An Italian expert studying a first-century document that was recently discovered in the archives of the Vatican found what is believed to be the first eyewitness account ever recorded of a miracle of Jesus Christ.
The author describes a scene that he allegedly witnessed, in which a prophet and teacher that he names sous de Nazarenus, resuscitated a stillborn baby boy and handed him back to his mother!
Historian and archivist Ignazio Perrucci, was hired by the Vatican to sort, analyze and classify more than 6,000 ancient documents that had been discovered in the huge archive vaults. He was already very excited when he noticed that the author of the text was the famous Roman historian Velleius, but he was completely stunned when he realized the nature of the content!
(Professor Perrucci found the text hidden amongst a bunch of papers in the Vatican archives)
The text as a whole is a narrative of the author’s return journey from Parthia to Rome that occurred in 31 AD. He describes many different events that took place during his trip, including a violent sandstorm in Mesopotamia and a visit to a temple.
But the part of the text that really caught Perrucci’s attention was an event that took place in the city of Sebaste (near modern-day Nablus, in the West Bank).
The author first describes the arrival of a great leader who had a group of disciples. Their arrival caused many of the lower-class people from neighboring villages to gather around them. According to Velleius, that great man’s name was none other than sous de Nazarenus, a Greco-Latin translation of Jesus. Hebrew name!
After arriving in the town, Jesus visited the house of a woman named Elisheba, who had just given birth to a stillborn child. Jesus picked up the dead child and uttered a prayer in Aramaic to the heavens, which the author described as ‘immensus,’ meaning that it was incomprehensible.
To the crowd’s surprise and wonder, the baby came back to life, squirming and crying like a healthy newborn!
The parchment, ink, handwriting, and literary style have all been tested and after much scrutiny, they all appear to be completely legitimate! Dating analysis also concludes that the sheepskin parchment that the text is written on, dates from the 1st century of this era, between 20-45 AD.
This new text from a trusted historical author supports the Gospels on the facts that Jesus performed miracles and that his presence in a town drew huge crowds.
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