119. Beginner Bible Course: Theories for the empty tomb and post-death appearances of Jesus

EPISODE 119:  A simple Bible overview of...OTHER THEORIES FOR THE EMPTY TOMB AND POST-DEATH APPEARANCES OF JESUS

As written the resurrection of Jesus is either the greatest fact of human history or history's greatest hoax. I went all in and believed in Jesus five decades ago. I've had the opportunity to speak about Jesus, to dozens of people over my life. Some of them highly skeptical. I always get around to the teaching that Jesus died in our place as our sins substitute, and that he was raised from the dead guaranteeing our resurrection. As I got deeper into conversations, I'd often use this logic. I'd say friend, if I'm wrong about who Jesus was, the son of God that he could die in my place to pay for my sin and that he was raised from the dead.

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What have I lost? But friend, if you are wrong about who Jesus is and reject him, what have you lost? But I've stopped using that logic. Imagine me and my friend both have an invasive metastatic terminal disease. I believe I've discovered a remedy, a complete cure. I go to my fellow terminal friend and explain this cure, but he is not buying it. If my cure happens to be legitimate and he rejects it, that's tragic in light of his condition. Shouldn't he or she at least have given it a try, but if I'm wrong, my cure really doesn't work. I've energetically embraced it.

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And that remedy is a sham, a wives' tale. What have I lost? I'm going to die too worse than that. I put my hopes on a sham, maybe even a lie, and I've gone around and promoted that to other terminal friends. We're going to look at the writings of Paul. As we get into the letters of the new Testament in one of those letters. First Corinthians Paul picks up the same theme. He says, if Jesus was not raised from the dead, those who put their faith in it are of all men to be most pitied. You might translate that the most pathetic people, the legitimacy of the resurrection of Jesus is both the cornerstone piece and the central pillar of Christianity.

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I've got to know that belief in the resurrection is the most likely possibility. So in this episode, we're going to look at some possibilities for why that grave was empty on Easter morning. The first possibility we examine in the last episode, Jesus Rose bodily from the grave, the gospel writers report a second possibility. It's purported by the chief priests. I'll read a directly to you. Some of the guards came into the city and reported that the chief priests, all that had come to pass and they, when they had assembled with the elders and council together gave the soldiers a large sum of money saying, say that the disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.

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And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and free you from trouble. So took the money and did, as they were told. And this report is spread abroad among the Jews to this present day. They're in Jerusalem on this first Easter Sunday, the primary explanation for the empty tomb other than Jesus was raised bodily from the dead was that the disciples came and stole the body. If the resurrection of Jesus is the central pillar of Christianity, I need to know that this theory of the empty grave is less believable than his bodily resurrection. Here are nine questions I've wrestled with number one, how would the disciples get past the guards, whether these were temple guards or a Roman squad, they were trained.

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They knew they had an important assignment and at least for a Roman guard, they'd get the death penalty. If they fell asleep at their post further, if the disciples came and attack them, why are there no reports anywhere of casualties? Number two, would the disciples have the courage to break the seal? If you broke a Roman seal without permission, all hell would break loose on you did the disciples who abandoned Jesus in the garden, have the chutzpah to break a Roman seal. Number three, would they have had the strength to move the stone? Some have estimated the weight of that stone could have been as much as a small car and from the language of the text, they would have had to move it uphill.

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Fourth. If they were taking Jesus' body, would they take the time to unwrap him in the tomb? Wouldn't they just quickly whisked him away in the wrappings. Further from the language. It sounds like the wrappings around Jesus hadn't been unwrapped. The wrappings appeared like packaging still wrapped around a body, but there was no body inside. As if the body had come straight through the wrappings, kind of like Jesus was reported to come straight through a locked door. And how about that? Napkin that covered the face. Would you take time to fold it up and leave it there? Number five, they were going to do this all in the dark.

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Number six. What mindset, where the disciples in, where they in the hero rescuing mindset, they'd fled from Jesus in the garden. We've learned in the resurrection accounts. They didn't believe Jesus was alive. When they were told they were disappointed and discouraged. Would men like that want to go and retrieve a body under guard? Number seven? What did they do with the body? It's not easy to just hide a body so that it's never found. Number eight, these same men proclaimed Jesus had been raised from the dead. At least the 11 disciples had to be in on this. If Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, but they had stolen and hidden his body.

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How did they get everyone to stick to the same story? Which leads to my number nine. They had to stick to the same story till their deaths. We believe all, but John were martyred and the Romans tried to murder John by boiling them in oil. Yet they held to their position. Jesus had bodily raised from the dead. I asked myself, would I die for a lie? When I answer those questions, that's a Hill too far for me to believe in other theories about the empty tomb of surface. Since most of these are discussed in college religion classes, the first of these is the women went to the wrong tomb. It's argued. It was dark.

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They were despondent, maybe a bit irrational, but that's a Hill too far for me as well. For a couple of reasons. Two of those women followed Nicodemus and Joseph of Aira Mathenia to the tomb on Friday afternoon, Joseph and Nicodemus prepared the body. It's very likely those two women helped it's those same women who come back on Easter morning. These women love Jesus. What are the chances they would go to the wrong place? Can you imagine laying someone you deeply love to rest in a cemetery and then not being able to find the grave a day and a half later. And if the women went to the wrong tomb, Peter and John also went to the wrong tomb.

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And if all of them went to the wrong tomb, all the religious leaders needed to do was take people to the right tomb, or maybe even to haul the body of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, demonstrating that he was still dead. Another theory of the empty tomb that's purported is called this wound theory. This suggests Jesus. Wasn't really dead. That there in the cave over Easter weekend, Jesus revived, respectfully speaking. I don't have the faith to believe this one. I scribbled down eight reasons why first there were five individuals or groups who pronounced him dead. We looked at that second. I asked myself, has anyone ever survived?

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Crucifixion? I was able to find one case where three people after being crucified were taken off the cross, even given the best medical care, two of them died. Third, how could Jesus breathe if he was mummified? Have you ever been rolled up tight in a blanket for 36 hours or more forth to hospitals? Keep their ICU units damp and cold. That's what it was inside that tomb. This is early spring in Israel, fifth. How did Jesus move in the grave clothes much less come through them. Six. How did he move that stone or seven?

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How did he overpower or slip by the guards and the biggest one? Number eight. How did a revive Jesus convince his disciples? He was the risen victorious Lord. One of my family's favorite movies growing up was princess bride. Late in that movie. The hero of the story is almost dead. You're not sure if he's dead or not dead. As I recall, he takes some special elixir. There's a scene where he's laying on his bed, holding his sword, but almost dead. He's trying to bluff the villain in the story. That's how I picture revived. Jesus. How is that guy going to convince the disciples?

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He is the Lord victorious over death. To me, this theory takes more faith than a physical bodily resurrection. Another theory put forth is the eyewitnesses were hallucinating. They wished so hard for Jesus to be alive, that their minds made it. So I've considered this, but I pushed back on it. The a gospel writers give us no indication. These people were wishing he would be raised from the dead. They had thought he was the hope of Israel, the Messiah, but that image had been shattered as he was condemned by the religious leaders and manhandled and butchered by their Roman occupiers.

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Second, when people saw him, they didn't believe third. He appeared to groups of people, two women, two men on the road to a mass. And Paul will report in his letter to the Corinthians to more than 500 people at once. I'm not a psychologist, but group hallucinations must be extremely rare and forth. People touched him. Mary grabbed his feet. At least the disciple. Thomas touched his wounds and Jesus in that locked room, ate fish and chips for heaven. Sakes are kissing cousin to the hallucination theory was after his death. Jesus was not a real person.

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He was a ghost. It wasn't a hallucination. They were seeing a ghost. But again, I remind you of the gospel writers report of clinging to his feet, touching his sides and watching him eat. That sounds like a real person. Those are the explanations for the empty tomb. And I concluded why not go with what was reported? Jesus was bodily raised to life in Genesis chapter 22. Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. If he offered him as a sacrifice in first Kings, the prophet, Elijah raised a dead boy to life. Alicia did the same.

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Jesus raised gyrus his daughter from the dead. Then he raised the son of the widow of Nane from the dead. Then just weeks before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, a man who had been dead for four days, the bodily physical resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter is either the greatest event of history or its greatest hoax. I encourage everyone to examine the alternatives. I don't think it's a hoax. I don't think it's a wives' tale. I think it's the most reasonable explanation and the gospel writers want to give us additional evidence. Jesus is not done appearing to folks and we're going to take a look at those remaining appearances of Jesus recorded by the gospel writers in our next wordpicture.