Resurrection Evidence: Eye Witness Accounts Part 2

The Empty Tomb

What happened in Jerusalem seven weeks after the first Easter could have taken place only if Jesus' body were somehow missing from Joseph's tomb, for otherwise the Temple establishment, in its imbroglio with the Apostles, would simply have aborted the movement by making a brief trip over to the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea and unveiling exhibit A. They did not do this, because they knew the tomb was empty. Their official explanation for it - that the disciples had stolen the body - was an admission that the sepulcher was indeed vacant.

Having established that Jesus was indeed dead we may now proceed to the testimony provided by the empty tomb. That a tomb in the area around Jerusalem in 30 A.D. should be found empty would normal not qualify as much of a witness to the reality of a resurrection. Grave robbery was very common at that time. But this was no ordinary grave. Never in the history of mankind has any grave been as well sealed or as tightly guarded as was the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid Jesus after the Crucifixion. First, it had a heavy stone blocking the entrance that required several men to move. Next, it had a Roman seal placed upon the door. Finally it was guarded night and day by a combination of Temple guards and Roman soldiers. These were men who were under an oath of death should they falter in their tour of duty. To sleep on duty was punishable by instant execution by their superior. We’ll address this issue further in the section on “Theories Put Forth to Explain Away The Resurrection”. Suffice it to say here that “empty” is hardly the way that anyone expected to find the Tomb that first Easter morning.

Yet the testimony that is borne by the eyewitness is that is indeed the state in which the Tomb was found early Sunday morning. The first visitors there were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome . They were bringing spices to finish anointing the body of Jesus for burial. When they approached the Tomb they saw that the stone was rolled away, and Mary Magdalene left immediately to go tell the disciples. The other two women continued to the opening and looked in. They recognized the linen in which they had wrapped Jesus on Friday evening, but the body of Jesus was nowhere in sight. Then an angel appeared to them and told them exactly what had happened and a message to deliver to the disciples. Then they left. A second group of women came to the tomb also and found it empty . Again, angels bore witness to them of the Resurrection. After they left, the last to come to the Tomb was Peter and John . They had run to the Tomb after Mary Magdalene told them what she saw. They, too, bore witness of the grave clothes. The important point here is not one of the friends, followers or disciples of Jesus expected to find the tomb empty Sunday morning… yet that is exactly the testimony they deliver of what they found. In fact, Luke tells us, they still wouldn’t have been completely sure of what happened were it not for the next area of testimony by these witness.

The Post-Resurrection Appearances

Very shortly after Mary Magdalene told Peter and John what she had found at the grave, she headed back there herself. By the time she returned Peter and John had already left. She is to be the very first witness to the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. He appears to her in the garden near the Tomb, at first unrecognized by her and thought to be the gardener. Then He speaks to her and her recognition is immediate. Next Jesus appears to the second group of women, headed by JoAnna. We learn of the next appearance outside of the Gospel record. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: 5 that Peter was the next to see his risen Lord. Later that same day He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, then to the apostles gathered in the Upper Room when Thomas was absent and finally that evening to the full eleven remaining apostles. There were many other appearance between Resurrection Sunday and the day Jesus ascended back to heaven. In fact, according to Paul’s testimony in 1 Corinthians 15:6 He was seen by over 500 eye witnesses during that time.

Conclusion of the Eye Witness Testimony

The testimony provided by these eye witnesses may be summarized as follows:

1. Jesus said that He would raise from the dead after three days.

2. The manner of execution and the identity of the executioners themselves left no doubt that Jesus truly died that Friday afternoon.

3. Jesus was laid in a tomb that was closed by a heavy stone, sealed by a Roman seal, and heavily guarded by both Roman and Jewish soldiers.

4. On Sunday morning the Tomb was found open, with the massive stone rolled away and the grave clothes of Jesus laying on the table.

5. Jesus appeared to a variety of people (both men and women) after His Resurrection, in varied location and different settings. This was done to forestall the notion of hallucination or overwrought emotions playing tricks. He spoke to those He met on a personal basis and, with the exception of His appearance to Mary Magdalene when He said that He had not yet ascended to the Father, allowed them to touch and handle Him. This was done to show that His Resurrection was not a spiritual one, but very physical. Over 500 people experienced these Post-Resurrection Appearances.

6. The actions of the Sanhedrin in seeking to create the false story of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus was an admission on their part to the fact of the empty tomb.

Conclusion based on this testimony: Jesus died and rose from the dead as He said that He would. In the next part we will examine the most startling witness of the reality of the Resurrection: it’s affect upon one of the most bitter enemies of Christ and the early Church.