The Nearly Empty Tomb
John 20:1-10

The first three decades of the nineteenth century are known as the Golden Age of Body Snatching. As the study of anatomy took off, so did the demand for cadavers. Surgeons desperately needed bodies to dissect and study for the benefit of their classes. In 1751, the British Parliament decreed that murderers must either be turned over for anatomical study or hanged in chains on a gibbet until their corpses rotted. With that choice, most convicts volunteered to donate their bodies to the cause of science. Nevertheless, the gallows could not supply nearly enough corpses to meet the requirement of the growing number of medical students. By the 1800s grave-robbery had become a common crime. Under the cloak of darkness, body snatchers would dig up the graves of recently buried people. Once the casket lid was pried open, they would lift out the body, put it in a sack, haul it off and sell it to a science professor.

Some cadavers were more highly valued than others. Anyone with a physical abnormality ran the risk of winding up on the dissecting table after death. Dwarves were a special treasure to dissect, and giants too. Charles Byrne is a case in point. He was a famous circus giant. He knew that the surgery teachers would covet his corpse. On his deathbed he pleaded with his friends to guard his dead body extra well until it could be carried out to sea and buried. But John Hunter, one of England's leading surgeons, had his hired men standing outside the giant's house as he lay dying. As soon as Byrne expired, Hunters' men bribed the watchmen. The unusually tall cadaver was immediately hauled to Dr. Hunter's laboratory.

Looting the tombs of the Egyptian Pharoahs went on for centuries. During the time of Christ as well, grave-robbery was a problem. A decree of the Emperor Claudius has been uncovered at Nazareth prescribing execution for those removing bodies from graves. Rich people were laid to rest with jewelry, lavish garments, and costly spices; these were prized by the lowly body snatchers. After Jesus was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were able to provide the Lord with an expensive tomb, an elegant shroud, and the finest myrrh and aloes. The sepulchers of the wealthy were quarried out of rock. Each tomb was sealed with a disc-like stone that was rolled down a sloping groove across the door. Thus, while relatively easy to close, it required several strong men to open it.

On that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene accompanied a few women to the tomb to mourn. On arrival, they "saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then [Mary] ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.' " Apparently, Mary feared that the grave had been plundered, and the body stolen.

Magdalene's announcement shocked Peter and John. They jumped up and began running to the tomb. Some commentators believe Peter was older and more corpulent than John. That would explain why the young and nimble John arrived first at the mouth of the tomb. Verse five says, "And [John], stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

Notice the different temperaments of Peter and John. Of the two, John was more gentle, quiet, and reserved. He stooped down and looked in, but went no further. Peter, more passionate, fervent and forward, charged into the sepulcher to get a closer look. Once Peter entered, John did too. What did they see? The tomb was almost empty. Examining the cave together they noted the handkerchief, or shroud, that had been twirled around the head of the dead body; it was neatly folded and laid in a place by itself. The clothes wrapped around Jesus' body had also been carefully gathered up and set aside. The tidiness suggested to them the leisurely manner of a person changing his clothes. Grave robbers would have stolen the richly spiced garments, and if the Roman authorities had taken the body somewhere else they most likely would have taken the clothes also. The scene had an eerie calmness and order to it.

What was the conclusion to their investigation? Verse eight says that John examined all this "and believed." He believed. What did he believe? He believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. The evidence of the scene in the grave brought John to faith in Jesus' resurrection. He walked home with a thousand thoughts running through his mind, convinced that Jesus lived. No doubt, had nothing more occurred, John probably would not have remained so confident, but more things did occur. Jesus appeared to the disciples on numerous occasions over the course of forty days. Then He ascended bodily into Heaven. The confidence of the disciples in the historicity of the resurrection set off explosive growth in the Early Church. The phoenix that you see on the front of today's bulletin became a very common symbol of the resurrection. It appears frequently on the walls of the catacombs.

What are the lessons that arise out of this narrative? The first is that God the Father had provided perfectly adequate evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What is that evidence? It consists of the claims of those who saw Jesus between Easter day and the day of His ascension into heaven. It includes the empty tomb, the changed character of the disciples, the authenticity of the records, and the evidence of the undisturbed burial garments. The evidence is there, and the evidence of the grave-clothes alone was sufficient to quicken faith in John. If men fail to believe, it is because they willfully refuse to believe, not because the evidence is lacking. [I am indebted to Jim Boice's commentary, The Gospel of John for some of these insights.]

God does not expect us to believe without evidence; He has given us evidence. He even gives His Spirit to help us understand it. When we turn our backs on Jesus, assuming we have looked at the evidence, it is because we do not want to surrender our lives to Christ and acknowledge Him as Lord. At the same time, there are those who do believe. They have seen the evidence and have responded to it as God has enabled them to do so by His Spirit. These are comforted to know that their faith rests, not upon wishful thinking, but upon the power of God and His visible activity in history.

The resurrection is the fact that sets Christianity apart from all other religions. The prophet of Islam is dead. All that remains of Buddha are statues. Meanwhile, the Christ of Christianity lives on, risen from the dead. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be simply one more religion among others. The event of Easter 2,000 years ago makes the Christian faith exclusively true, and makes Christ the only way for salvation. This is how important the resurrection is.

The experiences of Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John at the tomb also indicate that the body of the Lord was glorified. It was raised from the dead and transformed into physical glory. The transformation of the body of Jesus Christ points to a new mode of life for all believers. He is the first fruit. We, the harvest, shall be like Him in our bodies as well as in His traits of character. Our resurrection bodies will be better than our old physical bodies. How is that so? How will they be improved? They will not merely be our physical bodies resuscitated. Our bodies hamper us. They become ill and run down. They tie us to bad habits, even to traits of character that we have inherited from our parents through their genes. They slow our thought processes. When they grow weary and heavy-laden they demand sleep. Eventually they die.

The message of Easter is this: You will gain by death. Your soul will live in bliss until the Last Day. When Christ, the almighty King and Judge, returns, you will receive your resurrection body. King Jesus will judge the nations, complete the New Heavens and New Earth, and give you a mansion in Paradise. The resurrection body will no longer hamper you. The body of the risen Christ is the forerunner of your body. It did not hinder Him. It freed Him. In that body He knew no pain, no suffering, no want. For you there will also be freedom. There will be no deficiency. There will be unlimited awakefulness and unlimited opportunities for service. If you are in Christ today, that is the hope you possess. You are indestructible. Spiritual and bodily joy in Christ is yours for eternity. Come now to the table of the Lord. This meal points forward to the marriage banquet of the Lamb, a feast that we will celebrate with glorified resurrection bodies. Come now in faith. Bring your joy and gratitude up to the Lord.

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