Evidence of Jesus' Resurrection #1: The Empty Tomb

"[Jesus] is not here, for he has risen."

“[The] angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he said’... So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:5, 8, ESV).

Gary R. Habermas, PhD confidently says, “The Resurrection is the cornerstone of our [Christian] faith.” And the most important fact of the Resurrection is that the tomb was empty of the body. How do we know this for sure?

The Jewish leaders who despised Jesus heard his prophesy that he was going to come back again. Therefore, they wanted to ensure that his disciples didn’t steal the body to pretend that the prophesy came true and went to Pilate with a request that he secure the tomb of Jesus. In response to their request, Pilate installed a Roman guard of 16 men in front of the tomb and sealed the tomb with a two-ton stone with his own seal on the stone (Matthew 27:62-66) in response to their request. Surely a weak band of followers like the disciples wouldn’t be able to get past a trained Roman guard. Yet in spite of the soldiers’ best efforts, they couldn’t keep Jesus in the tomb. On the third day, he walked right out of the grave.

Just imagine how the religious leaders took the news of the Resurrection! And interesting story is told in the Gospel according to Matthew about the Jewish priests’ reaction to the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. The tomb guards were concerned about their own welfare because they had failed in their mission and could be punished by execution, perhaps even Crucifixion. Some of the guards came and told the priests what had happened at the tomb. The priests bribed the guards to spread the story that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15). These were the actions of a desperate group who were afraid of Jesus!

Apologetics author Ralph Muncaster, former sceptic, writes: “It would have been virtually impossible for the misfit band of disciples to overcome the guard and steal the body of Jesus. Nor would they have any reason to do so. Despite the explanation presented by the Jewish leaders and the Roman guards that the disciples had stolen the body, the city of Jerusalem was not accepting it. Instead, the people accepted the story presented by the eyewitnesses that Jesus had rose from the dead. Many gave their lives to verify this strong belief.

“In the nutshell, all the Jewish leaders and Romans had to do in order to end Christianity forever was to produce the corpse of Jesus. They couldn’t do it. And Christianity has since become the largest religion in the world. The tomb was empty.”

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection #1:

The Empty Tomb

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) David W. Balsiger and Michael Minor, The Case for Christ’s Resurrection (Orlando, Florida: Bridge-Logos, 2007), p. 8-10.

2) Gary R. Habermas, The Case for Christ’s Resurrection, DVD, David W. Balsiger, senior producer, Grizzly Adams Productions, Inc., 2007.

3) Ralph O. Muncaster, Examine the Evidence (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2004), p. 393.