SHORT COMMUNICATION 154
Some Remarkable Conclusions
By
Roger Behra
Around the middle of February every year the Lenten Season becomes a reality for millions of Christians throughout the world, and the leads to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, our Savior. Aside from the resurrection on Easter Sunday, which was the separate and superior event, Lent brings to mind there other very important events, and Christians should contemplate them at the end of the Lenten Season. Those three unusual and memorable events are: Veronica’s veil, the exact moment Jesus died on the cross, and the Holy Shroud. All three events make a very strong and serious statement about who was really crucified on the cross so many centuries ago.
The first contemplation starts with Veronica’s veil. She was one of the witnesses in the crowd who was watching Jesus labor and struggle and suffers under the big and heavy cross He was carrying to Calvary for His crucifixion. Her emotions took over, and she left the crowd and wiped the battered face of Jesus. As she did that memorable kindness, Jesus left the imprint of his face on her veil. That was a small but remarkable event, and it can even be considered a miracle. The next two events are bigger and much more miraculous, indeed.
When Jesus took his last breath on the cross and His spirit was given up to His heavenly Father, suddenly, in the blink of and eye, the sky became dark. The lightening lashes were huge and close to the ground. The thunder was frightening and ear-splitting, and the rain was thick, fierce, and pelting everyone. Everyone was caught by complete surprise. That was a very noteworthy event and had a very real and important message to impart. The message was: Jesus just died. The Man who just died was just the person He said He was: Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made Man, who was born to live and die in order for man to be saved from His sinfulness. Many believers were made on the spot.
The third event, aside from the crucifixion, became the Holy Shroud of Turin, and scientific study, research, and results prove the following:
1. The Holy Shroud is not a forgery and it cannot be duplicated by anyone’s work.
2. It is considered a miracle and God’s way of lastingly telling man something.
3. The person buried in the Shroud suffered a great head injury, broken nose, torturous scourging, an agonizing crown of thorns, a shoulder wound, and a acute and agonizing death on a cross. The man crucified died a cruel, agonizing death.
All of this correlates exactly with the death of Jesus.
A scientific breakthrough happened in 1898. Keep the Holy Shroud was centuries old prior to 1898. There was no such process as photography when the Holy Shroud came into existence. In 1898 a photographer took about a picture of the Holy Shroud. In the darkroom when the photographer developed the plate, he was astounded to see instead of a negative of the Holy Shroud, he saw a positive image of Christ’s lifeless body. The Shroud is a negative, and, therefore, eliminates a forgery or an artist’s rendition of lit. All of the historical and scientific record plus what is recorded in the Bible’s New Testament solves the mystery of the Holy Shroud. It allows only one answer. The Holy Shroud is a living and lasting miracle and memory of: JESUS OF NAZARETH.
R. B.
3-7-10