The Empty Tomb

Mark 16:1-11

It is Resurrection Sunday, and the three women in our Scripture passage go to, and return from, Jesus’ tomb with an amazing message for the disciples - Jesus has risen from the dead!  At first the disciples refuse to believe, but later they all come to find out it’s true. Have you ever had the experience of talking to family, friends, or co-workers about the resurrection, only to have them tell you it was a myth, a fairy tale, and that it never happened?  They might have given one of several frequently given explanations as to why they think the resurrection never happened, and why there is an empty tomb. Let’s look at a few of these, and how those who believe them are sadly mistaken.

The first excuse that many unbelievers give for the empty tomb is that Jesus never really died.  They try to explain that Jesus just passed out on the cross, and His disciples only thought He was dead, so they placed Him in the tomb. Laying there in the cool tomb for several hours revived Jesus, so He got up and left.  That couldn’t be true. Standing alongside the cross were several Roman soldiers who were quite familiar with death, as they had seen a lot of it, executing criminals.  These soldiers would frequently break the legs of those crucified in order to hasten death, but when they did this to the other two besides Jesus, they see that He was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs (John 19:32-34).  Instead one of the soldiers thrusts his spear in Jesus’ side. The fact that both blood and water came forth showed that the sac surrounding Jesus’ heart was pierced, and likely His heart, as well. He was dead. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, after hearing that Jesus was dead, questioned the soldiers himself, since He had died rather quickly.  The soldiers would not have risked lying to the governor (Mark 15:44-45).

Another excuse unbelievers give for the empty tomb is that the women made a mistake, and went to the wrong tomb.  That is not the case. These women had been there just that previous Friday, late afternoon, when they had assisted in removing Jesus’ body from the cross (Matthew 27:59-61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55).  They would have made careful note as to where the tomb was as they knew they would have to come back to give Jesus’ body the proper anointing. Also later on that Sunday, after the women had told the disciples, Peter and John ran to the tomb to check it out (John 20:3-9).  They found it empty, as well. They all didn’t make a mistake and go to the wrong place.

A third excuse many give for the empty tomb, and one that the Jewish leaders gave, is that the disciples came in the middle of the night and stole Jesus’ body out of the tomb (Matthew 28:11-15).  The religious leaders had heard Jesus repeatedly tell the disciples that He would be killed and on the third day He would rise again. They were afraid of that, so in order to prevent anyone from coming to the tomb and take His body, they obtained from Pontius Pilate several Roman soldiers to stand guard at the tomb.  They even had Pilate order the tomb sealed closed (Matthew 27:62-66). Would the disciples or anyone else be able to overpower several heavily armed guards, and then break into a sealed closed tomb? That would have been a suicide mission. And even if they managed to overpower the guards, once it was known, they would have had the whole army stationed in Jerusalem, which was a heavily fortified city at that time, down on them.  Furthermore, these disciples were so afraid for their own lives that they were in hiding behind locked and bolted doors (John 20:19). These were men who were scared for their lives, emotionally beaten down and feeling discouraged. They were not a group who felt confident enough to defy both the Jewish Sanhedrin and the whole Roman army!

The disciples did not remain scared and defeated men.  No! After they saw their risen Savior, they became bold witnesses, both to His life, death and resurrection.  The remaining 11 apostles, the women, and many others saw first hand the risen Lord Jesus. Paul states in I Corinthians 15:6 that over 500 saw Him before He returned to heaven.  The truth of the resurrection so emboldened these men, that they were willing to die for this truth.

The tomb was empty, but not because of any of these reasons we’ve looked at. Jesus had indeed died there on the cross, bearing our sins. The wrath of the Father against sin was satisfied, and Jesus rose from the dead.  We can rejoice because the tomb is empty!

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