Summaries

Synopsis

Was Jesus Christ a teacher and a prophet, the son of God, or did he ever exist at all? A cloth Jesus was believed to have worn at his burial, known as the Holy Shroud, was exhibited on August 27, 1978 in Turin, Italy. When the cloth was photographed, the face of a man believed to be Christ appeared. Is the shroud authentic proof that Jesus rose from the dead? Several scholars and scientists from around the world are interviewed about stories from the Bible, contending that discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls dating between 168 B.C. and 233 A.D., corroborated most of the stories from the Old Testament.

Prophesies 800 years before the birth of Christ foretold of a prophet born in Bethlehem and raised in Galilee, who would become known for miracles and healing, but who would eventually be condemned to death. Is there proof that this Messiah was Jesus Christ?

After speculating about what happened during Jesus' "missing years," from age 12 when Jesus learned about his origins as the Son of God and briefly ran away from his parents to the Nazareth synagogue, to age 30 when the adult Jesus (John Rubenstein) was working as a carpenter's apprentice in which God ordered Jesus in a dream to return to the Nazareth synagogue to preach about God's new teachings. There, Jesus began his ministry after being baptized by John the Baptist (Michael Ruud). After Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, John the Baptist sent Andrew (Stanley Kamel) and Peter (Anthony De Longis) to join him in his mission. Over the next three years, Jesus and his 12 followers (Simon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Thaddeus, Bartholomew, Thomas, James, Matthew, Mark and Judas) traveled all over Galilee and the surrounding areas, comforted the grief-stricken, restored sight to the blind, healed the sick, and raised the dead. He grew in popularity as he preached peace and faith as the foundation of miracles. Soon Jesus's disciples witnessed his power over Earth's elements.

When King Herod Antipas (Nehemiah Persoff), the son of the late King Herod the Great, heard stories of Jesus' abilities, he was threatened and left it to Caiaphas (John Anderson), a Jewish priest, to decide Jesus's fate. Meanwhile, Judas (Dennis Saylor), one of Jesus' disciples, urged Jesus to journey to Jerusalem, arriving on Palm Sunday, where people expected that Jesus would free them from Roman rule. When Jesus saw the city's temple converted into a marketplace with gambling, he went on an angry rampage, overturning the vendor and gambling tables, driving the merchants out of the temple and openly accused the Hebrew priests of being hypocritical and corrupt. Jesus's actions disappointed his followers and many rejected him as the Messiah. His diminishing influence left him vulnerable to attack by his enemies.

Later that week at the Passover Seder (known as the 'Last Supper') at around midnight on Friday later that week, the mood was grim because the Apostles realized they did not know which man was bribed to betray Jesus. When Judas left the dinner, Jesus told him to carry out his plan swiftly. Later that night, Judas lead Roman soldiers to find Jesus and they separated him from his Apostles. At dawn, the Jewish priests wanted Roman judge and governor Pontius Pilate (Lawrence Dobkin) to hand down the death sentence because Jesus was a criminal, who called himself the Messiah and encouraged the public to stop paying taxes to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Pontius replied that he could observe the Passover custom of releasing a criminal or he could release Jesus. Caiaphas ordered critics of Jesus to fill the town square and they condemned him.

On the way to Jesus's crucifixion, Roman soldiers made him wear a crown of thorns, whipped him, and later, nailed him to a crucifix. Caiaphas taunted him about being the son of God. When Jesus asked God why he has been forsaken, God assured him that all would be well. Jesus then asked that his spirit be delivered into God's hands.

At sundown, Joseph of Arimathea (Walter Brooke) transported Christ's body to a cave, where it was prepared with oils and spices and wrapped in a cloth. Three days later, Jesus magically appeared to all his disciples except Thomas. When Thomas did not believe the miracle, Jesus returned to all the disciples eight days later before both his physical body and soul ascended into Heaven. His surviving 11 disciples were left behind to spread the word about Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

The Book of Mormon tells of Jesus visiting Native Americans, whom Mormons believe are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. Is this evidence that Jesus visited the New World after his resurrection? There are also accounts from the U.S. and Mexico that document the appearance of a bearded white man many years before Caucasians were seen in the area.

In 1898 Turin, Italy, an amateur photographer developed a negative of the Holy Shroud when church fathers asked him to take photographs of the cloth. The results were a positive image instead of a negative. Tracing the shroud's history, it is said that in 30 A.D. Odessa, Turkey, a burial shroud with Christ's image was discovered. To safeguard it from destruction, the item was hidden in a wall until a flood in 525 A.D. dislodged it and workers took the relic to Constantinople. Over the centuries, the shroud traveled many miles until it was moved to Turin in 1578, where it remained in a special shrine.

In present day Turin, a chemist reports that a group of scientists studied the cloth in 1978 to discover that the markings did not occur from liquids seeping into the material, but as a result of scorching.

British author and journalist Geoffrey Ashe adds that the phenomena of Christ's resurrection could have let off a burst of radiation that affected the cloth. To authenticate the shroud, Scotland Yard's Professor James Cameron, a forensic pathologist, did an analysis of the cloth that determined the wounds from the crown of thorns are visible, and abrasions are visible from the left side of the body where the victim would have fallen after being beaten. Additionally, wounds appeared that were consistent with the wrists and feet from being nailed to the cross. The professor says it would have been hard to forge the cloth with the known technology at the time it was discovered and the wounds represent those Jesus received at the time of his crucifixion. In addition to the forensic analysis, other scientists created a three-dimensional scan that many believe resembles recognizable images of Jesus. As science progresses, the shroud may reveal new information.

In the meantime, the essence of Jesus Christ, the man himself, and his teachings can never be forgotten.