2 Samuel 9-11 | Luke 15:11-32

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:1-3

At the break of dawn, the women went with spices that they prepared to the tomb of Jesus. They wanted to honour Jesus’s death; since His burial was done in a hurry, they did not have the proper preparation. As the women walked, they were wondering to themselves how they would be able to roll away the stone that sealed the tomb of Jesus. Yet, upon arriving at the tomb, they noticed that the stone was already rolled away—did someone get there before they did? Looking inside the tomb, they did not find the body of Jesus. Did someone come and take away the body during the middle of the night? What happened? While questions were racing through their minds, “suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’” (Luke 24:4-7). The angels were reminding the women of what Jesus told them before He was crucified. Immediately, the women went to tell the disciples what had happened.

For those of us who grew up in church, we are familiar with the account of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet, for those who did not grow up in the church, it is actually a huge thing to ask someone to believe. Some people think when we say, “Jesus is alive” what we mean is: the Spirit of Jesus lives on, the teaching of Jesus lives on or His movement lives on. The sentiment is similar to when people say, “Elvis lives” in a way that Elvis’s music lives on. However, when the Bible says, “Jesus is alive” it literally means Jesus is alive. In other words, Christians believe that His body, which was pronounced dead, laid in a tomb for a weekend and was miraculously raised to life again.

But, if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, we have to ask the question, “What then are the alternative explanations for what happened?” The fact that the tomb was empty was never seriously disputed. We have evidence of that from contemporary historians outside of Scripture that this was what was true. The big question is, “Why was the tomb empty?” There are four main reasons. Over the next four devotions, we will examine the four most plausible reasons for why the tomb was empty.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, You are alive. You have risen from the dead. I ask You to give me the boldness to share this good news with others. Thank You, Lord.