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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which Christians believe is central to their faith, means that He actually died and rose again. The day we celebrate this is called Easter Sunday. Now Jesus is alive forever in heaven and has paid the price for all our sins. We just have to believe this! But it is a "stumbling block" to many, and so they wonder if there is another explanation for "the empty tomb".
Jesus was crucified, on a hill outside Jerusalem, after a long walk carrying His cross. Three of the Gospel writers say that a man called Simon of Cyrene had to help Him. He had been whipped and beaten by the Roman soldiers and further bleeding took place when nails were driven into His hands and feet. He died, but to make sure, one of the executioners pierced His side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out - a sure sign that death had occurred.
So, even if Jesus was not dead and somehow "came round" in the cool, quiet tomb, how could He have rolled away the massive stone at the entrance (weighing several thousand pounds), overpowered a number of Roman guards and escaped, naked without the grave clothes, into the night. This with all His recent painful wounds and mutiliated feet.... ridiculous. The "swoon theory" is a relatively recent idea, but the following theories have done the rounds since the great event itself.
Perhaps His disciples came and stole the body in the night? Well, if so they would have had to overpower the guards also and move the huge stone as well. Where would they put Jesus? Bury Him somewhere and forget about Him? Insane! Anyway, all the disciples were now in hiding (minus Judas, of course), terrified out of their wits and devastated by the loss of their Master. They were powerless.
Perhaps the Pharisees and chief priests stole the body? Hardly! They were only too happy and relieved that they had got rid of this annoying young man at last and put an end, so they thought, to any idea of His being the promised Messiah. They even bribed the guards to say that the disciples had come and stolen the body while they were asleep.... again, ridiciulous. Punishment for soldiers sleeping on duty was the death sentence! As for the Romans, Jesus had been stirring up political unrest, so they wanted Him dead and to stay dead! Jesus Himself had made it known that He would be killed and would rise again on the third day. Mark's Gospel chapter 9 verse 31 says " The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill Him. Three days later, however, He will rise to life ". (Jesus sometimes referred to Himself as "Son of Man", meaning He was pointing to Himself as the Saviour of the world and confirming His deity). His enemies now admitted that the tomb was empty, rather than denying it. The Jewish authorities and tomb guards knew that the theft theory was a lie. No-one could produce a corpse. It was a nightmare!
So.... what remains? On Easter Sunday morning, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden by the tomb; then He came to His disciples in the house where they were hiding out. Over the next forty days He appeared to many people. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 6 says " Then He appeared to more than 500 of His followers at once ". Jesus was in fact "large as life" and during His final earthly days He ate food and could be touched and interacted with. He was REAL. Could they have all been hallucinating, or imagining they saw Jesus? No, people knew He was the Lord and no two would have the same vision or illusion. The disciples were not optimistic about the future at this point, although they were delighted to see Jesus. What now, back to fishing in the lake?
But then, at an event we call Pentecost, the Holy Spirit of God came upon them and Jesus was taken back heaven, where He is alive forever and waits to welcome all who believe in His redeeming love and sacrificial death. Titus (New Testament) chapter 1 verse 2 says " God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time ". And the new Christian church started to grow, with Peter, John and the others, and later St.Paul, transformed by the Holy Spirit into joyful, dynamic preachers of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Why so, if the Resurrection did not occur?
