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Claim ID: HIS-IS43

Claim: Jesus' Vacated His Tomb

Summary: The claim that Jesus vacated his tomb is the most logical conclusion given the evidence. All counterclaims can be easily disproved.

Description: The claim that Jesus vacated his tomb after rising from the dead is a logical conclusion given the evidence. All other alternatives theories regarding the empty tomb fail the test of logical reasoning.

We examine each of the possible claims below:

Claim 1: Jesus' Body was Never Buried

All four Gospel accounts describe Jesus' burial (Matthew 27:57-66, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-61, John 19:38-42). Perhaps the most notable feature of Jesus' burial was that he was buried in the personal tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph of Arimathea, along with Nicodemus were prominent members of the Jewish Council. They were well known in Jerusalem as Jewish leaders. Joseph and Nicodemus' willingness to expose themselves as followers of Jesus caused major concern among the Pharisees. Therefore, their involvement in Jesus' burial was a high-profile event.

Furthermore, the official Roman seal applied to the stone authenticated that Jesus was in fact buried in the tomb.

Claim 2: Jesus' Body is Still in the Tomb

If Jesus' body were still in the tomb when the disciples claimed he had been raised from the dead, the Pharisee would have exhumed Jesus' body and paraded it throughout the streets of Jerusalem to prove Jesus was dead.

Also, the seal on the stone would have still been intact offering further proof that no one had tampered with the tomb.

Claim 3: Jesus' Body was Stolen by the Disciples

To claim that the disciples stole Jesus' body is unreasonable. Based on the Gospels accounts, the disciples did not really understand Jesus' predictions about being raised (John 20:9, John 2:22). In addition, the women did not understand his predictions (Luke 24:6-8). It is unlikely they would risk their lives for something they did not completely understand.

Even if they did understand, how would they benefit from stealing Jesus' body? We can assume that the same Jewish authorities that condemned Jesus would have uncovered the disciples' deception and sought their execution as well.

We learn in John 20:19 that the disciples at the time of Jesus' burial were cowering behind locked doors. It is fair to say that the disciples were not taking any risks. They feared for the lives and the lives of their families.

Claim 4: Jesus Vacated the Tomb

The most reasonable conclusion is that Jesus rose from the dead and vacated his tomb. This conclusion is supported by the following facts:

Women’s Testimony was Highly Scrutinized

According to first century Jewish law, a woman's testimony was not admissible in court. Only male testimony was admissible. According to the Gospel accounts women were the first to discover the empty tomb. For the Gospel writers to include the women’s testimony, they would have had to scrutinize the testimony to ensure it was authentic. The women’s testimony was corroborated, in part, by Peter and John's testimony who also discovered the empty tomb and made many of the same observations.

Pharisees Falsified the Truth of the Soldiers' Testimony

Because the Pharisees and Romans did not reprimand the soldiers charged with guarding the tomb, they believed their account of the empty tomb was true. Their plan to bribe the soldiers and spread a lie is a clear indication that they wanted to falsify the facts of the empty tomb.

Moreover, there is no record of the Pharisees investigating or prosecuting the disciples in connection with the missing body. This is another indication that the Pharisees did not want the truth of Jesus' resurrection to surface because it would have nullified their conspiracy theory.

Empty Tomb Accounts were Written Very Early

Peter's resurrection claims in the Book of Acts, Paul's credal statements in 1 Corinthians 15 and Mark's burial narrative in Mark 15:42-47 were consistent with Jesus' burial. Scholars date these claims, statements and accounts to be within seven years of Jesus' burial.

Using biblical criticism, scholars make the following observations about the burial narrative in the Gospel of Mark [REF-WLC03]:

• Mark does not explicitly name the high priest Caiaphas who was high priest from 18-37 AD. This implies that Mark assumed his readers living between 30-37 AD knew that Caiaphas was the high priest in office, and that there was no need to mention his name.
• Mark's use of the term "the first day of the week" is not a motif used by writers in the latter half of the first century. This phrase is more naturally written in Aramaic while its rendering in Greek is more awkward. For this reason, it is highly likely Mark's narrative was originally written in Aramaic around the time of Jesus' burial.
• Mark's narrative of the burial lacks the customary signs of legendary formation or embellishment.
• Mark’s account of the empty tomb is dated by scholars at around 37 AD.

This line of reasoning suggests that Jesus vacated his tomb after being risen from the dead. It is unreasonable to suggest that the disciples stole Jesus' body.

Resources:

• Reasonable Faith - Christian Truth and Apologetics (REF-WLC03)

• The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (REF-HAB02)