Dead Sea Scrolls. We are not alone. The Crucified Messiah Scroll In 1991 the world was astonished to hear that one of the unpublished scrolls included incredible references to a Messiah who suffered crucifixion for the sins of men. The scroll was translated by Dr. Robert Eisenman, Professor of Middle East Religions of California State University. He declared, The text is of the most far-reaching significance because it shows that whatever group was responsible for these writings was operating in the same general scriptural and Messianic framework of early Christianity. Although the original scroll team still claimed that there was no evidence about early Christianity in the unpublished scrolls, this new scroll totally contradicted their statements. This single scroll is earth-shaking in its importance. As Dr. Norman Golb, Professor of Jewish History at the University of Chicago said, It shows that contrary to what some of the editors said, there are lots of surprises in the scrolls, and this is one of them. This remarkable five-line scroll contained fascinating information about the death of the Messiah. It referred to the Prophet Isaiah and his Messianic prophecy (Chapter 53) that identified the Messiah as one who will suffer for the sins of his people. This scroll provides an amazing parallel to the New Testament revelation that the Messiah would first suffer death before He would ultimately return to rule the nations. Many scholars believed that the Jews during the first century of our era believed that, when he finally came, the Messiah would rule forever without dying. The exciting discovery of this scroll reveals that the Essene writer of this scroll understood the dual role of the Messiah as Christians did. This scroll identified the Messiah as the Shoot of Jesse (King Davids father) the Branch of David, and declared that he was pierced and wounded. The word pierced remind us of the Messianic prophecy in Psalms 22:16: They pierced my hands and feet. The prophet Jeremiah (23:5) said, I will raise unto David a righteous branch. The scroll also describes the Messiah as a leader of the community who was put to death. This reference pointing clearly to the historical Jesus of Nazareth is creating shock waves for liberal scholarship that previously assumed that the Gospel account about Jesus was a myth. Jesus is the only one who ever claimed to be the Messiah who was crucified. The genealogies recorded in both Matthew and Lukes Gospels, reveal that Jesus was the only one who could prove by the genealogical records kept in the Temple that He was the lineage of King David as the Son of Jesse. Since the tragic destruction of the Temple and its records in A.D. 70 it would be impossible for anyone else to ever prove their claim to be the Messiah based on their genealogical descent from King David. Additionally, the scroll identified the Messiah as the sceptre which probably refers to the Genesis 49:10 prophecy, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. This scroll confirms the historical truthfulness of the New Testament record about Jesus and His crucifixion. The evidence from the scroll suggests that the Jewish Essene writer acknowledged that Jesus of Nazareth was the suffering Messiah who died for the sins of His people. The Son of God Scroll Another fascinating scroll discovered in Cave Four known as 4Q246 refers to the hope of a future Messiah figure. This is another of the scrolls that was unpublished until recently. Amazingly, the text in this scroll refers to the Messiah as the son of God and the son of the Most High. These words are the exact wording recorded in the Gospel of Luke. The Text of Scroll 4Q246 - the Son of God Scroll: He shall be called the son of God, and they shall designate [call] him son of the Most High. Like the appearance of comets, so shall be their kingdom. For brief years they shall reign over the earth and shall trample on all; one people shall trample on another and one province on another until the people of God shall rise and all shall rest from the sword. Compare the words in the scroll 4Q246 text to the inspired words found in Luke 1:32 and 35: He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David... And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:32-35). Anyone comparing these two first century texts will be startled by the amazing similarity of concept and wording describing the Messianic leader. One of the great differences between Christian and Jewish conceptions of the promised Messiah revolves around His relationship to God. While the Jews believe the Messiah will be a great man, such as Moses, with a Divine mission, the Christians believe that the Bible teaches that the Messiah would be uniquely the Son of God. The Jewish view usually held that the concept of a son of God violated the primary truth of monotheism found in Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. The Christians believed that Jesus claim to be the Son of God was not a violation of Deuteronomy 6:4. Rather, Christians believe in the Trinity, the doctrine that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are revealed in the Bible to be One God, revealed in three personalities. As Christians, we do not believe in three separate gods. Therefore, Christians understand the statements about Jesus as the Son of God to be in complete conformity to the truth of monotheism - there is only one God. It is fascinating in this regard to consider the presence of these statements in this first century Jewish text: He shall be called the son of God, and they shall designate [call] him son of the Most High. The presence of these statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls suggests that some of the Essenes either accepted the Messianic claims of Jesus to be the Son of God or anticipated this concept. Either possibility opens up new areas for exploration. Another possibility that must be considered is this: Is it possible that this scroll 4Q246 is a direct quote from the writer hearing the words of the Gospel of Luke that was now widely circulating according to early Christian witnesses? Luke, the physician, claimed that he wrote the Gospel of Luke as an eyewitness of the events he personally observed. In Luke 1:1-3, he says: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. The discovery of the virtually identical wording the Son of God from Luke 1:32 and 35 with the scroll found buried in a cave in A.D. 68 stands as a tremendous witness to the early existence and transmission of the Gospel records within thirty-five years of Christ. If the Gospels were written and distributed within thirty-five years of the events of the life of Jesus (as the Gospels claim) then they stand as the best eyewitness historical records we could ever hope to possess. It would be almost impossible to distribute the Gospel accounts to thousands of people in Israel within three and a half decades of the events unless they were true accounts. If the Gospel records were untrue, many witnesses would have stood up and denied their accuracy. However, the records of the first century reveal that no one denied the facts about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, all of these ancient historical records confirm the truth of the Gospels. Other New Testament Quotes Identified in the Scrolls In 1971, a Spanish biblical scholar named Jose OCallaghan studied some of the small fragments of scrolls discovered in Cave Seven at Qumran. He was looking for correspondences between these fragments of Greek scrolls and the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament that was widely used by Jesus and the apostles. These fragments are quite small containing only small portions of each verse. After almost two thousand years, the elements and insects have significantly damaged these manuscripts. In some cases only small fragments containing parts of a verse on three or four lines remain from an original scroll. It required considerable detective work to determine the precise text in these tiny fragments. One day he carefully examined several small scroll fragments located in a photo page in The Discoveries of the Judean Desert of Jordan. To his great surprise OCallaghan noticed that several did not fit any Old Testament text. These fragments were listed as Fragments not identified. To his amazement Dr. OCallaghan found that these Greek language fragments bore an uncanny resemblance to several verses in the New Testament. He read the Greek words beget and a word that could be Gennesaret, a word for the Sea of Galilee. The fragment containing Gennesaret appears to be a quotation of the passage referring to the feeding of the five thousand found in Mark 6:52,53 which states: For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. If these texts are actually portions of these Christian writings they would be the earliest New Testament texts ever discovered. The New York Times responded, If OCallaghans theory is accepted, it would prove that at least one of the Gospels, that of St. Mark, was written only a few years after the death of Jesus. The Los Angeles Times headlined, Nine New Testament fragments dated A.D. 50 to A.D. 100 have been discovered in a Dead Sea Cave. It stated that if validated, [they] constitute the most sensational biblical trove uncovered in recent times. Other Scroll Fragments and the New Testament Dr. Jose OCallaghan ultimately identified eight different scroll fragments from Cave Seven that appear to be quotes from New Testament passages. The scholarly magazine Bible Review ran a fascinating article on Dr. OCallaghan, these scrolls, and their possible connection with the New Testament in an article in December, 1995. The fragments appeared to OCallaghan to be portions of the following verses from the Gospels and Pauls Epistles: For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself. . . (Mark 4:28). And he saw them toiling in rowing; . . . (Mark 6:48). And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar. . . (Mark 12:17) And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship. . . (Acts 27:38). And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . (Romans 5:11-12). And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. . . (1 Timothy 3:16). For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer. . . (James 1:23-24). As one example of Dr. OCallaghans study, he examined a small scroll fragment known as 7Q5 that contained only twenty Greek letters on five lines of text. Many of the thousands of scroll fragments that were successfully identified from the Qumran site are equally small. Another scroll scholar, Carsten Thiede, agrees with OCallaghan that portions of the Mark 6:52,53 passage appears in this scroll fragment. While other scroll scholars disagree with the identification of this fragment as a verse from the New Testament they do admit that almost all of the scrolls found in Cave Seven were written in the period between 50 B.C. and A.D. 50, which is consistent with the time of the writing of the Gospel of Mark. Naturally, as with other matters connected with the controversial Dead Sea Scrolls, many scholars disagreed with the conclusions of Dr. OCallaghan. The debate still continues twenty years later. At this stage we cannot be certain that OCallaghans conclusion is correct. More work needs to be done. However, the recent publication of the discovery of Scroll 4Q246 and its identical reference to the Son of God as found in Luke 1:32 and 35 provide strong support for the possibility that these fragments are related to these New Testament passages. In addition, I have great hopes that the new archeological exploration of recently detected caves at Qumran may provide new evidence including New Testament references. Many of these mysteries will be solved when the final four hundred unpublished scrolls are finally published in the next few years. The new dig at Qumran may also uncover additional scrolls that will help us understand more clearly the Messianic beliefs of this group of religious men and women who lived at this desert site during the time when Jesus walked the earth. When we consider the total amount of evidence that confirms the biblical record about Jesus of Nazareth we can have confidence that we know more about the life and resurrection of Christ than we know about any other person in the ancient world. God has not left us in darkness concerning the truthfulness of the miracles, prophecies and teaching of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 19:10:26 +0000
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