In an amazing turnaround from the Biden years, the Trump White House issued Holy Week greetings to the entire country. As a flawed human being, and one who has escaped death by a hair’s breadth, as well as the preposterous dirty tricks of the Deep State, it appears that Trump is discovering something that every person must come to grips with: the soon-to-be experienced Divine Judgment.
We live in a culture that sweeps such soul-chilling realities under the rug, but within every soul exists the basic understanding of right and wrong. There is no escaping it. You do not have to study or be schooled in this truth. The Bible says that God has implanted it in everyone’s heart. We will be called to account, and we are all guilty.
Why is Holy Week necessary to be understood and commemorated? Because to have any chance at eternal life, the Son of God had to become Man, preach to us, demonstrate his powers and accept the preposterous suffering that a Roman crucifixion entails. In our time, we have used the medium of books and movies to impart to us how this may have been like, 2,000 years ago. All are different, all recognize that their version may not be entirely accurate, and yet we can be utterly slammed when we see the following list of non-fiction books or motion pictures:
The Day Christ Died by Jim Bishop.
The Last Hours of Jesus by Ralph Gorman.
The Founding of Christendom by Warren H. Carroll.
Only God could leave us his photograph, implanted on linen, and in the medium of a photographic negative.
But it is the motion picture that our culture has come to chiefly rely upon. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Franco Zeferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth take very little artistic license, and must be classified technically as fiction, yet are based upon solid Biblical narrative and researched facts. Currently an animated feature is out, The King of Kings, and appears to be worthy. Many have seen Risen, starring Ralph Fiennes, a fictionalized yet plausible story of a Roman tribune who encounters the risen Christ.
But what if we could get into a time machine and be there? At the foot of the cross, on Friday, April 7, 30 AD? Or at the moment of resurrection on April 9th? What would it really have looked like? How did people react? What about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? Mary Magdalen’s encounter in the cemetery? What is it like to actually see an angel, as the women coming to anoint the body did? Or the 10 apostles on Easter evening, when Jesus walked through a locked door? Or when Thomas placed his hands into Jesus’ wounds a few days later?
Well, we actually can. Sort of. And you can do it today. On the internet are hundreds of documentaries, brief interviews and talk-show discussions about the Holy Shroud of Turin. It may be from the BBC, National Geographic, the History Channel. If you encounter the opinions of the fast-evaporating skeptics, they are probably hopelessly outdated.
These discussions involve its scientific properties, its history and current theories – which are constantly being revised by honest science. The Holy Shroud is the most scrutinized artifact in human history, exceeding the Rosetta Stone, moon rocks, the Zapruder film or photos from Mars.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
What does this artifact tell us? Whenever I lecture on it, with a life-sized replica in the room, you should see what I see: the eyes of the audience, whenever its properties begin to communicate the dynamics of the self-torture of crucifixion. Or the pain of hematidrosis, the sweating of blood. The BB-studded whips of the Roman flagrum. The carrying of a 100-pound cross beam on the shoulders, and the bruising of the knees and head from the face-plants that follow each stumble. Or the fixture of a helmet of thorns.
Only God could leave us his photograph, implanted on linen, and in the medium of a photographic negative. As Lord of Time, only he could reach his loving hand across the centuries to blast our layers of complacency away, in our age that worships anything and everything but him.
Truly, in every century, mankind is a flock of lost and scattered sheep, ripe for easy picking by wolves. Likely our imagination of the demons and goblins of hell pale before the reality. The voice of the Shepherd calls us, for only he can protect us. The rage of the demons screams at every soul that accepts, with humility, the admission, confession and cost of our sins.
The Holy Shroud silently awaits the investigation of those who have chosen to regard the Bible as a fairy tale. Our electronic age makes it possible to do so without going to Italy or attending a lecture. Only God could be so loving, and so patient, with his sheep.
Go to www.shroud.com and begin the search.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
13 Comments
Excellent read! Thank you Bob! Happiest of Easter’s to you and your family .
Without the resurrection this world and followers of Christ would be nothing.
Don’t forget to go to church this Sunday, yes it’s Easter, He has risen from the dead.
Good post, but one big correction: DNA testing has shown that the Shroud is actually Pope Clement VI’s come rag.
You are a sad individual.
Haters gotta Hate
You are born of Satan
“ In an amazing turnaround from the Biden years…” a cursory search showed they made a statement every Easter. And hasn’t Biden regularly attend church his entire life? What does the gospel teach about deception and lies?
Fox News: FLASHBACK: Biden proclaimed Trans Day of Visibility in 2024 that coincided with Easter Sunday.
And this column said nothing about Biden attending or not attending church. As you yourself proclaim, “What does the Gospel teach about deception and lies”?
Good on him. Live and let live. He always had a statement for Easter. “Biden often attends Saturday evening mass with his family either near his home in Wilmington, Del., or in Washington, D.C.” https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4416788-biden-balances-catholicism-with-hot-button-2024-issues/
Easter Statement of Biden 2024- Jill and I send our warmest wishes to Christians around the world celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection.
As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities. And with wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people.
From our family to yours, happy Easter and may God bless you.
Trump recent Easter Social Post- “Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country. Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten! Sleepy Joe Biden purposefully allowed Millions of CRIMINALS to enter our Country, totally unvetted and unchecked, through an Open Borders Policy that will go down in history as the single most calamitous act ever perpetrated upon America. He was, by far, our WORST and most Incompetent President, a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing — But to him, and to the person that ran and manipulated the Auto Pen (perhaps our REAL President!), and to all of the people who CHEATED in the 2020 Presidential Election in order to get this highly destructive Moron Elected, I wish you, with great love, sincerity, and affection, a very Happy Easter!!!”
Well. No. Not. Incorrect.
I have been a Christian for 52 years but my faith does not hang on the genuineness of the shroud. I think it probably is the real deal, but if it were proved false, my faith would remain intact.
Thank you Bob. Darkness as expressed above will never overcome the light of Christ!
Steve: I address your excellent statement in every presentation. Correct, your faith does not/should not hang on the Shroud. But that does not stop it from bringing others to the Faith, as many of the agnostic scientists have done, and others known but to God. But for those who do not need it in that sense, it will deepen their faith, and that is something that every Christian should desire. The Shroud has survived because God has willed it so. It’s properties are being discovered in the Age of Atheism and Science because God willed it so. Jesus is “The Word made flesh, and dwelt among us.” It is hard for Protestants to overcome the idea that The Word of God is communicated to us from sources other than the Bible, but it does. Think of people who say, “Jesus told me …” or “The Lord put it in my heart …” They may or may not be self-deluded, and I make no judgment when I hear this. I don’t put limits on God. The Shroud is far more readily identified as the Word of God than some individual’s claim. It verifies, rather than contradicts, the Bible. And the Shroud’s survival is Biblical, as it was used as an evangelizing tool, as Paul tells us, albeit indirectly, in Galatians 3:1.
NB: An imposter has been using my name in these comments. Verify identity by the Pattern ID.