Explain the disappearance of Jesus from his tomb?

Answer 1

There are a number of these, none of which are adequate, given the details given to us.

1. The swoon theory: According to this idea Jesus was not really dead and revived in the cool of the tomb. He then with superhuman strength (amazing for a half-dead person weak from loss of blood and with injuries) broke the seal and rolled back the stone and convinced His disciples (telling a lie) that He had risen from the dead.

This theory also falls down when one considers the calculating efficiency of the Roman executioners who themselves were under sentence of death if they failed to perform their duty. They also knew death when they saw it. This theory also fails to take into account how the weakened Jesus overcame the guards on the tomb who also were under death sentence to perform their duty.

2. The wrong tomb theory. The disciples of Jesus and women came to the wrong tomb that Sunday morning and found it empty and then proclaimed Him arisen. The problem with this is that they knew where Jesus was buried since they had noted it on the Friday in order to anoint the body with spices etc afterwards. Also it fails to explain the soldiers and the resurrection appearances. Also, it assumes that everyone got it wrong

Most importantly it fails to explain why the authorities did not produce the body of Jesus to destroy the lie of His resurrection.

3. The stolen body theory. This is the story which the guard who 'failed in their duty' were to tell to anyone who asked about the resurrection. The disciples were supposed to have stolen Jesus' body while they slept. The problem with this is that, as everyone then knew, the penalty for such neglect of duty was death and so they would not have been alive to tell if it had happenned that way. This must be the most unconvincing of all.

A further serious problem with this is that the disciples were frightened of the authorities and were hiding behind locked doors thinking that they might themselves be taken. Also it fails to explain how they changed to be fearless proclaimers of something which they knew under this scenario to be a lie. Many people die for a cause. No-one dies for something they know is a stupendous hoax.

Answer 2

Each gospel tells the story somewhat differently. In Mark's Gospel, when the women arrived, the stone was already moved and there was a young man in the tomb. If this were our only source, we could simply assume that this young man was one of a group who had removed the body of Jesus, and he had remained behind for some reason. So, in Mark's Gospel, the absence of the body of Jesus is easily explained, with or without faith.

Matthew's Gospel attempts to pre-empt this by having a guard placed on the tomb because the authorities, with surprising foreknowledge, expected the disciples to claim that Jesus was risen from the dead. However, none of the other gospel authors knew of this guard, and, regardless of how Jesus left the tomb, we can expect that the guard would surely have arrested the young man that Mark's Gospel talks about. It would be reasonable to believe that Matthew's guard was a clever addition to the story in order to make the Resurrection more plausible.

Having pointed out that each of the gospels accounts contradicts the others in considerable detail, and that Matthew's guard is an apparent elaboration, it is useful to point out that scholars say that Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Gospel are based on Mark's Gospel, with additional sayings from the hypothetical 'Q' document. Others say that John's Gospel was inspired by Luke's Gospel, with some material taken direct from Mark. This informs us that, if the authors of Matthew, Luke and John had to rely on Mark, then they really knew nothing about the burial and resurrection of Jesus. Where they differ from Mark, they are elaborating the only story known to the authors.

The answer to the question comes down to whether Jesus really disappeared from the tomb, or whether Mark also engaged in some creative writing. If Jesus really disappeared from the tomb, we have already seen how the young man could have been a sentinel for a group of grave-robbers. If the other gospel writers can be described as having elaborated the story they received from Mark, then it is equally credible that Mark, in turn, elaborated an earlier text by adding an account of the missing body. In its original form (before the later addition of the "Long Ending", verses 16:9-20), Mark never mentioned any appearances of the risen Jesus.

Answer 3

When Jesus was resurrected from the grave. two things were proven. #1 Jesus Christ was the Son of God. #2 God accepted the sacrificial death of Jesus as payment for sinners. He died that we can have life. He (Jesus) reconciled us to God.