Evidence for the Empty Tomb

 

 

First of all whether Jesus was buried or not does not play a role in resurrection. If a person is dead and you have no idea where they are that is one thing but if you know that someone is dead and you see them alive again…now that is an issue.

 

But let’s examine some of the data that we have about Jesus’ burial…

 

 

 

1.  All 4 Gospel accounts mention that Jesus was buried in the tomb. All the documentation that we have says he was buried in a tomb. Nothing else contrary.

 

2.  There were many of the Jewish leaders who were at the cross and they saw Jesus die. It would crazy to think that they didn’t care about the body and just let it go. They wanted to see the whole thing through to completion. Furthermore, we have a report that is recorded in Matthew and by two extra-biblical early writers, one being Justin Martyr, that Jewish observers admitted that the tomb was empty. That would be a pretty incredible admission if there was no burial. Right?

 

3.  Another piece of evidence that many scholars believe is that behind the gospel of Mark is a source that may be even earlier than Mark. If this is true then the gospel of Mark could be dated extremely early.

 

4.  What about the women who were present at the tomb? They were the first ones there to see the empty tomb on Sunday morning. This is also strong evidence of the burial. Why? The reason this is so significant is that because in the Mediterranean Jewish world, in general, women were not allowed to testify in a court of law. My point in mentioning this is if you are going to make up an account and you don’t think that people are going to accept your testimony you don’t make women the first and chief witnesses because people wouldn’t accept what they had to say in the first place.

 

5.  The fact that the burial happened in Jerusalem is also evidence that Jesus was buried. If I proclaimed that there is a local holy man and he died and he was buried in your town and I tell you, “Hey it’s three days later and the grave is empty go and see for yourself.” If I said that this happened in Africa. You probably wouldn’t go. If I said this happened in Australia, you probably wouldn’t go, but if I told you it happened downtown in the city you lived in you just might want to check this thing out. So Jerusalem was the last place the empty tomb should have been proclaimed unless it truly was empty because any number of people could have taken a Sunday afternoon stroll and been there easy. The fact that this was proclaimed in the city is further evidence because it could have been verified to see if it is true.