The truth of Christianity rises and falls on a few key events, namely, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These three events are seen in the Christian holidays of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. In a large gathering like today, there are bound to be believers, skeptics, agnostics, and doubters of these key events about Jesus.

· It is my calling as a pastor to encourage the believers with thoughts from the Bible today.
· It is also my responsibility as a Christian to answer the questions that seekers might have (1Pe 3:5; Jude 22).

Therefore, today I would like to look at the empty tomb and its significance for believers and skeptics. Next week will be part two of today’s message. I will look at the resurrection appearances and their significance for believers and skeptics.

The Empty Tomb
Its Significance for Believers and Skeptics

A movie came out last weekend called, The Case For Christ. Unfortunately, it is not being shown in our area. It is the true story of a skeptic, named Lee Strobel and his journey to Christ. Lee graduated from Yale Law School and had a sharp legal mind. He worked as an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune in the 1970s. His wife Leslie became a Christian, but because he was an agnostic he became concerned for her naïveté. He sought to rescue her from the fantasy of Christianity. Here is a film clip in which a co-worker encourages him to investigate the case for Christ.

1. Scene One – The Women.

The very first thing to notice is that all four Gospel writers have similarities and differences in the story of the women going to the empty tomb. For example, note the differences in just the facts (the interrogatives).

Who:
· Matthew - Mary Magdalena and the other Mary (Mt 28:1).
· Mark - Mary Magdalena, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mk 16:1).
· Luke - Mary Magdalena, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others (Lk 24:9).
· John - Mary Magdalena (Jn 20:1).

Shouldn’t the story be the same? No, not really. Each of these writers had a purpose for writing their story the way they did. For example, Luke wanted to highlight the role of women in advancing the gospel. John wanted to show the impact of Jesus on a solitary life.

When:
· Matthew wrote, ‘at dawn (Mt 28:1 NIV).’
· Mark wrote, ‘just after sunrise (Mk 16:2 NIV).’
· Luke wrote, ‘very early in the morning (Lk 24:1 NIV).’
· John wrote, ‘while it was still dark (Jn 20:1 NIV).’

Why the differences? Here, all of these could be true. John could have recorded when the ladies left their homes and Matthew and Mark when they arrived at the tomb. Again, I am seeking to be intellectually honest with the texts of these four authors.

Why:
· Matthew – ‘to look at the tomb (Mt 28:1 NIV).’This implies mourning or curiosity.
· Mark – ‘brought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body (Mk 16:1 NIV).’This too implies mourning but with the specific purpose, the preparation for burial.
· Luke – ‘took spices they had prepared (Lk 24:1 NIV).’Luke recorded that the ladies prepared the spices on Friday evening before the Sabbath began (Lk 23:53).
· John – ‘went to the tomb (Jn 20:1 NIV).’There was no stated purpose she just did.

I think you see my point. All four of these authors had a little different perspective on what happened that morning. However, these four perspectives are not contradictory. In fact, their minor differences affirm the truth of the story by their differences. A good detective knows that if all the witnesses have the exact same story and highlight all the exact same details, there is probably collusion and possibly fraud. But if all four witnesses agree on the major points and have minor variations, it is probably true. For example, if four of us witnessed a car accident, there would be minor differences to what we saw. One person may have noticed that the individual was texting when the accident occurred. Another person may have noticed that the car was missing a left front hub cap. Another person waved to the child in the back seat. And the fourth person noticed the signal light was red. All four corroborate the story of an accident occurring, though with minor differences in what they saw.

Lee’s co-worker summarized a quote from C.S. Lewis: ‘Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.’ C.S. Lewis, God In the Dock. This is similar to what the apostle Paul wrote: ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile … we are to be pitied more than all men.' (1Co 15:17, 19 NIV) In other words, if the case can be made for the resurrection, Christianity cannot be ignored – it is of ultimate importance. The empty tomb is significant. All honest evaluations of Christianity must start with the empty tomb, so let’s give it a thorough examination.

For the sake of the skeptics today, I am going to approach today’s texts like an outsider.

2. Scene Two – The Empty Tomb.

For the sake of time, please allow me to weave together the narrative of all four Gospels at this point.

The Stone. You can imagine it slowly getting light that morning. On their way to the garden, the women ask themselves ‘who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb (Mk 16:3 NIV)?’ Matthew’s account could infer that the ladies saw the stone move: ‘there was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it (Mt 28:2 NIV).’ Regardless, the stone had been rolled away and angels are there (Mk 16:4; Lk 24:2; Jn 20:1)!

The Angel. Theses angel or angels are described as being dressed brightly, ‘like lightning … (as) white as snow (Mt 28:3 NIV, c.f., Mk 16:5; Lk 24: 4).’
Here the story moves quickly and our different writers see different things.

· Matthew noted that the guards at the tomb were so afraid that they passed out (Mt 28:4).
· Luke noted that the women were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground (Lk 24:5).
· Mark noted that they entered the tomb amazed (Mk 16:5 NASB). The angel spoke to them, ‘“Don't be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him (Mk 16:6 NIV).”’

Inside. They went into tomb and saw … nothing! It was empty. A short time later Peter and John ran to the tomb and Peter went into the tomb. ‘He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen (Jn 20:6b-7 NIV).’ Sometimes seeing nothing is significant. One time I was enjoying a show by a magician. He caused a woman to ‘levitate’ horizontally and then he moved a hoop over her body. The absence of any strings holding this woman up was significant. In the same way the absence of a body in the tomb was significant.

Affect. All four witnesses then try to capture the emotion of that moment. Note the emotions:
· Matthew - ‘So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples (Mt 28:8 NIV). What an unusual combination of emotions!
· Mark - ‘Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb (Mk 16:8 NIV).’
· Luke - ‘Then they remembered his words … “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again (Lk 24:7-8 NIV).”’ Ah, Luke alone noted that the women reflected on the purpose for these events – prophecy fulfilled.
· John - ‘So she ran (Jn 20:2 NIV).’

From the reaction of the women we can determine one thing for sure: things were not as they expected it to be. They expected a quiet morning; they were worried about the stone - how they could prepare the body if they could not move the stone. Instead, their emotions go from mourning to joy, fear, and surprise. The tomb was empty and angels were there talking to them, even the brave Roman guards fainted.

For the sake of time I must hit the pause button until next week. The story continues and highlights the resurrection appearances. Jesus’ resurrection was corroborated by over 500 witnesses – but that we will save for next Sunday.

So for right now, let’s look at our options about the empty tomb.

3. The Empty Tomb for Skeptics.

Let me first address those who are skeptical about the empty tomb at this time. There are really only three options available to us when we think about the empty tomb.

Three Options for the Empty Tomb …

1. Conspiracy.

Matthew’s account pretty much puts the conspiracy theory to rest.

· Emotionally impossible for discourage and scattered disciples (Mt 26:56). First, the disciples were discouraged and scattered (Mt 26:56). Emotionally, they were far from putting together a conspiracy plot to steal Jesus body.
· Pilate sealed the tomb and placed a guard (Mt 27:62-66). Further, the Chief Priest went to the Roman leader, Pilate, and asked for a guard to be placed, even going to the trouble of having a seal put on the stone (Mt 27:62-66). They were worried because they knew he prophesied that, ‘After three days I will rise again (Mt 28:63 NIV).’ So both the Roman leader and the high priest took steps to ensure that there could not be a conspiracy by placing a large stone, guards, and a seal over the tomb.
· Evidence of ‘another conspiracy (Mt 28:13).’ Finally, after the resurrection, Matthew records that the guards were bribed with a large sum of money to say that ‘his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep (Mt 28:13 NIV).’ The punishment for a Roman soldier falling asleep on the job was death – so why were they not killed? We can be pretty certain that this counter plot was designed by the religious and political establishment to protect their own interests.
· Why take away a dead body?
Finally, if Jesus’ body had been taken away in the night by his disciples we have asked the question why. There was nothing to be gained by promoting a lie that Jesus had risen from the dead. All of the earliest believers died penniless and horrible deaths because of their belief in the resurrection.
Another option available is the swoon theory.

2. Swoon theory.

I think that speaks for itself.

3. An Historical Fact.

We will look a little bit more at this next week; however, for now let me say that we have 24,000 early manuscripts of this event. We have only 30 manuscripts of Plato’s writings. If your objective historically, this is one of the most historically documented event in ancient history.

4. The Empty Tomb for Believers.

Now, for us who believe, the empty tomb is hope.

Last week I spoke about what happens when we die. We die as a consequence of sin’s effect.

· Human is death a consequence of sin, Ro 5:12: ‘When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned (Ro 5:12 NLT).’

However, Jesus’ death was different. Because he was a sinless man, and God Himself, he was a like a Passover lamb.

· Jesus’ death was purposeful, 1Pe 1:19: ‘He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God (1Pe 1:19 NLT).’

If you recall, the blood of the sacrificed lamb at the first Passover was put on the door post and lentil so that the death Angel would pass over that location. The people inside the house believed God’s promise that if there was the lamb’s blood on the door post the life of their firstborn would be spared. They accepted it by faith. In the same way, we accept by faith what Jesus did on the cross as the Passover lamb for us.

The word picture that the Bible associates with our body’s death is sleep. The average person will die and go from life to eternal life even though their body ‘sleeps’. The word picture for what happened to Jesus when he died is a great and vicious battle where he emerges as the victor. Though we don’t know exactly what happened the moment Jesus died, and even though there appears to be nothing in the tomb but death, the biblical word picture is of a great unseen battle were Satan and death were defeated. In this great battle …

Christ the Victor!

· Destroyed death, 1 Co 15:27. Jesus wrestles the keys to death and health and ‘the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1Co 15:27 NIV).’
· Announced victory, 1 Pe 3:13. Jesus went to the gates of hell / hades, and announced that Satan’s plan had been defeated. Their judgment and destruction are assured, 1Pe 3:13.
· Reigns victorious, Re 1:18. Then, Jesus emerged victorious on resurrection day and said, ‘I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Re 1:18 NIV).’

Friends, the Christian faith rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus and the empty tomb is our hope that death itself has been defeated.

Conclusion.

Four options to today’s message …
1. I don’t know what to believe – investigate. Then read the Bible with an open mind, seeking to understand its central message. A week from Wednesday I am leading a class to investigate The Case for Christ – see the bulletin.
2. I can’t believe - wholeheartedly seek God. In a moment we are going to pray. Ask God to help you seek Him.
3. I don’t want to believe – weigh the options. Weigh what you are hanging onto versus what you could gain by following Christ.
4. Believe! ‘If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Ro 10:9 NIV).’