Rejoice - the Maranatha Singers

Foreshadowing of the Cross?

In 1968, construction workers accidentally unearthed an ancient tomb near Jerusalem. A 1st Century Jewish ossuary (bone box) was discovered in the tomb, and was found to contain the bones of a young man named Yehohanan, who had been crucified. This was an amazing discovery in that, while there are numerous accounts of crucifixions in ancient literature, until Yehohanan's remains were unearthed, no obvious skeletal remains of a crucifixion victim had ever been found. In this case, however, the evidence was clear: a 4.5 inch iron nail had been driven through Yehohanan's right heel. The tip of the nail was bent in such a way that it could not be removed from the bone, thus preserving a remarkable artifact for modern scholars to examine.

What is especially interesting to me about this is that typical portrayals of crucifixion in art and film almost always portray the victim's feet as being nailed to the front of the cross through the instep, with one foot crossed over the other or the feet side by side, whereas this discovery showed that Yehohanan's feet had been nailed separately to opposite sides of the upright crossbeam. See the photo on this site for an illustration: http://www.centuryone.org/crucifixion2.html. The recent film The Gospel of John also depicts this.

Consider this discovery in light of Genesis 3:14-15, in which God pronounces judgement against the serpent for his role in the Fall of Man:

"So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You [are] cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

In verse 15, God tells the serpent that the "seed of the woman" (who is Christ) would "bruise" the serpent's head, while the serpent would "bruise" Christ's heel. At first glance, this appears to be a metaphor for the total, crushing victory that Christ would achieve, whereas Satan would only be able to wound Him by comparison, and that is certainly its primary meaning. But the discovery of Yehohanan's remains, and the nail through his heel, makes me wonder if Genesis 3:15 might not also be a bit of foreshadowing as to way Christ would die, possibly nailed to the cross by His heels.

We may never know, but it's an interesting thing to consider.