The Empty Tomb: Witnessing the Miracle of Easter

This Sunday churches around the world will celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus. The lectionary invites us to ponder Luke 24:1-12. The English Standard Version supplies it the heading “The Resurrection.”

Pressured by the Jewish leaders, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, crucified Jesus on a Friday; after ordering his soldiers to brutally flog him. So brutally that he couldn’t carry his cross to his crucifixion.

Often, crucified persons took over a day to die. But Jesus’ died before sunset. When he died, there was enough daylight to take his body down, prepare it for burial, and place it in a tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, probably known to Pilate, asked him to release Jesus’ body to him. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leadership council. He didn’t agree with the decision to hand Jesus over to Pilate, and to crucify him. He was a secret disciple of Jesus.

Pilate agreed.

Luke doesn’t include it, but the other gospels do. Another man, Nicodemus, also a member of the Sanhedrin, perhaps also a secret disciple of Jesus, got into the act. He brought expensive spices to augment the new tomb which Joseph gave Jesus – a tomb he had readied for himself.

It would soon be dark. They rushed to prepare Jesus’ body. Wrapped it in linen cloth. Placed it in the tomb. Rolled a stone over the entrance.

Luke doesn’t include it, but the other gospels do. At the behest of the Jewish leaders, the Romans posted a guard at the entrance. Because the Jews feared the body would be stolen by Jesus’ disciples.

The sun set. The Sabbath began. Jesus’ disciples were in shock. They were deeply disappointed. They didn’t know what to do next. The events of Friday, which actually began on Thursday night, had shattered them.

Many women joined Jesus when he began his ministry in Galilee. They were still with him.

They were very sad. For hours they told each other about things they’d experienced as they travelled with Jesus.

On Sunday morning, while it was still dark, they went to the tomb. Some probably arrived before the others. Because John tells us only of Mary Magdalene.

The women got a shock when they arrived there. There were no guards. The stone had been moved. They entered the tomb. They saw two angels. No Jesus.

The angels asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead. Told them Jesus had risen. Reminded them that he’d told them he’d be abused, killed, crucified. But would rise again. On the third day.

The women remembered. Their eyes brightened. Their faces cheered up. They stooped no more. They stood tall.

They went back to the place where they had been staying, together with the eleven apostles – eleven, because Judas was no longer with them.

They told everyone in the house. It seems likely that everyone in the house was male. The men didn’t take them seriously. They thought the women had made up the story of Jesus’ missing body and resurrection.

Because in those days, women simply weren’t taken seriously. Despite the fact that Jesus did, often, openly, take them seriously. But that’s a story for another day. That morning, the men didn’t take the women seriously.

Except for John and Peter – though Luke tells us only of Peter.

Something clicked in Peter when he heard what the women said. He remembered how he’d been so sure that Jesus was the Messiah. He remembered the look in Jesus’ eyes when the rooster crowed for the third time. He remembered that he’d denied Jesus three times that night.

Peter ran to the tomb. He saw that what the women had said was true. He saw a very important detail. The linen cloths were lying there. By themselves. If the body had been stolen, why leave the cloths?

That’s pretty much the story we read in today’s verses, to which I’ve added some information from the other gospels.

People sometimes say Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross, or that he wasn’t raised from the dead. And that the church made up the story.

If the church did make up the story, why say it was women who first found the empty tomb?

If the church did make up the story, why do the details in the gospels, written separately, match so well?

If the church did make up the story, how come the disciples turned from chicken to lions? Because they told this story over and over again, with boldness.

Since the first Easter, hundreds of millions have believed the story and accepted that Jesus was who he claimed to be; the Son of God who came to save the world; according to the long-established plan of God. And become his disciples. And changed the world in so many ways.

Happy Easter!