The world will go to great lengths to dismiss Jesus. Even during Jesus’ earthly ministry, people went to absurd lengths to avoid acknowledging that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
At one point, some people accused Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power—pure nonsense, which Jesus pointed out. At other times, people looked right past Jesus’ clear and compelling miracles and instead squabbled over how He did not live up to their expectations—such as in John 9 when Jesus gave sight to the man born blind.
But the clearest case that the world has been blinded to the truth of who Jesus concerns attempts to explain away the resurrection.
The Swoon Theory
The Swoon Theory states that Jesus didn’t really die. Instead, He passed out—or swooned—on the cross and was believed to be dead. Then, when He was in the cool of the tomb, He regained consciousness and escaped the tomb. The resurrection appearances, then, were not resurrection appearances but rather simply appearances.
There are, of course, many problems with this theory. First, is the account recorded in John 20:31-37 where a Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side to confirm that He was dead. This Roman soldier was a professional executioner. He knew dead. He also was under the authority of his commanding officers. What Roman soldier would want to be found in dereliction of duty for something as simple as confirming that a condemned prisoner was dead.
But let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Jesus wasn’t dead when they took Him off the cross after all. The Swoon Theory still unravels under the weight of its nonsense when we turn our attention to the tomb. First, Jesus would have had to unwrap Himself from what was basically mummy wrapping. Then, he would have to move the large boulder that had been placed in front of the tomb. This would not have been an easy feat for a healthy, extremely strong man. To think that Jesus, a man who had been beaten so severely that many prisoners died before they even reached the cross, who was then nailed to the cross, slowly suffocating for hours, who was then pierced in His side, and who then was in a grave for a couple of days without food or water could move this stone is implausible.
But let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Jesus wasn’t dead when they took Him off the cross and that He did somehow move the boulder. The Swoon Theory still defies reason when we consider who was waiting on the other side of that stone—several Roman soldiers. How would Jesus have eluded, or overpowered, these professional soldiers?
It takes much more faith (albeit empty faith) to believe in the Swoon Theory than in the Resurrection.
The Wrong Tomb Theory
The Wrong Tomb Theory does not deny that the tomb was empty. The reason it was is simple: the disciples went to the wrong tomb. Such a mistake is understandable considering the emotional distress everyone was under. When Jesus’ followers went to the tomb Sunday morning, they all went to the wrong tomb. Jesus was still lying quite dead in another tomb.
Our starting point for dismissing this theory is Matthew 27:57-61 where we learn that this tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Surely he would not have forgotten where his tomb was. Furthermore, several of the disciples—including the two Marys—had been at the tomb for Jesus’ burial on Friday.
Add to this the question of how many new garden tombs may have been outside of Jerusalem. And of those, how many had a stone with a Roman seal on it and Roman guards in front of it?
But the most compelling argument to dismiss this theory is the Jewish leaders themselves. Why, when reports began to circulate that Jesus had risen, did they not go to the correct tomb and present Jesus’ lifeless body? That would have ended the Resurrection reports all together.
The leaders did not present a body because there was no body to present.
The Stolen Body Theory
The Stolen Body Theory claims that the disciples went to the tomb at night and stole the dead body of Jesus. They then staged the Resurrection and reported that Jesus had risen—a lie they had concocted to save face.
The first problem with this theory is determining how eleven frightened disciples, most of which were fishermen and farmers, could have overpowered the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. (See Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15.)
But an even greater mystery to explain connected to this theory is why all of the disciples, except, perhaps, for John, would have knowingly died for a lie. All of the disciples, except for John perhaps, died as martyrs for their faith. They died horrible deaths. And even John did not escape suffering for Jesus. He is believed to have been boiled alive but survived before being exiled.
People do not give up their lives for a lie. But for the truth, they might.
The Resurrection Truth
There is, then, only one plausible explanation for the empty tomb: Jesus raised from the dead, as we see in Matthew 28:1-10.
Does it take faith to believe that Jesus is risen? Sure. But as we can see, that Jesus raised from the dead on the third day is more rational, and more believable than any other theory out there.
The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it … Christian holiness consists not of trying as hard as we can to be good but of learning to live in the new world created by Easter.” – N. T. Wright
N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 252-53.
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