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Forwarded from Lin Wood

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Forwarded from Winsome Warrior

What if Jesus took a Selfie on the Third Day, and you can see it today?

Most people know that the Shroud of Turin is a religious artifact, the most famous relic in history, housed in an historic church near Milan, Italy. The authenticity of the Shroud has been the subject of debate for the last 200 years. Prior to the age of skepticism, it was an accepted fact in most of Christendom that it was the actual burial cloth of Jesus. Regardless though, even if existing only in concept, it is the most poignant possible object imaginable. I will summarize why, but do your own research. It’s real.

After the invention of photography in the mid 19th century, the concept of a negative image became known as a unique and heretofore unknown phenomena of the photographic process. The “photographic negative” became the common explanation for how the front and back of the body of Jesus appears on a 2000 year old, exquisitely crafted, hand-woven linen. Regardless of the fact that there was an image on the cloth which was beyond human conception prior to the existence of photography, skeptics still claimed that the image on the cloth had been painted. This theory has been disproven as there is no evidence of any material except for blood on the linen. The linen simply has an image which appears to have been burned into the cloth by a flash of light from the body onto the cloth. Once again, the principles of photography apply. Imagine with me that in the Shroud we have an actual photograph of the moment of the resurrection of Jesus. If that’s true, then the whole nature of human history is changed.

Let’s set aside the science of how the image got on the cloth, or its actual date of origination. Let’s instead focus on the spiritual aspects of what the Shroud means and signifies. It is my contention that this path of exploration leads to my conclusion that the Shroud is the most significant artifact in history.

First of all, it is proven by non-Christian literary sources of Jewish and Roman descent, that the body of Jesus disappeared from its tomb. Without a body, which the anti-Christians desperately sought to produce, the skeptics have a real problem. It’s like trying to prove a murder without a body or a weapon. This is the reverse. If the shroud cannot be disproven, then it is the ultimate evidence for faith. It is the ultimate inspiration to praise, thanksgiving, and evangelism itself. Because of the resurrection is true, everything in the world changes.

In the Shroud, we find that the Way, the Truth, and the Life is manifested for us to encounter physically rather than just through Word of mouth teaching. In the Shroud we see that what was corrupted at the fall was made holy at the resurrection. The Shroud proves that death has no power over Eternal Life, mapping our journey in and through Christ into Eternity and the Kingdom of God. The empty tomb is the starting point on the Way, not the finish line for life.

A theophany is an appearance of God which is apprehensible by human senses. A complete Trinitarian theophany manifests the presence of the Trinity, and there are not many of those in the Bible. The conception of Jesus inside Mother Mary is the first theophany that we see in the New Testament. The Father sends the Holy Spirit to conceive the son in the Virgin. At the birth of Jesus we see the Son born, the Father speak from heaven, and the Spirit of God lead wisemen and angels to the stable in Bethlehem. At the baptism of Jesus, we see God the Father speak over his Son, and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove. At the Transfiguration, we see Jesus standing with the great patriarchs of Judaism, and God the father speaks over him as Jesus is once again filled with the shining glory of the Holy Spirit. At the death of Jesus we see the Son cry out to the father and shortly thereafter he gives up his Spirit. At the resurrection the body of Jesus is once again animated by the power of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the promise of the father to do so.

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