Content
The empty tomb (Mk 16:1-8; Mt 28:1-8,11-15: Lk 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10)
There is some minor difference of the story regarding the discovery of the empty tomb and its aftermath among the Four Gospels.
(the day and time of going to the tomb)
(Mark 16:1-2) “when the sabbath was past…very early in the morning the first day of the week…at the rising of the sun”
(Matt 28:1) “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week”
(Luke 24:1) “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning”
(John 20:1) “The first day of the week…when it was yet dark”
The day was the first day of the week following the Sabbath, i.e. Sunday. The time was dawn, showing that the women were very anxious to come to the tomb to pay tribute to Jesus.
(the women who went to the tomb)
(Mark 16:1) “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome”
(Matt 28:1) “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary”
Who was “the other Mary”? Matt 27:55-56 mentioned many women who followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered to him were beholding Jesus on the cross. Among them were “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children”. Matt 27:61 mentioned “Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher” at the burial of Jesus. So, “the other Mary” was probably Mary the mother of James and Joses, the same as the one recorded in Mark 16:1 and Luke 24:10, who was actually the mother of Jesus.
(Luke 24:10) “It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them”
(John 20:1) “Mary Magdalene”
Viewing from the above verses, the women who came to the tomb included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, Salome, Joanna, and other women as well (Luke 24:10). Mark 16:1 says, they “had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him”. In other words, they came to the tomb not just to pay tribute to Jesus outside the tomb but planned to enter the tomb and anoint the body of Jesus with the spices! However, since the stone that was placed at the entrance of the tomb was a great stone (v4), that’s why “they said among themselves, ‘Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?’ ” (v3) They probably asked this question when they were still on their way to the tomb, wondering how they were able to enter the tomb.
(stone rolled away)
Matt 28:2-4 says, “And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men.” Before the women arrived at the tomb, the angel had already come down from heaven and rolled the stone away and sat on it. Remember that the stone was sealed by the chief priests (Matt 27:66) and the tomb was watched by the keepers. It was likely that the earthquake helped roll away the stone. By the time the women arrived, the keepers had been scared away.
(the women saw the angel(s))
Now the women arrived at the tomb. “When they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.” (v4-5) Matt 28:3 describes the appearance of the angel as such: “His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.” Probably, this angel was the angel who previously sat on the stone after it was rolled away. Now he sat on the right side (perhaps the right side of the entrance). Luke, however, mentioned that the women saw two angels instead of one: “And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” (Luke 24:2-4)
(the word of the angels)
Luke further said, “And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” ’ And they remembered his words.” (Luke 24:5-8) Three times Jesus foretold his disciples about his death and resurrection after 3 days (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). According to Mark, the angel said to the women, “Be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified; he is risen; he is not here; behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him, as he said unto you.” (v6-7) Matthew recorded about the same word from the angel.
(the reaction of the disciples)
After the women had heard the word of the angel, “they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher, for they trembled and were amazed; neither said they any thing to any man, for they were afraid.” (v8) Matt 28:8 says, “they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word.” (On their way back, Jesus suddenly appeared to them. Matt 28:9-10) Luke 24:9 said that they “returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.”
Luke 24:11-12 then recorded the reaction of the disciples, “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”
John recorded similar reaction from the disciples as Mary Magdalene told them of the news of the empty tomb. Yet John’s record missed the part of the appearance of the angel and his word to Mary. John 20:1-10 says, “Mary Magdalene…unto the sepulchre, seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.’ Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher. So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie. And the napkin, that was about his head (裹頭巾), not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.” “The other disciple, whom Jesus loved” was John himself. Peter and John went to the tomb one after the other, and saw only the linen clothes as well as the napkin that wrapped the body and the head respectively. John “saw, and believed”—believed what? Since John’s record only mentioned Mary’s saying that Jesus’ body was “taken away”, John, after seeing the empty tomb with his own eyes, believed Mary’s word was true.
On the other hand, Luke tells us that the first reaction of the disciples was that they thought the women’s word was “idle tales”, referring to their words of seeing angels telling them that Jesus was risen from the dead and would go to Galilee ahead of them. They might be thinking that the women had some sort of illusion. Even after seeing the empty tomb himself, Peter was very perplexed in his mind and still cast doubt on the validity of the women’s word. By comparison, John’s record had a different scenario in terms of the word of the women about Jesus’ body. Mary said that the Lord’s body was “taken away”, different from the angel’s saying that “he is risen” in Mark and Luke. According to John, Peter and John, on hearing that their Lord’s body was ‘stolen away’, were so nervous that they wanted to prove with their own eyes if Mary’s word was true. The result of their inspection inside the tomb was the same as that in Luke. Regardless of the discrepancy of the story between John and the other Gospels, what remained the same was the rolling away of the great stone, the empty tomb, as well as the lying around of the linen clothes and the napkin.
(the reaction of the chief priests)
Not only were the disciples nervous after discovering the empty tomb and the disappearance of Jesus’ body, the chief priests were far more nervous than the disciples. Matthew thus recorded, “some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, ‘Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.’ So they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” (Matt 28:11-15)
Now, what once worried the chief priests and the Pharisees finally came true—Jesus was gone! Some of the keepers, or soldiers, were so afraid that they dared not return to tell Pilate the true story. They told the chief priests instead. However, instead of accepting the truth of Jesus’ word about his resurrection three days after he died, the chief priests tried all means to cover up the truth. They bribed the soldiers with “large money” and told them to spread the lie that Jesus’ body was stolen away by his disciples. Unfortunately, this lie was already commonly accepted by the Jews at the time of writing the Book of Matthew. Besides, in case Pilate heard the story that the soldiers were asleep and gave the chance for the disciples to steal the body of Jesus, the soldiers might still face death penalty. To get rid of their worry, the chief priests guaranteed them that they would speak for them and protect their lives. Thus, the chief priests’ evil plot not only explained away the disappearance of Jesus’ body, but also passed the buck to his disciples and put their lives at risk!
(reflection)
Regardless of whether Jesus’ body was stolen away or he was truly risen from the dead, the empty tomb was a fact—his body was not found in the tomb just the third day of his burial. The key issue now is: was his body stolen by the disciples, as claimed by the keepers, or was he risen from the dead, as said by the angels? The answer of this key question is a concrete proof of whether Jesus was the Messiah as prophesied in the scripture.
By logical thinking and reasoning, we can trust with confidence that Jesus was truly risen from the dead.
-
The tomb was securely guarded by the armed soldiers. The eleven disciples were not trained to be fighters. Within a couple days of time, they would not have the guts to fight with the soldiers and steal the body of Jesus. Remember that when Jesus was arrested, the disciples were all scared to death, except for Peter, who was brave enough to oppose them with a sword. It was not possible now for the disciples to suddenly have the kind of bravery to steal Jesus’ body from the hands of the soldiers.
-
The keepers were a band of soldiers. They were given the serious command of guarding the tomb and preventing the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus. Even if one or two might be sleepy while guarding the tomb, it was unlikely that all of them were asleep.
-
Assuming that the soldiers had all fallen asleep, if the disciples came to steal Jesus’ body, they had to use great effort to roll away the great stone that had been sealed. By the time the stone was rolled away, the soldiers would have already been awakened by the great noise produced and threatened the disciples away.
-
Granted that the disciples had the chance to get into the tomb and steal the body of Jesus, they must be doing it hastily and steal the body within the shortest time. They would waste no time moving the body of Jesus right away with his whole body wrapped in linen clothes. It was absolutely unreasonable for them to first unwind the head and body of Jesus before taking him away.
-
Assuming that the disciples had successfully stolen away Jesus’ body and spread the lie that Jesus was risen from the dead, the hearers would still cast doubt on their words. The disciples would not be so firm and consistent to speak the lie, unless Jesus had truly appeared to them and showed them that he had truly risen from the dead. Further, it was difficult for them to all agree to spread the lie after stealing Jesus’ body. What’s more, what was their point of telling the lie? To tell people that he was the Messiah and would restore the kingdom of Israel? Their dream had already vanished along with the death of Jesus. How could they have confidence to deceive people that their hope would be realized?
-
The women who followed Jesus witnessed the angels speaking to them. They were initially filled with sadness as they went to the tomb with the spices. Suddenly, they were so excited and joyful after hearing the angels’ word of explaining the reason behind the empty tomb. There was no reason for them to tell fairy tales to the disciples. Even if they were suspected of having illusion at that time, it was impossible for all of them to have the same illusion. On the contrary, since they had all seen the same ‘illusion’ of the angels speaking to them, all that they had seen was proven to be real, not illusion.
-
The fact that the napkin and the linen clothes that wrapped Jesus’ head and body were still left inside the empty tomb was a strong and powerful evidence that Jesus was risen from the dead. He, or God who made him rise again, intended to leave behind the napkin and the linen clothes as a concrete evidence, unlike Lazarus, who came out of the tomb with his whole body covered by napkin and the linen clothes and needed someone to loose them for him (John 11:44).
Lastly, after his resurrection, Jesus showed himself to the women, to his disciples, and to a multitude of Jews before he rose to heaven in front of his eleven disciples, as we will see in the next section. The real appearance of his resurrected body to his disciples motivated them with strong evidence in hand to spread the truth instead of lie, that he was truly risen from the dead and was truly the Son of God, the Messiah that the Jews hoped for, and the King of the Jews as well as the Gentiles, who bore our sins on the cross. Therefore, we should be glad with excitement to pass the good news hastily like Mary that Jesus was not in the tomb, as the angel said, “he is risen; he is not here.” (v6) We should boldly tell people what the empty tomb really means to them: the tomb could not confine the Son of God, neither could death bind him in the hell, nor can bind us the followers of Jesus Christ in the hell either!