The empty tomb of Jesus

Happy Easter to all our readers! Today is Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, or as we Catholics put it, Easter Sunday, the 3rd day after the brutal scourging, crucifixion, and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was nailed on the cross between two thieves in Calvary where he literally bled to death at exactly 3:00 p.m. His body was brought down to the lap of his waiting and grieving mother, The Mater Dolorosa and then, Joseph of Arimathea had our Lord’s body buried in his brand new tomb. As my favorite author Dr. Scott Hahn once said, “Our Lord Jesus Christ became human through a virgin womb and left the earth on a virgin tomb.” So today’s gospel story comes from John 20:1-9.

“1 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

3 So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. 6 When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, 7 and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

8 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

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For two thousand years, the story of the empty tomb has been disputed by the Jews, especially by the Jews and the Romans. This is why in Matt. 27: 62-66 we read, “The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days, I will be raised up.’ Give orders then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last impostor would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can. So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.”

At dawn our Lord Jesus Christ who once said that he was the Resurrection and the life indeed rose up from the dead and conquered death. The Resurrection was witnessed by the Roman guards because of the earthquake that rolled the stone that covered the tomb and there, they saw the Lord risen, his appearance like lightning (remember he looked like this during the Transfiguration in Mt. Tabor) and the guards were shaken with fear and froze or fainted as if they were dead.

Later the guards went back to the city to report to the chief priests what had happened that early dawn. So we read in Matt.28: 12-15 “They assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the Governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.”

This story gives you an idea that corruption was involved in the plot to disprove that our Lord Jesus Christ did not rise up from the dead, but rather that his body was taken or stolen by his disciples. But then who would believe that the disciples of Jesus who were taught about loving one’s enemies would overpower the Roman guards?

But in the end, if you analyze this story very well, you will know that the chief priests and the Pharisees knew in their hearts that the man Jesus Christ that they crucified did in fact rise up from the dead as he foretold. Of course we know from scripture that our Lord Jesus Christ met with his disciples many times for the next 40 days until he ascended into heaven. If indeed the empty tomb were a total falsehood and a lie, it would be totally foolhardy or stupid for all the Apostles, except for St. John the Evangelist to die for the sake of a lie?

St. Peter himself when he was ordered to die like our Lord Jesus Christ asked his Roman guards that he wasn’t worthy to die like Christ, so the Romans acceded to his request and crucified St. Peter upside down. But we believe that the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ was empty for he was God and he was raised from the dead and reigns in the Kingdom that has no end. This is why Catholicism is truly unique amongst the world’s religions.

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