Page 506 - Devotion News Today

♪ jerusalem, a.d. 62. a leading member of the jewish priesthood gives james an ultimatum. renounce his brother jesus as his messiah or face death. but james refuses. >> the link between jesus and james ultimately means that james cant survive. >> james is led to the temple walls. only a few hundred meters from where jesus was crucified. >> hes martyred for this cause, and hes martyred for his sincere devotion.

Sincere devotion. >> but pushing james from the walls doesnt kill him. ancient texts record that the final blows come when hes stoned to death and his body is buried on the spot where he falls. in accordance with jewish custom of the time, one year after his death, james bones would have been collected and interned in an ossuary. >> i think it is likely that james body was claimed by his followers and buried. there was considerable support from within the city of jerusalem right across the board...

The worlds first photograph of the shroud. >> all of a sudden, a negative image of the man of the shroud pops out at him. its like staring at the face of jesus. it suddenly turns the shroud from an object of religious devotion to an icon of scientific obsession. if you prove that the shroud of turin is real, youre proving that jesus christ existed. >> in 1978, former u.s. air force physicist john jackson from the shroud of turin research project was given unprecedented access to study the relic....

Get involved is in the burial. hes supplying really very expensive products to be used in the process of embalming the body. >> first century jewish law said that to touch a dead body would make you unclean. for joseph and nicodemus to go through the process of preparing jesus for burial, there had to have been tremendous love and devotion, just to care for him. >> a rock is rolled across the entrance to seal the tomb shut. three days after the crucifixion, john and simon peter, two of jesus dis...

>> all of a sudden, a negative image of the man of the shroud pops out at him. its like staring at the face of jesus. it suddenly turns the shroud from an object of religious devotion to an icon of scientific obsession. if you prove that the shroud of turin is real, youre proving that jesus christ existed. >> in 1978, former u.s. air force physicist john jackson from the shroud of turin research project was given unprecedented access to study the relic. >> you see the image of a human man.

Want to think about as part of their devotion. >> as fragments spread around the world, they will also help turn christianity from an underground cult into a global religion. >> pieces of the true cross were almost used like trading cards. this was a way to gain favor with a bishop here or an aristocrat, a prince over there. >> if you share the true cross with someone, you are sharing power with them because the true cross is a source of religious power. people are going to respect you for havin...

Fact of jesus is going to draw people from east and west and north and south. [ choir singing hymn ] >> the nativity scene as we envision it today is largely a result of the devotion of saint francis of assisi, who had life-size nativity scenes with live animals. so there are some elements of the way christmas is celebrated which go beyond what we find in the gospel texts. >> so many reenactments of the nativity show this drama about making it to bethlehem and how difficult it was. would he trav...

Ship. >> yet scripture says that just one man, jesus, was able to carry it on his shoulders. >> there were a lot of people who were speaking out about the devotion of relics as something which is absurd and disgusting. and that really thought that people had lost touch with the true faith. >> the true cross had the power to divide christianity. and the question remained, could the legend be real? high in the cantabrian mountains of spain. its home to the largest and most revered piece of helenas...

>> so now you bar mitzvah. mazel tov. >> mazel tov. thank you, gentlemen. >> ive never felt so much like im masquerading as something im not. im instinctively hostile to any kind of devotion. certainty is my enemy. you know, im all about doubt. questioning oneself and the nature of reality constantly. when they grabbed hold of me and in a totally nonjudgmental way essentially gods happy to have you here, here you go. oh, man, you know. my treachery is complete. just because i was raised outside ...

>> when nicodemus is willing to get involved is in the burial. hes supplying really very expensive products to be used in the process of embalming the body. >> first century jewish law said that to touch a dead body would make you unclean. and so for joseph and nicodemus to actually go through the process of preparing jesus for burial, there had to have been tremendous love and devotion just to care for him. >> a rock is rolled across the entrance to seal the tomb shut. three days after the cruc...