One amazing point that sticks out in my mind is when the Author, Lee Strobel, is questioning John McRay, PH.D about archaelogical evidence for Christ and His Diety, this spoke directly to me.
In response to when John the Baptist was imprisoned, he asked about Jesus' identity, sent his followers to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matt 11:3).
Jesus' response is not what we would expect.
Matt 11: 4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to
the poor.Lee Strobel goes on to explain:
"Through the centuries, Christians have wondered about Jesus' rather enigmatic answer. Instead of derectly saying yes or no ... Jesus' response was an allusion to Isaiah 35. But for some reason Jesus included the phrase "the dead are raised," which is conspicuously absent from the Old Testament text." (pg 142 The Case for Christ)
The book brings to light a manuscript that is referred to as 4Q521 from the Dead Sea collection that contains a version of this scripture that includes the missing phrase. This gives a definitive answer on Jesus' part. Jesus not only satisfied John the Baptist with his message of being God, but this shows through Archaeology that God is playing a huge part in sending this message to those that doubted due to this missing peice.
Another interesting aspect of the book that touches on this specific topic as well was through his discussion with Ben Witherington III, PH.D. He mentioned, not only how Jesus' alluded to himself as God through referring to the scriptures such as Daniel 7, and his radical statements that defied the Old Testament way of thinking that put him on the same level as God, but also by his mission and carrying out the mission Jesus showed that he knew he was the Son of God, and he made it known to us.
More to come...
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