Was Yeshua a Common Name in the First Century?

According to the James Cameron produced mystery documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, Jesus’ body was stolen by the disciples, who according to Jewish burial tradition would have taken his bones and put them in a box and buried him in his family’s tomb a year later.  I know this tradition is what likely prompted some of his disciples to say, “Yea, we’ll follow you, but first let us bury our Father who died.”  Jesus responds by saying, “Let the dead bury the dead; let’s take care of the living.”  It seems cold of him to say that in our tradition of a quick burial that is completed in a day, but in light of a year-long burial and the short span of Jesus’ earthly  ministry; yea, “Let’s get the move on” sounds more like an appropriate response.

Never mind the burial tradition, would the disciples have actually stolen the body, to then lie about it, claiming he was raised from the grave, and then preach such nonsense in the face of persecution and martyrdom?  Nope!  They wouldn’t, unless they were massively crazy!  But there is no sign in that, in fact, people were astounded by their teachings, and even their miracles!

Cameron’s big fantasy scenario comes from a tomb that was found, dated to around 2000 years ago, that had a box with the name Yeshua Bar Joseph on the side, Jesus, the Son of Joseph.  Is this Jesus’ family tomb?  Are these the bones of Jesus?  Finally, we can disprove the resurrection!

Again, why would they steal the body and lie about it to their deaths?  How does it explain the post-crucifixion appearances, especially the one in which Jesus appeared to 500 people at once?  Were those 500 people all apart of the masterpiece conspiracy to become persecuted for a lie?  How does their stealing of the body explain the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, to the Apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul?

But let’s say, none of this other evidence existed… just to humor James Cameron a little bit.

Is it really compelling evidence that the box was actually that of Jesus’ corpse because of the name on it?  Nope.  You want to know why?  Because Yeshua was a common name in the 1st Century.  Yeshua is the same name as Joshua, basically.  Other tombs from that time frame have been found with the name Yeshua on them.  How many haven’t been found?

For more on how Jesus was a common name in the 1st century, read this article: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/12/happy_birthday_dear_yeshua_happy_birthday_to_you.html

Quit reading Hindu Scriptures, James Cameron.  Read the Gospels, Matthew-John.  See the Real Jesus for yourself.