baptist, a box the church believe contains relics of his bones. bulgaria was the first time that we d really formally investigated using modern scientific techniques a relic that was found in a place which had a very reliable context. and when the results of the carbon dating finally come in, they discover something truly remarkable. when it came through, my jaw was a little bit down on the floor. right there, 30 a.d., that s when john the baptist is supposed to have died. you can see the date fits right within that margin. 30 a.d., a date consistent with the death of john the baptist. the dna results go even further, indicating the bones came from a middle eastern man. could these actually be the bones of john the baptist and a connection to what the bible
he talks about judgment. he talks about god s anger. so he really is the sort of preacher of coming judgment. the kingdom of heaven is at hand. repent. in the centuries after his death, bone relics of john the baptist begin spreading out from the holy land as early christians seek a physical connection with the man who played such a decisive role in the life of jesus. his relics become extremely important all over the world. so there are lots of narratives of discovering parts of his body, whether it s his head or other relics. his hands and arms seem to be incredibly important because he points to jesus during the baptism. by the 15th century, there are over 200 relics of john the baptist across europe. far more than could possibly be genuine. whether authentic or not, each piece is a clue to the growth of
john s disciples are still around long after the death of jesus. perhaps the biggest difference is that ultimately, in the early jesus movement, there s an appeal to gentiles and as soon as the gentiles are converting to this new movement, we get a much more successful global kind of mission. but john s voice can still be heard in a very direct way through one of jesus most famous teachings, the lord s prayer itself. father, hallowed be thy name. the words spoken by jesus were directly inspired by john. give us this day our daily bread. forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
we hear from the gospels that when jesus heard that john died, he actually withdrew into the wilderness and spent some time on his own. it was obviously a traumatic event in jesus life. the idea of someone dear to you that had been beheaded must have struck his heart, but it didn t change anything about the mission. in fact, it must have emboldened him. jesus saw john as the catalyst for change. as the person that signaled now was the hinge, now was the turning point in the story. john the baptist was, in a sense, the model for jesus in that he never compromised. we see jesus in the same way even unto death.
the humiliation of jesus death. it begins with the most appalling flogging. flogging that will have brought jesus to within an inch of his life. it s a really appalling spectacle, when you think about it. he was spat upon, laughed at, anything to just crush his spirit as much as possible. but the shroud of turin also bears witness to one of the most famous events of the crucifixion story. there s no place like home