Not exactly a “Christmas” season post, but…
Recently, the topic of the Shroud of Turin came up, again.
And someone told me, “It’s biblical.”
I would say, no, it opposes the Bible, the Word of God.
These are my reasons.
Firstly, John 19:40, NASB, tells us, “So they took the body
of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial
custom of the Jews.” Here the NASB uses the word, bound. This is the Greek
word, deo, which most versions
translate as either bound or wrapped with a few using the word, wound. This
word, deo, means bind, be in bonds,
knit, tie, wind.
This is the same word used in reference to Lazarus in John
11:44, NASB, “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped
around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” The
word for wrappings is keiria, which Strong’s
defines as a band used for tying up a corpse after it is swathed in linen, or a
winding-sheet. Take note here that the word for unbind is lyo, which means to break(up), destroy, dissolve, (un)loose, melt,
put off. That’s what Jesus told them to do to Lazarus. And Lazarus, just like
Jesus, has a separate head covering.
The word for wrappings used in John 19:40 is different. It
is othonion, this word means a linen
bandage, linen clothes, according to Strong’s. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon adds that
it would refer to plural strips of linen cloth for swathing the dead. Additionally,
Matthew 27:59, NASB, says, “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth.” Here the word for wrapped is entylisso,
which means to entwine or wind up in. So, the biblical account does not fit a
draping of a one-piece shroud.
Also, the Bible makes no mention of a shroud, of a picture of Jesus on burial clothes. And
since this would have been a supernatural occurrence, something God would have done
to make the image, it would be logical that He would speak of it in His Word.
However, there is absolutely no mention of such a thing, and He Himself in
doing this image would go against the making of an image of God forbidden in
the 10 Commandments. It was also forbidden for Jews to take grave clothes.
These are unclean.
“As is the burial custom of the Jews” is important
information regarding the process of Jesus’ burial, not just the grave clothes.
Jesus’ body, on the cross, would have been a bloody mess from the nails, the
crown of thorns, and from all the beatings. Remember, the Romans used a
particularly brutal method to whip prisoners. Yet, all that blood was washed
off carefully by Nicodemus and Joseph, who after Jesus died had plenty of time
to remove His body and prepare it for burial. So, there would be no blood to
stain the grave clothes.
After a thorough washing, Jesus’ body would have been bound
with the linen bandages intermittently adding in the spices and aloe. The
latter would act like a glue to hold together the linen. His head was wrapped
separately. Scripture is very clear on this. In John 20:7 (NASB), we read, “and
the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings,
but rolled up in a place by itself.” I personally think this loose head wrapping
was because, well, what if the person wasn’t really dead, they’d need to
breathe and yell for help.
Since the women would not have been allowed to prepare Jesus’
body for burial—being women, most likely they were coming early that Sunday
morning to do additional anointing. Perhaps their intent was adding their items
to His head or the outside portion of the wrappings.
I also believe that the reason John had no need to go into
the tomb, but stood at the entrance and believed, was that it was very obvious
that no body could have been freed from the wrappings either by others or by
itself from the state that they were left in, which due to the spices and aloe
after several days would have made them like a collapsed formfitting cocoon. It
was obvious to John a miracle had occurred. This would not have been the case
of a shroud.
Something else that is notable. Jewish men had short hair.
Only women and Nazarites (under oath) had long hair. Jesus was of Nazareth, so
He was called the Nazarene. But, He was not one of those who took the Nazarite
vow. His actions do not support Numbers 6. He went near dead bodies and drank
wine. If He was under that vow, He would have shown integrity to it.
When you take these things into consideration, you must
choose. Is the scriptural account correct? Or is the Shroud of Turin? If you
choose the latter, then the Scripture loses integrity. It loses its claim to
communicate truth.
So, that is why I believe the Shroud of Turin opposes truth
of Scripture. And that makes the Shroud of Turin anything but harmless.
