Last week I attended a presentation on the Shroud of Turin given by Dr. Rolf Enger, Colonel, USAF (retired), Professor Emeritus of Physics at the US Air Force Academy, follower of Jesus. I knew Rolf back in the 1990s. Rolf has a doctorate in Laser Physics/Holography and was on a team that investigated the Shroud. This account of Rolf’s presentation makes for a fitting Holy Week meditation.

This short introductory paragraph on Wikipedia is all I had known about the Shroud:

The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus’s bodily image is miraculously imprinted.

Rolf’s presentation included these facts, also in the Wikipedia article:

The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black and white photographic negative than in its natural sepia color, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud…The documented history of the shroud goes back to 1357.

Full-length image of the Shroud, which is 14 feet 5 inches by 3 feet 7 inches or, as Rolf said, 8 cubits by 2 cubits.

Here are my takeaways from Rolf’s presentation:

• “I don’t know if the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ…We will never be able to prove that it is.”
• The image on the Shroud is like a photographic negative, something Rolf’s younger audiences have never heard of!
• Rolf’s team investigated the question: Is the image on the Shroud a painting? They determined it is not a painting but a scorch.
• The team also investigated the question: Are the stains on the Shroud bloodstains? Answer: yes.
• There are mysteries. For example, the Shroud contained spores from 49 different plants, 33 of which grow only in Palestine, the southern steppes of Turkey, or Istanbul. If the Shroud were created in the 1300s in Europe, and has been in Europe since 1357, how did those spores get on it?

Rolf told us that the image on the Shroud is a crucified man, consistent with the gospel accounts of Jesus:

• The image was a crucified Jew, a mature adult
• The face had been beaten.
• The nose was broken, consistent with the victim falling while carrying the crossbeam.
• There were marks of puncture wounds consistent with the crown of thorns, which could have been 2 – 3 inches long
• The victim was scourged – the marks are there. Romans weren’t limited to 40 lashes. Lashes were distributed across the whole body, consistent with “punishment” but not execution.
• The victim in the image had marks in the wrist, consistent with being nailed to a cross. There is no thumb image on the Shroud. The thumb would have contracted.
• It was a criminal’s death but a rich person’s shroud. Compare Isaiah 53.

Rolf closed with thoughts on the importance of the Shroud of Turin to a Christian:

I told my kids that I was 7 before I had a TV. My kids were incredulous: “What did you do?” We listened to the radio and imagined…

It doesn’t matter if the Shroud is real. It helps us imagine. The crucifixion is the most documented event in history. And there’s no way 11 people would go to their death for a story that wasn’t true. We don’t need the cloth.

Crucifixion is an incredibly painful, inhumane form of execution. God could have sent Jesus at any time in history. But the emphasis is “no greater love.”

When you think about the shroud, focus on God’s love. God is saying, “I love you.” God wants to have fellowship with us and wants it so badly that he willing to put his son through this kind of death. John 3.16.

Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday are approaching. This is a time to focus on what Jesus did for us. It’s not enough to “believe” like the demons did. How strong is my faith? Commitment involves turning toward God, away from the world. Make that commitment. Look at the price he paid for you.

Jesus said:

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15.13 – 14, ESV)

Dr. Rolf Enger, speaking at Monument Community Presbyterian Church, March 20, 2024. Rolf was kind enough to check a draft of this blog for accuracy. Any remaining errors are my responsibility.