|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? (Mark 4:37-38, ESV)
In 1986, during a drought in the area around the Sea of Galilee, two brothers found an ancient boat buried in an area previously covered by water.
It didn’t take long for archeologists to discern the importance of this boat — it was an ancient fishing vessel dated to the time that Jesus walked the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Through a laborious process of encasing the boat’s wood in foam while digging it out of dried mud to prevent deterioration when exposed to air, the ancient boat was floated to shore in this foam and then plunged into a wax bath for twelve years to stabilize the wood.
Those visiting the area can now see the boat on display.
With boats mentioned in the New Testament 56 times, a fishing boat had never been found before 1986. The boat is now called “The Jesus Boat,” and there is no evidence that exists that Jesus slept or rode in this boat.
But there’s still a chance that it was owned by Zebedee, the father of James and John, and used by Jesus when his ministry required a boat. It could be the very boat from which Jesus calmed the storm.
Yes, improbable, but consider my logic. . .
Scholars estimate there were about 250 similar boats in the northern part of the Sea of Galilee when Jesus lived. A one in 250 chance of this discovered boat really being the “Jesus Boat” is less than the one in a gazillion chance people find acceptable today when purchasing a mega-lottery ticket.
But what do we know? The boat fits these Biblical descriptions of boats used by Jesus:
- At 27 feet long, it’s big enough to hold the twelve disciples and Jesus. Strike one against doubters of Scripture.
- It has four rowing positions, and Luke 6:48 depicts the apostles straining at the oars. Strike two against those who think the New Testament is inaccurate.
- Remnants of a platform exist in the stern, a place for Jesus to sleep. Strike three against naysayers of God’s Word.
Strike one, strike two, and strike three — skeptics return to the doubter’s dugout!
The Bible often encounters challenges to its integrity. It’s fun today, in the last days predicted by Daniel the prophet to be a time with a significant increase of knowledge, that new discoveries in the Holy Land often confirm the legitimacy and accuracy of the Bible.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!