The Shroud of Turin

Leviticus 19:15 – “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
All truth must be witnessed by two or more witnesses. All of Yeshua’s miracles were witnessed by two or more witnesses except his resurrection which took place inside the burial tomb whose opening was sealed by the large stone.

Miracles Seen By Two Or More Witnesses
Numerous people were witnesses to Yeshua’s miracles.
• Matthew 14:17-21, Mark 6:38-43, Luke 9:13-14 – Five thousand are fed with five loaves and two fish.
• Matthew 15:34-38, Mark 8:5-9, – Four thousand are fed with seven loaves.
• Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43 – The crowd witnesses Yeshua give sight to a blind man.
• Mark 9:17-26 – The crowd witnesses Yeshua cast out a mute spirit.
• John 2:1-10 – The wedding guests and apostles witness Yeshua turn water into wine.
• Acts 1:1-11 – The apostles witness Yeshua taken up into the clouds.

The Three Witnesses To Yeshua’s Resurrection
But were there any witnesses to Yeshua’s miracles. Russ Breault says yes, there were three, but none of those witnesses were human. The three witnesses are:
• The Empty Tomb: Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-12 – “They have taken away Yeshua out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
• The Empty Burial Cloth: John 20:4-6 – “John and Peter ran together, and John ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; John stooped to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. Peter, however, entered the tomb and also saw the linen wrappings lying there.”
• The Head-Cover Cloth: John 20:7 – “And the cloth, that had covered Yeshua’s head, was not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.”

The Empty Tomb
The empty tomb verifies fulfillment of many prophecies regarding the resurrection of the dead, and specifically the resurrection of Ha’Mashiach (the Messiah). It means salvation for all who believe, it means there was no corpse waiting to decay, it means that Yeshua died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, it means that just as Yeshua received an immortal, incorruptible body, so will we at our resurrection.

The Shroud of Turin
In 1978 Dr. John Jackson led a team scientists, called the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), who did an extensive examination of the Shroud of Turin.

The Shroud of Turin is arguably the single most studied artifact in human history. It is a piece of ancient linen measuring 14 feet 3 inches long by 3 feet 7 inches wide. The bloodstained surface of the Shroud is marked with a negative image of the undistorted front and back sides of a naked man who appears to have been severely beaten and crucified—an ancient Roman form of torture and execution. The shroud also appears to render a high-resolution, three dimensional image.

The Shroud shows some interesting characteristics such as “total lack of gravity, lack of entropy (without gravitational collapse), no time, and no space . . . It conforms to no known law of physics” says Dame Isabel Piczek. The body is visibly perfect and undistorted anatomically on both sides, which “proves the total absence of gravity” she says.

The Empty Burial Cloth
The Shroud of Turin is believed by many to be the empty burial cloth of Yeshua. The Shroud is a long linen cloth made of out flax and measures 14 feet long and 3.5 feet wide. It bears the faint image of a bearded, crucified man with bloodstains that match the wounds of crucifixion suffered by Yeshua of Nazareth as recorded in all four Gospel narratives. It shows:
• Blood on head (from a crown of thorns?)
• Abrasions and bruises on face
• Over 120 scourge (whip) marks
• Blood on the arms
• Nail wound in the wrists
• Nail wound in the feet
• Legs not broken
• Wound in the side
• Post mortem blood flow from side wound and on the back
• Legs are pulled up due to rigor mortis
• Blood is from actual wounds and show evidence of gravity from a vertical position
• No stains of body decomposition

The Examination Results
• No inorganic pigments present
• No substances manually applied to cloth
• No artistic substances are on the cloth
• No collagen binder as would be used with paint
• Blood tests positive for heme, bile, serum albumin and other blood components
• The blood is AB positive with human DNA
“The blood marks seen on the shroud are consistent with a contact transfer to the cloth of blood clot exudates that would have resulted from major wounds inflicted on a man who died in the position of crucifixion.” -Dr. Al Adler

The Image Characteristics
• Purely superficial — penetrates only top 2 micro-fibers. Does not penetrate the cloth.
• Yellowing of image is uniform in intensity
• No capillary action apparent
• No cementing of fibers to each other
• No substances between threads
• No directionality to image
• No outline to image
• The image is a negative
• Contains distance information similar to a topographical map.
• The blood was applied before the image
• A similar image with the same characteristics has been produced only recently on a linen cloth with a 40 nanosecond burst of intense ultraviolet light

The STURP Conclusion
“It is clear that there has been a direct contact of the Shroud with the body, which explains certain features such as the scourge marks, as well as the blood. However, while this type of contact might explain some features of the torso, it is totally incapable of explaining the image. There are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological, or medical circumstances explain the image adequately . . . we have come to believe that the totality of data supports the judgment that the Shroud of Turin once wrapped the body of Jesus of Nazareth.”

The Scientific Duplicate
In 2004, Dame Isabel Piczek, a Hungarian trained particle physicist, became fascinated by the total absence of distortion of the Shroud image, which would be a physical impossibility if the body had been lying on solid rock. Piczek’s work strongly suggests that the image of Yeshua was projected as a quantum hologram onto the cloth as His body underwent the process of Resurrection.

Scientists have finally been able to duplicate the type of markings on the Shroud of Turin with intense ultraviolet light. Since Yeshua is now a being of light, just imagine what that would do to a human body!! Here’s a hint: when folks get too close to Yeshua, “their flesh rots away while they are standing on their feet, their eyes rot away in their sockets, and their tongues rot away in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12).

The Receipt
When one goes to the store and purchases items, and then pays the cashier, one receives a printed receipt that lists the items and their cost. The Shroud of Turin is that detailed receipt of the items Yeshua endured in order to purchase our redemption from Satan, sin, and eternal death.

The Head-Cover Cloth
Whether or not the folded cloth [soudarion σουδάριον H4676] is called a napkin or a handkerchief, or whether or not it covered the entire head or just the face makes little difference to its significance. Two possibilities of why the cloth covering Yeshua’s face/head was folded and set aside are:
• Tradition indicates that a napkin would be folded and set beside the plate if the person intended to return to the table, or crumpled if not. The folded cloth meant, “I’m coming back!”
• John 11:44 describes the face covering of Lazarus, who had just been resurrected by Yeshua. If grave robbers had been the cause of the empty tomb, they would not have taken time to fold the cloth but would simply have tossed it aside. Again, the folded cloth declares “I’m coming back!”

Conclusions
Scripture demands two or more witnesses to establish a matter. Normally the witnesses are humans. Yahweh, however is not dependent upon human witnesses. Just as the miracles establish the fact that Yeshua is Ha’Mashiach, that he is God, that he is the truth, the way, and the life, so also do the three witnesses of the empty tomb, the empty burial cloth, and the folded cover cloth establish that he has been resurrected, he is coming back, and those who believe will also be resurrected.

Final Thought for 2023
The stage for Yeshua’s return is being set. Prophecy continues to unfold in an escalating pattern as foretold by the Hebrew prophets. The season of the birth pains is here – they are burgeoning and not going away. Time is short – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach is coming soon – be sure you have salvation in Yeshua and keep busy reaching the lost.

NOTE: Originally posted in November 2014, Titled: Witnesses Required

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