Introduction
The increasing skepticism surrounding Christianity and the Bible makes us think again about the truths underlying this faith. Christians believe in the virgin birth, sinless life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most widely debated topic because science cannot explain the resurrection of a dead person. Therefore, it is essential to examine the theory that the women misplaced the tomb and disprove it, and then present the research of scholars on the validity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Theories Against the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
One explanation for the denial of the resurrection of Jesus is that Mary and the other followers of Jesus misplaced the tomb. They realized that the tomb did not contain the body of Jesus Christ and assumed and declared that he had risen. This theory is actively spread by people who oppose religious explanations of the world’s creation and people. They indicate that the legal and historical evidence indicates that Jesus’ body was not formally buried on Friday night.
Opponents of the resurrection of Jesus argue that Joseph of Arimathea could not have placed Jesus’ body in the tomb because it was to be buried on a Saturday night in a special public cemetery reserved for convicts. These assumptions are made because the bodies of those crucified on the cross had to hang for some time. According to this theory, the women who visited the tomb on Sunday morning mistakenly assumed it was empty. Therefore, the spread of the news of Christ’s resurrection was erroneous, leading to incorrect historical records.
Refutation of the Theory
Traditionally, the Romans left the bodies of those crucified in a public pit or tended to leave them on the cross until birds and animals ate them. However, one of the leaders of the Jewish high council, Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy individual and a student of Jesus, approached the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and requested authorization to take Jesus’ body. This was a demonstration of tremendous loyalty on Joseph’s part, since showing interest in the Jesus who was being sentenced to death on conspiracy charges meant exposing himself to danger.
In addition, pious Jews refused to visit the homes of Romans who were pagans. Nevertheless, Joseph decided to provide Jesus with a decent burial. At that time, humans were placed in tombs carved into the rock. Accordingly, Joseph owned a tomb where no one had ever been laid to rest. According to tradition, he offered it to Jesus and deposited his body in it, blocking the entrance to the tomb with a big stone.
The next day, the leaders of the chief priests and Pharisees assembled and asked Pilate to have a guard at the tomb to prevent the followers from stealing the body and announcing that Jesus had risen from the dead. Thus, the Roman authorities and Joseph ensured the tomb was located. Meanwhile, all the people who were close to Jesus also knew where the tomb Joseph had chosen for Jesus was. Therefore, the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial was widely publicized, allowing reliable information about the location of his tomb to spread quickly. If the disciples and supporters of Jesus had not had this reliable information, there would have been no requests to steal the body of Jesus Christ.
In addition, on the first day of the week, Mary and the other followers of Jesus Christ went to the tomb but did not find his body there. It is impossible to assume that the people who lived in the area could have misplaced or forgotten where Jesus’ body was. Accordingly, the fact that they found an empty tomb guarded to prevent the body from being uprooted indicates that the women had come to the right place.
As a result, the theory that the followers of Jesus Christ had the wrong tomb is not correct because one of them provided the tomb and brought the body of Jesus there. However, his disciples knew the area and could not have quickly found their way to his tomb. Since the city authorities guarded Jesus’ burial, everyone interested in Jesus knew exactly where the tomb was. Hence, the theory of the wrong tomb cannot be used to refute the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Spiritual or Physical Resurrection
In theological discourse, there is a debate about the nature of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most scholars agree that Jesus Christ was resurrected through miracles that cannot be denied. For example, the empty tomb is the first sign of his resurrection, and it is difficult to deny that the followers of Jesus Christ could have come to the wrong place and confused the tombs.
Nevertheless, there are a few events in the Gospels for which the historical evidence is more convincing than for the resurrection of Jesus. Historical-critical studies in the second half of this century, increasingly freeing themselves from outdated deistic presuppositions, have reversed the tide of skepticism about the historical resurrection. Thus, the trend in recent years has been for scholars to recognize the historical authenticity of Jesus’ resurrection.
In addition to the theories that Jesus did not rise, there is a debate about the spiritual or physical resurrection. Based on Paul’s testimony, it has been argued that the body of Jesus’ resurrection was spiritual in the sense that it was immaterial. Paul’s information is, at first glance, more reliable than the Gospels because he is in close temporal and personal proximity to the original events. Thus, scholars debate whether the information from the Gospels is accurate about the physical resurrection of Jesus or whether we should consider this resurrection to be only spiritual. Moreover, by evaluating the evidence and memories of people who lived at the time of Jesus, historians confirm the resurrection as an event that took place.
It is also worth noting that it was not the empty tomb that became the source of faith in Christ the Messiah, but a personal meeting with him after the resurrection. It does not matter whether the fact of the resurrection refers to the earthly history of Jesus’ life or the extraterrestrial one; there are ongoing discussions about this, and most likely, the combined version is closer to the truth. The encounter with the resurrected Christ gave rise to faith in him and presented Christ in this light in the Gospels.
Conclusion
In summary, the theory that the women went to the wrong tomb is not supported because there is evidence that the place of Jesus’ burial was accurate. Moreover, the testimony in the scriptures explains that the followers of Jesus Christ, led by Joseph, placed his body in the tomb. The authorities of the city watched over it to prevent anyone from taking his body out.
This way, the disciples of Jesus Christ could not be confused and come to the wrong tomb. However, the resurrection is confirmed not by the empty tomb but by meeting people with Jesus after the resurrection. Meanwhile, the scientific community confirms the resurrection of Jesus Christ but has not yet determined its physical or spiritual nature.
Bibliography
Gould, Paul, Travis Dickinson, and Keith Loftin. Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2018.
Kroitor, Kevin. “The Veracity of the Empty Tomb Tradition.” Eleutheria 5, no.1 (2021): 32-43.
Meister, Chad, and Khaldoun Sweis. Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2012.