NewsNation to air Chris Cuomo Easter documentary exploring burial of Jesus

NewsNation announced it will air a new documentary examining the events following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, featuring anchor Chris Cuomo reporting from Israel.

“The Mystery of Easter,” scheduled for April 4 at 8 p.m. ET, follows Cuomo as he investigates competing theories about whether Jesus received a formal burial and explores historical and archaeological evidence tied to the period, the network said.

The program examines the claim that Roman authorities often denied proper burials to crucified individuals, while also presenting arguments that exceptions may have occurred in Jerusalem.

“In antiquity, you’re correct, that the Romans typically did not allow a crucified or condemned person who had been executed by them to receive a proper burial. But the Romans, in order to keep peace with people they had conquered, would often allow some of their customs. And we have evidence that they did this in Jerusalem,” said Michael Licona, a biblical scholar and author.

Cuomo also visits a museum in Israel where a curator presents an ossuary discovered in Jerusalem containing the remains of a young man with a heel bone pierced by an iron nail, which is cited as physical evidence of crucifixion practices.

“This very simple ossuary—bone box—was found in a tomb in Jerusalem. The surprise was when the skeleton was found, the bones of a young man, about 28 years old, and the heel bone of that young man had a huge iron nail driven through it,” the curator said.

The documentary includes reporting from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a site traditionally associated with the burial of Jesus.

“Well, it is in close proximity to the tomb of Jesus,” said Rev. Dr. Petra Heldt of the Research Fraternity in Israel.

Advertisement

The special also addresses historical references to Jesus outside Christian texts and debates over his existence.

“Absolutely. We have a number of non-Christian sources early on who mentioned Jesus as a historical person. Josephus, Jewish historian, first-century. Tacitus, Roman historian, early second-century. So yeah, you got non-Christians in antiquity who mentioned him relatively close to Jesus,” Licona said.

An encore presentation is scheduled for April 5 at 12 p.m. ET, according to NewsNation.