THE EMPTY TOMB:  CAN WE TRUST IT?                     by the late Wilbur M. Smith, D.D.                               (1894-1977)            When Jesus was on Earth, He made an amazing prediction about      Himself, and frequently repeated it.  Let me quote it for you:                   Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son                of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief                priests and unto the scribes, and they shall                condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him                to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and                to crucify Him; and the third day He shall                rise again" (Matthew 20:18-19).            Wholly different from the normal experience of men, Jesus,      who had *never* done anything worthy of death, even deserving      reproval, knew He would die before He was 40 years of age.  He      knew the very city where He would die.  He knew that the religious      leaders of His own race would condemn Him to death.  He knew that      one of His own would betray Him.  He knew that before His actual      death took place He would be mocked and scourged.  He knew exactly      how He would die--*by crucifixion.*            All this is in itself remarkable.  But more amazing than the      minute particulars of His foreknowledge was what He predicted      would follow shortly after He was buried--*that He would rise      again.*  He even designated the time--on the third day.            But since it is on this central fact--the death and resurrec-      tion of Jesus Christ--that the whole truth or untruth of Chris-      tianity turns, let us examine it more closely.            The body of Jesus was embalmed in long sheets of cloth      between the layers of which a great abundance of spices and      ointments was distributed.  The body was placed in a tomb which      had never before been used, and a great stone was rolled against      the entrance.  The Jewish authorities, fully aware that Jesus had      predicted He would rise again, had the stone officially sealed and      on Saturday placed a guard before the tomb to prevent the      disciples from carrying away the body.  Early Sunday morning some      of the women who were faithful followers of Christ went out to the      tomb to further anoint the body.  To their utter astonishment,      they found the stone rolled away, the body gone.  They rushed back      to tell the disciples.  Shortly two of Jesus' friends, Peter and      John, utterly skeptical about the whole affair, came and found the      tomb empty, just as the women had said.  Even the guards came      hurrying into the city to tell the Sanhedrin that had hired them      to guard the tomb that the body was gone (Matthew 28:11).            How did this tomb become empty?            One of the most famous New Testament scholars in America--      professor of New Testament literature in a large theological      seminary--wrote to the author in answer to my question of *how*      the tomb became empty, and wrote it in a letter *not* marked by      bitterness or sarcasm, that he could no more explain how the tomb      became empty than he could explain how Santa Claus comes down the      chimney at Christmas time.            But he didn't realize that Santa Clause never did come down      any chimney at Christmas time, *because there never was a Santa      Claus!*  ...And there *is* a Jesus.  He died; He was buried in the      tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and on Sunday the body was gone.            Those are facts of history.  No one can escape the responsi-      bility of coming to some conclusion about what really happened by      mentioning a myth we all abandoned before we were eight years old.            Another professor, Dr. Kirsopp Lake of Harvard University,      tried to explain the empty tomb by saying (what no other scholar      in the field of New Testament criticism has ventured to adopt)      that the women went to the wrong tomb.            The facts are these:            First, so far as we know, there was no other tomb nearby to      which by mistake they could have gone.            Second, it is contrary to all similar experience for three or      more people to forget the place where they have buried their      dearest loved one within less than three days.  Even if the women      did miss the tomb, when Peter and John came, did they too go to      the wrong tomb?            Third, were the soldiers *guarding* the wrong tomb?            There is, of course, a record of an attempt to escape the      evidence of the empty tomb in the New Testament itself.                    Now when they were going, behold, some                of the watch came into the city and showed                unto the chief priests all the things that                were done.  And when they were assembled                with the leaders and had taken counsel, they                gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying,                Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole                Him away while we slept.  And if this come to                the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and                secure you.  So they took the money, and did                as they were taught:  and this saying is com-                monly reported among the Jews until this day                (Matthew 28:11-15).            This is a good illustration of many later attempts to escape the      fact that the tomb was empty.            You will notice at once that the chief priests and the elders never      questioned but that the tomb *was* empty.  They never even went out to      see if what the guards had reported was true--they *knew* it was true.            Another fact about this story makes it ridiculous to maintain that      the tomb was empty--the soldiers were told to say that Jesus' disciples      came and stole the body away *while they* (the soldiers) *were asleep!*            How could they know what was going on while they were asleep?      Obviously, such testimony would be valueless in any court.            Even aside from the shallowness and sordidness that make us reject      the explanation, the very character and the later history of the      disciples compel us to believe they did not steal and secretly carry away      the body of Jesus.            First, as Professor Heffern points out, the leaders of Judaism in      Jerusalem, who had put the Lord Jesus to death, had nothing to offer to      contradict these disciples as they continued to preach Jesus and His      resurrection--because all Jerusalem knew the tomb was empty.  If there      had been trickery here, sooner or later it would have been suspected,      then proved.            Second, surely *one* of the disciples, even *most* of them, would      have confessed the fraud under the terrific persecution they underwent.      It may be possible to live a lie, but men seldom die for a lie--and most      of these men did.            The result ultimately would have been that the message that Christ      had risen would have suffered the fate of all such unfounded stories--it      would have lost it *power.*  Instead, this truth swept the world, closed      pagan temples, won millions of disciples, brought hope to a despairing      humanity, was the very foundation truth of the early church, and is today      as believable and as freshly glorious as ever.            But not only did Jesus come alive again, He did not disappear to      leave the disciples speculating through all the subsequent days as to      what had happened to Him.            Instead, He appeared to them--literally, visibly, frequently.            He appeared to the women at the tomb on Resurrection morning      (Matthew 28:1-10); later that day to Mary Magdalene alone (John 20:11-      18); and to Simon Peter, also alone (Luke 24:34).  In the afternoon He      walked with two of His followers toward Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35); and that      night He appeared to ten of the apostles gathered together in an upper      room at Jerusalem (Mark 16:14-16; Luke 24:36-40; etc.).            A week later He appeared to all eleven of the apostles, probably at      the same place (John 20:26-28).  Once He was seen by above 500 brethren      on a mountain in Galilee (I Corinthians 15:6); and finally to the      apostles just before His ascension (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:3-      8).            As with the fact of the empty tomb, so in regard to these histor-      ically recorded appearances, all kinds of theories have been proposed      attempting to deny their literalness.  But these theories are      unreasonable, without supporting evidence.  None has ever won the      unanimous approval of those who refuse to believe in the reality of the      appearances.            Moreover, while it is true we are living in an age when may of our      leading scientists and agnostics and many of our philosophers are      antisuperanaturalistic, let us not forget that some of the greatest      thinkers of the ages have firmly believed in this great miracle.      Increase Mather, president of Harvard; Timothy Dwight, president of Yale;      Nathan Lord, president of Dartmouth; Edward Hitchcock, president of      Amherst; Mark Hopkins, president of Williams; John Witherspoon, president      of Princeton--these men and countless others have believed it.            But suppose Christ *did* rise from the dead, what of it?  What has      it to do with *my* life?  What has it to do with *your* life?  Just this:      it seals with certitude the teachings of Christ.            Jesus taught many great truths--especially many about Himself.  He      claimed to have come down *from* God.            He said He was the way *to* God.            He said He was the Son of God, who alone knew God perfectly.            He said that whoever believed on Him had eternal life, and no one      else had it.            He said that whatever we ask God in His name, He would grant it to      us.            Thus when He did rise from the grave on the third day, He revealed      that in these amazing, unparalleled predictions, *He spoke the truth!*            Do you know any reason, *any good reason,* why we should not believe      that His words are all true?            The point is, does not the truth of the Resurrection convince us      that He is none other than the One He claimed to be--the Son of God?            And then, of course, the fact that Christ rose from the dead      testifies that He has broken the power of death, and that He will some      day raise us also up from the grave, as He promised.            In other words, if this Person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in all      this, He should be the cornerstone of the foundation of your life.  For      He said a life built on Him would know forgiveness of sins, His compan-      ionship and help, a joy that no circumstances can ever take away, and a      hope that shineth more and more unto a perfect day.