Risen Hope

This is the final post in this particular series on The Minimal Facts and the Historical Criteria for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

The empty tomb is fairly well debated amongst scholars and roughly 70% agree that a tomb was discovered empty that early Sunday morning.

Multiple, Independent Sources

The empty tomb shows up in the writings of all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as well as in Acts. There is debate over whether it is implied in the creedal statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7.  Outside the scriptures, it is strongly implied by Justin Martyr[1] and Tertullian[2].

Enemy Affirmation

We see the first enemy acknowledgement of the empty tomb in Matthew 28:12-13. Here, the Jewish leaders, rather than denying that the tomb is empty or that Jesus’ followers went to the wrong tomb, they implicitly accept the fact of the empty tomb and attempt to provide an alternate explanation for its being so. They say that Jesus’ disciples stole the body. We see this story still be circulated and retold decades and centuries later as evidenced by Justin Martyr and Tertullian (as referenced above).

Embarrassing Testimony

That the tomb was first discovered and reported by women is an embarrassing fact for the early believers. Given the time and culture in which they lived, women’s testimony was rarely allowed in court and they were not considered eyewitness material due to the fickle nature. In that time and culture it would take the testimony of two women to equal that of a single man. However, the first testimony given and recorded is that of women. If this were being made up, we might expect this to have not been included in the story at all (it’s not part of the creedal statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7). Further embarrassing detail is that none of the followers of Jesus thought that He had risen from the dead. That was not their initial reaction. They thought his body had been moved to a different location. It was only later, after Jesus appeared to them, that they came to realize He had risen from the dead.

Eyewitness Testimony

Initially the women were eyewitnesses to the empty tomb. They ran back and told the disciples that the tomb was empty and they did not believe them. They thought the women were talking nonsense (Luke 24:1-12), so Peter and John both run to the tomb to investigate for themselves.

Early Testimony

The fact that eyewitnesses relay the information demonstrate that it is early. But the fact that Christianity sprung up and took root in the very location where Jesus was arrested, beaten, put on trial, flogged, crucified, and buried followed by His disciples making incredible claims of Him rising again just 50 days later during Pentecost is unbelievable. The last place Christianity should have its beginnings is in Jerusalem. It would be like building an independent bookstore right next to a Barnes & Noble and expecting to survive. It is all about location, location, location and if Christianity’s claims were false, then the worst place to attempt to start the religion would be in the heart of Judaism. But yet, the early claims and beliefs of the first followers were able to do so because of what they experienced – a risen Jesus of Nazareth.

1. Justin Martyr, Trypho 108
2. Tertullian, De Spectaculis 30