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1Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”

8They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”

They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

10Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”

11Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12When they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers, 13saying, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. 14If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.” 15So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.

16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted. 18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

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Theories on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I. Occupied Tomb Theories

Theories on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I. Occupied Tomb Theories

Chart | Matt 28:7 | Hershel Wayne House
TheoryExplanationRefutation
Unknown tomb
Charles A. Guignebert		 The body of Jesus was buried in a common pit grave unknown to his disciples. Therefore, the resurrection account arose out of ignorance as to the whereabouts of the body.
  1. Not all criminals were buried in a common pit.
  2. The New Testament gives Joseph of Arimathea as a witness to the burial in a specific family tomb.
  3. The women saw the body being prepared for burial and knew the tomb’s location.
  4. The Romans knew where the tomb was, for they stationed a guard there.
Wrong tomb
Kirsopp Lake		 The women came to the wrong tomb, for there were many similar tombs in Jerusalem. They found an open tomb and a young man who denied that this was Jesus’ tomb. The frightened women mistakenly identified the man as an angel and fled.
  1. The women did not come looking for an open tomb, but for a sealed one. They would surely bypass the open tomb if they were unsure of the exact location of the correct tomb.
  2. The man at the tomb not only said, “He is not here,” but also, “He is risen.”
  3. The women had noted the tomb’s location seventy-two hours earlier.
  4. The Jews, Romans, and Joseph of Arimathea knew the location and could easily have identified it as proof against any resurrection.
Legend
Early form critics; eighteenth and nineteenth centuries		 The resurrection was a fabrication to meet the church’s needs that evolved over a lengthy period to vindicate a leader long since dead.
  1. Recent historical criticism has shown that the resurrection stories are of mid-first-century origin.
  2. Paul, in 1 Corinthians (AD 55), speaks of the resurrection as a fact and points to five hundred eyewitnesses, many of whom were still alive for anyone to question.
Spiritual resurrection
Gnostics; Jehovah’s Witnesses		 Jesus’ spirit was resurrected, though his body remained dead.
  1. This denies the Jewish understanding of resurrection: bodily, not spiritually.
  2. Christ ate and was touched and handled.
  3. To prove the resurrection false, the Jews could have shown the occupied tomb to their fellow Jews.
Hallucination
Agnostics		 The disciples and followers of Jesus were so emotionally involved with Jesus’ messianic expectation that their minds projected hallucinations of the risen Lord.
  1. Could more than five hundred people—in different situations, with differing degrees of commitment to Jesus and different understandings of his teachings—all have had hallucinations?
  2. Many appearances occurred to more than one person. Such simultaneous illusions are unlikely.
  3. The disciples were not expecting Christ’s resurrection. They viewed his death as final.
  4. The Jews could have pointed to the occupied tomb to prove them false.

H. Wayne House and Joseph M. Holden, Charts of Apologetics and Christian Evidences, chart 55.

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