The Empty Tomb - A Post Script

During the Easter season, I had been reading The Life of Jesus by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.  It was by coincidence not design (does anything really happen by coincidence?) that the part of the book that I was reading was in parallel with the narrative of the Passion of Jesus in the Gospels.  But from the book, I noticed something that I had not considered before, something that I had never heard preached or taught or written about.  It was a revelation (at least to me) that no one is Jesus’ inner circle of disciples and followers was actually expecting the Resurrection! 

What is the evidence?   First, there was Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and secret follower of Jesus, who with Nicodemus, an influential member of the Sanhedrin and another secret follower, were the ones to retrieve Jesus’ body so that it could be given a proper burial, a burial in a new tomb that Joseph had prepared for his own remains.

And to prepare for the proper entombment, they brought new linen cloth in which to wrap the body and several pounds of myrrh and aloes.  In the custom of the day, they wrapped Jesus body with the strips of linen and the spices.  Even though Jesus had forewarned His disciples, on at least three different occasions, He had warned them that He would be crucified, and when dead would be buried. He also told them that on the third day, He would step forth from the tomb, alive!  If Joseph and Nicodemus had actually believed this, why would they go to such trouble, time and expense, to make sure that Jesus was properly prepared for entombment.  If they were counting the hours before He came forth from the tomb, why this preparation?

And there is Mary Magdalene, who “with certain other women”, according to Luke’s Gospel, came  to the tomb, “bringing spices which they had prepared”, to do the same burial preparation that Joseph and Nicodemus had already finished.  It was obvious that they weren’t counting the hours until the promised Resurrection!

But arriving at the tomb, they found it empty!  Their first thoughts were not “Halleluiah!  He has risen, as He said He would!  Let’s go spread the word!” No.  Their first thoughts were that grave robbers had come in the night and, despite the squad of Roman soldiers stationed to guard against grave robbers, despite the fact that the tomb had been officially sealed, grave robbers came and carried off His body! 

Even when Mary saw the “two men in shining garments” standing before them, they were still focused on finding the missing body, asking “where has the body of our Lord had been taken?”  Only then did these angels tell them “He is not here, but is arisen, as He said He would!”, urging them to “remember how He spoke to them when He was still in Galilee.  Only then they remembered His words.” 

Rushing back to find the apostles, who also were unbelieving, hiding in a locked room, afraid, these women exploded with the good news, only to discover that no one believed them! 

Peter, however, with John, “arose and ran to the tomb” to discover that the tomb was indeed empty!  And there was evidence that Jesus had really been raised from the dead!  The Resurrection was real!

What is even more amazing is that the Sanhedrin, the High Council, did believe, with their minds but not their hearts, that Jesus had indeed been risen from the dead.  They had heard the story from the Roman guard, who were the eyewitnesses to this extraordinary event.  And because they believed, but certainly didn’t want anyone else to believe, they bribed the guards, concocting a story to explain the empty tomb.  They were paid richly to say that while they slept, disciples snuck in, broke the seal, rolled back the stone and stole Jesus body. 

Their desperation was such that they contrived this outrageous explanation of the empty tomb! Here’s what Bishop Sheen has to say about this ridiculous story.

First, the guards who had been stationed at the tomb where there for the express purpose to prevent Jesus’ disciples from coming in the night to steal His body.  This guard was squad of trained and seasoned Roman soldiers, knowing full well the consequences of failing to follow orders or carry out their mission.  These guards were eyewitnesses to what had happened. 

It was likely they had organized the several night watches, determining who, and how many, would keep the various watches throughout the night.  Perhaps some were sleeping when the angels of the Lord appeared and rolled back the stone.  Regardless, unless God had rendered them blind, deaf and dumb, they were eyewitnesses of the event that was the pivotal point of history, from the past to the present and to the future, a future in which there is neither time nor boundaries.

               As soon as they could, this squad of Roman soldiers rushed back to the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened, all that they had seen and heard! 

Upon hearing this news, the Sanhedrin didn’t doubt it or deny it or question it.  They believed the soldiers account and because they believed, they immediately set about to prevent others from hearing and believing this eyewitness account.  They offered a rich bribe to the soldiers to support the tall tale that the council had so quickly created.  Disciples came in the night, while the entire squad was sleeping soundly, rolled back the stone, unwrapped the dead body and stole off into the night.

               This bribe, and its accompanying story, according to Bishop Sheen, “was a really stupid way to escape the fact of the Resurrection.  First of all, there was the problem of what would be done with His body after the disciples took possession of it.  All that the enemies of our Lord would have had to do to disprove the Resurrection would be to produce the Body. That’s the whole reason for the guard in the first place!  Quite apart from the fact that it was very unlikely that the whole guard of Roman soldiers slept while they were on duty, it was absurd for them to say that was what had happened, happening when they were asleep.  Even though the soldiers were advised to say they were asleep; yet they were awake to have seen the thieves and recognize them as Jesus’s disciples.  If all the soldiers were asleep, they could have never discovered the thieves; if a few of them were awake, they should have prevented the theft. It is equally improbable that a few timid disciples should attempt to steal their Master’s body from a grave closed by stone, officially sealed and guarded by soldiers without awakening the sleeping guards.  The orderly arrangement of the burial afforded further proof that the body was not removed by His disciples. 

               The secret removal of the Body would have served no purpose so far as the disciples were concerned, nor had any of them even thought of it.   For the moment, the life of their Master was a failure and a defeat.  The fact is that the Sanhedrin believed in the Resurrection before the Apostles.  It had bought the kiss of Judas and now it hoped it could buy the silence of the guards”.  (From the book Life of Jesus by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, published 1958.)

And there were two others who believed before the resurrection.  These who were not believers but who became believers even before Jesus was laid in the tome.  Both were Gentiles and both had a closeness to this crucifixion as no others could possibly have.  One was a condemned criminal, hanging on a cross next to Jesus.  The other was the Roman soldier whose spear pierced his side, one who had watched a flow of blood and water cascade down from His now limp body.  Upon seeing the last moments of Jesus life, and after hearing His last words from the cross, this soldier “glorified God, saying ‘surely this was a righteous Man!  This was the Son of God! Mark 15:39.

Of the two thieves condemned to die this most horrible death, one was demanding “save Yourself, and us too, if You are the Christ” (Luke 23:39).  But the other thief, who was hanging on his own cross, made a far different request.  “Lord, remember me when You come into Your glory.”  Luke 23:42.  To this thief’s request, Jesus answered “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43.

Why do I make a point that those people who were the very closest to Jesus, in life and in death, lacked belief in and understand of the resurrection, the very supernatural yet very physical act of “taking back My own life”!   I think it just one of those moments when my “mind was opened to understand the scriptures”.  I realized that for even those who had been with Jesus for the three years of His public ministry, the people closest, the people who saw what He did and heard what He said, still had to have their minds opened in order to truly believe and understand.  And to realize that just as the resurrection had happened to Jesus, one day it would also happen to them, to me, to us!  It brings into a clearer focus the truth of what Jesus told His disciples as He sat with them at the last supper.  “It was not you who chose Me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…so that whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  This I command you: love one another.”  Lord Jesus, thank You for choosing me, rescuing me, redeeming me and reconciling me to Most Holy God!