6 Things Archaeology is Telling Us About the Real Jesus

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When it comes to archaeology, there is evidence of Jesus. We have actual sites and artifacts that testify to the historical truth of Jesus Christ. Remarkably, over the last few decades, significant evidence revealing the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus has been uncovered! The evidence for Jesus starts with the place of His birth in Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity is generally considered a credible historical site, with the traditional cave of Christ’s birth being marked by the ornate star of Bethlehem. In addition, surprising archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’ time – and the revolution He launched 2,000 years ago. The evidence of archaeology really can help us interpret certain biblical texts, as well as providing an independent way to check the Bible’s historical reliability. Many critics of Christianity continue to argue against the trustworthiness of the New Testament record but, in fact, every new archaeological find has been on the side of Scripture, not skeptics. Here are six things archaeology is telling us about the real Jesus.

Tomb of Jesus

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The huge Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered by most scholars to be a reliable historical site covering the locations of the crucifixion and burial of Christ. This tomb is thought to have once held the body of Jesus. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem covers a shrine that, the faithful believe, covers the tomb where Jesus was put to rest after His crucifixion. Legend has it that Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, discovered the tomb in AD 345. For the next few centuries, the Romans protected the tomb by building a shrine and subsequent church over it. Whether Jesus was ever placed in the tomb is still unknown, but when the tomb was opened for the first time in centuries in 2017, researchers used a light-based technique to show that the quartz embedded in the limestone tomb hidden beneath the church was last exposed to light around AD 345. That backed up the notion that the shrine was built around the time of Constantine’s reign.

Coins Give Rare Look into the Christian Ancient World

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Newly discovered coins that lay hidden for 1,400 years offer a glimpse into Christian life in the Holy Land right before life changed drastically. As crews near Jerusalem renovated a highway, workers came upon a long buried village, and archaeologists soon had more artifacts to add to an already enormous trove of items that tell the story of Christ and His followers in the Middle East. Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery the village, believed to be called Einbikumakube. Inside the walls of a building there was a rare cache of Byzantine-era coins. They are believed to be from around 604-609 because of the images of the emperor they bear. With all that’s been discovered in archaeological digs, archaeologists believe they can accurately reconstruct Jesus’ life from the Church of the Nativity.

Shroud of Turin Reveals Size of Jesus

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Italian researchers and experts have new answers about how Jesus looked as a human. This research is based on a study of the Shroud of Turin; a 14-foot linen cloth believed to be what Jesus’ body was wrapped in before He was put in the tomb. The shroud is also believed to be imprinted with an image of Jesus’ face. A 3-D carbon copy statue was created of what Jesus likely looked like, based on the measurements of the shroud. Based on this replica, Jesus is thought to have been taller than the average man from the first century. “According to our studies, Jesus was a man of extraordinary beauty. Long-limbed, but very robust, he was nearly 5 ft. 11 in. tall, whereas the average height at the time was around 5 ft. 5 in. And he had a regal and majestic expression,” said Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurements at the University of Padua in Italy.

The Pool of Siloam

In John 9, we read the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. Christ spits on the ground, makes some mud and puts it on the blind man’s eyes. He then instructs the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The blind man does so, and is healed. Critics of Scripture often assume that John’s Gospel contains fictional accounts of Christ’s actions. But the existence of the pool of Siloam and the accuracy of the biblical account contradicts the view that such stories were later inventions. In the third century AD a church was built above a pool attached to Hezekiah’s water tunnel in Jerusalem to commemorate the healing of the blind man reported in John’s Gospel. Until recently, this was thought to be the Pool of Siloam. However, during sewerage work, engineers stumbled upon the steps of a first century ritual pool near the mouth of Hezekiah’s tunnel. Archaeologists said it is without doubt the missing pool of Siloam.

The Nazareth Decree

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An early story about the empty tomb of Jesus, circulated by the Jerusalem authorities, was that His body had been stolen. Matthew’s Gospel records: “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we 48 were asleep,’” (Matthew 28:12-13). This story fits with the ‘Nazareth decree’ – an edict of the Roman Emperor which orders that anyone caught disturbing tombs or moving bodies from them should be put to death. It was reportedly discovered in Nazareth in 1878, and the emperor in question was Claudius, who ruled between AD 41 and 54. The Nazareth inscription can be read as a response by the emperor to the rumor that the disciples stole Christ’s body. Scholars have pointed out that even if there is no conscious connection with Jesus of Nazareth, this decree still reveals that the imperial authorities in the period saw grave robbery as an extremely serious crime – indeed as a capital offence. This only makes it yet more unlikely that the already fearful disciples would have risked such an act.

His Last Days and Crucifixion

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The evidence for Jesus in the events leading to His crucifixion starts across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. There, we can walk through ancient olive trees at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before His capture. Then we can look back across the Kidron Valley to the Golden Gate where Christ entered Jerusalem for His trial, scourging and death. Elsewhere, we find more evidence for Jesus and the leaders presiding over His trial and crucifixion, including an inscription that mentions the Roman procurator at the time, Pontius Pilate, and the actual bones of the Jewish High Priest of the time, Caiaphas, preserved in an ornate ossuary (bone box). The evidence continues throughout Jerusalem where we can stand in the judgment place of Pontius Pilate called Gabbatha, and then walk the Via Dolorosa where Christ carried His own cross to Calvary. Incredibly, a 2-000-year-old heel bone pierced by an iron nail was recently discovered in Jerusalem graveyard that sheds more light on the practice of crucifixion by the first century Romans.