human blood, that came from the actual wounds of the man on the burial cloth. The reason why the scientist say that the blood came from the actual wounds, is because what we see on the cloth is not whole blood, nor is it painted on blood, it is literally blood that has extruded from real wounds.

When someone is tortured as the Bible tells us that Jesus was during His crucifixion, the red blood cell walls are ruptured releasing hemoglobin into the body. The hemoglobin is quickly broken down creating high amounts of bilirubin, and the wounds begin to clot.

The Research Team discovered that all these wound stains on the shroud were made by these blood clot secretions, which could not have been faked; with extraordinarily high levels of bilirubin exactly consistent with the wounds and trauma of a man who had been scourged and crucified.

Then Barrie Schwortz took Ultraviolet fluorescent photographs of the Shroud that revealed evidence that was hidden from the naked eye for thousands of years. In these pictures, you can see all the clear serum halos around the bloodstains that were never visible until the Research Team took pictures for the first time of the burial cloth with UV fluorescent photography, approximately 2000 years after the man wrapped in the Shroud was killed.

The serum is the clear liquid component of the blood composed mostly of water. All these serum stains were not visible on the Shroud until the ultraviolet lights made them appear fluorescent.

No Medieval Artist could have anticipated the invention of Ultraviolet photography and put serum halos around all the bloodstains, so that thousands of years later people would discover them, and foolishly believe that all of the wounds on the body of the man in the Shroud were real. The mathematical probability that a medieval forger would have added the invisible detail of fluorescent halos around all the bloodstains on the shroud, in the anticipation of the eventual discovery of ultraviolet light in the future, is highly unlikely.

The scientist found real human blood components on the Shroud, bile, bilirubin, serum, hemoglobin, but most of the red blood cells were on the surface of the body forming blood clots. What you see on the Shroud is the oozing of the blood serum from real wounds. All the blood chemistry tests that have been done on the Shroud of Turin so far have resulted in absolute proof of its authenticity.

THE SHROUD IS THE REAL BURIAL CLOTH OF JESUS

Shroud is either the real burial cloth of Jesus Christ or it's a fake. If you don’t believe that it’s real, then what is it? If it’s not the burial cloth of Jesus, then it must be the ancient burial cloth of some other horribly tortured man, or it's just a total scam the work of a medieval forger.

The Shroud of Turin is either real or its a fake! And if it is a fake, then it must have been the work of some very talented and clever Master Artist. And if that’s the case, then there must be some kind of substance on the Shroud to account for the image. Some kind of chemical, paint, ink, dye, pigmentation, or stain on the image. We must be able to determine some kind of process by which this image was created if, in fact, we are to believe that the image was made by man, and not by God.

It is very important to underscore that all the testing that was done on the Shroud in 1978, proved that there is no physical trace of any kind of paint, ink, dye, pigmentation or stain on the image. There are no artistic substances or brush marks on the cloth, to account for the image. The chemistry behind why the image appears on the cloth is not because of some medieval artist.

THE ROMAN FLAG RUM

If you look at the body on the Shroud closely, you will see that there are a large number of scourge wounds from a Roman wipe, called a flag rum. The wipe had three noted leather strips with two small lead balls on each end of the wipe.

And if you look at the size of the led weights on the ends of leather strips, they match the wounds and the bloodstains of the man on the Shroud perfectly.

There were over 300 scourge wounds on the Shroud of Turin, and Jewish law limited the number of lashes to 40. You can see the scourge wounds all over the man’s back, his rear, and the back of his legs; and even the front of his chest and legs were covered with numerous tear wounds that were caused by the led weights tied to the ends of the wipe.

There were no scourge wounds on his face or arms, which means that he was most likely hung up off the ground, with his hands tied over his head, which would have made it easier to turn him around to wipe both sides of his body, making sure that they stayed below the face and arms.

Dr. Robert Bucklin, a Forensic Pathologist concluded: “The evidence of a scourged man, who was crucified and died of suffocation is clear cut. The markings on this body are so clear and so medically accurate that they are in my opinion beyond dispute.”

HIS FACE WAS BEATEN AND HIS BEARD PULLED OUT

"As many were astonished at Thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isaiah 52:14

If you look at his face you can also see that both eyes are swollen shut, and the left cheek is more swollen than the right, most likely because the men punching him in the face were right-handed.

Isaiah 50:6 “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

Matt 26:67 - Then they spat in His face and beat Him, and others struck Him with the palms of their hands.

Matthew 26: 63-66, “And the high priest answered and said to Jesus, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, (the Messiah) the Son of God. Jesus said to him, Thou hast said; nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Then the high priest rent his clothes saying, He has spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said He is guilty of death.

Then they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands saying, "Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?”

Luke 22:63-64 “Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him; and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying "Prophesy, who is the one who hit you?”

The Crown of Thorns

If you look at the face on the Shroud you will see bloodstains from the crown of thorns, which was beaten down onto the top of Jesus’ head with a stick.

And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. And said, Hall, King of the Jews! And they smote Him with their hands. (John 19:2,3)

Jesus Stabbed In The Heart

If you look at his left side below his heart, you will see a large dark bloodstain and clear fluorescent serum stains, which are totally invisible in normal light but become visible with UV fluorescent photography.

On the left-hand side of the chest, there is a wound caused by a Roman lance that struck between the fifth and sixth rib and penetrated deeply through the heart and lung. The characteristics of this wound are important because they show that it was inflected after the death of the subject. The blood that spurted out of the wound is surrounded by a serious hallow which is topical of blood flowing out of a corpse, in which the serum and blood corpuscles have already separated.

On both arms, there are long bloodstains beginning at the wrist and flowing down to the elbow. Their direction in this picture seems to be wrong because they seem to be flowing uphill. But these are bloodstains formed when the arms were outstretched hanging on the cross.

If you look at the hands of the man in the Shroud, the nail holes were through the wrist and not in the palms of the hands, as they are depicted in so many Medieval and Renaissance paintings. Had they nailed Jesus through the palms of his hands, the nails would have ripped between the fingers, because the skin would not have been able to hold the weight of his body.

Zechariah 13:6 written: 487 BC (Before Christ)

"And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thy hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."

When they took Jesus down from the cross He was dead, and rigor mortis had already started to set in. His head was bowed down to his chest and both His knees were bent up in the air. And because the rigor mortis position of Jesus outstretched arms on the cross, His arms would have been pulled down in order to cross the hands to cover the pelvis. This could have resulted in what can be seen on the Shroud as a slight dislocation of the right elbow and shoulder.

In 1902 Yves Delage, a French professor of comparative anatomy declared the

image on the Shroud to be anatomically flawless; And argued that the features of

rigor mortis, wounds, and blood flows were evidence that the image on the Shroud

was formed by direct or indirect contact with a corpse.

JESUS' BODY WAS COVERED IN A LINEN BURIAL CLOTH

The Giulio Clovio painting below shows how Jesus was buried in a burial
cloth 2000 years ago. The entombment or burial using a burial cloth was
the custom in those ancient days. This shows how the images of both the
front and back views of Jesus’ body, ended up on the two halves of one
14 ft. 3" long cloth.

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

And Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Jesus by night; bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. Then they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the sepulcher was near at hand. John 19:38-42

They laid Jesus' body on top of a white linen sheet and then folded the sheet over the top of His body and around the sides and then tied linen strips around the body to hold the sheet on.

The Shroud was a 14 ft. 3" long and 3 ft. 7" wide, white linen sheet woven in a herringbone weave pattern that was placed under the body and folded in half over the head, covering the top and bottom of the entire body.

Then they wrapped the entire body like an Egyptian mummy with strips of linen with perfume, spices, and flowers inside to make it smell nice, which was the burial custom of the Jews. The scientists have succeeded in identifying 28 species of plants that grow in the Land of Israel among the images of flowers that appear on the shroud. All of them grow in the area between Jerusalem and Jericho, and most are spring flowers that were apparently picked during the period of the crucifixion between March and April. "This combination of flowers can be found in only one region of the world," they said. "This evidence clearly points to a floral grouping from the area surrounding Jerusalem."

When they took Jesus down from the cross rigor mortis had already started to set in, His head and knees were bent and the bottom of one of His feet was flat on the linen-cloth leaving an imprint of the bottom of His foot on the Shroud. And it looked as if the left foot had been placed on top of the right foot, with only one nail or spike through both feet.

But discovered in 1968, were the remains of an iron spike (11.5cm) which was still embedded in the victim’s right heel bone–indicating that nails were not only put through the bony front of the feet–as portrayed in countless paintings, but from the side of the foot, through the heel bone. This would fulfill the prophecy Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall crush thy head and thou shalt crush his heel.”

This would allow the feet to rotate, so that the victim could push up and down on the cross in order to breathe during the crucifixion. When the crucified victim stops pushing up and down with their feet, then it was clear that they were dead. The soldiers had no doubt that Jesus had stopped breathing, but they stabbed Him in the heart with a spear to be absolutely sure He was dead.

I am convinced after researching this subject feather on my own, that the Shroud is authentic and that God the Father purposely left this burial cloth behind, to stand up in any courtroom, as 100% irrefutable first-hand evidence of all the wounds and suffering that Jesus had received at the hands of evil men; And how on the 3rd day Jesus rose from the dead.

When Jesus rose from the dead, there was a bright flash of light and His body rose straight up through the burial cloth and the linen wrappings. This flash of light etched thinly onto the burial cloth a perfect three-dimensional image of Jesus’ face and His entire body both front and back. God left behind the Holy shroud as evidence for all to see the pain and suffering that Jesus went through, and so that no one would have any excuse for not believing that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of many.

The Shroud is a picture snapshot of the moment that Jesus rose up from the dead. This 3D picture of Jesus’ entire body, stands as a 100% accurate and totally complete historical record, of all the wounds that Jesus suffered during his arrest, trial and crucifixion. This is evidence that Jesus has left behind for the world to see, throughout all the ages, so that the atheist and skeptics can examine the evidence more closely for themselves, and decide whether they believe or not.

THE FORENSIC EVIDENCE MATCHES THE DESCRIPTIONS IN THE BIBLE

There are 30 things, that the man on the burial cloth has in common with Jesus.

The Heel has been struck through with a spike.
The man has a strong body of a carpenter, or construction worker.
The man has a beard.
Part of the bear has been pulled out.
The right cheek and eye are badly beaten and swollen.
Also, the left cheek, eye, and nose are swollen.
The body is wiped all over with scourge marks.
Puncture wounds around and on top of his head.
Hands are nailed through the wrist.
The body has been stripped naked of all cloths.
The man had long hair, a beard, and a ponytail.
Legs are not broken.
A Post Mortem spear wound in the heart.
His back has been ripped to shreds.
Indentation marks on shoulders from carrying the cross.
The stomach is swollen; showing the cause of death was suffocation.
Blood and Water came out separately from the side wound.
Evidence of vinegar on linen.
The body was wrapped in a white linen sheet.
No evidence of any decomposition of the body on the burial cloth.
There are mineral deposits on the back of the Shroud that match the stone in the garden tomb.
Rare calcite from tombs around Damascus Gate on Shroud.
Pollens from Israel and Jerusalem found on the Shroud.
Pollens from Turkey where the Shroud was kept.
Pollens from the plant used to make the crown of thorn on the Shroud.
Evidence of a head cloth found in Spain.
The body was wrapped with linen strips and spices.
The Dimensions of the Shroud are in cubits.
Trace evidence of myrrh and aloes on the Shroud.
Man is 5’ 11” Garden Tomb is 6’ft.

LIMESTONE PARTICLES FROM THE TOMB

Why would we be interested in knowing which tomb Jesus was buried in? Where is the real tomb of Jesus?

Many Catholics believe that Jesus’ tomb is beneath the church of the Holy Sepulcher inside the city of Jerusalem.
Many Protestants and Baptists believe that it is the Garden Tomb unearthed in 1867 adjacent to the rocky escarpment called the place of the Skull; which is north of the Damascus Gate, just outside the city.
A tomb on the Mount of Olives was also believed to be the burial place of Jesus during the late 19th century.

In 325 AD Helena the mother of Constantine the Great, claimed to have found the True Cross and the tomb of Jesus which is now supposedly under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Helena’s choice of the tomb sight was based on a vision that she received from God.

There is strong opposition against any proposed alternative site because for the last 17 hundred years the Church has been making millions of dollars off of thousands of Christian tourists making their pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, based on the tradition and the stories of Helena about where Jesus' tomb is.

If the Shroud of Turin is the real burial cloth of Jesus Christ, then the stone dust on the back of the shroud should match the traces of stone dust found inside the garden tomb where Jesus was buried.

Wouldn't it make sense to try to match the stone dust on the back of the Shroud, with the stone dust in the tomb; so you could know with 100% certainty, the exact tomb where Jesus was buried? Also, a match like this would prove without a shadow of a doubt that the image of the man on the Shroud could have only been Jesus Christ, because no one else before or after Him, has ever been buried in the garden tomb.

Microscopic particles of a rare Travertine Aragonite Limestone are all over the back of the Shroud, which is the same exact kind of limestone dirt that is found in ancient tombs around Jerusalem, and nowhere else known on planet earth.

Joseph Kohlbeck, an optical crystallographer, found particles of aragonite with small amounts of strontium and iron on the Shroud's fibers. With the help of archaeologist Eugenia Nitowski, he obtained samples of limestone from inside ancient tombs in and near Jerusalem and subjected them to microscopic analysis. The aragonite on the Shroud and in the tombs was an uncommon variety deposited from springs, typically found in limestone caves in Palestine, but not in Europe. The samples from the Shroud and the tomb that provided an unusually close match showed that the Shroud had once been in one of the rolling stone tombs that were common in Palestine around the time of Christ and for several centuries before that.

Kohlback observed, that those who believe that the Shroud is a forgery, need to explain how the very rare aragonite found its way to the surface of the shroud? The limestone on the shroud was almost the same as the limestone sample from the Damascus gate, which is the closest gate to Golgotha. This means that the man whose image is on the burial shroud, was a Jewish male who walked around Jerusalem before being crucified.

Dr. Ricardo Levi Setty a Professor in Physics at the Enrico-Fermi institute at Univ. Chicago used Hi-resolution ion probe analysis to compare the dirt (Travertine Aragonite Limestone dust particles) found on the back of the Shroud with samples taken from Jerusalem tombs around the Damascus Gate, and it was a match!

They also found particles of calcite on the foot area of the Shroud. Now calcite is the common ingredient in road dirt, and they found these calcite particles on only two places on the Shroud; the knees and the feet. This would be expected from someone who walked in sandals and fell on His knees several times from carrying the heavyweight of the cross.

In 1986 researchers took several samples from 9 locations around Israel. But the only sample that had the same chemical signature as the calcite on the Shroud, matched the sample of dirt taken at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, close to where Jesus was crucified.

The limestone found in the garden tomb where Jesus was buried is a special type of limestone which is only found in ancient tombs in Jerusalem and nowhere else in the world. It is called Travertine aragonite. Two American scientists, Joseph Kolbeck and Richard Levy Seti found that there were traces of this very rare limestone on the nose of the shroud, the left kneecap, and both heels; And they claim that this proves that the Shroud of Turin was definitely in Jerusalem because they don't know anywhere else on planate earth, where travertine aragonite can be found.

But how do we go about finding the real tomb where Jesus was buried? If we can figure out where Jesus was crucified outside of the city, the Bible says that the Garden Tomb was nearby. Should we trust Constantine's mother who claims to have received a vision from God? Or should we trust the New Testament and the eyewitness accounts of the early apostles who describe the crucifixion site; and what the garden tomb with a large rolling stone in front of it, looked like. And its exact location outside of the city wall, near to the Damascus gate.

Mark 15:22, “And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted, the place of a skull.”

Luke 23:33, “And when they came to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” Calvary is a Latin name which means Skull.

John 19:17 “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha.” All three Apostles identify the place where Jesus was crucified as being called the “Place of a Skull.”

1. THEY FOUND JESUS' CRUCIFIXION SITE, TOMB, AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT BURIED UNDER A TRASH PILE AT GOLGOTHA.

Click here: http://arkofthecovenant2.blogspot.com

A man by the name of General C. Gordon in 1883 discovered Golgotha the place where Jesus was crucified, called the place of the Skull, and the garden tomb nearby. And in his book, he says: "The Ark, I suspect is in Jeremiah's grotto. The Jews have a tradition that the Ark is under the Dome of the Rock, but I think it is under the true Alter, the Skull, where tradition places Jeremiah's writing of Lamentations."

In August of 1978, Ron Wyatt was given permission by the Israeli Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem, to dig down in front of the Skull mountain cliff face, where Jesus was Crucified; looking for an entrance to a cave that would lead to the Ark of the Covenant.

There as he was digging down to the quarry floor he found four cross holes; one on the top ledge, and three more in a row about 4 ft. below it.

In the Gospel of Matthew, it mentions that there was an earthquake at the cross when Jesus died. Matt: 27: 50-51. “ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold the vale of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.

Ron could see where a large earthquake crack had run down the mountain and through the right side of the cross hole and down through 20 ft. of solid rock to where the Ark of the Covenant was later be discovered hidden in Jeremiah's cave directly below the cross.

The New Testament tells us some of the things that happened but not everything. When a Roman soldier took his lance and pierced Jesus in the heart between the 5 and 6th ribs; and blood and water came gushing out of His side; running down His legs and feet, into the cross hole, and down into the earthquake crack; sprinkling onto the Mercy set of the Ark of the Covenant.

God knew before He laid the foundations of the earth, that His only begotten son “Jesus Christ” would have to suffer and die on the cross to pay for the sins of many. God had hid the Ark of the Covenant right under the Golgotha Escarpment, 600 years before the crucifixion.

What does David and Goliath have to do with Jesus dying on the cross at Golgotha?

Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath, however many are not aware of what happened next. 1 Samuel 17:53-54 “And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.”

Now the battle between David and Goliath took place in the Valley of Kayla, which was almost 20 miles from Jerusalem. Why would David carry Goliath’s head all the way to Jerusalem, and what did he do with it when he got there?

It was a common practice for a king to decapitate the head of his enemy, and then stick it on a pole high on a hill, where many people could see it. The fact that David brought Goliath’s head to Jerusalem was quite an astonishing fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. But where in Jerusalem did David take Goliath’s head?

One clue is a link between the name Goliath of Gath, and Golgotha. The name of Goliath of Gath is a name derived from the two words “Gola Gatha.” One can say fairly confidently, that David took the head of Goliath (the head of the serpent), and put it on the end of a pole, and lifted the pole high up in the air for all to see. And after the birds had picked off all the flesh, David buried the skull on the top of a hill in Jerusalem, a place called Golgotha; still known today as "the place of the skull."

“And the Philistine said to David; Come to me and I will give they flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beast of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all the assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.”

“And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose and came to draw nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it and smote the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou came to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron.

And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.”

When David took Goliath’s head back to Jerusalem it would have been considered unclean and against Jewish law to bring a stinking rotting head into the city. The head had to be buried somewhere outside of the city, as gentiles (non Jews) were considered unclean. This would indicate that the area where Goliath’s head was buried was not then included within the city walls, as the dead were always buried outside the city. The head of Goliath was a trophy of war and would have been displayed on a high hill just outside of the city gates, overlooking Jerusalem, so that God’s people could look up and see God’s enemy has been vanquished.

David is a type of Christ. His prophetic victory over Goliath in battle is similar to the crushing death-blow that Jesus would give to the devil 600 years later in the future when He would die on the cross at Golgotha.

David killed Goliath with one stone. This stone is a symbol of one of God’s greatest commandments, called the golden rule. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Care about your neighbor as you care about yourself.” If you keep this one commandment you’ve kept them all. And Love is the power that destroys all evil.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call His Name JESUS.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also That Holy Thing Which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.``

Goliath was one of the giants which were born as a result of the fallen angels having sex with the earthly women. Goliath, who was of the Lineage of Cain, was ⅔’s angel and 1/3rd human, and was a genetic mutation of God’s perfect creation of man, whom He had made in the image and likeness of himself. Goliath represented pure evil, the “seed (children) of the serpent.” He was one of the super soldiers that the devil and his fallen angels had sired, with the goal of destroying God’s righteous (seed) from off the face of the earth, so that the promised Messiah could never be born.

God has recently revealed that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden in a cave directly below the cross of Jesus the Messiah, the King of the Jews. At the moment Jesus gave up the Ghost, the earth shook violently, and the ground cracked open, and the blood from Jesus’ side flowed downward his legs and feet and into the cross hole, and dripping on to the Mercy Set of the Ark of the Covenant, that God the Father had told Jeremiah to hid there 600 years before Christ died on the cross.

JESUS WAS “THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

Thus fulfilling the prophecy that Jesus was the lamb slain before God laid the foundations of the earth. He was the Messiah, the promised seed of Eve's that would be pierced in the heel, while crushing the head of the Serpent. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall crush thy head and thou shalt crush his heel.”

God declared his promise that from Eve would come a Seed who would crush the head of the serpent, and the serpent shall crush his heel.

Goliath was a giant super soldier that would come out every day and mock God. He had a helmet of brass, and a coat of mail made of five thousand shekels of brass rings. And he had shields of brass upon his legs, and a breastplate of brass between his shoulders. (1 Samuel 17:5,6).

This might cause a light to go on in your head. Because, the word for bronze, nehoshet, sounds similar to the word for serpent, nehesh. Brass looks like gold when it's shiny, but when it starts to weather and gets tarnished; it starts to show its true color, a slimy green, like the scales of a snake or fish.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make thee a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.’ So Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole. And it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. ” -Numbers 21:8-9

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” -John 3:14-15

This battle was not merely about the Philistines and Israelites; it was about who would rule over all the heavens and the earth: the Serpent or YHWH! And now comes David, not with Serpent armor or weapons but with powerful declarations: “this day YHWH will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head” (1 Samuel 17:46).

David, like Moses, put the head of the serpent on a pole and raised it up high in the air for everyone to see; And as many as have sinned, (been bitten by the deadly serpent, shall die); For the penalty of sin is death. But if we repent of our sins, and ask God to forgive us; and believe in what Jesus’ death on the cross and the sprinkling of His innocent blood on the mercy seat has done for us; God’ wrath and His Judgment shall pass over us, and we shall be saved.

For more information see:arkofthecovenant2.blogspot.com – Kevin

THE BIGGEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY EVER MADE

This Blood is Alive! Who’s Blood is this? It is the Blood of your Messiah! Click here: https://youtu.be/Wi2eFjnPQqY

The Ark of the Covenant was found, and the Blood of Jesus was Tested in a Laboratory, and the Results will Blow your Mind. The lab confirmed that the blood on the Mercy Seat was from Someone who had only 1 human parent. There were no paternal chromosomes, only 1Y chromosome. Jesus was God’s only begotten Son, just as He said He was.

Therefore the LORD Himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (which means, “God with us.”)

For unto us a child is born, unto us son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The main evidence that conclusively authenticates the Shroud of Turin against the naysayers who claim that it is a Medieval fake or a forgery, is the blood and DNA of Jesus Christ, which is a match with type AB positive blood found on the Shroud, head-cloth, and the Ark of the Covenant.

1 John 5:8-9 “And there are three that bear witness on the earth. The Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son.”

In 1989 the Ark of the Covenant was found in a cave 20 ft. below where Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, at a place called the Skull. When Jesus died, the witnesses testified that there was a great earthquake; And you can see even to this very day, how a large crack ran down the mountain and through the right side of the cross hole, and down through 20 ft. of solid rock. They proved this, by pushing a tape measure up through the earthquake crack in the rock above the Ark of the Covenant and into the bottom of the cross hole.

And when a Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus' heart to make sure He was dead. Blood and Water came gushing out His side and down His body and into the cross hole and dripped onto the Ark of the Covenant, which had been hidden there just before the Babylonian army destroyed the City of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

When they took samples of Jesus’ blood and had it tested, it only has 24 chromosomes; everybody else in the world has 46. You get 23 from your Mother and 23 from your father. 22 autosomes from your Mother, 22 autosomes from your father. You get an X from your mother and an X or Y from your father.

Jesus’ blood has 23 chromosomes from His mother’s side and only one Y chromosome from God His Father.

“THE SUDARIUM OF OVIEDO”

When a person is crucified and the arms are lifted above the head, the lungs slowly start to fill with fluid, and the person has to keep pushing themselves up with their feet so they can breathe. This is why it was a common practice after being several hours on the cross, that the soldiers would break the legs of their victims so that they would die before nightfall. It was against the law to leave a dead body hanging on a tree overnight.

Before they would take a dead man down off the cross, they would wrap a cloth around the head to catch any blood and water that might come running out of the nose and mouth as they were moving the body.

When they would take a person down from the cross and lay the body down flat on the ground, once the weight and pressure of the body were released from the chest muscles and lungs, blood and fluid would start to spurt out of the nose and mouth. This is why the head cloth was used to catch the blood, which in Jewish law was considered to be sacred because God said: “The life of the body is in the blood.” The Romans who did crucifixions all the time knew this, and it was a standard procedure to wrap a cloth around the head before taking someone down from the cross.

Antonio Alonso from the National Institute of Forensic Science and Toxicology has analyzed blood samples from the head-cloth which is called “the Sudarium of Oviedo” in 2007, to see if the blood type and DNA matches, to establish a connection between the head cloth and the Shroud of Turin.

When scientists ran tests on the blood taken from the Ark of the Covenant, the head-cloth, and the Shroud of Turin, they were able to identify the human mitochondrial DNA from the Mother, but “no paternal DNA, which is to say that the blood is missing half of its Y chromosomes from the Father; There is no detectable DNA from an earthly father.

A video was produced by National Geographic called “The Blood of Christ.” The National Geographic filmmakers took a sample of the blood to a laboratory in a quest to determine whether it holds Christ’s DNA. And in a most chilling discovery, they found that the blood contains no evidence of a Father’s DNA. This means that all of Jesus’ physical characteristics came from His mother's side of the family. His maleness was determined by the one Y chromosome that came from God the Father through the Holy Spirit, not from a human male, and this one Y chromosome gave Jesus all His Godly attributes and His Father’s sinless blood. For we know that the child always inherits the blood of the father.

One of the reasons I believe that the blood is still red on the Shroud of Turin is because the Blood is still Alive! God the Father said that none of Jesus’ body, which includes his blood, would see decay. Jesus Blood is still Alive to this very day and has everlasting life. The Shroud is the True "Holy Grail," with Jesus' blood still in it; not some gold or wooden cup. Its Jesus' blood that can give you everlasting life.

The Shroud is the true Holy Grail that contains the Blood of Jesus Christ. This blood which has everlasting life is what the Knights Templar throughout the centuries were always searching for! The blood is not inside a gold cup but has soaked into the fabric of the Shroud.

Acts 13:37 "He whom God raised up saw no corruption."

“Golgotha” is a Hebrew name, which translated into English means (place of the Skull). In English, we call the place where Jesus was Crucified, “Cavalry” which is a Latin name which means Skull.

THE GARDEN TOMB

“Now in the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden, a new sepulcher, wherein was never a man yet laid. There laid they, Jesus, therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” John 19:41+42.

In 1867 a man bought some land along the skull-faced hill. He wanted to dig a large cistern “storm drain” to collect rainwater, so he could cultivate a garden in this area. As he excavated down along the cliff face, he reached the floor of the old quarry bedrock, a level that dated back to the time of Jesus. And here he unearthed an old tomb very close to the Skull Hill crucifixion site.

Near to the tomb, they also found a large cistern and a wine press on the property that was already there, which confirms the biblical account that the area was used as a garden during Jesus’ time. This large cistern cut out of solid rock could hold 1 million liters of rainwater, about 264,000 gals. of water. It measures 29 ft. Wide, by 65 ft. long and 31 ft. deep.

In the Garden tomb area, they also found an ancient winepress. This is
one of the largest in Israel, which is proof that a very large vineyard must
have been in this area in the past for a winepress of this size to be in use.

The Winepress

“Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and
in the garden a new sepulcher in which no one had yet been laid.
There laid they, Jesus, therefore because of the Jews’ preparation
day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” John 19:41-42

“And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock,
and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.”Mark 15:46

In front of this tomb is a trough for a large stone to roll in front of the tomb
entrance. At the right-hand side of the trough is a large block of stone that
would stop the stone and prevent it from rolling too far to the right.

You can see that there is a cut in the side of the cliff face that matches the shape and diameter of the round stone that was used to roll in front of the tomb. The Bible describes a tomb hewn out of a rock in a garden nearby, and that it was the tomb made for a rich man named Joseph of Arimathaea, who besought Pilate that he might take Jesus’ body down from the cross and place him in the tomb. (Matt. 27:57-60).

John 19:17-18 “And He bearing His cross, went out to a place called the "Place of a Skull," which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: Where they crucified Him and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the mist.”

The Roman historian Quintilian wrote, "Whenever we crucify criminals, VERY CROWDED HIGHWAYS are chosen, so that many shall see it and maybe moved by fear of it because all punishment does not pertain so much to revenge as to EXAMPLE."

This meant that Jesus would have been crucified along the road going around the bottom of the cliff face, and not on the top of the hill as depicted in many Medieval paintings. The Romans crucified people at major road intersections, not on hard to reach hilltops; because they wanted the people to see the victims close up, and to be able to read the signs listing their crimes.

Pilate had placed three signs above Jesus’ head written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew describing the crime for which Jesus was being crucified. “An inscription also was written ABOVE Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Jesus was crucified just outside the Damascus Gate, at a major intersection of the east-west roads that run just north of Jerusalem. This was precisely the type of location where the Romans liked to crucify rebels and criminals so that their blood-chilling cries and their slow agonizing death could be seen and heard by hundreds of people traveling in and out of the city. They wanted to frighten all those who may be planning to rebel against the Roman Government in the future.

Matthew 27:39-40 "Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him ."(Mark 15:29-32)

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." (Psalm 22:7,8)

Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Heb. 13:12

During the Roman occupation of Israel, the Romans crucified hundreds of men; thus some people have argued that there is no real proof that the man seen in the Shroud is really Jesus. This argument doesn’t really hold up. You could take a hundred dead bodies of men, all scourged and crucified like Jesus; pour myrrh and aloes over the bodies, and wrap them in linen; And you will never get an image like the one on the burial cloth of the Shroud of Turin. Why, because Jesus was the only man to rise from the dead in the blazing flash of white light and in the full glory of His heavenly body.

The scientists who have tested the Shroud, have established one very important Forensic fact; That wrapping of a dead body in a linen burial cloth will not leave a 3D image behind, like the one found on the Shroud. The only image that you might have left behind on a burial cloth would be the blood and decomposition stains as a result of the rotting bodies contact with the cloth; there is not going to be a thin 3D picture of the front and back of the entire body, with all its wounds and bloodstains.

Beyond any reasonable doubt, the man in the Shroud is Jesus. How many other dead bodies in the world have left a photographic 3D image behind on a burial cloth as a result of making contact with it? NONE!

The calculated odds that there was another crucified man with a crown of thorns, and all the same physical features and wounds as Jesus, and that Jesus Christ is not the man seen in the Shroud, is about 1 in 282 Billion Chance.

Isaiah 52:14,15 “As many were astonished at Thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that which had not been told them shall they see. And that which they had not heard shall they consider.”

Isaiah 50:6 “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

Isaiah 53:4-12 “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep, before her shearers are dumb (silent), so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Psalm 22:14to18. “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”

John 19:28-42 “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. Now there was a set a vessel full of vinegar, and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the vinegar he said, it is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

Therefore the Jews because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true, that ye might believe.

For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, "A bone of him shall not be broken." And again another scripture says: "They shall look on him whom they pierced."

THE BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave.

He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred-pound weight. Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen cloth with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the Garden, a New Tomb wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they, Jesus, therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the Sepulcher was near at hand.”

Acts 2:31,32 “He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”

The forensic pathologists that examined the Shroud said: “The wounds of the man on the burial cloth were flawless and unfakeable. The blood follows toward gravity in every instance, and the bloodstains leaving perfect pictures of blood clots, with a concentration of red corpuscles around the edge of the clot and a tiny area of serum inside.”

“If you eliminate all the possibilities whatever remains no matter how improbable it is, is most likely the truth. The simplest answer is most likely the correct one.” Barrie Schwortz’s final conclusion was that the Shroud could only be the authentic burial cloth of the historic Jesus.

What we can all see with our own eyes is the image of Christ's whole body both front and back on the Shroud, which is really credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really existed in history, and was the innocent lamb slain on a cross, to pay for the sins of many.

The wounds from the crown of thorns; the parts of the beard that had been torn out; and the spear wound in the heart, between the 5th and the 6th rib; and a large amount of blood and clear serum that came streaming out of his side has been proven both chemically and immunologically by scientists, to be real human blood on the Shroud.

These things are all crucial evidence in trying to identify the man in the Shroud. The exact nature and location of the wounds and the fact that they were, without doubt, inflicted on a living person, and could not have been faked. For example around the top of His head, there are at least 30 blood flows from thorn punctures.

Matt 27:28-30 “And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand.

And they bowed the knee before him, and mock him saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.”

There is no question to the fact that the Shroud is the burial cloth of a man that was crucified. The numerous scourge marks to the front and back of the body; the many puncture wounds on top and around the head certainly caused by something like a “crown of thorns.”

Only Jesus Christ was mocked as being the King of the Jews, and given a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns to wear. There were 30 puncture wounds around and on top of the head, from a thistle plant that was identified by the pollens which were found on the Shroud and grows only in Jerusalem.

If you look at the face cloth that was draped around the head before bringing the body down off the cross, you can see the puncture holes left in the cloth by the crown of thorns.

The scientist also tested the AB positive blood type that was found on the head cloth with the Shroud of Turin and it was a match, and the blood has only 24 chromosomes instead of 46.

POLLENS FOUND ON THE SHROUD PROVE ITS ORIGIN

Dr. Max Frei a Swiss Criminologist, identified pollen spores of 58 different plants, 38 that originate only in Israel and around Palestine, and 17 from the countries where the Shroud had been on display in Italy, France, Turkey, and in the middle east, which include the ancient cities of Constantinople and Edessa.

20 of the pollens found on the Shroud exist only in Jerusalem and nowhere else in the world. 14 other types of pollen on the Shroud are unique to Israel, 8 of which grow in the Judaea desert, in the Dead Sea area. The most common pollen found on the Shroud was Gundelia Tournefortii from the crown of thorns.

27 of the pollens found on the Shroud, float in the air in the Spring, which is evidence of the time of year when the Jewish Passover and Christ’s death and resurrection took place.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SHROUD

In 33 AD one of the disciples of Jesus brings the Shroud to Edessa Turkey and cures King Abgar of his leprosy and gout, and the shroud remains there to the year 944.

King Abgar of Edessa Turkey was afflicted with leprosy and gout. He had tried many doctors and medicines but to no avail. Then he heard stories about Jesus, and how He had worked many miracles in Jerusalem; so he sent his secretary with a letter to Jesus which said:

Abgar Ukkama,

To Jesus, the Good Physician,

Who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem.

My Lord: Peace.

I have heard of Thee and of Thy healing, that it is not by medicines and roots Thou heal, but by Thy word Thou openest the eyes of the blind, Thou makest the lame to walk, cleanest the lepers, and make the deaf to hear. And unclean spirits and lunatics, and those tormented, them Thou heal by Thy word; Thou also raises the dead. And when I heard of these great wonders which Thou doest, I decided in my mind that either Thou art God, who has come down from heaven and does these things, or Thou art the Son of God, who does all these things. Therefore, I have written to request of Thee to come to me who adore Thee and to heal the disease which I have, as I believe in Thee. This also I have heard, that the Jews murmur against Thee and persecute Thee, and even seek to crucify Thee, and contemplate treating Thee cruelly. I possess one small and beautiful city, and it is sufficient for both to dwell in it in quietness.

Then in 944 AD, a Byzantine Emperor sent an 80,000-man army to take the shroud from Edessa to Constantinople, which is now called “Istanbul.”

In 1204, Constantinople was looted of many of its priceless treasures by the French Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade and the shroud was taken to Athens, Greece and then carried overland to France.

For 100 years, the shroud remains hidden in the possession of the Knights Templar. Rumors about the order’s secret ceremonies claimed that novices had to deny Christ three times, spit on the cross. The Knights Templar claimed that their initiation ceremony involved spitting on the Cross because this was to prepare the initiates for having to do so if they were captured by the Muslim forces.

King Philip IV of France, who coveted the Templar's vast wealth and property, and owe them a lot of money, arrested its leaders and put pressure on Pope Clement V to dissolve the group.

During the trials, the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping idols, in particular a “bearded figure.” The object they had secretly been venerating was the Shroud. A young Frenchman who entered the Knights Templar in 1287, testified that as part of his initiation he was taken to a secret place to which only the brothers of the Temple had access. There he was shown “a long linen cloth on which was impressed the figure of a man,” and instructed to bow down to the image and kiss its feet three times.

Pope Clement V had accepted that the Templars were guilty of “grave sins,” such as their enormous wealth, vast properties, corrupt banking practices, and sexual immorality, but he absolves the Knights Templar leadership from the charges of heresy brought against them by the inquisition. But nonetheless several Knights including the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake.

Dr. Barbara Frale a researcher in the Vatican Secret Archives, wrote in the Vatican newspaper L’ Osservator Romano: That the Knights Templars were an “orthodox Christian organization,” that would not commit idolatry by kissing the feet of an image unless they believed with a high degree of certainty that it was an image of Jesus.” This is a very important piece of history.

When Pope Clement V disbanded the Knights Templars in 1307, the Church seized more than 9,000 properties, farms and commercial ventures belonging to knights.

In 1355 the widow of one of the French Knights Templars Geoffroi de Charny had the shroud put on displayed in a church at Lirey, France. The Knights Templars believed that the Shroud was the burial cloth that wrapped the Lord Jesus Christ, after His death.

In 1453 the Savoy family bought the shroud in exchange for one of their castles in Varambon, France. The new owner, Anne of Cyprus, Duchess of Savoy, stored it in the Savoyard capital of Chambéry in the newly built Saint-Chapelle. Then it was brought to Torino Italy in the late 16th century, and it has been housed in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy since 1578.

In 1532 the shroud suffered damage from a fire in the chapel where it was stored. A drop of molten silver from the reliquary produced a symmetrically placed mark through the layers of the folded cloth. Poor Clare nuns attempted to repair this damage with patches. Some have suggested that there was also water damage from the extinguishing of the fire. In 1578 the shroud arrived again at its current location in Turin. It was the property of the House of Savoy until 1983, when the Duke of Savoy died and Willed the shroud to the Catholic Church.

In 2002 the Holy See had the shroud restored. The cloth backing and thirty patches were removed. This made it possible to photograph and scan the reverse side of the cloth, which had been hidden from view.

The Pollen evidence on the Shroud starts in Jerusalem, and then it goes to Edessa Turkey. There are 9 plants from Turkey on the shroud, going from Edessa to Constantinople.

Then it is captured by the Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and it was carried back to France overland through Northern Greece, through Romania and Hungary, and into France; and low and behold by an incredible coincidence, there are pollens from Romania and Hungary on the Shroud of Turin, then the pollen trail goes into France and then to Turin Italy.

Here is the million-dollar question? What other burial cloth in the world, has a 3D picture of the front and back of the naked body, of a brutally beaten man who was scourged, crucified, speared in the heart, given a crown of thorns on his head, with road dirt from the Damascus Gate on the bottom of the footprint on the shroud, rock dust on the back of the shroud from the garden tomb.

And a pollen trail that starts in Jerusalem then travels to Edessa Turkey where there are 9 pollens of plants found on the shroud that grow only in the region between Edessa and Constantinople Turkey. And pollens found from Northern Greece, Romania, Hungary, France, and Turin Italy? The answer to the question is none!

A THREE DIMENSIONAL IMAGE

The image on the Shroud shows a 3D image of all the wounds on the body of a man who was crucified. The question is, was this crucified man Jesus Christ as many people believe, or was this just another man who was tortured and crucified during the First Century days of the Romans, in the exact same way as Jesus?

The shroud is the most studied artifact in all of human history. All attempts to duplicate the images have failed. There are many ancient linen burial cloths in existence, some of which bear bloodstains and stains from the body’s decomposition, but none of them bear an image of a person. Clearly, the Shroud of Turin is a unique object that has yet to yield all its secrets. Scientists still struggle to answer the question of what exactly formed the image of Jesus on the linen.

Researching the image on the Shroud is like studying the Scriptures. No matter how much you think you know about the subject, every day we are learning something new. The secrets that are hidden within the Bible and the Shroud are never-ending. The Shroud image appears to have been created by a bright light of radiation that may have lasted for only a fraction of a second.

I believe that the body of Jesus, in the full brightness and glory of His heavenly body, rose up from the dead, through the Shroud leaving His full-body image on the burial cloth, which was left lying flat on the slab with His image inside the cloth as proof of His suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead.

WHAT DID THEY SEE?

Early on Sunday morning while it was still dark out, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found the stone was rolled aside from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and me "John" and said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Mary Magdalene's first conclusion was that someone had stolen the body out of the tomb. So then the story continues: "We ran to the tomb to see; I outrun Peter and got there first, and stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloths lying there; but I didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went on inside. He also noticed the cloths lying there... Then I went in too and saw, and believed!"

What did John Believe? Did he believe that Jesus rose from the dead as He had promised He would? Or did he just believe that something unusual had just happened, but he didn't fully understand what it was?

John knew one thing Jesus' body was no longer in the tomb and His linen Shroud was left lying there in the exact same place as it was on Friday night when they buried Him. Nothing moved, it was as if the body had risen up through the cloth, and the 100 pounds of spices and mummy wrappings collapsed in on themselves, and were left behind lying on the table stone.

Think about this for a moment. If Peter and John ran into the tomb and saw that the linen cloths had been unwrapped from the body, rolled up in a ball, and thrown into a corner. What would they think? They would probably think that someone had stole Jesus' body; which is what Mary Magdalene though. But there was something unusual about the linen cloths and the way it was laying on the stone slab, which caused John the brother of James, to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.

John was one of the disciples who had helped to prepare Jesus' body for burial, covering both the front and back of the body with a 14 ft. 3" long white linen sheet, and then wrapping the body like a mummy, with white strips of linen cloth, with spices, perfume, flowers, and a mixture of myrrh and aloes, to make the body smell nice, which was the custom of the Jews.

"And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave.

He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred-pound weight. Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the manner of the Jews to bury.

Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the Garden, a New Tomb wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they, Jesus, therefore because of the Jews preparation day; for the Sepulcher was near at hand.” (John 19:38-42)

A good friend of Jesus named Lazarus was sick, and by the time Jesus arrived he was dead in the grave for four days. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesu said, take ye away the stone. Martha the sister of Lazarus said to Jesus, Lord by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days... Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth!

John 11:44
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose him, and let him go.

When Peter and John saw that Jesus' body had risen up through the shroud and the linen wrappings, John immediately believed that Jesus had risen from the dead; because of the collapsed linen clothes which were left behind lying on the slab.

If someone had secretly come to the tomb at night, rolled back the stone, and stole Jesus' body. Why would they take the time to unwrap a stinking rotting corpse, and then carry off a bleeding, naked body? With the tombstone being sealed, and several soldiers standing guard outside the tomb, they would have wanted to quickly snatch the body and run off with the mommy fully wrapped.

Matthew 27:62-66 "Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate saying; Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say to the people, He is risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."

If someone had stolen the body, then when Peter and John ran into the tomb, they would have found it empty with nothing inside.

There is significant evidence to show, that the shroud was not unwrapped from the body; because the dried bloodstains on the wounds have never been disturbed. If you were to put a white linen sheet over a dead bleeding body, with hundreds of scourge wounds; the blood would soak all the way through the cloth, and as it dried, the cloth would become glued to the body. If grave robbers had tried to unwrap Jesus' body with the dried blood stuck to it, the wounds would have started to bleed again, and the wounds on the image of the shroud would appear smeared, damaged, totally destroyed, and a bloody mess as a result of trying to remove the wrappings, and the white linen sheet from Jesus' body; but it's not!

The wounds would have been stuck to the cloth, hours after being wrapped in the white linen cloths. The blood would have coagulated, hardened, scabbed over. And as a result, if anyone had tried to quickly remove the burial cloth from the body, they would have torn open all of the wounds, and caused them to start bleeding again. The body retains blood in a liquid form for 3 or 4 days after death. So if any of the disciples had tried to unwrap Jesus' body, so that they could leave the burial shroud and the linen wrappings behind laying on the table, to make it look as if Jesus had risen from the dead. There would have been blood all over the place, and they would have had to run off with a torn naked body, that was a huge bloody mess. Touching a dead body, is not something that they would do on a Jewish holy day of the Passover.

Also within 30 hours of a person's death, liquid decomposition products appear on the surface of the body. There are no signs of decomposition on the Shroud. This indicates that the image was formed on the shroud, a short time after the blood had seeped into the cloth (after burial). The absence of bodily decomposition shows that the body was not in the cloth very long. This could be considered proof in favor of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

John 20: 5-8 “And he (John) stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then Simon Peter came following him went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then went in also the other disciple which came first to the sepulcher, and saw and believed."

1 Timothy 6:15 The King of Kings and Lord of Lords; who alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light.

In 1543 John Calvin wrote about the Shroud in his “Treatise of Relics.” He said that according to St. John, there was one sheet covering Jesus’s body, and a separate cloth covering his head. This is not true; St. John did not say that he saw one sheet covering Jesus’s body, and a separate cloth covering his head. He said: When he “went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

John Calvin then stated that “either St. John is a liar,” or else anyone who promotes such a shroud is convicted of falsehood and deceit.” John Calvin believed that since the shroud is all one piece it must be a fake.

If you examine the head cloth closely you will see that it has puncture marks in the cloth from being placed over the crown of thorns, and the shroud does not. Before they took Jesus’ body down from the cross, they wrapped the head cloth over the crown of thorns and around Jesus's face, to catch any blood that would come out of his nose and mouth when they started to move the body. After they had taken Jesus’s body down from the cross and carried His body to the nearby garden tomb, they would have removed the head cloth and the crown of thorns and set them to the side, before wrapping Jesus’s body in a white linen sheet. God said that the life of the body is in the blood, so the Jews believed that the blood on the face cloth was sacred, that's why it was folded nicely in a corner, and buried along with the body.

THE SHROUD IS A UNIQUE 3D IMAGE he Shroud

The Shroud is a very unique holographic 3D image, with dimension to it. There is nothing else like it. It is a three-dimensional relief, of both the front and the back of a whole human being. It’s the only one in the world, no other, nowhere, no how, no way! No one can figure out how it was made. No one has ever been able to duplicate it.

The white linen cloth acted as a film plate. The image is a high-resolution 3D image created by a flash of light, not heat. The shades of light and darkness on the shroud were created by the distance that the body parts were near or feather away from the linen. The linen sheet that was placed under the body and over the top of the body acted as a double-sided film plate. The body image is darker and clearer where it is closer to the linen film plate. The image fades the feather away the body parts are away from the linen cloth, creating a 3D effect.

Shades of light and darkness represent distance points on the Shroud of Turin; And where the cloth is closer to the body, the more linen fibers are colored; and as there is greater separation of the body from the cloth, less of the linen fibers are colored. These colored fibers represent the exact distance the cloth was from the body.

If you look at the back of the Shroud, you will see several burn marks, along with watermarks from when they throw water on the Shroud to put out the fire, and bloodstains; but you will not see the image of the man.

The image of the man appears only on the top two or three microfibers of the linen cloth facing the body. Each individual thread is made up of about 200 spun fibers, but the image resides on only the top 1 or 2 microfibers, which means less than 2% of a single thread.

The image is only on the top surface fibers of the cloth. These thread fibers are 1/10th the size of a human hair. These are the fibers that are twisted together to make the thread. If you look you will see that the fibers are individually colored. They bear the color that is the body of the image at that microscopic level. Notice that these fibers are not cemented together by any kind of paint. What the scientists observed is that the individual fibers of the shroud are colored. The fibers that bear the image are just on the surface, nothing has seeped into the cloth below. If the image is not a painting, Then someone must have subjected a real person to the horrors of beating, scourging, and crucifixion, and then raped the cloth around them. The Shroud is either a man who was crucified exactly like Jesus Christ, or it's Jesus Christ himself.

The image is “superficial,” which means that it is on only the top several thousands of an inch of the fibers. An individual thread is made up of 200 micro-fibers. And the image lays only on the top surface of one or two micro fibers. How could a 14th Century Artist do this? When we can’t even do this today?

There are many fibrils in each thread. And the bloodstained areas of the Shroud; the stains have soaked through all the fibers and all the strands of the thread, which is visible on the backside of the Shroud.

The image is only present on the top-most fibrils of the top most threads. It would not be physically possible for an Artist to apply any liquid paint, stain, or dye to the surface of the Shroud, without it cementing the fibers together when it dried, and soaking into the fibers below the surface.

Thereby we know for certain that the image could not have been formed by any kind of paint or liquid being applied to the surface of the cloth. If the image is not a medieval painting; then it must have been a real person who was crown with thorns, punched in the face, scourged, crucified, and stabbed in the heart. Then taking his dead, torn, and bleeding body, they wrapped it in a white linen cloth. This may have been a way for a medieval Artist to copy the bloodstains, but where did the faint image of Christ's naked body on the front and back of the cloth come from?

The Shroud of Turin features an anatomically accurate imprint of the physical features

of a crucified man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesus, both as described in

the passion narratives of the Gospels and in medieval portraiture. There is no doubt

that the Shroud contains real blood from an adult male wearing a cap of thorns who

has been crucified, nailed through the wrist, pierced with a Roman-style lance, and

whipped with a Roman-style flagrum.

THE VP8 IMAGE ANALYZER

The 3D image on the fibers is so detailed that when the image is placed under a VP8 analyzer, it shows exactly what this body looked like in 3D form, accurate to an mm. Each square mm. of the Shroud of Turin is mapped out like this. There are over one million different map points.

The VP8 image analyzer is a special computer used to make topographical maps of the Moon and other heavenly bodies. It was originally used by Military to analyze aerial photographs from Space. Engineer Peter Schumacher helped to develop the VP8. When Schumacher placed an ordinary photograph under the machine, it would display levels of brightness but revealed no 3D data. The machine couldn't decipher real height and depth to display a true 3D image.

But when an image of the shroud was placed under the machine what came up on the screen is unlike any other photograph that the machine has ever analyzed. Something remarkable happened; all of a sudden they were seeing a 3D image of the face and body. You could see all the contrast facial features represented by real distance high and depth. The nose has a prominence, the cheeks roll-off, His long hair has a shape to it, and you can see a ponytail on the back of His head. The whole image has dimensions to it. The results suggested that the Shrouds image had to be made by a real human body.

A forger from the middle ages would know nothing about Photography, or how to create a negative image, along with an invisible 3D image. This alone is enough evidence to baffle the mind of any skeptic, atheist, or non-believer. I think it would take a much greater stretch of the imagination, to believe that some Medieval Artist created the Shroud, than by God.

Only God the Father could have raised His Son from the dead with such a glorious light, that it left an image of His whole bruised and torn body on the burial cloth. No one has ever been able to duplicate this process.

One of the reasons why this 3D image is so significant is that it demonstrates that the burial cloth must have been wrapped around a real three-dimensional human body of Jesus Christ. No other burial cloth in the world has a picture of both the front and the back of a dead man’s body, especially one that has all the wounds from a Roman scourging and Crucifixion like this one does. This 3D image would not appear on the VP8 analyzer screen if some master artist had simply painted a two-dimensional image of a scourged, crucified man on a flat surface of a white burial cloth.

The evidence of the wounds of a crucified Man is all-consistent not only with a Roman Crucifixion but to the precise details of Jesus’ particular Crucifixion described in the 4 Gospels. The Scourging, the Crown of thorns beaten down into the skull, no broken bones, the nails in the wrist, the spear in the heart between the 5th and the 6th rib, and the stains from the blood and water that gushed out of his side.

The 3D image of Jesus’ body on the Shroud of Turin is invisible to the human eye; and for the last 2000 years, no one has had any idea that it even existed. Yet now it can be seen and its 3D information read by a VP8 analyzer machine. If the Shroud were a forgery created by some Medieval Artists, it would have totally failed this test.

This is absolutely incredible. There is no x-ray photo in the world that has distance information like the Shroud. No photograph, no hologram, no painting, no other image in the world that has distance points mapped out like there is on the Shroud of Turin.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the light radiating from every point of His body was like the flash of bright light from a nuclear bomb, leaving behind a shadow of the innocent persons who had died, etched into the ground, and on the walls, for all to see.

For the image to appear on the Shroud, there must have been a brilliant flash of light, with billions of tiny electrons of light, emanating from every point on Jesus' body, and making contact with the white linen cloth. The Shroud is a high-resolution image, caused by a bright light of solar radiation coming from Jesus’ body as He rose from the dead, up through the burial cloth.

Italian scientist Paolo DiLazzaro tried for five years to replicate the Shroud image and concluded that it was produced by ultraviolet light, but the ultraviolet light necessary to reproduce the Image exceeds the maximum power released by all ultraviolet light sources available today."

The time for such a burst "would be shorter than one forty-billionth of a second, and the intensity of ultraviolet light would have to be around several billion watts."

HE IS NOT HERE, HE HAS RISEN

Rising up through the Shroud, Jesus left behind a 3D image of His scourged and crucified body, so that everyone throughout all generations could see the evidence of His miraculous resurrection from the grave. "In the Shroud we see, as in a mirror the suffering of Jesus our Messiah."

Jesus did many miracles during his lifetime, among which He raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. Jesus also told His disciples before it happened, that He would be betrayed by one of them into the hands of evil men, and that they would scourge and crucify him, but on the third day, he would rise from the dead.

Matt 20:17to19 “And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way and said to them. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him, and the third day he shall rise again.”

Luke 24:6,7 He is not here, but is risen; remember how he spoke to you when he was yet in Galilee saying, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 John 5: 10-12 “He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself; he that believes not God has made him a liar because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son of God has not life.

John 3:33 “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

1 Corinthians 6:14 “Now God has not only raised the Lord but will also raise us up through His power.”

I Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep. For the Lord, himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Then we that are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

I Corinthians 15:3-8, 26 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; And that he was seen, of Cephas, then of the twelve; After that, he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me (Paul) also, as of one born out of due time.

I Corinthians 15:12-26 "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen; And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

THE IMAGE ON THE SHROUD IS DUE TO ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT

The conclusion of the Shroud of Turin Research Team: The Scientists who have examined the Shroud are convinced that it was not painted. “The answer to the question of how the image was produced, or what produced the image remains now as it has in the past, a mystery. We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The bloodstains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin.”

It is a scientific enigma. A piece of hand woven linen fabric containing an image of a crucified man, created by some process of undetermined origin. Nothing like the Shroud image has ever been found or reproduced. No one on earth can put three-dimensional properties onto a two-dimensional white linen cloth.

And after more than 5,000 hrs. of research, and intense study on the Shroud, scientists still don’t know how the image appeared on the burial cloth. They suspect that it was UV Ultraviolet laser light, because:

The rapid aging of the linen fibers on the surface of the Shroud.
Dehydration and Oxidation of the very top surface of the linen fibers.
The Fibers Turned Sepia or straw yellow color as a result of Ultraviolet light.

Similarly ultraviolet light from the sun will cause:

1. The rapid aging of the skin

2. Dehydration of the skin, and causes a chemical reaction called oxidation, and turns the surface a sepia color, affecting only a thin superficial layer of skin on the surface.

Every scientific attempt to replicate the image in a lab has failed. Five years of experiments using state-of-the-art excimer lasers to train short bursts of ultraviolet light on the raw linen, in an effort to simulate the image’s coloration were unable to match all the physical and chemical characteristics of the shroud image; nor could they reproduce a whole human figure.

The Shrouds 3 dimensional properties cannot be reproduced by anybody today. Nobody on planet Earth can put a 3-dimensional image into a two-dimensional cloth. The Shroud of Turin is unique on planet Earth because it proves the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the image on the shroud was caused by a burst of an extremely bright light which was given off at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The National Agency for New Technology, Energies and Sustainable Economic Development after 5 years of research concluded that; "the image was created by a radiant burst of light at the point of the resurrection. With today’s technology, the power and intensity required to create this image cannot be duplicated!"

So when we ask ourselves what happened to Jesus in the Tomb! Jesus was razed from the dead along with many of the Saints; He is the first fruits of the Resurrection. And what happened to Jesus in the tomb is what will happen to God’s children at the end of time.

1 Cor 15:52 “Behold, I show you a mystery … In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” John 5:28 to 29 “Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.”

Carbon-14 Test of 1988 Invalidated Due to Contaminated Samples

The 1988 Carbon-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin was performed at labs in Oxford in England, Zurich in Switzerland and Tucson in the United States. The British Museum, according to protocol, released the official findings of the C-14 dating of the Shroud on October 14, 1988. The dates for the Shroud, written in chalk on a blackboard 1260-1390! Newspapers around the world printed stories about the Shroud using terms such as fake, fraud, forgery, and hoax. Nature, February 1989. Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud.

Professor Hall of Oxford University claimed that, “There was a multi-million pound business in making forgeries during the fourteenth century. Someone just got a bit of linen, faked it up and flogged it!“

Their Radiocarbon test was a FRAUD because the sample tested was taken from a repaired area along the edge of the Shroud, made of 16th Century cotton and was not truly representative of the main ancient herringbone cloth, which was made of white 1st Century woven linen flax.

They cut a strip of cloth from a repaired area along the edge of the Shroud not noticing the difference between the two cloths, because the new cloth had been dyed to match the old and possibly due to a seamless ―invisible reweave!

Carbon Labs (Oxford, Zurich and Arizona) dated the Shroud from between 1260-1390 in the 1988 Carbon-14 test. The test was invalid for determining the age of the Shroud from the start. For two years in advance of the test, Scientists had agreed that the test samples should be taken from six or seven different parts of the Shroud, and must be representative of the whole 14ft.3in x 3ft.7in, burial cloth. Instead 5 samples were taken from one small contaminated area on the lower left hand corner of the Shroud, where an obvious repair had been done to the shroud.

If you look at the full length Shroud, you can see right away where patches have been done on the burned areas, and on the top and bottom left hand corners of the shroud. Why would they take test strips from an area that has been obviously patched with 16th Century cotton fabric, if it were not for the purpose of falsifying the results of the test; so they could proudly announce to the whole world that the Shroud is a medieval fake! One of the Scientists was given a million dollar donation toward building himself a new lab, for declaring that the Shroud is a fake!

It is well known and documented that the Shroud has been repaired several times in its history, including in this area from which the C-14 sample was taken. Carlos Evaristo Archivist for the Savoy Family, relating a statement by his Majesty King Umberto who said: “That at one point in the past, the edges of the sheet had become so tattered as to cause embarrassment or criticism of the Custodians, and those areas were repaired and rewoven using identical techniques, containing dyes and other medieval manufacturing ingredients, in an attempt to better blend the new sections in, as best as possible, with the original fabric.”

UV Photography of the Shroud objects fluoresce different colors depending on their chemical composition. Most of the Shroud is an Orange/Yellow color. But where they cut a sample piece for the C-14 testing, the cloth is a blue-green color. Orange/Yellow is the color of the chemical composition of Linen. But Blue/Green is the color of cotton.

When several Textile Experts were shown the area of the Shroud where the Carbon 14 samples were taken, they could see immediately that the cotton and Linen threads had been joined together and woven into each other. And that the seam was invisible to the naked eye, after the thread had been dyed to look the same color as the rest of the Shroud.

16th Century Renaissance cotton fibers were used to repair this patched area, and were interwoven into the ancient 1st Century linen, with a (French Invisible Weaving Technique).

A sample of the cloth for the Carbon 14 test had been taken where cotton fibers had been interwoven into the ancient linen of the Shroud, where the combination and proportions of ancient linen and renaissance cotton weaved together rendered a medieval date.

The ancient 1st Century original Shroud linen was spliced into the 16th Century cotton cloth; and yellow madder-root dye was used to color the cotton patch that was carefully invisibly woven into the main cloth. The only area on the Shroud that has any dye or stain on it is along the edges of the shroud where it has been repaired with new cloth, and this is where the Scientists chose to take their samples for Radiocarbon dating. Barrie Schwortz (one of the official photographers of the Shroud) showed that the chemistry of the colored patch is different from the main cloth, and has intruded into the main cloth.

The 1988 carbon 14 dating was a total sham. The evidence shows that the samples were taken from an area of the Shroud that had been repaired by the Nuns with an invisible French weave in the 1,500's, and thus the carbon dating results are not reliable. The test samples were obviously contaminated by the weaving of 16th Century cotton thread seamlessly with the ancient linen Shroud. When examined under a microscope, there is no question to the fact that all these samples had cotton in them, and were taken from one end of the Shroud, which was totally different from the 1st Century ancient linen fabric throughout the whole Shroud. It would be therefore ludicrous for any reputable Scientists to declare to the whole world with 95% certainty, that the shroud of Turin is a FAKE, dating from the Middle Ages 1260-1390; basing all their scientific conclusions on one test, using the absolute worst polluted samples they could have taken.

Turin Shroud - Cotton adulterated 1988 Carbon 14 Test

Click here: https://youtu.be/51RrDewZqos

TO TIBERIUS CAESAR, EMPEROR OF ROME

Pontius Pilate wrote this Historic letter to Tiberius Caesar. This letter is from the “Archko Volume” containing manuscripts, in Constantinople, and the Records of the Senatorial Docket, taken from the Library at Rome, Translated by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman of the Antiquarian Lodge, Genoa, Italy. This has been checked and is in accord with the copy of the original lodged in the British Museum, which has verified the accuracy of the transcription. Verified in November 1935…

TIBERIUS CAESAR-EMPEROR OF ROME-NOBLE SOVEREIGN GREETING:

The events of the last few days in my providence have been of such a character that I will give the details in full as they occurred, as I should not be surprised if, in the course of time, they may change the destiny of our nation, for it seems of late that all the gods have ceased to be propitious. I am almost ready to say, Cursed be the day that I succeeded Vallerius Falceus in the government of Judea, for since then my life has been one of continual uneasiness and distress.

On my arrival at Jerusalem, I took possession of the Praetorium, and ordered a splendid feast to be prepared, to which I invited the Tetrarch of Galilee, with the high priest and his officers. At the appointed hour no guest appeared. This I considered an insult offered my dignity and the whole government which I represent. A few days later, the high priest designed to pay me a visit. His deportment was grave and deceitful. He pretended that his religion forbade him and his attendants to sit at the table of the Romans, and eat and offer libations with them, but this was only a sanctimonious seeming, for his very countenance betrayed his hypocrisy. Although I thought it expedient to accept his excuse, from that moment I was convinced that the conquered had declared themselves the enemy of the conquerors; and I would warn the Romans to beware of the high Priests of this country. They would betray their own mother to gain office and luxurious living.

It seems to me that, of conquered cities, Jerusalem is the most difficult to govern. So turbulent are the people that I live in momentary dread of an insurrection. I have not soldiers sufficient to suppress it. I had only one centurion and a hundred men at my command. I requested reinforcements from the perfect of Syria, who informed me that he had scarcely troops sufficient to defend his own province.

An unsatiated thirst for conquest to extend our empire beyond the means of defending it, I fear, will be the cause of the final overthrow of our whole government. I lived secluded from the masses, for I do not know what those priests might influence the rabble to do; yet I endeavored to ascertain, as far as I could, the mind and standing of the people.

Among the various rumors that came to my ears, there was one in particular that attracted my attention. A young man, it was said, appeared in Galilee preaching with a noble unction a new law in the name of God who had sent him. At first, I was apprehensive that his design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews.

One day in passing by the place of Siloe, where there was a great concourse of people, I observed in the midst of the group a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected, so great was the difference between him and those listening to him. His golden-colored hair and beard gave him the appearance of a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years old. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between him and his hearers, with their black beards and tawny complexions!

Unwilling to interrupt Him by my presence, I continued to walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen. My secretary’s name is Manlius. He is the grandson of the chief of the conspirators who encamped in Eturia waiting for Cataline. Manlius had been for a long time an inhabitant of Judea and is well acquainted with the Hebrew language. He was devoted to me and worthy of my confidence. On entering the Praetorium I found Manlius, who related to me the words Jesus had pronounced at Siloe. Never have I read in the works of the philosophers anything that can compare to the maxims of Jesus. One of the rebellious Jews, so numerous in Jerusalem, having asked Jesus if it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, he replied: “Render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and unto God the things that are God’s.”

It was on account of his sayings that I granted so much liberty to the Nazarene; for it was in my power to have him arrested, and exiled to Pontus; but that would have been contrary to the justice which has always characterized the Roman Government in all its dealings with men; this man was neither seditious nor rebellious; I extended to him my protection, unknown perhaps to himself. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and address the people, and to choose disciples, unrestrained by any Praetorian mandate. Should it ever happen {May the gods avert the omen!} should it ever happen, I say that the religion of our forefathers will be supplanted by the religion of Jesus, it will be to this noble toleration that Rome shall owe her premature death, while I, miserable wretch, will have been the instrument of what the Jews call Providence, and we call destiny.

This unlimited freedom granted to Jesus provoked the Jews–not the poor, but the rich and powerful. It is true that Jesus was severe on the latter, and this was a political reason, in my opinion, for not restraining the liberty of the Nazarene. “Scribes and Pharisees,” he would say to them, “you are a race of vipers; you resemble painted sepulchers; you appear well unto men, but you have death within you.” At other times he would sneer at the alms of the rich and proud, telling them that the mite of the poor was more precious in the sight of God. Complaints were daily made at the Praetorium against the insolence of Jesus.

I was even informed that some misfortune would befall him; that it would not be the first time that Jerusalem had stoned those who called themselves prophets; an appeal would be made to Caesar. However, my conduct was approved by the Senate, and I was promised reinforcements after the termination of the Parthian War.

Being too weak to suppress an insurrection, I resolved upon adopting a measure that promised to restore the tranquility of the city without subjecting the Praetorium to humiliating concession. I wrote to Jesus requesting an interview with him at the Praetorium. He came. You know that in my veins flows the Spanish mixed with Roman blood–as incapable of fear as it is of weak emotion. When the Nazarene made His appearance I was walking in my basilica, and my feet seemed fastened with an iron hand to the marble pavement, and I trembled in every limb, as does a guilty culprit, though the Nazarene was as calm as innocence itself.

When he came up to me he stopped, and by a signal sign he seemed to say to me, “I am here,” though he spoke not a word. For some time I contemplated with admiration and awe this extraordinary type of man–a type unknown to our numerous painters, who have given form and figure to all the gods and the heroes. There was nothing about him that was repelling in his character, yet I felt too awed and tremulous to approach him.

“Jesus,” said I unto him at last–and my tongue faltered–“Jesus of Nazareth, for the last three years I have granted you ample freedom of speech; nor do I regret it. Your words are those of a sage–I know not whether you have read Socrates or Plato, but this I know, there is in your discourses a majestic simplicity that elevates you far above those philosophers. The Emperor is informed of it, and I, his humble representative in this country, am glad of having allowed you that liberty of which you are worthy. However. I must not conceal from you that your discourses have raised up against you powerful and inveterate enemies.

Nor is this surprising. Socrates had his enemies, and he fell victim to their hatred. Yours are doubly incensed–against you on account of your discourses being so severe upon their conduct; against me, on account of the liberty, I have afforded you. They even accuse me of being indirectly leagued with you for the purpose of depriving the Hebrews of the little civil power, which Rome has left them. My request—I do not say an order—is, that you be more circumspect and moderate in your discourses in the future, and more considerate of them, lest you arouse the pride of your enemies, and they raise against you the stupid populace, and compel me to employ the instruments of law.”

The Nazarene calmly replied: “Prince of the earth, your words proceed not from true wisdom. Say to the torrent to stop in the midst of the mountain-gorge: it will uproot the trees of the valley. The torrent will answer you that it obeys the laws of nature and the Creator. God alone knows whither flow the waters of the torrent. Verily I say unto you, before the rose of Sharon blossoms the blood of the just shall be spilled.”

“Your blood shall not be spilled,” said I, with deep emotion: “you are more precious in my estimation on account of your wisdom than all of the turbulent and proud Pharisees who abuse the freedom granted them by the Romans. They conspire against Caesar, and convert his bounty into fear, impressing the unlearned that Caesar is a tyrant and seeks their ruin. Insolent wretches! they are not aware that the wolf of the Tiber sometimes clothes himself with the skin of sheep to accomplish his wicked designs. I will protect you against them. My Praetorium shall be an asylum both day and night.”

Jesus carelessly shook his head and said with a grave and divine smile: “When the day shall come there will be no asylums for the son of man, neither in the earth nor under the earth. The asylum of the just is there,” pointing to the heavens. “That which is written in the books of the prophets must be accomplished.”

“Young man,” I answered mildly, “you will oblige me to convert my requests into an order. The safety of the province which has been confided to my care requires it. You must observe more moderation in your discourses. Do not infringe my order. You know the consequences. May happiness attend you. Farewell.”

“Prince of the earth,” replied Jesus. I come not to bring war into the world, but peace, love, and charity. I was born the same day on which Augustus Caesar gave peace to the Roman world. Persecutions proceed not from me. I expect it from others, and I will meet it in obedience to the will of my Father, who has shown me the way. Restrain, therefore, your worldly prudence. It is not in your power to arrest the victim at the foot of the tabernacle of expiation.”

So saying he disappeared like a bright shadow behind the curtains of the basilica–to my great relief, for I felt a heavy burden on me, of which I could not relieve myself of in his presence.

To Herod, who then reigned in Galilee, the enemies of Jesus addressed themselves, to wreak their vengeance on the Nazarene. Had Herod consulted his own inclinations, he would have ordered Jesus immediately put to death; but, though proud of his royal dignity, yet he hesitated to commit an act that might lessen his influence with the Senate, or like me, was afraid of Jesus. But it would never do for a Roman officer to be afraid of a Jew. Previously to this, Herod called on me at the Praetorium, and, on rising to take leave, after some trifling conversation, asked me what was my opinion concerning the Nazarene. I replied that Jesus appeared to me to be one of those great philosophers that great nations sometimes produced; that his doctrines were by no means sacrilegious, and that the intentions of Rome were to leave him to that freedom of speech that was justified by his actions. Herod smiled maliciously, and, saluting me with ironical respect, departed.

The great feast of the Jews was approaching, and the intention was to avail them of the popular exultation which always manifests itself at the solemnities of the Passover. The city was overflowing with a tumultuous populace, clamoring for the death of the Nazarene. My emissaries informed me that the treasure of the temple had been employed in bribing the people. The danger was pressing. A Roman centurion had been insulted. I wrote to the Prefect of Syria for hundred-foot soldiers and as many cavalry. He declined. I saw myself alone with a handful of veterans in the midst of a rebellious city, too weak to suppress an uprising, and having no choice left but to tolerate it. They had seized upon Jesus, and the seditious rabble, although they had nothing to fear from the Praetorium, believing, as their leaders had told them, that I winked at their sedition, continued vociferating: “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Three powerful parties had combined together at that time against Jesus. First, the Herodians and the Sadducees, whose seditious conduct seemed to have proceeded from, double motives. They hated the Nazarene and were impatient of the Roman yoke. They never forgave me for having entered the holy city with banners that bore the image of the Roman emperor, and although in this instance I had committed a fatal error, yet the sacrilege did not appear less heinous in their eyes. Another grievance also rankled in their bosoms. I had proposed to employ a part of the treasure of the temple in erecting edifices for public use. My proposal was scorned.

The Pharisees were the avowed enemies of Jesus. They cared not for the government. They bore with bitterness the severe reprimands which the Nazarene for three years had been continually giving them wherever he went. Timid and too weak to act by themselves, they had embraced the quarrels of the Herodians and the Sadducees. Besides these three parties, I had to contend against the reckless and profligate populace, always ready to join sedition, and profit by the disorder and confusion that resulted therefrom.

Jesus was dragged before the High Priest, and condemned to death. It was then that the High Priest, Caiaphas, performed a divisory act of submission. He sent his prisoner to me to confirm his condemnation and secure his execution. I answered him that, as Jesus was a Galilean, the affair came under Herod’s jurisdiction, and ordered him to be sent thither. The wily Tetrarch professed humility, and protesting his deference to the lieutenant of Caesar, he committed the fate of the man to my hands. Soon my palace assumed the aspect of a besieged citadel. Every moment increased the number of malcontents. Jerusalem was inundated with crowds from the mountains of Nazareth. All Judea appeared to be pouring into the city.

I had taken a wife from among the Gauls, who pretended to see into futurity. Weeping and throwing herself at my feet she said to me: “Beware. Beware, and touch not that man, for he is holy. Last night I saw a vision. He was walking on the water; he was flying on the wings of the wind. He spoke to the tempest and to the fish of the lake; all were obedient to him. Behold, the torrent of Mount Kedron flows with blood, the statues of Caesar are filled with genocide; the columns of the interim have given away and the sun is veiled in mourning like a vestal in the tomb. Ah! Pilate, evil; awaits thee. If thou wilt not listen to the vows of thy wife, dread the curse of a Roman Senate; dread the frowns of Caesar.”

By this time the marble stairs groaned under the weight of the multitude. The Nazarene was brought back to me. I proceeded to the halls of justice, followed by my guard, and asked the people in a severe tone what they demanded.

“The death of the Nazarene,” was the reply.

“For what crime?”

“He blasphemed; he has prophesied the ruin of the temple; he calls himself the Son of God; the Messiah, the King of the Jew.”

“Roman justice,” said I, “punishes not such offenses with death.”

“Crucify him! Crucify him!” cried the relentless rabble. The vociferations of the infuriated mob shook the palace to its foundations.

There was but one who appeared to be calm in the midst of the vast multitude; it was the Nazarene. After many fruitless attempts to protect him from the fury of his merciless prosecutors, I adopted a measure which at the moment appeared to me to be the only one that could save his life. I proposed a measure, as it was their custom to deliver a prisoner on such occasions, to release Jesus and let him go free, that he might be the scapegoat, as they called it; but they said Jesus must be crucified.

I then spoke to them of the inconsistency of their course as being incompatible with their laws, showing that no criminal judge could pass sentence on a criminal unless he had fasted one whole day; and that the sentence must have the consent of the Sanhedrin, and the signature of the president of that court; that no criminal could be executed on the same day his sentence was fixed, and the next day, on the day of his execution, the Sanhedrin was required to review the whole proceeding; also, according to their law, a man was stationed at the door of the court with a flag, and another a short way off on horseback to cry the name of the criminal and his crime, and the names of his witnesses, and to know if anyone could testify in his favor, and the prisoner on his way to execution had the right to turn back three times and to plead any new thing in his favor. I urged all these pleas, hoping they might awe them into subjection; but they cried, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

I then ordered Jesus to be scourged, hoping this might satisfy them; but it only increased their fury. I then called for a basin, and washed my hands in the presence of the clamorous multitude, thus testifying that in my judgment Jesus of Nazareth had done nothing deserving of death; but in vain. It was his life these wretches thirsted for.

Often in our civil commotions have I witnessed the furious anger of the multitude, but nothing could be compared with what I witnessed on this occasion. It might have been truly said that all the phantoms of the infernal regions had assembled at Jerusalem. The crowd appeared not to walk, but to be borne off and whirled as a vortex, rolling along in living waves from the portals of the Praetorium even into Mount Zion, with howling screams, shrieks, and vociferations such as were never heard in the seditions of the Pannonia, or in the tumults of the forum.

By degrees the day darkened like a winter’s twilight, such as had been at the death of the great Julius Caesar. It was likewise the ides of March. I, the continued governor of a rebellious province, was leaning against a column of my basilica, contemplating athwart the dreary gloom these fiends of Tartarus dragging to execution the innocent Nazarene. All around me was deserted. Jerusalem had vomited forth her indwellers through the funeral gates that leads to Gemonica.

An air of desolation and sadness enveloped me. My guards had joined the cavalry, and the centurion, with a distressed play of power, was endeavoring to keep order. I was left alone, and my breaking heart admonished me that what was passing at that moment appertained rather to the history of the gods, than that of men. A loud clamor was heard proceeding from Golgotha, which, borne on the winds, seemed to announce an agony such as was never heard by mortal ears. Dark clouds lowered over the pinnacle of the temple, and setting over the city covered it as with a veil. So dreadful were the signs that men saw both in the heavens and on the earth that Dionysius the Areopagite is reported to have exclaimed: “Either the author of nature is suffering or the universe is falling apart.”

Whilst these appalling scenes of nature were transpiring, there was a dreadful earthquake in lower Egypt, which filled everybody with fear, and scared the superstitious Jews almost to death. It is said Balthasar, an aged and learned Jew of Antioch, was found dead after the excitement was over. Whether he died from alarm or grief is not known. He was a strong friend of the Nazarene.

Near the first hour of the night I threw my mantle around me, and went down into the city toward the gates of Golgotha. The sacrifice was consummated. The crowd was returning home, still agitated, it is true, but gloomy, taciturn, and desperate. What they had witnessed had stricken them with terror and remorse. I also saw my little Roman cohort pass by mournfully, the standard-bearer having veiled his eagle in token of grief, and I overheard some of the Jewish soldiers murmuring strange words, which I did not understand. Others were recounting miracles very like those, which have so often smitten the Romans by the will of gods. Sometimes groups of men and women would halt remain motionless in expectation of witnessing some new prodigy.

I returned to the Praetorium, sad and pensive. On ascending the stairs, the steps of which were still stained with the blood of the Nazarene, I perceived an old man in a suppliant posture, and behind him several Romans in tears. He threw himself at my feet and wept most bitterly. It is painful to see an old man weep, and my heart being already overcharged with grief, we though strangers, wept together. And in truth, it seemed that the tears lay very shallow that day with many whom I perceived in the vast concourse of people. I never witnessed such an extreme revulsion of feeling. Those who betrayed and sold him, those who testified against him, those who cried, “Crucify him! we have his blood,” all slunk off like cowardly curs and washed their teeth with vinegar. As I am told that Jesus taught a resurrection and a separation after death, if such be the fact, I am sure it commenced in this vast crowd.

“Father,” said I to him, after gaining control of my feelings,” who are you, and what is your request?”

“I am Joseph of Arimathaea,” replied he, “and am come to beg of you upon bended knees the permission to bury Jesus of Nazareth.” “Your prayer is granted.” I said to him, and I ordered Manilus to take some soldiers with him to superintend the interment, lest it should be profaned.

A few days after the sepulcher was found empty. His disciples proclaimed all over the country that Jesus had risen from the dead, as he had foretold. This created more excitement even than the crucifixion. And to its truth, I cannot say for certain, but I have made some investigation of the matter; so you can examine for yourself see if I am in fault, as Herod represents.

Joseph buried Jesus in his own tomb. Whether he contemplated his resurrection or calculated to cut him another, I cannot tell. The day after he was buried one of the priests came to the Praetorium and said they were apprehensive that his disciples intended to steal the body of Jesus and hide it, and then make it appear that he had risen from the dead, as he had foretold and of which they were perfectly convinced. I sent him to the captain of the royal guard {Malcus} to tell him to take the Jewish soldiers, and place as many around the sepulcher as were needed; then if anything should happen they could blame themselves, and not the Romans.

When the great excitement arose about the sepulcher being empty, I felt a deeper solicitude than ever. I sent for Malcus, who told me he had placed his lieutenant, Ben Isham, with one hundred soldiers, around the sepulcher. He told me that Isham and the soldiers were very much alarmed at what had occurred there that morning I sent for this man Isham, who related to me, as near as I can recollect, the following circumstances; He said that at about the beginning of the fourth watch; He saw a soft and beautiful light over the sepulcher. He at first thought the women had come to embalm the body of Jesus, as was their custom, but he could not see how they had gotten through the guards. While these thoughts were passing through his mind, behold the whole place was lighted up, and there seemed to be crowds of the dead in their grave-clothes. All seemed to be shouting and filled with ecstasy, while all around and above was the most beautiful music he had ever heard: and the whole air seemed to be full of voices praising God. At this time there seemed to be a reeling and swimming of the earth so that he turned so sick and faint that he could not stand on his feet. He said the earth seemed to swim from under him, and his senses left him so that he knew not what did occur. I asked him if he could not have been mistaken as to the light. Was it not day that was coming in the East? He said at first he thought of that, but at a stone’s cast it was exceedingly dark, and then he remembered it was too early for day.

I asked him if his dizziness might not have come from being awakened and getting up too suddenly, as it sometimes had the effect. He said he was not, and had not been asleep all night, as the penalty was death for him to sleep on duty. He said he had let some of the soldiers sleep at a time. Some were asleep then. I asked him how long the scene lasted. He said he did not know, but he thought it was nearly an hour. He said it was hidden by the light of the day.

I asked him if he went to the sepulcher after he had come to himself. He said no because he was afraid; that just as soon as relief came they all went to their quarters. I asked him if he had been questioned by the priests. he said he had. They wanted him to say it was an earthquake, and that they were asleep, and offered him money to say that the disciples came and stole Jesus; but we saw no disciples, he did not know that the body was gone until he was told.

I asked him what was the private opinion of those priests he had conversed with. He said that some of them thought that Jesus was no man; that he was not a human being; that he was not the son of Mary; that he was not the same that was said to be born of the Virgin in Bethlehem; that the same person had been on earth before with Abraham and Lot, and at many times and places.

It seemed to me that if the Jewish theory be true, these conclusions are correct, for they are in accord with this man’s life, as is known and testified by both friends and foes, for the elements were no more in his hands than the clay in the hands of the potter. He could convert water into wine; he could change death into life, disease into health; he could calm the seas, still the storms, and call up a fish with a silver coin in its mouth. Now, I say if he could do all these things, which he did and many more, as the Jews all testify, and it was doing these things that created this enmity against him.

He was not charged with criminal offenses, nor was he charged with violating any law, nor of wronging any individual in person, and all these facts are known to thousands, as well by his foes as by his friends–I am almost ready to say, as did Manlius at the cross: “Truly this was the Son of God.”

Now noble Sovereign, this is as near the facts in the case as I can arrive at, and I have taken pains to make the statement very full, so that you may judge of my conduct upon the whole, as I hear Antipater has said many hard things of me in this matter. With the promise of faithfulness and good wishes to my noble Sovereign.

I am your obedient servant.

Pontius Pilate.

Pilate’s letters are valuable historical documents, that are first-hand accounts of the events that took place in the Life, Ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

THE REPORT OF PILATE THE GOVERNOR,

Concerning our Lord Jesus Christ; which was Sent to Augustus Cæsar, in Rome.

IN those days, when our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Palestine and Phoenicia, the things here recorded came to pass in Jerusalem, and were done by the Jews against the Lord. Pilate, therefore, sent the same to Cæsar in Rome, along with his private report, writing thus:

To the most potent, august, divine and awful Augustus Cæsar, Pilate, the administrator of the Eastern Province:

I have received information, most excellent one, in consequence of which I am seized with fear and trembling. For in this province, which I administer, one of whose cities is called Jerusalem, the whole multitude of Jews delivered unto me a certain man called Jesus and brought many accusations against him, which they were unable to establish by consistent evidence.

But they charged him with one heresy in particular, namely, That Jesus said the Sabbath was not a rest, nor to be observed by them. For He performed many cures on that day and made the blind see, and the lame walk, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, healed the paralytic who was wholly unable to move their body or brace their nerves, but could only speak and discourse, and he gave them power to walk and run, removing their infirmity by his word alone.

There is another very mighty deed which is strange to the gods we have: he raised up a man who had been four days dead, summoning him by his word alone, when the dead man had begun to decay, and his body was corrupted by the worms which had been bred and had the stench of a dog; but, seeing him lying in the tomb he commanded him to run, nor did the dead man at all delay, but as a bridegroom out of his chamber, so did he go forth from his tomb, filled with abundant perfume.

Moreover, even such as were strangers, and clearly demoniacs, who had their dwelling in deserts, and devoured their own flesh, and wandered about like cattle and creeping things, he turned into inhabitants of cities, and by a word rendered them rational, and prepared them to become wise and powerful, and illustrious, taking their food with all the enemies of the unclean spirits which were destructive in them, and which he cast into the depth of the sea.

And, again, there was another who had a withered hand, and not only the hand but rather the half of the body of the man was like a stone, and he had neither the shape of a man nor the symmetry of a body: even him He healed with a word and rendered whole.

And a woman also, who had an issue of blood for a long time, and whose veins and arteries were exhausted, and who did not bear a human body, being like one dead, and daily speechless, so that all the physicians of the district were unable to cure her, for there remained unto her not a hope of life; but as Jesus passed by she mysteriously received strength by his shadow falling on her, from behind she touched the hem of his garment, and immediately, in that very hour, strength filled her exhausted limbs, and as if she had never suffered anything, she began to run along towards Capernaum, her own city, so that she reached it in a six days’ journey.

And I have made known these things which I have recently been informed of, and which Jesus did on the Sabbath. And he did other miracles greater than these, so that I have observed greater works of wonder done by him than by the gods whom we worship.

But Herod and Archelaus and Philip, Annas and Caiaphas, with all the people, delivered him to me, making a great tumult against me in order that I might try him. Therefore, I commanded him to be crucified, when I had first scourged him, though I found no cause in him for evil accusations or dealings.

Now when he was crucified, there was darkness over all the world, and the sun was obscured for half a day, and the stars appeared, but no luster was seen in them; and the moon lost its brightness, as though tinged with blood; and the world of the departed was swallowed up; so that the very sanctuary of the temple, as they call it, did not appear to the Jews themselves at their fall, but they perceived a chasm in the earth and the rolling of successive thunders. And amid this terror, the dead appeared rising again, as the Jews themselves bore witness, and said that it was Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, and Moses, and Job, who had died before, as they say, some three thousand five hundred years. And there were very many whom I myself saw appearing in the body, and they made lamentation over the Jews, because of the transgression that was committed by them, and because of the destruction of the Jews and of their law.

And the terror of the earthquake continued from the sixth hour of the preparation until the ninth hour; and when it was evening on the first day of the week, there came a sound from heaven, and the heaven became seven times more luminous than on all other days. And at the third hour of the night the sun appeared more luminous than it had ever shone, lighting up the whole hemisphere. And as lightning-flashes suddenly come forth in a storm, so there were seen men, lofty in stature, and surpassing in glory, a countless host, crying out, and their voice was heard as that of exceedingly loud thunder, Jesus that was crucified has risen again: come up from Hades ye that were enslaved in the subterraneous recesses of Hades. And the chasm in the earth was as if it had no bottom; but it was so that the very foundations of the earth appeared, with those that shouted in heaven, and walked in the body among the dead that were raised.

And He that raised up all the dead and bound Hades said, Say to my disciples He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him.

And all that night the light ceased not shining. And many of the Jews died in the chasm of the earth, being swallowed up, so that on the morrow most of those who had been against Jesus were not to be found. Others saw the apparition of men rising again whom none of us had ever seen. One synagogue of the Jews was alone left in Jerusalem itself, for they all disappeared in that ruin.

Therefore being astounded by that terror, and being possessed with the most dreadful trembling, I have written what I saw at that time and sent it to thine excellency; and I have inserted what was done against Jesus by the Jews, and sent it to thy divinity, my lord.

THE TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION OF PILATE.

NOW when the letters came to the city of the Romans and were read to Cæsar with no few standing there, they were all terrified, because, through the transgression of Pilate, the darkness and the earthquake had happened to all the world. And Cæsar, being filled with anger, sent soldiers and commanded that Pilate should be brought as a prisoner.

And when he was brought to the city of the Romans, and Cæsar heard that he was come, he sat in the temple of the gods, above all the senate, and with all the army, and with all the multitude of his power, and commanded that Pilate should stand in the entrance. And Cæsar said to him, most impious one, when thou saw such great signs being done by this man, why didst thou dare to do this? By daring to do an evil deed thou hast ruined all the world.

And Pilate said, King and Autocrat, I am not guilty of these things, but it is the multitude of the Jews who are precipitate and guilty. And Cæsar said, and who are they? Pilate said, Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas and Caiaphas, and all the multitude of the Jews. Cæsar said, for what cause didst thou execute their purpose? And Pilate said, Their nation is seditious and insubordinate, and not submissive to thy power.

And Cæsar said, When they delivered him to thee thou oughtest to have made him secure and sent him to me, and not consented to them to crucify such a man, who was just and wrought such great and good miracles, as thou saidst in thy report. For by such miracles Jesus was manifested to be the Christ, the King of the Jews.

And when Cæsar said this and himself named the name of Christ, all the multitude of the gods fell down together and became like dust where Cæsar sat with the senate. And all the people that stood near Cæsar were filled with trembling because of the utterance of the word and the fall of their gods, and being seized with fear they all went away, every man to his house, wondering at what had happened. And Cæsar commanded Pilate to be safely kept, that he might know the truth about Jesus.

And on the morrow when Cæsar sat in the capitol with all the senate, he undertook to question Pilate again. And Cæsar said, Say the truth, most impious one, for through thy impious deed which thou didst commit against Jesus, even here the doing of thy evil works were manifested, in that the gods were brought to ruin. Say then, who is he that was crucified, for his name hath destroyed all the gods? Pilate said, And verily his records are true; for even I myself was convinced by his works that he was greater than all the gods whom we venerate. And Cæsar said, for what cause then didst thou perpetrate against him such daring and doing, not being ignorant of him, or assuredly designing some mischief to my government? And Pilate said I did it because of the transgression and sedition of the lawless and ungodly Jews.

And Cæsar was filled with anger, and held a council with all his senate and officers, and ordered a decree to be written against the Jews thus:—

To Licianus who holdeth the first place in the East Country. Greeting:

I have been informed of the audacity perpetrated very recently by the Jews inhabiting Jerusalem and the cities round about, and their lawless doing, how they compelled Pilate to crucify a certain god called Jesus, through which great transgression of theirs the world was darkened and drawn into ruin. Determine therefore with a body of soldiers to go to them there at once and proclaim their subjection to bondage by this decree.

By obeying and proceeding against them, and scattering them abroad in all nations, enslave them, and by driving their nation from all Judea as soon as possible show wherever this hath not yet appeared, that they are full of evil.

And when this decree came into the East Country, Licianus obeyed, through fear of the decree, and laid waste all the nation of the Jews, and caused those that were left in Judea, to go into slavery with them that were scattered among the Gentiles, that it might be known by Cæsar that these things had been done by Licianus against the Jews in the East Country, and to please him.

And again Cæsar resolved to have Pilate questioned, and commanded a captain, Albius by name, to cut off Pilate’s head, saying, as he laid hands upon the just man, that is called Christ, he also shall fall in like manner, and find no deliverance.

And when Pilate came to the place he prayed in silence, saying, O Lord, destroy not me with the wicked Hebrews, for I should not have laid hands upon thee, but for the nation of lawless Jews, because they provoked sedition against me but thou know that I did it in ignorance. Destroy me not, therefore, for this my sin, nor be mindful of the evil that is in me, O Lord, and in thy servant Procla who stands with me in this the hour of my death, whom thou taught to prophesy that thou must be nailed to the cross. Do not punish her too in my sin, but forgive us, and number us in the portion of thy just ones. And behold, when Pilate had finished his prayer, there came a voice from heaven, saying, All generations and the families of the Gentiles shall call thee blessed, because under thee were fulfilled all these things that were spoken by the prophets concerning me; and thou thyself must appear as my witness at my second coming when I shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel, and them that have not confessed my name. And the Prefect cut off the head of Pilate, and behold an angel of the Lord received it. And when his wife Procla saw the angel coming and receiving his head, she also, being filled with joy, forthwith gave up the ghost, and was buried with her husband.

THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF THE RESURRECTION

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold the vale of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake and the rocks rent.

And the graves were open and many bodies of the saints which slept arose; And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Now when the centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, truly this was the Son of God.

John 20:1-18 “The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runs and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and says to them; they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.

Therefore Peter went forth and that other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher. And he stooping down and looking in saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeing the linen clothes lie; And the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping; and as she wept she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, And sees two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

Just as there were two angels guarding Jesus' blood on the top of the Ark of the Covenant, two angels, one at the head and the other at the feet were guarding the Shroud.

And the angels said to her, Woman why do you weep? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus says to her, Woman why weepest thou? She supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, Sir if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary; She turned herself and said to him Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

Jesus said to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her.”

A Vatican researcher finds Jesus, Nazarene, and the date of his death written in three languages Greek, Latin, and Aramaic on the Shroud. Also, the word "INNECE" which is a Latin word which means Sentenced to death. These words were written on strips of papyrus and glued to the mummy. This is hidden evidence that the Shroud is the real burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth, and is not a Medieval forgery.

"And Pilate also wrote a title and put it above the cross; it read: Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews." (Jn 19.19).

Click on this link https://youtu.be/ndGnEGCJuaA

According to Roman law, the body of a criminal condemned to death could only be returned to the family after one year had gone by in a common grave, handled by a Court in Jerusalem. After one year the bones would be put in a small box called an ossuary, so they could be returned to the relatives and buried in the family tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea begged the Governor Punches Pilate not to put Jesus' body in a common grave, but to allow him to put Jesus's body in his family's tomb which was nearby, and Pilate agreed. But they still needed to tag the body so that other members of Joseph's family could be buried there.

So once the body was wrapped in the Shroud, strips of papyrus with large letters were placed on the body with the name of the person, the date, and the reason for the death sentence was written on the body.

Acts 2:22-36 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to

you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through
Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- This Man, delivered up by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the
hands of godless men and put Him to death.

“And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death since it
was impossible for Him to be held by its power. “For David says of Him, ‘I was
always beholding the Lord in my presence; For He is at my right hand, that I
may not be shaken. ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;
Moreover, my flesh also will abide in hope; Because Thou wilt not abandon my
soul to Hades, Nor allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.

‘Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of
gladness with Thy presence.’ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding
the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to
this day. “And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to
him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he 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 are all witnesses. “Therefore
having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both
see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself
says: ‘ The Lord said to my Lord,” Sit at My right hand until I make thy enemies
a footstool for Thy feet. “‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain
that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified.”

"For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31)

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

Then He appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. And last of all, as to one untimely born He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it was I or them, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

You can read other books written by this author for free! see:

1. THEY FOUND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, JESUS' TOMB AND CRUCIFIXION SITE.

Click here: http://arkofthecovenant2.blogspot.com

2. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT MAN AND DINOSAURS LIVED TOGETHER

Click here: http://manwithdinosaurs.blogspot.com