Tomb or Cross?

There is an argument among some theologians that Jesus was not buried but was left on the cross for vultures and dogs to consume.

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. -  Matt. 27:55-66

In many cases, bodies were left on the cross.  The argument for this is that thousands were crucified over the centuries from 3 B.C. on, and only one heel bone was found with a spike through it.

So, what does that mean?

John Dominic Crossan of the Jesus Seminar, puts it this way: 

"We have found only one body from all the thousands crucified around Jerusalem in that single century. I keep thinking of all those other thousands of Jews crucified around Jerusalem in that terrible first century from among whom we have found only one skeleton and one nail. … I think I know what happened to their bodies, and I have no reason to think Jesus’ body did not join them."

Crossan believes the Gospel of Mark was modified from the original, which ended with the Centurion's confession that Jesus was surely the son of God.  Later on, he says, the resurrection gospel was added.

So, what are we to believe?

There was a Jewish law at the time that required that no Jew be left on the cross overnight.  They had to be buried.

Why?

Because crucifixion was the worst possible form of death, and leaving the body on the cross would be a desecration of the land of God.  So, Crossan's claim that Jesus' body was left on the cross does not hold.

I guess it should be expected that people, including highly educated theologians, will feel compelled to pick at the story of Jesus, from the nativity to the resurrection.  It is an easy way to get readers, especially in this day of skepticism about all things religious.

But Christianity is especially prime for the pickings since it is so complicated.  We have a Triune God, separate persons coexisting in one communion, and one of those persons choosing to become one of us.

If we were going to make up a story about the Messiah, based on the Old Testament readings, would we make it so different?

I leave it to you and all of us to decide.  But we are talking about faith, and faith is not always supported by facts.

More to come...