Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Topic: The empty tomb 39
Reading: Matthew 27:57-66, 28:1-15
Scripture: He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee. (Luke 24:6)
Note: In 1800, Karl Venturini, a rationalist of the swoon hypothesis, proposed that a group of supporters dressed in white, who were with Jesus, supposedly members of a secret society, had not expected Christ to survive the crucifixion, but heard groaning from inside the tomb, where Jesus had regained consciousness in the cool, damp air. They then frightened away the guards and rescued him.
This proposition by Karl Venturini of Jesus regaining consciousness, is fallacious and without verifiable historical proof. There is no mention of historical personalities among those supporters who lived with Christ during that era. The members of the so–called secret society had no identifiable person or character that could be historically referenced to. We are not told whether these supporters that popped up suddenly out of the blue were mere followers or disciples of Jesus.
One truth that is without controversy is that Jesus never kept any group of secret supporters. He ran an open ministry. His closest disciples were all from Galilee, and they all had names that were known to the public. The three closest people to Christ were Peter, James and John, who witnessed what transpired during the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were also with Christ when he agonised in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, prior to his arrest, trial, torture and crucifixion on the cross.
Karl Venturini’s proposition on the swoon hypothesis is just one of the desperate, wild and unfounded allegations of the theory based on over rationalisation of the scriptures, without historical basis, indefensible and unverifiable. Karl Venturini must have made a mockery of his ignorance of the things and ways of God through his attempts to over-simplify the angelic visitation account of Matthew 28:2-7, as supporters in white belonging to a secret society, that managed to scare the Roman guards away.
Food for thought: Angelic hosts from heaven are not members of a secret society. They are God’s messengers on earth enforcing the will of God.
Declaration: And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. (Matt 28:2-4)
© Author: Rev Fred Aboe
