Is This Luke's Theophilus?

An Archaeological Discovery Sheds Light on The Gospel of Luke

On this video, I take a trip to the Hecht Museum to investigate the ossuary of Joanna, granddaughter of Theophilus, the high priest. So, what does the curator of the museum think about this artifact? Could the Joanna and Theophilus named on this ossuary be the same individuals mentioned by Luke (cf. Lk 1:3, 8:3, 24:10)?

Steven Notley, the Director of the El-Araj Excavation Project, also makes an appearance in this video. Since Dr. Notley studied under David Flusser, who was one of the first scholars to publicize the discovery of the Joanna ossuary, I wondered if he was familiar with this artifact and its potential connection to the Gospel of Luke. I think you’ll be surprised by the responses I received from both of these scholars.

Please share this video with friends and family, and let me know what you think in the comments section! Also, when you get a chance, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, since this greatly increases our exposure.

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Close to 200K Views!

I released this video on Tuesday, February 10th, and it is currently approaching 200K views. Here are some of the viewer comments:

Congratulations on an excellent and truly exciting video! I am an Israeli archaeologist working with the IAA for over 35 years in Jerusalem. Your proposal that the Joanna and Theophilus of the ossuary are the same as those in Luke is more than reasonable. If indeed it turns out that they are, then here is yet another amazing witness to the intimate connection that Jesus had to His Land and with His People. — Yehudah

WOW, mind officially blown! Thank you for bringing this to our attention! — NSnowman

I had never heard this before, and I am a Bible archaeology nerd. Wow! — Mark

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