The Resurrection of Jesus - Part 4

It's Sunday, early in the morning.  Some women, "... who had come with [Jesus] from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how His body was laid; then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.  On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the Body." (Luke 23:55-24:3).

Why did these women prepare spices, and return to anoint the Body of Jesus?  For the very simple reason that they expected to find it there!  Indeed, Mark records that there only concern was about who would roll the large stone disc from the entrance to the tomb - itself hewn out of the solid rock (Mark 16:3).  Were they unaware of the seal that the high priest had left to ensure that the tomb was undisturbed?  Did they think that they might manage to persuade the soldiers to attend to the heavy work?  Were they even aware that a guard had been set?!  We don't know!  the only thing of which we may be certain is that they fully expected a body to be there to anoint.

As we amalgamate the four Gospel records we discover that, as the women arrived, "... there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men." (Matt 28:2-4).  Mark's account states that, having arrived at the tomb, the women "... saw that the stone was rolled back; - it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He has risen, He is not here; see the place where they laid Him." (Mark 16:4-6).  This young man (the angel?), instructed them to tell the disciples - especially Peter, who was undoubtedly still smarting form his denial of the Lord, and who needed this special word of encouragement - and the women, understandably, fled!  However, they did as they had been told, and, according to John, Mary Magdalene "... went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.'  Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and, stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and 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." (John 20:2-7)  Peter and John then returned home; but Mary - who must have followed them to the tomb - remained, weeping.  It was at this point that she had that amazing encounter with the risen Jesus.

The major point that this record makes is that the tomb was empty!  At least, it was empty of the Body of Jesus.  The grave-clothes were there; the piece of linen that had been wrapped around the head was there; but of the Body, there was no trace.  And this is something that has never been disputed by any serious scholar, because the evidence is so overwhelming.  J.N.D.Anderson - a former lawyer and professor of Oriental Law in the University of London, has written: "Have you noticed that the references to the empty tomb all come in the Gospels, which were written to give the Christian community the facts they wanted to know?  In the public preaching to those who were not believers, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, there is an enormous emphasis on the fact of the resurrecetion, but not a single reference to the empty tomb.  Now, why?  To me there is only one answer: There was no point in arguing about the empty tomb.  Everyone, friend and opponent, knew that it was empty.  The only questions worth arguing about were why it was empty, and what its emptiness proved."

These are still the important questions, today.