The Case For Christ

However, many scholars continue to be skeptical of his
interpretation."
In any event, no inquiry into the archaeology of the first
century Would be complete without asking about the scrolls. "Do
they tell us anything directly about Jesus?" I asked McRay.
"Well, no, Jesus isn't specifically mentioned in any of the
scrolls," he replied. "Primarily these documents give us insights
into Jewish life and customs." Then he pulled out some papers and
pointed to an article that was published in late 1997.
"Although," he added, "there is a very interesting development
involving a manuscript called 4Q521 that could tell us something
about who Jesus was claiming to be."
That whet my appetite. "Tell me about it," I said with some
urgency in my voice.
MeRay unfolded the mystery. The gospel of Matthew describes how
John the Baptist, imprisoned and wrestling with lingering doubts
about Jesus' identity, sent his followers to ask Jesus this
monumental question: "Are you the one who was to come, or should
we expect someone else?" (Matt. 11:3). He was seeking a straight
answer about whether Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah.
Through the centuries, Christians have wondered about Jesus'
rather enigmatic answer. Instead of directly saying yes or no,
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy
are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news
is preached to the poor" (Matt. 11:4-5).
Jesus' response was an allusion to Isaiah 61. But for some reason
Jesus included the phrase "the dead are raised," which is
conspicuously absent from the Old Testament text.
This is where 4Q521 comes in. This nonbiblical manuscript from
the Dead Sea collection, written in Hebrew, dates back to thirty
years before Jesus was born. It contains a version of Isaiah 61
that does include this missing phrase, "the dead are raised."
"[Scroll scholar Craig] Evans has pointed out that this phrase in
4Q521 is unquestionably embedded in a messianic context," McRa)
said. "It refers to the wonders that the Messiah will do when he
comes and when heaven and earth will obey him. So when Jesus gave
his response to John, he was not being ambiguous at all. John
would have instantly recognized his words as a distinct claim
that Jesus was the Messiah."