Tuesday in Easter Week

The Church’s Daily Prayer continues with Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth where we read:

 

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

 

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:12-28).

 

It always seems that right around Easter, we see stories on TV that they have found the bones of Jesus.  Well, this year is no different. A story going back to 2007 has “resurrected.” In 2007, James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici made a documentary where they alleged that they found the tomb of Jesus and that shows Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, had at least one child named Judah, and, of course, that Jesus did not physically rise from the dead.  Well, they’re back in the “news” again.  According to The Jerusalem Post’s article on 5 April 2015, "After 150 chemical tests, Canadian-Israeli filmmaker-journalist Simcha Jacobovici and geoarcheologist Aryeh Shimron claim they’ve reached a scientific breakthrough with theological implications."

 

Paul is right. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.

 

Let’s look at the rest of the story: Jesus and Joseph were common names of the time, and another ossuary bearing the same inscription [Jesus son of Joseph] was revealed by archaeologist Eleazar Levi Sukenik in a 1931 lecture in Berlin. However, this ossuary is set apart by its presence in a tomb alongside others bearing names associated with Jesus' family. The fact is that "Jesus son of Joseph" exists elsewhere in archaeological findings.  3.25% of the Jewish women in the first-century Judea had the same name of Mary. Again, this is evidence of a very common name usage.  1.Jesus, James, Judah are inscribed in Aramaic. Yose (Jose, Joseph), Maria, and Matthew are in Hebrew. "Marianmene e Mara" (Mary Magdelene) is the only one written in Greek. If the tomb is of Jesus' family, why are the inscriptions in different languages? Does this suggest that different individuals, perhaps in different times, and of different backgrounds were buried in the tomb? Remember, families used the same tomb and ossuaries for generations. Matt Slick, Has the tomb of Jesus been found?

 

Let us pray: O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

Starting Tuesday, 14 April at 11:30 AM, lunch with UTMB medical professionals regarding hot medical topics for seniors and others: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, COPD and dementia.  This series is in English and Spanish and will continue every Tuesday at the same time for 5 weeks. 

 

Michael Harvey

A Galveston Island Episcopal Event

All are invited

Tuesday, April 28th

7:00 PM

at St. Augustine of Hippo

(1410 41st Street)

 

Michael Harvey will be joining us on the Island all the way from Great Britain. He is the founder of Back to Church Sunday, a day we have dubbed in the Diocese of Texas as Invitation Sunday. Michael has spoken across 17 countries and 5 continents about the power of invitation and ministry to visitors and newcomers. He has written the book, Unlocking the Growth which addresses the power of invitation and the potential for the church. He has recently been inducted into the College of Evangelists and become a Visiting Fellow of St. John’s College of Durham University. His humorous and engaging presentation style challenges the individual to simply invite others to church. He presented and was enthusiastically received at past Warden and Vestry Conferences, other churches and last year’s clergy conference. He is back by the invitation of Bishop Doyle and we are thrilled to have him with us for this Galveston Island Episcopal Event. You are invited. Invite others to come to this great event!

 

Bigmista & Friends BBQ on Saturday, 2 May.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Kristi, Susan, Liz, Angela, and those in the Middle East and Kenya.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550