268
BLESSED ARE
THOSE WHO
HAVE NOT
SEEN AND YET
HAVE BELIEVED
JOHN 20:29, THE EMPTY TOMB
T
he events of the first
Easter morning are
foundational for the whole
of Christianity. One of the primary
messages of Christian faith is that
Jesus could not be held by the
power of death.
The Gospels give varying
accounts of the dramatic events
of that Sunday morning. Matthew,
Luke, and Mark generally agree
that Jesus was buried in haste late
on Good Friday afternoon, with
only the minimum of preparation,
so that His body would be in theIN BRIEF
PA S SAGE S
Matthew 28:1–10;
Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12;
John 20:1–18THEME
The resurrection of JesusSETTING
Spring c. 29 ce, during
Passover The garden tomb
of Joseph of Arimathea in
Jerusalem.KEY FIGURES
Mary Magdalene A
prominent disciple of Jesus.Mary, the mother of the
Apostle James A follower
of Jesus in her own right.Salome Another follower, and
probably the wife of Zebedee
and the mother of the Apostles
James and John.Jesus This story tells of the
first encounters with Jesus
after His resurrection.US_268-271_The_empty_tomb.indd 268 27/09/17 10:17 am
269
grave by sunset, the start of the
Jewish Sabbath day. The morning
after Jesus’s grief-stricken friends
observe the Saturday Sabbath,
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother
of the Apostle James, and another
woman called Salome visit the
tomb to embalm Jesus’s body,
according to Jewish custom. Thewomen stumble to the tomb in the
half light of dawn, clutching bags
of spices, which they will use to
anoint Jesus’s body and counteract
the anticipated odor of decay.The empty tomb
As the women approach the tomb,
however, the ground shakes
violently. Out of their sight, an
angel of God appears at the tomb’s
entrance and rolls back the stone
sealing it. The guards that the
Roman authorities had posted to
prevent the disciples from stealing
Jesus’s body had fainted with fear
on seeing the angel and run off.
When the women arrive at the
tomb, they are astonished to see
that it is already open. Wondering
who has arrived before them, they
look inside—but there is no one
there. The rocky ledge, where Jesus
had been carefully laid down beforeTHE GOSPELS
In three Gospel accounts, an angel
(or angels), shown here in Gustave
Doré’s illustrated Bible of 1865, appears
to Mary, the mother of James, and Mary
Magdalene at the tomb’s entrance.See also: The Divinity of Jesus 190–93 ■ The Crucifixion 258–65 ■ The Road to Emmaus 272–73 ■
The Word Spreads 288–89sunset on Friday, no longer holds
His body. Instead, the women see
a few strips of linen cloth, carefully
folded on the spot where His body
had previously been.
In the Gospels of Matthew
and Mark, the women then meet
God’s angel at the tomb (Luke
reports the presence of a second
angel). The message the women
receive is one of reassurance: “Do
not be afraid, for I know that you
are looking for Jesus, who was
crucified” (Matthew 28:5); “Why ❯❯Turin Shroud
In Jesus’s day, it was customary
for families to embalm a dead
body in sweet-smelling spices,
wrap it in linen cloth, and leave
it until only the bones remained.
From there, the skeletal remains
would be gathered up into an
ossuary—a bone box, or chest—
which would then be placed
in the family vault.
After His crucifixion, Jesus
had been hastily wrapped in
linen cloth and placed in the
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
When the tomb was discoveredempty on the Sunday morning,
the linen cloths were found
neatly folded where Jesus’s
body had been (John 20:6–7).
The Turin Shroud is a large
linen cloth kept in the cathedral
in Turin, Italy. The cloth bears
the faint image of a body, and a
bearded man’s face. It is claimed
to be Jesus’s burial cloth, His
image having been impressed
on it when it was wound tightly
around Him after death. This
claim has been contested since
the Middle Ages, and carbon
dating tests strongly suggest
the cloth is not old enough.Some of our women ...
went to the tomb early
this morning but didn’t
find His body.
Luke 24:22–23US_268-271_The_empty_tomb.indd 269 12/10/2017 15:02