Alive - by Dave Smith

TOMB
As we look at the accounts of the first ‘Easter Sunday’ morning we
begin to emerge from the gloom. The first ‘clue’ is that the women
disciples of Jesus went to anoint Jesus’ body but discovered that the
stone had been rolled away and Jesus’ body was gone. Although
differing in minor details, all four Gospel writers agreed on these key
facts. John, clearly writing from an eyewitness perspective, added an
additional fact that the grave clothes were still there, somehow laid to
one side (see Chapter One for more details). Significantly, in what’s
considered the most reliable, shorter ending of Mark’ s Gospel, Mark
clearly viewed the empty tomb as of such significance that he in
effect ended his account here, without seemingly needing to move on
to the post-resurrection appearances.
This unanimous Gospel evidence is convincing enough for most
scholars. However, since the empty tomb is a key indicator of the
physicality of the resurrection, some sceptics have tried to disprove
its historicity. One of the primary arguments put forward is that Jesus’
body was stolen by the authorities, robbers or the disciples. These
views have been widely discredited. If the authorities had stolen the
body, then once rumours of the resurrection began to circulate, it
would have suited them to simply show the body. If grave robbers
had stolen the body, it begs the question as to why did they just take
the corpse, leaving the only thing of real monetary value – the grave
clothes? So, what about the disciples? Did they steal the body and
then perpetuate the myth? This seems psychologically implausible. As
we have seen, the reaction of the disciples to Jesus’ appearing to
them was one of shock and surprise – the last thing they were
expecting was a physical resurrection!
Equally unlikely is the suggestion that perhaps the women got the