64. Friars’ bones

I recently read about this.

In 2016 the remains of a body buried in the Augustinian friary in Cambridge was unearthed. The friary, dating from the 13th century, existed until Henry V111’s dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. The site will eventually become the University of Cambridge New Museum.

Since this first discovery, the remains of 314 bodies from three burial grounds have been excavated and examined. These are a parish graveyard for the bodies of ordinary working people, a charitable ‘hospital’ for the infirm and destitute and an Augustinian friary where wealthy donors were buried alongside clergy.

Researchers analysed the many fractures of these bones. Life was hazardous especially for working people engaged in trades such as stonemasonry, blacksmithing, or bone-crushing work in the fields or tending livestock. They discovered that the friars and the wealthier in the community had far fewer broken bones than everyone else, though one friar’s injuries resembled those of a hit-and-run victim! Inequalities reigned, as ever!

Jesus’ bones of course have never been found or analysed. There remains plenty of uncertainty about his tomb. That is what we would expect after two angels asked the women on the resurrection morning, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Ever since, unlike traditional customs, (remember Abraham’s burial or Joseph’s bones!), Christians have not considered Jesus’ burial ground important. “He’s not here!  He’s risen!”

At the time of Jesus, particularly around Jerusalem, it was the practice to initially lay a body to rest then, some months later, to place the bones of the skeleton in an ossuary. This might have been what awaited Jesus’ body as it was transported to the garden tomb.

But what happened to Jesus’ pre-crucified body body?                                    We know he had the body of a 33-year-old, with carpenter’s hands and fingers to prove his former occupation. He had a severed heart but he died of suffocation (his lungs gave up). His wrists and ankles were shattered, his back was bloody, his forehead was pierced. This distorted, broken body was wrapped up in cloths and hurriedly laid in a tomb nearby. Those who analyse long-buried bones would have had a field day if Jesus’ bones were found. But they never will be, because they have ceased to exist.

So, what happened to his body? It was transformed in some way in the following 35 hours, to be lifted away from the cloths, though the cloths around the head were laid to one side. The transformed resurrection body then passed through the ‘stoned-up’ entrance to appear to Mary Magdalene and then to his disciples and followers. His body still bore the marks of crucifixion, but not the agony. We are told that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit of God who is at work in us.

We are left with unanswered questions. Who knows why the head cloths were laid to one side? Although the intense heat, force or power that raised Jesus to new life could have destroyed the corpse, the cloths remained unscathed. There is no mention of a smell of scorching.

Over the centuries, bodies have been destroyed by mutilation in warfare, violence, drowning and cremation. These days fewer bones are laid to rest in a grave. The corpse of someone who was alive in Christ need not be present for them to receive their resurrection body. This is no miraculous replacement. This is miraculous transformation.

Robert and I had agreed we would want to be cremated when we died. Writing this has added more colour to my feeble grasp of the wonder of Christ’s resurrection body and the bodies of those who love him. It remains a mystery!

This is my story and a work in progress. I wrote this on 28^th January 2021.