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SUMMER BIBLE SCHOOL |
Summer Bible School--2003
From the Ankerberg Theological Research
Institute
Does the Evidence For the
Resurrection
Offer Proof That Jesus Rose From the Dead?
By Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon
Why is the Resurrection
so important?
The Resurrection of
Christ is absolutely central to either establishing or disproving the
Christian religion. For example, the great rationalist Dr. Guignebert,
Professor of History of Christianity at the Sorbonne, one of the most
important professorships in all of France, and honorary associate of
the Rationalist Press Association of Great Britain, utterly repudiated
the idea of Christ’s Resurrection, along with all miracles.
Nevertheless he stated:
There would have been
no Christianity if the belief in the resurrection had not been
founded and systematized.... The whole of the soteriology and the
essential teaching of Christianity rests on the belief of the
resurrection, and on the first page of any account of Christian
dogma might be written as a motto Paul’s declaration: "And if Christ
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain." From the strictly historical point of view, the importance of
belief in the resurrection is scarcely less....1
In like manner, the first
great rationalistic interpreter of the New Testament of modern times,
David Friedrich Strauss, conceded the Resurrection was "the Touchstone
not of lives [biographies] of Jesus only, but of Christianity itself"
and is "decisive for the whole view of Christianity." 2
The Resurrection is vital because upon the Resurrection of Christ all
Christianity either stands or falls.
What solid evidence
exists for Jesus’ Resurrection? We will now present that evidence
point by point.
Did Jesus unequivocally
claim He would rise from the dead on the third day?
Who else in all human
history, but Jesus Christ, ever said he would come back from the
dead after being murdered? It is a fact that Jesus publicly
announced He would rise from the dead, and not only this, but that He
predicted He would do so on a very specific date, the third day. In
the field of comparative religion, this immediately places us in the
position of uniqueness. No one else ever made such claims. No sane man
ever has, other than Jesus.
For example, consider the
Pope publicly declaring that he would shortly be executed and rise
from the dead on the third day. Or Billy Graham, the President of the
United States, or any other well-known person making such a claim.
Because we know that the
chances for any person rising from the dead are zero, we would
immediately know that they were either deluded or lying and attempting
to deceive us. We repeat, no one ever makes such astounding claims
which they know they cannot possibly fulfill.
But Jesus did. On
numerous occasions.
Before His Triumphal
Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus stated: "Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests
and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him
to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third
day He will be raised up" (Matthew 20:18-19).
Again, during His
Galilean ministry, after the healing of the demoniac, He asserted, "An
evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign
shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).
Just after Peter’s
confession of Jesus as the Messiah we are told that, "He began to
teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31). In fact, when Peter
rebuked Him for saying this would happen, Jesus rebuked Peter and
said, "Get behind me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on
God’s interests, but man’s" (Mark 8:32-33, cf. Matthew 16:21; Luke
9:22).
Early in His ministry,
after the cleansing of the temple, He told the Jews in Jerusalem,
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John
2:19). John comments that, "He was speaking of the temple of His body"
(John 2:21).
After Jesus’ own
transfiguration He again predicted He would be raised from the dead:
"The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and
they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day" (Matthew
17:22-23, cf. Mark 9:31).
Even prior to His
crucifixion, Jesus again emphasized and predicted that on the third
day He would rise from the dead, "And He took the Twelve aside and
said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things
which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be
accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be
mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him,
they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again’" (Luke
18:31-33, cf. Mark 10:34).
Jesus even predicted the
specific day of His death by crucifixion: "You know that after
two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be delivered
up for crucifixion" (Matthew 26:2).
Immediately after the
Last Supper, when the disciples had gone to the Mount of Olives, Jesus
again predicted His Resurrection, "Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will
all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, "I will
strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered." But after I have been raised, I will go before you to
Galilee’" (Matthew 26:31-32, cf. Mark 14:28).
Now consider for a moment
what you have just read. On all the above occasions and more, Jesus
predicted in advance that He would die and be raised from the dead.
Who else in all human history ever made such predictions?
Further, note the
specific nature of the predictions:
1. The Resurrection
from the dead would be performed by Jesus’ own power (John 2:19;
10:18).
2. Many sufferings
would be endured before His death (Mark 8:31). He would be mocked,
mistreated, spit on and whipped (Luke 18:31-33).
3. Rejection by the
elders and chief priests would be involved (Mark 8:31).
4. The events would
transpire in Jerusalem (Matthew 20:18-19).
5. The chief priests
and scribes would condemn Him to death but deliver Him to the Romans
(Matthew 20:18-19).
6. He would fulfill
all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah’s death
and Resurrection (Luke 18:31-33).
7. He would die
specifically by crucifixion (Matthew 26:2).
8. He predicted to the
day when this would occur (Matthew 26:2).
9. He predicted all
the disciples would fall away, despite the fact every one gave
strong emotional protestations to the contrary (Matthew 26:31-35).
10. To the exact day,
He predicted when He would return from the dead—"on the third
day" (Luke 16:31-33).
How does a mere man know
such things? How could he be so specific? How could Jesus be certain
He would not die by natural or accidental death? Or be murdered, or
killed in a war? How did He know He would die by crucifixion
on the Passover in Jerusalem? Why not in a dozen different
locations or on a hundred different days? How did He know every
apostle to the last man would desert Him? How could He claim He would
fulfill "all things which are written through the prophets
about the Son of Man" (Luke 18:31), or that in His own power He
would conquer death (John 2:19; 10:18)? How could He predict the exact
day He would rise—not to mention all the rest? Had He failed on any
one of these predictions, He would have been shown to be wrong and His
claim (John 5:16-18; 10:27-33) would have been proven false. Claiming
to be God leaves one very few options. But Jesus was not wrong even
once.
We submit that there is
only one explanation: Jesus was who He claimed He was—the divine
Savior of the world, the One to whom our allegiance is due.
The above are not all of
the predictions that Christ made concerning His Resurrection, but they
are more than sufficient to establish the fact of such prediction. No
one can deny that we have these predictions.
Why are the facts of
Jesus’ death, the public location of the grave, the placing of the
Roman guards, and the empty tomb all compelling evidences for the
Resurrection of Christ?
Certain facts about Jesus
are accepted by nearly all historians and other scholars who have
objectively examined the data.
• No one can logically
deny the certain fact of Jesus’ death.
• No one can logically
deny the placing of the body in a grave whose location was known by
all, including the enemies of Christianity.
• No one can logically
deny the employment of the Roman military guard at the request of
the Jewish leaders to guard the tomb (See Matthew 27:27, 65).
• No one can logically
deny the fact of the empty tomb.
These historical points
form a unit. Together these provide strong evidence that Jesus rose
from the dead.
How does the death of
Jesus give evidence for the Resurrection?
If it can be established
that Jesus died, then if He was seen alive after His death, no one can
logically doubt He resurrected from the dead.
That Jesus really died is
doubted by no objective observer familiar with the evidence. The first
proof that Jesus died is the public nature of the execution. Dr.
Bernard Ramm points out:
Certainly Jesus was put
to death in a great public execution known to such historians as
Tacitus and Josephus. The execution was in the capital of the Jewish
commonwealth under the direction of the Roman governor and his
soldiers, in cooperation with the highest Jewish authorities, and
during one of the great religious seasons. Jesus certainly died....
According to the gospels the grave-owner was known, the type of
burial is known, its location was known. When Pilate set a watch
over the grave he indicated its locality to friend and foe alike.3
If we examine ten details
of the crucifixion we can better understand why no one ever doubts
that Jesus really died:
Detail 1: Jesus was
crucified publicly according to standard Roman practice (John 19:18).
Standard Roman practice was both severe and chillingly efficient.
Condemned criminals were deliberately placed on public display as a
warning to all men that they must obey Roman law and authority. Thus,
the events were very plain and very public: a squad of four Roman
executioners put Jesus to death in view of a large crowd.
Detail 2: The
soldiers maintained a careful watch below the cross as indicated by
their casting lots for Jesus’ garments. Matthew mentions "they kept
watch over him there" (Matt. 27:36) and that "the centurion and
those with him... were guarding Jesus" (Matt. 27:54).
Crucifixions were so horrible that guards were absolutely necessary
lest family and friends remove the man from the cross and spare his
agony and torment. Further, part of the soldiers’ sworn duty was to
make certain the condemned prisoners died (Matt. 27:36, 54).
Detail 3: Dozens of
Jesus’ friends and enemies actually watched Him as He died upon the
cross. Everyone present heard His death cry (Mark 15:39-41; John
19:25-30, 34).
Detail 4: The
crucifixion occurred on Friday. However, it was against Jewish law for
the body of a condemned man to remain on the cross on the Sabbath day
(Saturday). Therefore the Jews requested of Pilate that the prisoners’
legs be broken so that they would immediately suffocate to death (John
19:31). They could therefore, according to Jewish custom, be removed
from the cross before the Sabbath began at 6 P.M. Friday.
Detail 5: Pilate
granted the request and the soldiers came and broke the legs of the
two men on Jesus’ side (John 19:32).
Detail 6: But these
same soldiers, who were from practice accustomed to determining
whether a crucified man was dead or alive, immediately recognized that
Jesus was dead: "When they saw that He was already dead, they did not
break His legs" (John 19:33, cf. v. 36; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20).
Detail 7: Because it
was unusual, if not rare for a man to die this quickly, to be doubly
sure Jesus was dead, emphatic steps were taken. A soldier pierced
Jesus’ side with a spear "and immediately there came out blood and
water" (John 19:34). This is medical confirmation that the sword had
pierced Jesus’ heart and that Jesus had already died. 4
Detail 8: Pilate had
the centurion reconfirm that Jesus had died. The only basis
upon which Pilate could, by law, release the body to Joseph of
Arimathea was to verify the death of Jesus: "[He]...went boldly to
Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that He
was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had
already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he
gave the body to Joseph" (Mark 15:43c-45).
Detail 9: The
commanding centurion had personally heard Jesus’ death cry and also
seen the spear thrust into His side (Mark 15:39; John 19:34).
Detail 10: Jesus’
death was directly observed by the Apostle John who recorded the
entire series of events, including the spear thrust, the death cry and
all the rest. John immediately stated, "And he who has seen has borne
witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the
truth, so that you also may believe" (John 19:35).
In other words, John
wanted to be absolutely sure that his readers understood Jesus had
died on the cross. Because Jesus had died, there was simply no way to
account for the subsequent Resurrection appearances than the
Resurrection itself.
Consider all that Jesus
went through. He underwent six trials, 5
which included beatings and scourging. This alone killed some men. He
carried the heavy beam of the cross, or part of it, to His crucifixion
site. He underwent all the horrible tortures of the crucifixion
itself. He had a Roman sword thrust through His side, piercing His
heart. His death was then confirmed by Roman soldiers. It was then
confirmed again by the centurion himself to one no less than Pilate.
To think Jesus never died is ludicrous.
Consider one description
of a typical crucifixion:
The condemned man was
invariably scourged, and men were known to die under that punishment
alone, so severe were the wounds inflicted by this cruel
cat-o’-nine-tails inset with pieces of metal. It is possible that
Jesus suffered this punishment both from the Jewish and from the
Roman authorities (Matthew 26:67f; John 19:1). Thereafter, he had to
carry the patibulum of his cross, and was led out under armed
guard to die.
There was a variety of
ways of fixing the condemned man on the cross.... Commonly the cross
was put together on the ground, the condemned man bound or nailed to
it, and the whole thing then erected and dropped into a pit that had
been prepared to receive it. The degradation of the criminal was
completed by his very clothes being taken from him. He was exposed
naked on the cross. The cause of his being there was written above
his head and fixed to the cross; and he was left there to die slowly
in intense agony from exhaustion, thirst, and wounds.
The criminal had, of
course, no recourse but to curse, spit and urinate on his
tormenters. Often the kindlier execution squads would offer a
draught of drugged wine before nailing the man up. This went some
small way towards dulling the pain.... Heart and lungs were put
under immense strain by the position of the crucifixion. When the
torture was deemed to have gone on long enough, or in order to
ensure that the man was dead, the soldiers would perform the
crurifragium, or breaking of the legs. This meant that the man,
if still alive, could no longer hoist himself and would soon expire.
The physical effects of
crucifixion were appalling. Of all deaths it is the most lingering
and agonising. The unnatural position of the body made every
movement a pain. The suspension of the whole body on jagged iron
nails (one dating from AD. 50 has recently been discovered in
Jerusalem) driven through the most sensitive nerve centres of the
wrists and ankles, insured constant exquisite torture. The wounds of
the nails and the weals from the lash soon became inflamed and even
gangrenous. The body’s position hindered circulation and caused
indescribable pain in the chest. A raging thirst set in, brought on
by the burning sun. The flies were thick around the victim. The
agony of crucifixion was terrible beyond words.6
Survival from crucifixion
was unknown; just as today, men simply do not survive the firing
squad, electric chair, lethal injection or gas chamber. Because the
law had decreed the prisoner’s death, even if a first attempt did
fail, procedures would be repeated until death occurred. But death
from crucifixion was just as certain as any modern method of
execution; there was no escape:
I know of only one
instance in ancient literature which is remotely comparable.
Josephus (Vita, 75) tells of a time when he saw a number of
captives being crucified; and, noticing three of his friends among
them, he asked Titus, the Roman commander, for a reprieve. This was
granted, and the men were taken down at once. It seems that they had
only just been crucified, but despite being given every care by the
most expert physicians available, two of the three died.... There
can be no doubt that Jesus was dead.7
Merrill Tenney, whose
Ph.D. is from Harvard, observes that the centurion that commanded the
execution squad of Calvary was in all likelihood a man of superior
intellect. This is because centurions in the Roman army were
experienced soldiers, specially selected for their ability and
alertness. Because of their experience on the battlefield and at
executions, the Roman centurions were experts in the art of killing
and knew how to determine if a man was dead. 8
The centurion’s comment that "truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark
15:39), while a significant comment for a pagan unbeliever, shows by
the tense of the verb "was" that in his judgment, Jesus was already
dead. Indeed, had he given a false report of this fact to Pilate, it
would have cost him his life.
Those who removed the
body and buried it would certainly have noticed any life on Jesus’
part. Had He been alive, they certainly would not have buried
Him; they would have done all in their power to save Him. But all the
accounts agree that Jesus was buried according to Jewish custom with
75 pounds of spices and linen. 9
All of the above,
especially the public nature of the execution, is one reason it took
at least 1,800 years before someone proposed the nonsense that Jesus
really didn’t die on the cross. No one could possibly have put forth
such a theory on the day of the crucifixion itself.
All four evangelists say
the same: Mark says that Jesus died (Mark 15:37); Matthew says Jesus
died (Matthew 27:50); Luke says Jesus died (Luke 23:46); John says
Jesus died (John 19:30). The fact is repeated a dozen times in the
Acts and the Epistles that "Christ died."
In conclusion, there is
absolutely no doubt that Jesus Christ died on the cross. But He
was later seen alive by dozens of eyewitnesses in many
different locations over a period of 40 days. How can this be
explained apart from the Resurrection?
How does the burial of
Christ supply evidence for His Resurrection?
The facts surrounding the
burial of Christ give further proof that not only was Christ dead, but
it would have been absolutely impossible for anyone to take the body.
The Apostle John describes how Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came
and removed Jesus’ body from the cross and wrapped it in 75 pounds of
linen and spices, according to Jewish custom:
And after these things
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one,
for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. He came therefore, and took
away His body. And Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Him by
night; bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds
weight and so they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen
wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now
in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the
garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore on
account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the tomb was
nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38-42)
Dr. Wilbur Smith points
out that we know more about the burial of Jesus than we do of any
other person in ancient history:
We know more about the
burial of the Lord Jesus than we know of the burial of any single
character in all of ancient history. We know infinitely more about
his burial than we do about the burial of any Old Testament
character, of any king of Babylon, pharaoh of Egypt, any philosopher
of Greece, or triumphant Caesar.
We know who took his
body from the cross; we know something of the wrapping of the body
in spices, and burial clothes; we know the very tomb in which his
body was placed, the name of the man who owned it, Joseph, of a town
known as Arimathea. We know even where the tomb was located, in a
garden nigh to the place where he was crucified, outside the city
walls. We know minute details concerning events immediately
subsequent to our Lord’s entombment, that a stone was rolled against
the tomb, that the stone was sealed, and that, by wish of the Jews,
Roman guards were set before the tomb to prevent the body being
stolen. We have four records of this burial of our Lord, all of them
in amazing agreement....10
The place where Jesus was
buried was thus common knowledge. It had been carefully observed by
both Jesus’ friends and enemies (Matthew 27:61, 66). The Roman guards
were stationed in front of the tomb. As we will see below, because the
guards were in place, it would have been impossible for the body to
have been moved.
Yet the grave was found
empty.
So, we have seen that no
one can deny the fact of Jesus’ death, His burial, or the exact
location of His grave. All this was public knowledge and freely
available to anyone. If Christ had not risen, the fact that He was
still dead and in the grave could be easily proven to all.
The Gloal (Gravestone)
and the Guard
Once Jesus was entombed,
extraordinary procedures were undertaken to make certain that the body
could not be moved or stolen. Jesus’ enemies were well aware of His
prediction that He would resurrect from the dead on the third day. As
far as they were concerned, the only manner in which this could come
about would be if the disciples were to steal the body. Therefore,
they wanted to be absolutely certain that no one could even approach
the tomb. Matthew reports what happened:
Now on the next day,
which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the
Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, "Sir, we remember
that when he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I
am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made
secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him
away and say to the people, ‘He is risen from the dead,’ and the
last deception will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them,
"You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." And they
went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a
seal on the stone. (Matthew 27:62-66)
Consider that the Jewish
authorities were highly motivated to guard the tomb. They had gone to
exceptional extremes in their conspiracy against Jesus. They were
convinced He was a blasphemer whose movement must never rise again:
The authorities had a
deep underlying fear of Jesus. This is the most brilliant conclusion
of Frank Morison’s famous book Who Moved the Stone? It was
not only that they had feared an uprising by the people, which Jesus
could easily have provoked at that time of excitement, but they
feared Jesus’ own powers,...11
To safeguard their
interests, they both requested and secured a guard next to the tomb.
They made it as secure as they could, rolled a massive stone in front
of it and placed the official seal connecting together both the stone
and the grave. The stone could not be moved without breaking the seal.
These events make it
impossible that someone could have stolen the body of Jesus. The Jews
called the gravestone a gloal. They were used as a protection
against both men and beasts. These stones usually weighed not less
than a ton nor more than two tons and required several men to move
them. 12
In this case, a two-ton
stone was probably selected because of their fear the disciples might
attempt to steal the body. They were told to make the tomb as secure
as they knew how and they did so. An indication that this was the case
can be seen from a phrase written in parentheses in the codex Bezae
currently in the Cambridge library. This phrase was written next to
Mark 16:4 and it stated that the stone against the tomb was one "which
twenty men could not roll away." 13
The Apostle Mark says the stone was "extremely large." (Mark 16:4)
That the women, who observed Jesus’ body being put into the tomb and
the stone rolled across it knew that it was too large for several of
them to move is evident from their statement, "Who will roll the stone
away from the entrance of the tomb?" (Mark 16:3)
Further, the tomb was
guarded by a Roman seal, which not only carried the weight of Roman
penal authority behind it, but would have also indicated any
tampering. "The sealing was done in the presence of the Roman guards
who were left in charge to protect the stamp of Roman authority and
power." 14
The seal was the equivalent of the United States government seal; its
very presence would have prevented tampering by all but the most
foolhardy. Anyone attempting to move the stone would have broken the
seal and incurred the wrath of Roman power.
In addition, the presence
of the guard was an absolute guarantee the body could not be stolen.
These soldiers who were cold-blooded enough to gamble over an innocent
man’s clothes would not be the type of men to be deceived by someone
attempting to steal a body or the kind of men who would risk their own
lives by sleeping on the job. Indeed, it was death for a Roman
sentinel to sleep at his post.
George Currie refers to
the discipline of the Roman guard noting that, "The punishment for
quitting [one’s] post was death according to the laws (dion. hal,
antiq. rom. viii. 79). The most famous discourse on the strictness of
camp discipline is that of Polybius (vi. 37-38) which indicates that
the fear of punishments produced faultless attention to duty,
especially in the night watches." 15
Additional ancient testimony indicates that the death penalty was
required for desertion, disobedience in wartime, losing or disposing
of one’s arms, or taking flight when the example would influence
others.16
Given the penalties each
Roman guard knew would be incurred, plus the extensive weaponry each
guard carried, 17
plus their extensive military training and expertise, plus their
fanatical devotion to the Roman seal, all of these and more indicate
that certainly no human source could have removed the body. This is
precisely why it took nothing less than an angel from heaven to
frighten the guard away (Matthew 28:2-4).
Yet this was probably the
first time in history that a Roman guard had been assigned to watch
the grave of a publicly crucified criminal. Everything humanly
possible had been done to make certain the body could not be stolen.
And the first thing the guard would have done is to inspect the
tomb and make certain everything was in order—that the body was still
there.
But later, those same
soldiers reported the tomb they were guarding was now empty (Matt.
28:11-13).
Why is the empty tomb
compelling evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection?
Everyone there saw Jesus
die. Everyone there knew where He was buried. Many witnesses saw His
body placed in the tomb and later the great rock rolled across the
entrance and the Roman seal and Roman guard placed on duty to secure
it.
But what is most amazing
of all is this—no one at all, at any time, at any place, has ever
doubted that the tomb was found empty. Every critic, every critical
theory accepts the fact of the empty tomb.
Dr. Wilbur Smith
comments,
No man has written, pro
or con, on the subject of Christ’s resurrection, without finding
himself compelled to face this problem of Joseph’s empty tomb. That
the tomb was empty on Sunday morning is recognized by everyone, no
matter how radical a critic he may be, however antisupernatural in
all his personal convictions, he never dares to say that the body
was still resting in the tomb, however he might attempt to explain
the fact that the tomb must have been empty.18
In addition, the Jewish
authorities apparently never questioned the report of the guards that
the tomb was empty (Matthew 28:11-15). They knew that the guards would
never have come back with such a story unless they were reporting an
indisputable fact. However, because of the seriousness of the
situation, it is likely that the authorities would also have gone to
the tomb to personally examine it. Once they saw that the tomb was
empty, they knew they had problems.
We must remember that to
the Jews Jesus was a false Messiah, a blasphemous imposter. They
exerted great effort to be rid of Christ once and for all (Matthew
26:65, 66; John 7:19, 30; 8:40, 59; 11:53, 57).
We must further observe
that Jesus had thousands of followers; that He performed stupendous
miracles unlike any other prophet in all Jewish history (e.g., John
9:32). We must note that Jesus was placed on trial before both the
Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-66) and the Roman government, including
before Pilate, the governor of Judea (Matthew 27:1, 2, 12-141 19).
This new Messianic
movement was perceived as a direct threat to current Jewish interests
and power. The Pharisees and chief priests themselves admitted that
Christ’s following was so great "the world has gone after Him" (John
12:19). They therefore plotted to kill Him because, "If we let Him go
on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come
and take away both our place and our nation" (John 11:48).
In light of all this,
what do you think these men would have done once the apostles
proclaimed that the grave was empty and that Christ was resurrected?
There is little doubt that the most exhaustive search would have been
made to recover the body. But they could never find it. And we know it
could not have been stolen because of the Roman guard. The body of
Jesus was certainly in the tomb when the guard was placed, for again,
they would have made certain of it. What then happened to the body?
When even your enemies at
both the immediate time of the event and for two thousands years
afterward are forced to acknowledge that the tomb was empty, the case
for the Resurrection becomes more than credible. Again, no one
anywhere at any time ever doubted the empty tomb:
A. M. Ramsey writes: "I
believe in the Resurrection, partly because a series of facts are
unaccountable without it." The empty tomb was "too notorious to be
denied." Paul Althaus states that the resurrection "could not have
been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if
the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all
concerned."
Paul L. Maier
concludes: "If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it
is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical
research, to conclude that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was
actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of
evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or
archaeology that would disprove this statement."
How can we explain the
empty tomb?20
Had any doubts existed
concerning the empty tomb, reports would certainly have been widely
circulated. But there were none. Noted Islamic scholar Dr. J. N. D.
Anderson observes:
It is also noteworthy
in this context that all the references to the empty tomb come in
the gospels, which were written for Christians who wanted to know
the facts. In the public preaching to those who were not yet
convinced, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, there was an
insistent emphasis on the resurrection, but not a single reference
to the tomb. For this I can see only one explanation. There was no
point in speaking of the empty tomb, for everyone—friend and foe
alike—knew that it was empty. The only points worth arguing about
were why it was empty, and what its emptiness proved.21
There was widespread
preaching concerning an event so radical that it changed the world. It
would at once have been so easy to discredit such preaching merely by
producing the body. This indicates that although the enemies of
Christianity would have done their best to counter the claims of
Christ’s Resurrection, they had no ground to do so. They could not
produce the body, even though they had both the motive and means. In
brief:
If Jesus had not
arisen, there would have been evidence that he had not. His enemies
would have sought and found this evidence, but the apostles went up
and down the very city where he had been crucified and proclaimed
right to the faces of his slayers that he had been raised, and no
one could produce evidence to the contrary. The very best they could
do was to say the guards went to sleep and the disciples stole the
body while the guards slept.22
Further evidence that the
empty tomb signifies Jesus’ Resurrection is supplied by the position
of the grave clothes of Jesus. Their incredible position is the reason
why, when John first looked into the empty tomb, "He saw and believed"
(John 20:8). What was it about the grave clothes that could possibly
make a skeptic, one who did not understand that Jesus would rise from
the dead, conclude that Jesus had risen? It could only be the fact
that the grave clothes were in the shape of a cocoon—just as if the
body had disappeared from within them, leaving only an empty hull.
Michael Green, who read classics at Oxford and theology at Cambridge,
discusses John’s account:
"Peter went into the
tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been
on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a
place by itself... and he (i.e., the other disciple) saw and
believed" (John 20:6-8).
Why should this have
made such an impression upon the two disciples? Because the
wrappings seemed to them like a chrysalis case when the pupa has
emerged. The grave clothes had encircled Jesus, and were interlaced
with a great weight of embalming spices. The head covering was a
small distance away, retaining its original shape surrounding the
head of Jesus. But his body was simply gone!
No wonder they were
convinced and awed. No grave robber would have been able to enact so
remarkable a thing. Nor would it have entered his head. He would
simply have taken the body, grave clothes and all. Had Jesus merely
been resuscitated, he would presumably either have used the clothes
or laid them aside.
But as it was, all the
signs pointed to Jesus’ having risen to a new order of life, a new
sphere of existence. He left the grave clothes behind as the
butterfly emerging to a new dimension of life leaves the cocoon
behind it. That sight convinced Peter and John.23
There is one more proof
of the empty tomb. It is human nature to venerate unparalleled
religious leaders. Throughout the history of mankind, religious
pilgrimages are often made to special shrines honoring a dead prophet,
especially his birth or burial place. Muslims have their yearly
pilgrimage to Mecca. Every year Hindus and Buddhists visit the graves
of their noted gurus. Indeed, even the graves of Jewish holy men were
carefully noted and honored. But such has never occurred for Jesus in
all the history of Christianity. As Frank Morison notes:
Finally, and this to my
mind carried conclusive weight, we cannot find in the contemporary
records any trace of a tomb or shrine becoming the Center of
veneration or worship on the ground that it contained the relics of
Jesus. This is inconceivable if it was ever seriously stated at the
time that Jesus was really buried elsewhere than in the vacant tomb.
Rumor would have asserted a hundred suppositious places where the
remains really lay, and pilgrimages innumerable would have been made
to them.24
When Christians go to see
Christ’s tomb in Israel, everyone knows they go to see an empty tomb.
In his text, The Son
Rises, William Lane Craig summarizes the evidence for the empty
tomb as follows: 1) the historical reliability of the burial account;
2) the independent testimony of the Apostle Paul 25;
3) the impossibility of proclaiming the Resurrection in Jerusalem
unless the tomb were empty; 4) the earliest Jewish propaganda against
Christians presumes the empty tomb (i.e., the stolen body theory) plus
six other reasons. He then shows how all naturalistic theories of the
last 2,000 years have failed to explain the empty tomb and concludes:
As D. H. Van Daalen has
pointed out, it is extremely difficult to object to the empty tomb
on historical grounds; those who deny it do so on the basis of
theological or philosophical assumptions (like the assumption that
miracles are impossible)....
In summary, we have
seen that ten lines of historical evidence combine to place the
weight of the evidence solidly in favor of the historical fact that
Jesus’ tomb was found empty on the Sunday after His crucifixion and
burial. We have further seen that no natural hypothesis can furnish
a plausible explanation of that fact. This alone would justify our
accepting the resurrection as the simplest, most probable
explanation of the fact of the empty tomb.26
This is why Norval
Geldenhuys, former Elsie Ballot Scholar of Princeton Theological
Seminary and Cambridge University, concludes:
The empty sepulchre is
also a powerful indication of the fact of the resurrection. For from
this it follows that, if Jesus had not arisen, His body must have
been removed either by His enemies or by members of His circle of
disciples, and both are impossible, for (apart from the fact that
guards had been placed before the sepulchre and that it had been
sealed), if any of His enemies had removed His body, they would,
when the disciples announced that Jesus had risen, surely have
produced it again, or would at any rate have declared that they had
removed it, so that in this manner they might deal the death-blow to
the belief in the resurrection.
Now it is an historical
fact that nothing was done and that no such statement was made. This
clinches the fact that Jesus’ body was not taken away by His
enemies. And it is just as certain that His disciples would not have
done it. For one thing, it is utterly unlikely that they would have
got away with this fraud.
And for another, it is
impossible that they would have sacrificed their possessions and
their blood in the service of Christ if their announcement of His
resurrection had been based upon deceit. How could the ineradicable
joy, certainty and power have come into their lives after His
crucifixion if their whole faith were a gigantic lie?
Everything points to
the fact that there is only one explanation for the empty sepulchre:
Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God was true, and no bonds of death
and darkness could keep Him confined to the grave. He did arise, and
He lives.27
In conclusion, no one can
logically hold the slightest doubt that the tomb of Jesus Christ was
empty in spite of everyone knowing its exact location, in spite of the
Roman guard and seal, in spite of the best attempts of Jesus’ enemies
to locate the body.
The fact that virtually
every theory ever proposed to explain the empty tomb, other than the
Resurrection of Christ, is more difficult to believe than the
Resurrection of Christ itself indicates that the only possible reason
the tomb was empty is what Christians everywhere have maintained for
2,000 years—Christ literally rose physically from the dead.
Notes
1 Wilbur M. Smith, The Supernaturalness of Christ (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker, 1974, rpt.), p. 190, citing Guignebert, Jesus
(New York, 1935), p. 536.
2 Ibid., citing Davis Strauss, New Life of Jesus, pp. 41,
397.
3 Bernard Ramm, Protestant Christian Evidences (Chicago,
IL: Moody Press, 1971), p. 186.
4 Pierre Barbet, M.D., A Doctor at Calvary (Garden City,
NY: Doubleday, 1963); E. Symes Thompson, M.D., On the Physical
Cause of the Death of Christ.
5 Clifford Wilson, The Trials of Jesus Christ (Melbourne,
Australia: Pacific College of Graduate Studies, 1986).
6 Michael Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus (Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), pp. 22-23, cf. Dr. E. Symes Thompson,
On the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ.
7 Ibid., p. 93.
8 Merrill Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), p. 106.
9 100 Greek liters (John 19:39; 12 ounces each).
10 Wilber M. Smith, Therefore Stand (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker, 1972), p. 371.
11 John Wenham, Easter Enigma (Grand Rapids, MI: Academie
Books/Zondervan, 1984), p. 71.
12 Merrill Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1972) p. 110; Josh McDowell, Evidence that
Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers,
rev. ed., 1979), p. 208.
13 McDowell, Evidence, p. 216.
14 Ibid., p. 209.
15 Ibid., pp. 212-213.
16 Ibid., p. 213.
17 Ibid., p. 214.
18 Wilbur M. Smith, Therefore Stand (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker, 1972), pp. 373-374.
19 See also Clifford Wilson, The Trials of Jesus Christ
(Melbourne, Australia: Pacific College of Graduate Studies, 1986).
20 Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter (Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale/Living Books, 1983), pp. 91-92.
21 J. N. D. Anderson, Christianity: The Witness of History
(London: Tyndale Press, 1970), p. 96.
22 R. A. Torrey, "The Certainty and Importance of the Bodily
Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead" in Charles L. Feinberg
(ed.), The Fundamentals (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1964), p.
274.
23 Michael Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus (Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), p. 98.
24 Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone? (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1969), p. 94.
25 William Lane Craig, The Son Rises: Historical Evidence for
the Resurrection of Jesus (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), pp.
69-70.
26 Ibid., pp. 84-85,88.
27 Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1975), p. 629.
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