A religious resident of Gush Etzion (a "settlement" south of Jerusalem with a history from before 1948) made a habit of going into a nearby valley, and saying his evening prayers beside a spring. Two 18 year old Arabs noticed his pattern, and waited in ambush. They stabbed him numerous times, and left his body to be discovered.
They went back to their village and bragged about killing a Jew. It took the Security Service (Shin Bet) an hour or two to solve the crime. If all goes according to pattern, the young men will spend the rest of their lives in an Israeli prison. As Jew killers, they will enjoy a high status among their comrades similar to that of those who kill their sisters for soiling family honor.
Equally depressing is the news that an Israeli film producer has prepared an extravaganza depicting the discovery in a suburb of Jerusalem of the tomb of Jesus and his family members, including his child and Mary Magdalene. It is scheduled to appear on the Discovery Channel, and has already been the subject of a New York press conference. For those who have read The Da Vinci Code, the inspiration is obvious.
Religious Christians will have trouble with the "child of Jesus," as well as the burial place of Jesus. As I understand the story, he rose from the dead and went to Heaven. There should be no body.
Part of the current announcements concern an ossuary revealed a year or so ago, said to be the final resting place of Jesus' brother James. Israeli archaeologists determined that the ossuary was, indeed, an old box meant as the repository of bones, but that the writing on it was produced in the last several years. There is an indictment charging forgery waiting judicial processing. Claims of Jesus' final resting place have not reached that far, but an archaeologist with the Antiquities Authority used the term "nonsense" for the claims to be aired on the Discovery Channel.
The Gospel of Matthew includes several canards against the Jews. According to the 28th Chapter:
When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
This is a tale of the Jews' efforts to counter the truth of the Resurrection by concocting a story about the snatching of Jesus' body by Roman soldiers.
As a result of the fame sought by an Israeli film producer, and the commotion that it will cause, some not-so-friendly Christians can say, "We told you so. It is a modern version of Matthew."
Maybe we are cursed. The questions are, How? and By whom?
Is the curse to live alongside of neighbors who hate us to the point of glorifying those who kill us, with the killers brazen enough to brag of their crime in a village that is sure to have an Israeli informant among its residents?
Or is to have among us individuals so enamored of fame as to tell a fantastic story with no credible basis, that is capable of reigniting hateful sentiments engendered by old stories?