Empty Tomb of Jesus

Empty Tomb of Jesus

The plaque on the door of the empty tomb of Jesus repeats the angels' words from Luke 24:6 about Jesus no longer being in the tomb, now empty. How do we know that the tomb of Jesus was empty?

Despite all that Jesus said and did, if Jesus had died and stayed dead in the tomb - if the tomb hadn't been empty - Christianity would have died with him. Consider things from the perspective of Jesus' Apostles. They followed Jesus around for three years and saw amazing things. Yet when Jesus was crucified, all but one ran off and hid, fearing that they too may be arrested and executed.

But just six weeks later, they marched back into Jerusalem and confidently declared to the masses that Jesus, "whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36), "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:32). Something significant must have happened during those six weeks - something so dramatic in fact, that it confirmed their faith in Jesus being God more than all of the miracles (see Tabgha) they had witnessed during the previous three years. But what could be more dramatic than seeing Jesus heal the sick, make the blind see, calm the storm and walk on water?

This time, it wasn't what Jesus did, but what he couldn't do: he couldn't stay dead. During those six weeks they had seen and talked with the physically resurrected Jesus, who proved his deity and even ate in front of them (Luke 24:41-43) to prove that they weren't seeing a ghost.

Consider things also from the perspective of those who heard the Apostles' declaration above. The last thing they wanted to hear was that Jesus, whose death they had called for (Matthew 27:22-23), is back and that he is their "Lord" (Acts 2:36). If his resurrection weren't true, they would have yelled back, "What are you talking about? Jesus is dead and we know where his body is!"

But instead of challenging the Apostles, they listened in silence and then 3,000 of them became believers right then and there (Acts 2:41). Why? Again, the only possible explanation is that they couldn't deny the truth of what the Apostles declared: Jesus had risen from the dead.