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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#15) He Must Have Been Dead and Buried

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For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Mythicists and skeptics attempt to debunk Jesus in a number of ways, from the veracity of the Scriptures to the most dubious conspiracy theories. In here are the theories regarding the death and burial of Jesus. If one desired to undercut the resurrection, then he might argue that He never existed (we dealt with that last time) or that He never died at all and therefore wasn’t buried, or may have been laid in a tomb, but was still alive.

Most all of these can be consolidated under what is called the “swoon theory”. This is the argument that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, but went into some kind of deep subconscious state or coma and later revived.

So, let’s work our way through this theory.

  1. What do we know from the historical documents?
    • We addressed some of this last time, but there are sufficient non-biblical historical records that attest to the fact that Jesus was crucified. Tacitus even mentioned that Jesus was crucified at the hand of Pontius Pilate. Josephus, in the Arabic version, writes that Pilate had condemned Jesus to death. Thallus (via Julius Africanus) speaks of the earthquake and darkness that followed the crucifixion of Christ. The record of His death is referenced by Lucian, Mara Bar-Serapion, The Acts of Pontius Pilate (via Justin Martyr), Phlegon (via Origen), and the Jewish Thalmud. 
    • The death of Jesus in the biblical record is explicit. All four Gospels attest to His death: “He gave up His spirit” (Matthew and John); “breathed His last” (Mark & Luke) as well as the rest of the New Testament in too many places to list. 
    • The reality is that, by the best of historical literary standards, Jesus was tried by Pontius Pilate and sentenced to death by crucifixion
  2. Historical understanding of Roman crucifixion
    • The Roman method of execution was by crucifixion. The Persians invented it in 300BC and the Romans perfected it. They executed thousands this way, some say in the hundreds of thousands. It was cruel. It was horrific. It was meant to dissuade anyone from disobeying Roman authority. Our word excruciating comes from the Latin, excruciare, “out of the cross”.
    • If you have never read a medical and physiological description of crucifixion, you should probably do so, with the caution that it will make you sick.
    • Cicero called crucifixion the “extreme and ultimate punishment of slaves” and the “cruelest and most disgusting penalty.”
    • Josephus called it “the most pitiable of deaths.”
    • The Roman soldiers were under orders to execute criminals and they were professional at doing so.
    • This was their capital punishment. To deny that someone could go through this and still be alive would be like someone arguing that “Ted Bundy” survived the electric chair and is still alive, or “Timothy McVeigh”, who was executed by injection, survived and is still running around. This borders on the incredulous.
  3. Evidence of death
    • Not only was Jesus sentenced to death and then crucified, but there is historical descriptions that confirm He died. When the soldier pierced the side of Jesus to make sure He was dead, both blood and water flowed out of the wound. Some physicians believe this is a clear indication that Jesus’ heart had burst. Either that or the soldier, skillfully, pierced Jesus’ heart. When the soldiers came to break the legs of the three crucified in order to kill them (they would then no longer be able to push up to get a breath of air), they did not break the legs of Jesus because He was already dead. Again, this was ascertained by the professional executioners who knew when someone was dead (reread the spear). The documents tell us He breathed His last and gave up His spirit; He was wrapped up in a shroud of cloth with aloe and myrrh; laid in a tomb; a large stone was rolled over the door and sealed; and a guard of Roman solders were posted outside.
    • When one then adds the vast evidence of all of the resurrection events, including the earthquake, the guards fleeing, the angels, etc… I don’t know how much evidence one needs, but it is more than compelling, it is overwhelming.
  4. Common sense issues
    • To think that someone could survive a Roman execution is grasping at straws. If you think you could survive crucifixion and then be wrapped in layers and layers of linen cloth mixed with 75 pounds of aloe and myrrh and not suffocate, you are now grasping at more than straws. When you add in that Jesus was scourged (leaving most people near death and disgusting to even describe), pierced with a sword (possibly into the heart) and after being wrapped in a shroud like a mummy, laid in a cold tomb with a heavy stone over the entrance, guarded by Roman soldiers and one still maintains that He wasn’t dead, and somehow was able to get up and escape, you have entered some logic twilight zone.
    • When Joseph of Arimathea came to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus to bury, Pilate first summoned the centurion to make sure He was dead, which the centurion confirmed. It is without any reason at all to believe, first, that the centurion would get it wrong or, second, that he would put his own life on the line by confirming that of which he wasn’t sure.
    • Nor would it make sense that Joseph and Nicodemus could spend a few hours with the body, carrying it and wrapping it, when rigor mortis is setting in, and somehow be fooled that the body wasn’t dead. 
    • And, maybe more so, it wouldn’t make sense at all that the post-resurrection, radical changes we see in the women and the disciples would have occurred if the death of Jesus was faked. Which leads us to the next…
  5. Ethical issues 
    • The swoon theory requires that Jesus was a most despicable liar and deceiver. He would have been lying to Magdalene, to the other women, to Peter, to Cleopas and His companion, to the disciples, to James and to the 500+ gathered on the mountain. This requires us to take a horrific leap from everything we have seen and heard from the life of Jesus to then say that He lied about His resurrection and that all of His appearances were nothing but a wholesale scam.
    • We would also have to either discount the record of the angels or say that they were also lying (that is hard to imagine) or that the women were lying and never saw them at all.
    • This would mean that both the women and the disciples were all part of a truly evil plot to deceive the world. And if so, many of them would have to have defended this lie up to and through their own executions.

There is another argument. It is the “substitution theory”. This position is mainly derived by some from the Koran which teaches that Jesus was real, a prophet, but it wasn’t Jesus that was crucified. Some then say that it was someone else on the cross, not Jesus—a substitute. This, in itself, would be quite extraordinary that someone would be willing to go through the horrible scourging and despicable death by crucifixion in order to propagate a lie. Not only that, but you are still left with the empty tomb to explain as well as all the ethical issues we listed above. There are also common-sense issues one of which is how can Jesus be tried and sentenced in front of the High Priest, chief priests and everyone else and no one just happens to notice that it is not Jesus? Or, how in the world did someone make a switch with Jesus under the command of the Roman soldiers? From the time Jesus was arrested until the time He was taken down from the cross, He was never out of the hands of the soldiers. There was no intervening time in jail somewhere. And, can anyone in their wildest dreams imagine that Jesus’ mother, at the cross, didn’t know that they were nailing someone else up there? Is she not able to discern the voice of her own son?

These, again, are desperate notions that expose the fact that we are not dealing with evidential problems here. Instead, we are dealing with heart problems. When you are in conversation with your neighbor and they offer some of these theories, recognize the real cause and deal with it appropriately and wisely, with grace.

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13
If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#1) the Seal Was Broken
We don’t spend much time talking about the seal that was placed upon the tomb, but I think it is significant. Here is the historical record: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Matthew 27:62-66 The historical account states that the chief priests and the Pharisees “made the tomb secure by sealing the stone…”.  This seal was most likely several ropes that were drawn across the stone and then affixed to the tomb walls with a soft clay imprinted with some symbol of authority. It was also likely that the ropes were also sealed at their juncture in front of the stone. In this way, no one could move the stone or the ropes without breaking the dried clay and destroying the “seal” affixed upon the clay.  The seal was there to “put on notice” that no one was to mess with the tomb. Rome could deal quite nastily with those who did so. Now, this doesn’t mean much to us today, for we are long past the norm of using “seals” as they were utilized in ancient times. but in those days, a seal was inviolable. It represented authority, authenticity, and finality. No one messed with a seal. In the book of Esther, when King Ahasuerus issued the order to save the Jews, he commanded them to “seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.” When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, “… a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel." In the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Scripture says this: And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Isaiah 29:11 The permanence of a seal against all who were unauthorized to break it was an inviolable part of their world.  It becomes even more apparent when John is caught up to heaven and there beholds the scroll with seven seals. John begins to weep because there was “no one worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” Of course, we find that the Lamb, “standing as though it had been slain”, was worthy to break the seals. And when each of those seals were broken, great calamity came upon the earth. Seals in the Scripture mean something. And John had wept, because the seal represented an inviolable wall to anyone who did not have the authority to break it. Seals show authority. They show authenticity. And they show finality for all except the one who had the authority to break them. And so, we now come back to the tomb. The seal, whether it was a Roman seal or the High Priest’s seal, represented a fixed closure that no one was allowed to breach. When it was set upon the tomb, there was a finality, a stamp of ultimate authority, that said, “this tomb is closed”. Ah, but God is not subject to the laws or seals of man. I can imagine that when the earth began to shake and the stone was rolled aside, that those clay seals with the authority of man impressed upon them broke into a thousand pieces and lay as trash littering the ground. If Jesus rose from the dead, then the seal of man, meant to keep Him in the grave, had been utterly and completely destroyed. But there is one more thing that must be mentioned regarding “seals”.  In John 6, Jesus said this: Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:27 If God seals something, it is sealed! In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, Eph 1:13 “… it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Cor 1:21 This is God’s seal of authority, authenticity, and finality. You are His, sealed with His guarantee. Oh my! [previous] [next]
5
If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#5) the Angels Would Have Announced It
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:1-6 It may be too bold to say this, but I believe that it should come as no surprise to anyone that the announcement of the Lord’s resurrection was made by the angles, for this, indeed, was a cosmic moment. And, also not surprising, is that there is controversy over this: how many angels, where they were, and what did they really say. Matthew and Mark have one angel; Luke and John have two. We will deal with all of that soon. But today, we want to ponder the fact that it was the angels that announced the resurrection and why. Recall the great passage in Galatians (don’t skip through it… read it): What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  Galatians 4:1-5 The advent of the Messiah was a “set time”—set by God. It wasn’t just that we landed on a nice calendar day. This was as if all the prophecies and all the promises were set on a timer and they all went off together at this moment. It was a cosmic moment: the time in which God was going to enter the world as a human being in order to redeem those who were in bondage under the law. It was a moment that began with the birth of the Messiah and extended through His resurrection… one big cosmic moment. John Calvin refers to the resurrection as “the closing scene of our redemption.” And the privilege of announcing this cosmic moment was going to be given to the angels. They came to Mary and to Joseph. They came to Zacharias and then on the night of His birth, the heavens were filled with a host of angels announcing the news… not to Herod or to the High Priest, but to the lowly, despised and smelly shepherds. Not in a palace or in the temple, but out in the middle of a common, ordinary field.  Should we, therefore, be surprised that it would be the angels who would announce His resurrection? And, to a woman in a graveyard? We will deal more with this later, but recall that women in that culture were second-class citizens. Jesus changed all of that forever. But it was no small deal in those days that the angels would break the news to a woman, and to Mary Magdalene, who at one time had been possessed by seven demons and no doubt suffered from the ravages those demons would visit upon her.  No, this is not surprising to us, for this is who God is. God’s heart is with the humble. And He blesses His creatures by allowing them to carry out His purposes and plans. Thus, He sends angels to announce the Moment of Moments. So, who are these “angels”?  Well, they are an amazing part of God’s creation. There are tons of them, “innumerable”, says Hebrews 12:22 and “thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” says Revelation 5:11.  That is a lot of angels! There is even some conjecture that we might each have an “assigned” angel. When speaking of the children, Jesus refers to “their angels in heaven”. This certainly is inconclusive, but there surely are enough of them to go around! Maybe that is why there are so many. One thing we know for sure, they do minister to us: Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14 Angels are strong. They are mighty. They battle the forces of darkness and they serve God as He sends them to fulfill His purposes. They are messengers, but they also carry out some of God’s judgments. When Herod was struck down and eaten by worms because he did not give glory to God, it was an angel that struck him. (Acts 12:23) Some are sent to patrol the earth. (Zechariah 1:8-11) Scripture even says you might have come in contact with angels as they go about their duties in human form: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 And so, it was the angels who kicked off the Moment and became quite active in the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. And it was the angels who ministered to Him in His times of need on earth. When Jesus had finished 40 days of fasting and had been tempted by Satan, the angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:11) When He was in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His soul was “deeply grieved to the point of death”, an angel came and strengthened Him. (Luke 22:43) I can imagine, then, how much they would have been straining at the bit to save Him from the scourge and the nails. All they needed was a word from Him and they would have swept in like a ferocious army. When Peter impetuously cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant, during the arrest, Jesus admonished Peter and said,  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Matthew 26:53-54 A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers. Twelve would be 72,000 mighty angel warriors. If one angel can buckle the knees of the guards, imagine what 72,000 would do?  So, as Jesus was being scourged and nailed, as he hung on the tree, all He needed to do was say the word and the angels would have rescued Him. But He didn’t.  Can you imagine that? Can you imagine how easy it would have been in the midst of all of that pain and suffering to call out for rescue and relief? To just say the word and all the misery of that moment goes away? But no, He didn’t. It was our sin and His love that held Him there—denying Himself for our sake.  The angels who filled the sky with praise and glory at His birth are now held in check, silent at His death. The earth spoke, yes, but the angels remained silent. But! On the 3rd day, all that changed! The angels are released and silent no more. They announce the News of News—“He is not here! He has risen just as He said!” Yes, if Jesus rose from the dead, then the angels would have been there to announce it. You could not have kept them away. He is risen indeed! [previous] [next]
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