JAMES' OSSUARY - THE TORONTO BLESSING!

Following: http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/was-yaakov-brother-of-jesus.html

They flogged, crucified and speared Yeshua (Jesus).
Then they stoned his brother Ya’akov (James). 
Surely they’d leave a fragile old bone box in peace?   

Despite nearly two thousand years of violent upheaval and destruction in Jerusalem, this ossuary survived for thousands to see it in Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum in 2002/3 and 10 years later it is finally back in the custody of its owner, Oded Golan of Tel Aviv………DAMAGED!! 

Surely not!  Damaged, you say??  How come?   
The ossuary had arrived in Toronto full of cracks after being poorly packed and handled, necessitating painstaking repairs by a museum curator. In fact, one of the cracks ran straight through the inscription.....
  

Ya'akof bar Yosef achui di Yeshua…or...'Jacob son of Joseph brother (...here!) of Jesus'

Well these things happen...the cracks were repaired…   

Ah, but this artefact aroused intense jealousy and once the Israelis realized the significance of the inscription, 40 criminal charges were laid on Golan in December 2004, while the ossuary was confiscated and subjected to destructive testing, leaving the left side of the inscription:   דישוﬠ (translated ‘of Jesus’) further damaged by red silicon!  

Surely the ossuary was found to be genuine and Golan’s name cleared?                          

Golan stands accused of adding the inscription: achui di Yeshua (‘brother of Jesus’). It took 7 years, 100 witnesses, and 12,000 pages of testimony for the Supreme Court of Israel to finally acquit Golan on 14^th May, 2012 of the fraud and forgery charges, leaving him convicted of illegal trading in antiquities to teach him a lesson.

We can be certain Jesus had a brother Ya’akov or James…but can we be absolutely certain this ossuary is his?                                                     
No.

There is photographic evidence the full inscription was in front of Golan for over 25 years, yet he didn’t realize the significance of the artifact in his custody?
Correct.

There is no evidence that the inscription is not genuine and this ancient Jewish artifact survived nearly 2000 years, only to be permanently damaged by the Israel Police Forensics Laboratory?  
Correct.

So the Jews begged the Romans to crucify a young carpenter-rabbi who had fed and healed thousands of people, free-of-charge, then publicly raised someone from the dead. Thirty years later they murdered his younger brother by stoning…and now they’ve deliberately damaged some old bone box that happens to remind us of all that?

Yes but that’s history that can’t be undone. What can we learn from all this?
Remember what James wrote?

 “…for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

The early Christians obviously went to great pains to keep the bones of their loved ones intact – exhuming their bodies for re-interment. 
Why?                                                                 
Even if your relatives had died, the hope was the same…                             
…the hope of resurrection!                                            
They expected Jesus to return for them all - dead or alive - any day!                
(Job 19:25-27, Hebrews 11:19, John 11:25-26, 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians esp. ch4,)                                

…but that’s nearly two thousand years ago…

Yes, but this hard evidence has remained hidden and wonderfully preserved…
…until now!

Now that’s what I’d call the Toronto Blessing!

Acknowledgements: 
wikipidea.org
Photo credits: 
ossuary / lastdays.com
inscription / jamestabor.com