Jesus family tomb discovered?

By now you have probably heard of the "recent" discovery of an ossuary in a suburb outside of Jerusalem containing bones of the holy royal family. Actually this is not a new discovery at all, archaeologists have known about the tomb for years, but never saw anything significant because of the comonness of the names Jesus Mary and Joseph among Jews of the first century.

If you haven't researched this one out, here are 10 reasons why the claims in the upcoming Discovery documentary are bogus.

What I find interesting in this whole discussion is that even liberal scholars can no longer dispute the claim that the family tomb of Joseph of Arimethea in which Jesus was buried (traditionally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) was empty on the third day. Neither can they dispute the early apostle's claims to have seen Jesus alive after the crucifixion. Furthermore, as in times past, liberal scholars often claim that what became Orthodox Christianity (the belief in the divinity and resurrection of Jesus) did not evolve until centuries after His death. Now, even this idea most scholars have conceded is false due to the overwhelming evidence of the rapid growth of Christianity in the first century based on the belief in the resurrection.

It seems now the only credible way to undermine the core tenant of Christianity is to presume the body was stolen. This idea has serious problems though. For one, the tomb was heavily guarded. Secondly, the disciples would have had no reason to steal the body and then proclaim to the world a risen Jesus if they knew the claims to be false. Each and every witness to the resurrection paid a horrible price (the majority of them were crucified) for their claims. No one dies for something they know to be false. Given the growth of Christianity during the first century and the intense persecution that followed, wouldn't someone from the Roman government or the Jewish authorities or, better yet, from the family of Jesus wanted to produce the body to stop the unnecessary threat to peace?

Lastly, if there really was a family tomb of Jesus, don't you think that James, the brother of Jesus would have known about it? The fact that James was the leader of the Jerusalem church, a group of people who firmly believed in the resurrection of Jesus, does a lot to discredit this claim.

When the dust settles on this story, the same truth will remain. Jesus is risen!