One of the frustrating parts of being a Christian for me is when I debate skeptics who'll throw anything they can to dispel the truth of the gospel. You would think something as simple as the necessity of faith or lack of in how a person believes or doesn't believe in the gospel would've set in by now, and that I would know that having such conversations is a waste of time in that I am not going to change anyone's mind, but for me it isn't. a waste. It's why I do "My Christian Walk "in this blog format as well as in a podcast format. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE it's important that the "evidence" be shared, then it's up to God to do what he wants to do with those seeds that are planted via debates with unbelievers.
My post has to do with the evidence of Jesus' empty tomb. In my previous post I wrote about some of the biblical and historical evidence for Jesus' crucifixion, but even more importantly is what "proof" is there for the tomb he was laid in after he was crucified, and how the stone would later be moved, and his body gone. He was either removed by man or he was raised from the dead and exited the tomb himself. The empty tomb must be dealt with as to how it became empty because Jesus' resurrection is paramount to the gospel message, and if he was resurrected as I believe evidence proves and my faith suggests then what Jesus said and did as the son of God who sits at the right hand of the father MUST be taken literally, period.
The Gospel of Matthew reads that Jesus died on the cross and his body wrapped and placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea.
"Joseph took the body. wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb that he cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."
Matt 27:60-61
One of the interesting facts according to archeologists is that tombs in Jesus' time had a distinctive style which was used only in the period from 37 B.C. through AD 70. This fact aligns with what biblical scholars believe is recorded in the bible about the how tombs were constructed and used. Later in time as many as 1000 of these tombs from the first century were found in Israel.
In the above-described tomb Jesus' body would've been placed on a stone slab then after the body decayed (usually after a year), his bones would've been placed in a bone box (small ossuary) and stored so other bodies could be placed inside, decay and put also in a bone box and the pattern would repeat.
Although this information is interesting for understanding how bodies were laid in tombs, decayed, remains preserved, etc., it still doesn't serve as proof for hardcore skeptics that Jesus resurrected because skeptics don't accept scriptural documentation. If Jesus was resurrected, spent time with his apostles and was seen and recorded as coming back from the dead, what else other than New Testament accounts of such can further prove that he was resurrected.
It's recorded that as late as A.D. 136 Christians identified the place where Jesus was buried in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built over that location. The residents of Jerusalem recognized this place as Golgotha (The place of the skull as recorded in the gospel of Matthew) Also in A.D. 136 the Roman Emperor Hadian put down a rebellion in Jerusalem (the "Bar Kokhba Revolt) and making this location a Roman city (Aelia Capitolina). Roman emperor Hadrian destroyed many religious sites as well as building a temple to the pagan god Venus atop the spot of Golgotha, likely an effort to stop Christians from gathering to worship at this location.
Archeologist Shimon Gibson states on this evidence
"We may surmise that the exact situation of Golgotha was passed down from generation to generation among Jesus' supporters, even when the place itself came to be hidden beneath the pavement of the Forum and Temple of Venus in Aelia Capitolina, which was built after 135 CE to replace the ruins of Jerusalem. The is clear from Eusebius, an erudite and learned scholar writing in the late third century, who noted that the "Place of the Skull" was still pointed out in Aelia on the northern side of Mount Zion, indicating the knowledge of the whereabouts of Golgotha had been maintained from 70 CE and until this day"
What this shows is that Jesus' crucifixion and tomb location (Golgotha) was known from the time of Jesus and up until the time of Eusebius. Why? Why would Jesus be memorialized THIS WAY if he never existed, never was crucified, and never was resurrected? Later, Constatine and the leaders of the Roman Empire built a church building on that EXACT spot.
Within the church building a location was marked where it was believed Jesus' tomb was located, however legitimate questions do exist about this. How did they know it was Jesus' tomb? After three centuries the 'said" tomb could not be investigated because it had been sealed over and over for many centuries, but in 2016 an excavation was completed, and National Geographic filmed and documented the whole excavation process demonstrating that the sealed location was indeed what was said to have been as the site of Jesus' tomb, then later the Church of the Holy Selpuchre, then later the location of the pagan temple built by Roman emperor Hadrian to prevent early Christians from gathering, worshipping at the spot of Jesus' tomb location, then finally the exact location of the church built by Constatine and written about by the historian Eusebius in the early 300s.
Archeologist Martin Biddle summarized the excavated findings this way
"Obviously this date is spot on for whatever Constatine did" he said. "That's very remarkable"
See videos below
https://youtu.be/nkmx_k9wVs0
https://youtu.be/EXbBomxS-JA
A few additional concluding points need to be made regarding the truth of Jesus' resurrection and the "empty tomb" It would have been very difficult to proclaim that Jesus rose from the dead if Jesus was STILL in the tomb. Enemies of Jesus (and there were plenty) would have easily produced his body to reject his resurrection. Thousands were becoming Christians within the fifty days of Jesus' crucifixion. Another interesting fact is that early critics (Justin Martyr, Trypho, Tertullian, De Spectaculis) NEVER said Jesus' body was still in the tomb but instead claimed his apostles had stolen the body, so the only countering claim to Jesus' resurrection is "the Apostles must've stolen the body".
The last interesting point about the truth of Jesus' resurrection is in the testimony of women in the ancient world at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Women in the first century AD were not held to be reliable witnesses. They were certainly NOT accepted as witnesses in Israel at the time of Jesus' time on earth, but the Gospels tell us that women were the first witnesses of the resurrection. If the writers of the Gospel were making it up, why would they use the testimony of women as reliable testimony UNLESS it ACTUALLY HAPPENED?
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