miracle second-temple

Discovery of Empty Tomb

c. 30 or 33 CE (Sunday morning after crucifixion) (scriptural)

The discovery by women followers of Jesus—particularly Mary Magdalene—that his tomb was empty on the third day after his crucifixion, providing the first evidence of the resurrection. This event, attested in all four Gospels with women as primary witnesses, marks the dawn of Easter morning and the beginning of resurrection faith.

The Biblical Accounts

Common Elements Across Gospels

The Women:

  • Came to tomb early Sunday morning
  • Brought spices to anoint Jesus’s body
  • Mary Magdalene mentioned in all four Gospels
  • Other women: Mary mother of James, Salome, Joanna (varies by Gospel)

The Discovery:

  • Stone rolled away from tomb entrance
  • Tomb empty
  • Grave clothes present but body gone
  • Angelic messengers announced resurrection
  • Women commissioned to tell disciples

The Message:

  • “He is not here; he has risen!”
  • “Go and tell his disciples”
  • Reference to Jesus’s prediction of resurrection

Matthew’s Account (Matthew 28:1-10)

The Women Arrive:

  • Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary”
  • Came at dawn on first day of week
  • “To look at the tomb”

Supernatural Events:

  • Great earthquake
  • Angel descended from heaven
  • Rolled back stone, sat on it
  • Appearance like lightning, clothes white as snow
  • Guards trembled, became like dead men

Angel’s Message:

  • “Do not be afraid, for I know 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”
  • “Go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead’”
  • “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him”

Jesus Appears:

  • Women hurrying to tell disciples
  • Suddenly Jesus met them: “Greetings!”
  • Clasped his feet and worshiped him
  • “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee”

Mark’s Account (Mark 16:1-8)

The Women:

  • Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Salome
  • Bought spices after Sabbath ended
  • Very early Sunday, just after sunrise

Their Concern:

  • “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance?”
  • Stone was very large
  • But when they looked up, saw it already rolled away

The Young Man:

  • Entered tomb
  • Saw young man dressed in white robe, sitting on right side
  • Alarmed

The Message:

  • “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified”
  • “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him”
  • “Go, tell his disciples and Peter”
  • “‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him’”

Their Response:

  • Trembling and bewildered
  • Fled from tomb
  • Said nothing to anyone, because afraid (original ending of Mark)

Luke’s Account (Luke 24:1-12)

The Women:

  • Women who had come with Jesus from Galilee
  • Took spices they had prepared
  • Very early in morning

The Discovery:

  • Found stone rolled away
  • Entered tomb
  • Did not find body of Lord Jesus
  • Perplexed about this

Two Angels:

  • Two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them
  • Women bowed faces to ground in fear
  • “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
  • “He is not here; he has risen!”
  • “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee”
  • “‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to sinful people, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’”
  • Women remembered his words

Telling the Disciples:

  • Returned from tomb
  • Told all these things to the Eleven and all others
  • Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James, and others
  • But words seemed like nonsense
  • Disciples did not believe them

Peter’s Response:

  • Got up and ran to tomb
  • Bent over, saw strips of linen lying by themselves
  • Went away, wondering what had happened

John’s Account (John 20:1-18)

Mary Magdalene Alone:

  • Came to tomb early, while still dark
  • Saw stone removed

Running to Disciples:

  • Ran to Simon Peter and “the other disciple, the one Jesus loved” (John)
  • “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

Peter and John Run:

  • Both running, but other disciple outran Peter
  • Other disciple bent over, looked in at strips of linen, didn’t go in
  • Peter arrived, went straight into tomb
  • Saw strips of linen lying there
  • Burial cloth that had been around Jesus’s head, folded up by itself
  • Other disciple went in, saw and believed
  • “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead”
  • Disciples returned to where staying

Mary at the Tomb:

  • Mary stood outside tomb crying
  • Bent over to look into tomb
  • Saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’s body had been
  • “Woman, why are you crying?”
  • “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him”

Jesus Appears:

  • Turned around, saw someone standing, didn’t realize it was Jesus
  • Thinking he was gardener: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him”
  • Jesus: “Mary”
  • She turned: “Rabboni!” (Teacher)
  • Jesus: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father”
  • “Go…to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father’”
  • Mary went to disciples: “I have seen the Lord!”

Significance of Women as First Witnesses

Historical Authenticity

Women’s Testimony Not Valued:

  • In first-century Jewish and Roman culture, women’s testimony was not accepted in court
  • Women considered unreliable witnesses
  • If inventing story, would have used male witnesses
  • Inclusion of women suggests historical accuracy

Embarrassing Detail:

  • Early church wouldn’t invent women as first witnesses
  • Gospel writers recorded it despite potential incredibility
  • Criterion of embarrassment supports historicity

Reversal of Cultural Norms

Jesus Honors Women:

  • Chose women as first witnesses of greatest event
  • Commissioned them as first preachers of resurrection
  • Dignity and authority given

Kingdom Values:

  • Last become first
  • Humble exalted
  • Cultural marginalized become central

The Empty Tomb as Evidence

What the Empty Tomb Proves

Necessary but Not Sufficient:

  • Doesn’t prove resurrection by itself (body could have been stolen)
  • But resurrection requires empty tomb
  • No body = minimum condition for resurrection claim

Combined with Appearances:

  • Empty tomb + appearances = resurrection
  • Neither alone conclusive
  • Together, powerful evidence

Alternative Explanations

Stolen Body Theory:

  • Disciples stole body (Matthew 28:11-15 - guards’ story)
  • Authorities stole body
  • Joseph of Arimathea moved it
  • Response: Why would anyone? Doesn’t explain appearances

Wrong Tomb Theory:

  • Women went to wrong tomb
  • Response: Authorities could have produced body from correct tomb

Swoon Theory:

  • Jesus didn’t die, just unconscious
  • Response: Roman executioners professional, couldn’t roll stone from inside

Hallucination Theory:

  • Disciples hallucinated appearances
  • Response: Doesn’t explain empty tomb

The Grave Clothes

John’s Detail:

  • Strips of linen lying there
  • Burial cloth folded up by itself, separate
  • Suggests body passed through wrappings
  • Not hasty theft (would have taken body wrapped)

Theological Significance

Fulfillment of Prophecy

Jesus’s Own Predictions:

  • “On the third day he will be raised” - fulfilled
  • Women remembered his words
  • What seemed incomprehensible became clear

Old Testament Types:

  • Jonah three days in fish
  • Isaac “raised” from sacrifice
  • Joseph from pit

New Creation Begins

First Day of Week:

  • Sunday, not Sabbath (Saturday)
  • Echoes Genesis 1: “In the beginning”
  • New creation dawning
  • Christian worship shifts to Sunday

Dawn Symbolism:

  • Came at dawn, while still dark
  • Light breaking into darkness
  • Son rising like sun
  • Resurrection as new day

Reversal of Death

“He Is Not Here”:

  • Death could not hold him
  • Grave defeated
  • What was sealed is opened
  • What was closed is empty

Life Defeats Death:

  • Tomb meant for death holds life
  • Death’s domain invaded
  • Resurrection power unleashed

Historical and Critical Questions

Dating

Third Day:

  • Friday crucifixion, Sunday discovery
  • Jewish reckoning: part of day counts as full day
  • Friday (day 1), Saturday (day 2), Sunday (day 3)

Harmonizing Accounts

Differences in Details:

  • Number of women varies
  • Number of angels (one or two?)
  • Earthquake in Matthew only
  • Jesus appears in Matthew and John, not in Mark/Luke (at tomb)

Explanations:

  • Different witnesses, different perspectives
  • Selective reporting (not every detail in each Gospel)
  • Core facts consistent: women, empty tomb, angelic announcement

Significance

The empty tomb is Christianity’s defiant shout into the face of death: “He is not here!” The stone rolled away reveals not merely absence but transformation. The place of death became the place of life’s triumph. The seal of Rome, the guards’ vigilance, the darkness of night—nothing could keep the Son of God in the grave.

And women saw it first. Not the apostles. Not the religious leaders. Not the powerful men who would later lead the church. Women—whose testimony was worthless in that culture—became the first witnesses, the first preachers, the first to proclaim: “He is risen!”

Mary Magdalene, weeping in a garden, heard her name spoken by the one she thought was lost forever. And in that moment, she became the apostle to the apostles, the herald of the resurrection, the one who ran to tell the men hiding in fear: “I have seen the Lord!”

The empty tomb doesn’t give us all the answers. It gives us something better: an empty grave and a living Lord. The women came expecting to anoint a corpse. They found angels announcing a resurrection. They came to mourn the dead. They left to proclaim the living.

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Every Easter morning echoes that first dawn. Every tomb stands defeated by that empty tomb. Every death faces the question: If Jesus is risen, what can death do to those who belong to him?

The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. Death has lost. And the first to see, the first to believe, the first to tell were women whom the world dismissed but whom Jesus honored.

“Woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked. And Mary turned from the empty tomb to see the one who had conquered it. “Rabboni!” she cried.

Teacher. Lord. Risen Savior.

The tomb is empty. And because it is, nothing—not death, not darkness, not despair—has the final word.

He is not here. He is risen. He is alive.