Listen to the broadcast program. radio042en.ram (15 minutes)
PROGRAM outline is transcribed below.
Welcome once again to ComfortForToday.com, a program named after the website of the same name. My husband, Neville, and I who sponsor these programs, would love to hear from you. Also any financial help to pay for air time would be appreciated as the number of stations airing the program has increased. We hope to soon be able to issue tax receipts. You may write to Neville and Doreen Palmer, 27 Dominion Gardens Drive, Georgetown, ON L7G 6B2; phone 905-877-4853.
Today's program is about the reality of the people in the Bible. So often as we read about them, we fail to notice the vast amount of detail given which proves they were real people like us.
The first account continues on from last week's report about the bone-box of James, son of Joseph and brother of Jesus which recently turned up in Israel. The second is taken from a website article entitled "People in the Bible are so Human."
My husband, Neville, will first read what I have written about the authenticity of the bone box of James, the Lord's brother. If we believe the box is real, then the James whose bones formerly laid within it must have been real, the brother of a real person - Jesus Christ.
Neville:
I am Neville Palmer, husband of Doreen Palmer, author of this website. She has written a few things she has learned about the box and what the Bible says about this man James, and what the historian Josephus wrote about him.
1. I believe that God has kept this box hidden for a time in history when unbelief would be rampant. Our faith is bolstered when we find that scholars are convinced that inside the box indeed did lie the bones of "James, son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus" as the Aramaic inscription on the box reads.
2. Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 identify a man James as the brother of Jesus.
3. It was not a practice at that time to include names of brothers or sisters on burial inscriptions.
4. Acts 1:14 tells us that James was among the group gathered at Pentecost (the day the Christian church was born).
5. Galatians 1:18-19 tells us that when the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem to talk to Peter he said, "I saw none of the other apostles except JAMES, THE LORD'S BROTHER."
6. Acts 12:17 tells us that this is the James who presided over the Christian council in Jerusalem - a group of leaders who assisted the early churches resolve controversial issues.
7. There are nine complete verses in Acts 15:13-21 where we can read James' advice to these leaders.
8. We have proof other than the Bible that James was indeed the brother of Jesus Christ/Messiah. This proof was written by the historian Josephus in "Jewish Antiquities" A.D.62 as recorded in a book "Josephus, The Essential Writings," - a translation by Paul L. Maier:
JOSEPHUS WROTE:
"Ananus...convening the judges of the Sanhedrin, BROUGHT BEFORE THEM A MAN NAMED JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS WHO WAS CALLED THE CHRIST, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law, and condemned them to be stoned to death."
Josephus wrote this in A.D.62 - the year James is said to have died.
So James was a very real person both in the biblical and historical records, as was Jesus Christ. And these records have sufficient grounds to be posted around the bone-box at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. Its first public showing coincided with an international meeting of 300 Biblical scholars in mid-November where the Jew who owns it, Oded Golan from Tel Aviv, addressed the convention.
We all need to study the book which James wrote. He speaks volumes to us who talk the talk, but fail to walk the walk. The reality of James' bones having once been stored in that box is like a sword of truth cutting into our hearts to humble us before a holy God.
We continue then with an article from the website which looks at examples of the human side of people in the Bible, including Jesus.
The Bible is filled with human-interest stories. As the different characters move about and speak, we can feel their emotions and realize the authenticity of the narrative. Family relationships are portrayed in vivid detail.
Joseph, Jesus' human father, shows genuine love for his espoused and pregnant Mary. If we had been Joseph, we would have had difficulty understanding the pregnancy because he had never slept with her. She had become pregnant, you see, through the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us "because he was a righteous man he did not want to expose her to public disgrace" (Matt.1:19). Most men, in Joseph's shoes, would have been concerned about their own reputation rather than that of Mary. If all marriages were founded on such unselfish love, there would be no divorces!
Then we see Jesus' family returning home from their annual trip to the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. After travelling for a whole day, they discovered their Son, Jesus, a boy of 12, was missing. They had to go all the way back to Jerusalem but couldn't find Him. After a three-day search, they found Him in the temple discussing spiritual things with the teachers there. Jesus couldn't understand why they were so upset and told them "I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2:49).
This story shows the trust Mary and Joseph had in their Son. For one entire day they had travelled, believing He was with the relatives. Many parents would have made certain He was with the right crowd, and that His hair was properly combed before leaving. But they had taught Him, in love, to take care of Himself. Now, as He approached His 13th birthday, He was mature enough to enjoy the freedom they so obviously gave Him. He, like all 12-year olds, had to learn that parents worry about their children when they do not come home on time. But He was free to state His case, and let them know that first things must come first. The author is quick to add "He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them" (Luke 2:51). He had love and respect for His parents as they had for Him.
The account of Ruth, King David's great-grandmother and ancestor of Jesus, is also a beautiful story of family love.
Naomi's husband had died and her two sons had also died. One son's wife, Ruth, was not an Israelite but was a native of Moab where they lived. When Naomi decided to return to Israel, Ruth insisted on going with her: "Where you go I will go...your people will be my people and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16).
Much has been said about the unselfish love of the youthful Ruth for her mother-in-law, but we might stop to consider why Ruth would feel such warmth toward this older woman? It must have been because the older Naomi had been very accepting of Ruth as the wife of her beloved son. She must not have been jealous of her son's affection for his wife, and didn't look or flaws in this younger woman. Naomi ws rewarded later when Ruth met and married the kindly Boaz to become our Lord's ancestor (Matt.1:5-17).
The Bible characters are so human. Some loved, some hated and performed violent acts of murder, but all were real people just like us.
Although Jesus' earthly father was Joseph, His true Father was God. You and I who become part of the Christian family can also call God our Father (John 1:12). Just as Jesus was obedient to His earthly parents after returning to Nazareth and later to His heavenly Father, we too learn love and respect through kind parents which later turns into obedience to God. We who have been adopted into the Christian family like to obey the rules of the household because we love Jesus.
We love Jesus because He first loved us.
"HOW GREAT THOU ART" - (Billy Graham's Geo. Beverley Shea)
PRAYER
"Be Still and Know That I Am God" - (Sari)