Read also Matthew 27:62-66 and
Matthew 28:1-15.
Looking back at the both Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (Easter) through a criminal investigator's lens, the entire Easter weekend consisted of a series of crime scenes:
- False testimony, false arrest
- Perjury
- Three bogus trials
- The horrendous torture (excessive force) and execution of an innocent man.
- And now to the empty tomb!
The officers assigned to guard Christ's tomb were likely no ordinary soldiers (the federal Special Agents) of Jesus' day, but -- given the serious ramifications (the Jewish leaders' concerns about Jesus' followers taking his body) -- they were instead part of an elite "peace keeping" unit who understood that failure meant death.
And the stone used to seal the tomb? Up to two tons in weight rolled down into a depression in front of the entrance of the tomb (designed to not come back out) and then sealed with the application of an official Roman "seal" (likely using a Roman invention now commonly referred to as cement).
As law enforcement officers, evidence is everything and the evidence pertaining to Christ's resurrection goes hand-in-hand with what occurred on the cross (the cross has no lasting value without the resurrection must first have the cross). Here are but four evidence-based facts for your consideration:
FACT #1: BROKEN ROMAN SEAL
The first obvious fact was the breaking of the official Roman seal that stood for the power and authority of the Empire. The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. When an official Roman seal was broken, the "FBI" of the Empire would be called into action to find those were responsible for this crime. Once caught (and someone was always caught), there was only one penalty: torture and a most painful death (more on this in a moment). Again, our Lord's tomb was very likely sealed with cement and would have required massive efforts to remove it (the hammer and chisel kind of effort).
FACT #2: LARGE STONE MOVED
On that Sunday morning, the first thing that impressed the people who approached the tomb was the unusual position of the two-ton stone that had been lodged in a depression in front of the doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it. Those who observed the stone after the resurrection describe its position as having been rolled up a slope away not just from the entrance of the tomb, but from the entire massive sepulcher. It was in such a position that it looked as if it had been picked up and carried away. Now, I ask you, if the disciples had wanted to come in, tiptoe around the supposedly sleeping cops, and then roll the stone away and steal Jesus' body, how could they have done that without the officers being aware? It would have taken more than just human muscle to be sure (again, hammers and chisels to break the seal and ropes, tackle and horsepower to roll the stone away).
FACT #3
: ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL
The "watch" (coustodia in the Greek - where we get the word "custodian") guarding the tomb fled their post!
The Roman guard was a sixteen-man unit that was governed by very strict rules: Each member was responsible for six square feet of space. The guard members could not sit down or lean against anything while they were on duty. If a guard member fell asleep, he was beaten and burned with his own clothes. Moreover, often he was not the only one executed. Rather, the entire sixteen-man guard unit could be sentenced to death even if only one of the members fell asleep while on duty. Or, should an offender not confess or otherwise be identified, another victim could be selected by the drawing of lots (in much the same way that lots were drawn for Jesus' clothing). If you've been through military basic training or a para-military police academy, you know how unit peer pressure works!
How then, can going AWOL or "falling asleep" be explained when Roman military discipline was so exceptional and the penalty for failure so horrendous? Could they have all therefore just fallen asleep with that kind of threat hanging over them? Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches." Beyond that, are we also to believe the guards just slept through an earthquake? No! Just as it was cops who arrested, tortured and executed our Savior, it was also the police officers of Jesus' day who were eyewitnesses to His resurrection!
FACT #4: Eyewitness testimony
:
Christ appeared alive on several occasions after the cataclysmic events of that first Easter. When studying an event in history, it is important to know whether enough people who were participants or eyewitnesses to the event were alive when the facts about the event were published. As we know, unsubstantiated eyewitness testimony can be unreliable at best. But here we have overwhelming, documented, identical eyewitness testimony. If the number of eyewitnesses is substantial and their testimony essentially identical, the event can he regarded as being irrifutably factual. For instance, if a slew of folks all witness a murder, and a later police report turns out to be a fabrication of lies, the eyewitnesses can collectively refute it. Two quick points to be considered here:
(a)
500 witnesses giving identicle testimony (
1 Cor. 15:16 --
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.):
Paul appealed to his audience's knowledge of the fact that Christ had been seen by more than 500 people at one time. He reminded them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned. Paul says in effect, 'If you do not believe me, you can ask them.' Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is irrefutable evidence (and evidence that stands true more than 2000 years later)! Let's take the more than 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death and burial, and place them in a courtroom. Understand that if each of those 500 people were to testify for only six minutes, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of irrefutable, firsthand testimony. Add to this the testimony of many other eyewitnesses and you would well have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.
(b) Hostile witnesses: Another crucial factor to consider is that Christ also appeared to those who were hostile or unconvinced. Over and over again, we hear people comment that Jesus was seen alive after His death and burial only by His friends and followers. Using that argument, they attempt to water down the overwhelming impact of the multiple eyewitness accounts. But that line of reasoning is so pathetic it hardly deserves comment. No author or informed individual would regard Saul of Tarsus as being a follower of Christ. The facts show the exact opposite: prior to his conversion, Saul despised Christ and persecuted His followers, and it was a life-shattering experience when Christ appeared to him.
Beyond this, perhaps the most telling evidence of all were the lives of those early believers who (as we're seeing in our study through Acts) went all over the world to carry our the Great Commission to share the message of the risen Savior and lay down their own lives in the process. From this detective's standpoint, the evidence of Christ's bodily resurrection is not just compelling, it is an overwhelmingly irrefutable FACT!
That said, the
Resurrection is not just an event and the evidence to support it, but it is also a WHO! What did Jesus tell us in John 11:25-26?
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" Again (as I've taught many times), the Greek word for "believe" used here means complete surrender in faith as I will explain further in a moment.
Folks, ALL of us are guilty before a just God and each of us deserves to die and spend eternity in hell for the sins we've committed. But our loving Savior, wholly without sin, showed the ultimate in love when he chose to take our place on the cross and become our substitute. Isaiah prophesied correctly when he said, "
He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our inequities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds were are healed
." (
Isaiah 53:5
).
The birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the three most seminal events in human history. Christ came to set us free from the bondage of sin and make a place for us with Him in heaven for eternity. Having said that, our salvation is not automatic, nor can we earn it by our service or so-called "good" works. Rather, part of the reason for Christ's substitionary death is that, by God's standard, NONE of us are good (Romans 3:10).
* Special thanks to Josh and Sean McDowell for their own work on this subject (God's Word aside, one of my primary resources for this study):
Evidence for the Resurrection.
With this in mind, consider the following: