In Egypt’s “Valley of the Kings” the French Archeologist; Victor Larae discovered and excavated the tomb of Amenhotep II who was the Pharoah of the Exodus that experienced the plagues and was likely drown in the Red Sea with the rest of the Egyptian army.
This tomb was found in when the corridor was found in an unlikely location; it was at the bottom of a slope between two waterfalls.
The tomb contained alabaster jar fragments that named Amenhotep II as the deceased king that inhabits the tomb.
What is very intriguing is that inside the tomb was not only found the Pharoah’s mummy but also the mummy of a boy between 11-15 years old who was the prince, or son of Amenhotep II. The name of the prince is Webensenu. Who has the shaved head and coming out of the side was a ponytail or prince’s lock.
What was interesting was two things:
a) A young prince was found there (Webensenu). Exodus 12 tells us that he died before the King did. We know this because when a king dies it is sealed to not be reopened. The one who died in the final plague.
b) Of all the mummy’s found in the Valley of the Kings, only one had boil like sores on its body; Amenhotep II. Exodus 9 tells us that one of the plagues was a plague of sores.
Transition:
When people see things like this, strangely enough, it always meets controversy and debate even though it matches the Biblical text.
Strangely enough, the life of Jesus and the empty tomb of our King of Kings also calls for a decision. It is a decision of belief or debate.
One person in the New Testament that we’d never think would struggle with belief in our Savior is John the Baptist.
John, after all, was the man that saw Jesus and said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
But, after Herod Antipas arrested John and imprisoned awaiting execution in Machaerus by beheading, he struggled. Therefore, he began to doubt and according to verse 18-19 he asked his disciples to go to Jesus and ask this question: “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” vs. 20
This proves that any and every one can struggle with faith and belief. Yet, God responds to our doubts just as Jesus did for John the Baptist.
Notice what Jesus said to go relay to John. He said: “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard; the Blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Vs 22
Why did Jesus respond in this way? The reasoning is simple. During that time there were four miracles that would substantiate and prove (without a doubt) the identity and authenticity of the one who would bring salvation to the world.
The Jews believed that these four physical conditions in mankind could only be corrected by God Himself. Therefore, Jesus revealed His divinity to John’s disciples that He had and would complete all four.
These four miracles would provide an ironclad proof that Jesus is the one and only Son of God and Savior of the world.
Transitional Sentence: What are those 4 miracles that the Jewish people knew would identify our Savior and Messiah?
I. Miracle #1- The Cleansing of the Leper
Luke 17:11-14- “While He was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! When He saw them, He said to them, God and show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going, they were cleansed.”
Explanation:
It was believed in Jesus’ day that leprosy was inflicted by God Himself. They called leprosy, “The Finger of God.”
As the Jews read the Tanach (Old Testament) they read of three people inflicted by leprosy as a judgment from God. One was reluctant Moses in Exodus 4 when God had Moses tuck his hand in his cloak and it returned with leprosy and then by the same action; it was removed.
Leprosy was inflicted on Miriam as punishment from God for speaking against Moses and King Uzziah entered the Holy Place unlawfully and was inflicted with leprosy and died. (Numbers 12 & II Chronicles 26)
Without a miracle from God, leprosy was a death sentence that would be preceded with loneliness, rejection and loss.
If you had leprosy all you had would be burned which often included your home and anything else, you touched.
Lepers not only had an incurable disease but an impossible thing to live long with. God gave strict instructions to follow if it was believed that they had somehow been healed which included a visit to the Priest to declare that they were clean (Leviticus 13-14) and they were to bring an offering to the Lord called “a guilt offering” to seek forgiveness for whatever they had done to open the door to this judgment for sin.
Jesus healed several lepers during His ministry. Luke described one of them as “being full of leprosy.” (Luke 5:12) Being a doctor, Luke makes it clear that this guy had a bad case of it.
Mark noted that Jesus saw a leper and had compassion on him and reached out and touched him. (Mark 1: 40-45)
In Luke 17, Jesus healed 10 lepers at one time.
The Pharisees often followed Jesus around and watched Jesus and this was one of the miracles on their checklist that would prove He is the Messiah, and He healed lepers on multiples of occasions.
For this reason, Jesus told John’s disciples to go tell John, “…the lepers are cleansed” vs. 22
Only God could cleanse lepers and Jesus did it and check mark #1 went down on the Messianic checklist.
Transitional Sentence: What are those 4 miracles that the Jewish people knew would identify our Savior and Messiah?
II. Miracle #2- Casting Out a Deaf and Mute Spirit
Mark 9:25- “When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again, After crying out and throwing him into convulsions, it came out of him and did not enter him again.”
Explanation:
The Jews often practiced exorcism (casting out demons) by addressing the demon in three steps:
a) They spoke to the demon, asking its name.
b) The demon would reply using the voice of the possessed individual.
c) The exorcist would cast out the demon by name.
Jesus used this formula on one occasion in Mark 5:9 where Jesus asked the demon’s names in the man of the Gadarenes who was living in a graveyard.
When Jesus cast out the demon of the Gadarenes, they identified themselves as “Legion” and Jesus cast them out into the swine, and they ran into the sea and drowned. (Matthew 8:31)
Yet, in Matthew 9 there was a problem. The man whom the demon possessed was deaf and mute so he could not speak and tell Jesus the name of the demon(s) that were inside him.
The Jews could not cast out a deaf and dumb spirit because the demon had found a spiritual Fort Knox. If they could not know the name of the demon; it could sit on the proverbial Lazy Boy of a human heart and make itself at home knowing that they could not be identified.
Yet, Jesus cast it out it the demons without them identifying themselves. In the Pharisee’s understanding, this was a second checklist issue. Only God could cast out demons without identifying them because those demons knew who God is and that was all it took.
In Matthew 12:28 Jesus let them know that He was the King of Kings by saying: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In other words, Jesus was saying, “Take out your checklist and check off #2 on the Messianic miracle list because I am God, and my Kingdom is in your midst.”
Notice again, John that Baptist wanted the evidence that He was the Messiah and Jesus told his disciples to return to Him and say: “the deaf hear.” vs. 22
Transitional Sentence: What are those 4 miracles that the Jewish people knew would identify our Savior and Messiah?
III. Miracle #3- The Healing of Birth Defects
John 9: 1-3- “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind” Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Explanation:
The Hebrew sages believed that not only was leprosy inflicted by God, but also if a child sinned or his ancestors, the child would have to pay for the punishment of their sins.
This belief was based on two scriptures:
a) Exodus 34:7 that says: “He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation.
b) Exodus 4:11- “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives sight and makes him blind? Is it not the Lord?”
When a child was born with a birth defect, especially one that was so incredibly difficult to manage life like blindness; the parent and patriarchs were often made suspect, and people would often ask as the disciples did: “Who sinned? The child or his parents?”
It was believed that birth defects were the outliving of judgment as discussed in the Book of Exodus.
On the Jewish Messianic checklist was the expectation and requirement for the Messiah to heal, but not only heal, but to heal someone born with what seemed to be an irreversible birth defect. After all, are there any medical solutions to full scale blindness?
What makes the miracle of the blind man’s healing even more significant is that he healed him during the Feast of Tabernacles when the Priests would take water from the Pool of Siloam (which is called the fountain of cleansing) to pour on the Temple altar.
When Jesus spat on the ground and made clay from his spit and applied it to the blind man’s eyes, He told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam and he was healed.
The Pool of Siloam today after excavation
Knowing the checklist had to be perfect, the Pharisees went to find the man’s parents and asked about the man’s blindness and his parents said: “We know that this our son, and that he was born blind.” Vs. 20
Jesus made a strong statement about His divinity through this miracle, and also that He did it on the Sabbath day which would reveal, “Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Back to what Jesus told John’s disciples: “Go tell John… the blind receive sight” (Luke 7:22)
Transitional Sentence: What are those 4 miracles that the Jewish people knew would identify our Savior and Messiah?
IV. Miracle #4- The Dead are Raised After Three Days
John 11:4- “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified in it.”
John 11:14- “So Jesus then said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead!”
John 11: 25: “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in will live even if he dies.”
Explanation:
One of Jesus’ final miracles was raising Lazarus from the dead. In Jesus’ ministry, it is recorded that Jesus raised 3 people from the dead:
a) Jairus’s daughter
b) The son of the widow of Nain
c) Lazarus
It is interesting that Jesus only raised one person from the dead that was dead longer than three days. Lazarus was dead four days.
This miracle proves that Jesus left no stone unturned when it came to His revelation of His identity.
In Jewish life, it was believed that a person’s soul did not depart from the body until after 3 days.
To deal with this, Jewish tombs always had what I call “an escape window” or “an escape hatch.’
Yet, Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead 4 days to leave no room for question and there was none. He performed this miracle before His own death, in a place called Bethany which was 2 miles from Jerusalem.
Return once again with me to what Jesus said to John the Baptist’s disciples. He said; “Go tell John “the dead are raised up!” vs 22
Literally, in the Pharisee’s backyard just days away from the Passover Celebration. Jerusalem has a normal population of 20-30 thousand in normal times of the year, but at Passover it swelled to almost 500,000!
Now there was no denying the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, therefore, when Jesus came into Jerusalem, no wonder people threw down their cloaks and said: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
This miracle at the tomb finalized the checklist! It was time for the Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests and all the religious leaders to anoint and announce that Jesus is Messiah; but instead; they crucified Him.
Yet, God would not leave any room for doubt, because on Friday He was crucified, wrapped, and laid in a borrowed tomb. His lifeless body lay in that tomb, yet saw no decay, because while he lay there on Friday; Sunday was coming!
Hallelujah! Jesus rose and He rose triumphantly.
I Corinthians 15:3-4 says: “that He was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Listen: Earth’s saddest day and gladdest day were only three days apart.
You see, God would not stop with the Messianic Miracles as required by the Jews. The Bible says that God added a final check on the checklist; Lazarus raising was not enough, because Jesus went one more step and rose Himself on Sunday!
Praise God! Sunday came! And every week we meet on this day to commemorate and celebrate that glorious Sunday that gives undeniable proof that Jesus is the Way of Salvation!
Conclusion: What are the odds?
What are the odds? Modern estimates suggests that world wise between 6-7 thousand people die each hour—that’s 150,000 per day.
In other words, every day at least 2 people die per second.
Playwright Oscar Wilde said: “The statistics on death are impressive. One out of one people die.” Death bats 1000.
With this said, “The chances of death are perfect, and the proof that Jesus is the Resurrection, and the life are perfect, so all this leaves us with is a choice. Will I believe and respond to the opportunity to declare Jesus Savior and Lord of my life?”
The empty tomb is enough proof that Jesus can occupy your life.
The Bible promises that He will. Because of the empty tomb, He can occupy your life!
Romans 8:11 says: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
