2 Samuel 16-18 | Luke 17:20-37

“The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.” John 19:32-33

If it was not the disciples or the Jewish or Roman authorities who stole the body of Jesus, why was the tomb empty? The third of the fourth plausible reasons is that Jesus did not actually die. Due to the pain and the loss of blood on the cross, Jesus had swooned, lost consciousness and fell into a coma; in the cool of the tomb, He had revived and come to life. In other words, this was not a resurrection but a resuscitation. This idea had occurred with surprising regularity throughout history; it was very popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

In the late twentieth century, the late Australian historian and theologian Barbara Thiering argued that “Jesus did not die on the cross. He recovered from the effects of the poison, was helped to escape from the tomb by friends, and stayed with them until He reached Rome, where He was present in AD 64.” The “poison” that Thiering mentioned was the sponge dipped in vinegar. She explained, “He was unconscious but not dead. His side was pierced, blood came out. A dead body does not bleed, so His followers knew He was not dead.”

These theories stem from the account when the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies on the cross during the Sabbath so they asked Pilate to have the legs broken to speed up the process of death. After the soldier broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus, the soldier did not break Jesus’s legs because he was already dead. Back then, medical knowledge was limited, and so they had presumed Him dead. However, these theories do not explain how Jesus managed to get out of His grave clothes—which would have been wrapped very tightly around His body—how Jesus left them folded at the head of the slab for where His body had lain or how there happened to be a change of clothes for Him to wear. Moreover, there is no explanation for how Jesus, in His weakened state, managed to move away the stone, which would have been sealed by the Roman authorities to prevent the disciples from breaking in. 

Now, suppose Jesus did manage to release His grave clothes, move the stone and appear first to the women and then the disciples. What would the response be of the people who saw Him? They would likely yell, “Quick! This man needs a doctor! He’s lost a lot of blood, deeply dehydrated and in immense pain!” Yet, the first reaction that Thomas gave when he saw the resurrected Jesus was “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). 

May we realize that Jesus did not wake up in a weakened state but was resurrected with real power, as the One who conquered death.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, You have not only defeated sin, but You have conquered death. I worship You as the One true God. Praise You!