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over death and the grave, the Prince of Life : an impres sion which lay at the bottom of their future ministry” ( “New Life of Jesus,” Voi. 1, page 412). The modern theory, adopted by those who cannot believe that the body of Jesus was animated, is the theory of a spiritual resurrection. The advocates of this view hold that the spirit of Jesus left His body at death and continued alive without any period of intermission. The so-called resurrection occurred, according to this view, not on the third day, but on the same day—yes, the same moment—as death. Just how this spirit could appear to human beings has not yet been made clear. There are fatal objections to this spiritual resurrection theory. In the first place, it is opposed to the evidence given by eye-witnesses that the body of Jesus was raised to life. That evidence stands until refuted. The second objection to the theory is that it fails to explain how the disciples, dependent as they were on the bodily senses, could recognize Jesus: how they could see, hear, touch and eat with a spirit. In the third place, it fails to explain the empty tomb, or account for the body of Jesus. The evidence in relation to the empty tomb cannot be ignored or explained away by conjecture or fanciful theory. The tomb still remains empty, and the body of Jesus gone. Where is the body? The only evidence before us supports the contention that it was raised to life. E fforts to E xpla in T he E mpty T omb Five theories have been advanced to explain the empty tomb : (1) That the disciples stole the body. This was the explanation offered by the contemporary Jews. But the disciples had no motive for taking the body as they did not expect Jesus to arise. Moreover, it is inconceivable that these timid men—timid as they evidently were be tween the time of the arrest and resurrection of their Lord—would have braved the Guard. Furthermore, if they had stolen the body while the Guard slept they would not have tarried to remove the grave clothes from the body and leave them in the tomb, where they were found on the morning of the resurrection. (2) That it was unhistorical : A. Meyer says, “An empty grave was never seen by any disciple of Jesus.” Again, an opinion, but no proof. (3) That the disciples imagined they saw Jesus in Galilee, that is, had visions, and hence inferred that the tomb was empty. But they had ,no visions or hallucina tions. They actually saw their Lord, as the evidence proves. (4) That the women mistook some other empty tomb for that of Jesus’. But the evidence is that they watched the burial and marked the spot where the body of their Master was laid. Also that an angel identified to them the place where thè body had lain and declared it to have been raised (Matt. 28:2-6). (5) That the body had been secretly removed, either (a) By the owner of the tomb, (b) By the Sanhedrin, or (c) By Pilate. To this it is sufficient to reply that had the body been re moved by order of any one of these persons, its location would have been certified and proof presented when the city was in an uproar and the authorities nonplused by the persistent affirmation of the disciples that Jesus had arisen from the grave and was alive. The only theory of the empty tomb that is supported by the evidence is that the dead body of Jesus awoke to life and left the tomb.
asked if they had anything to eat. They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, which He took and ate before them (Luke 24:39-43). All these five appearances occurred on the day of His resurrection. Thomas had not been present when Jesus appeared to the disciples and he refused to believe their testimony. A week later the disciples were again assem bled, and Thomas with them, the doors being closed. Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst. Addressing Thomas, He said, “Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand and put it into my side; and be not faithless but believing.” Thomas, thoroughly convinced that it was Jesus alive, exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:24-29). T estimony of J esus ’ P ost -R esurrection A ppearances Another appearance was by the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus fed seven of the disciples with fish which He had cooked (John 21:9-12). The next recorded appearance was in a mountain of Galilee, at a place which He had designated. The eleven apostles were there certainly. And the probabilities are that there were more than five hundred in the company. The appearance of James, the Lord’s brother, may be referred to next. James did not believe in Jesus before His death; but he is found in the company of believers immediately after the ascension. This appearance to James is a natural explanation of the radical change in his attitude toward Jesus. The last appearance specifically referred to in the Gospels is that which was made to the eleven apostles and which ended in the ascension into the heavens. The Record clearly indicates that there were other appearances which are not described or even mentioned in its pages (see John 20: 30, 31; Acts 1 :3). That the disciples believed, that they saw their Lord alive after His crucifixion is very evident. It is equally clear that they were convinced of His physical resurrec tion. They testify that they saw His body, handled it, heard His voice, ate with Him of food which He had prepared, and saw Him eat of food which they gave Him. The disciples had not at the first expected their Lord to arise from the dead. They were persistent unbelievers in the resurrection, and were driven to faith only by con vincing and overwhelming proofs. The first reports brought by the women were regarded as “idle talk” (Luke 24:10, 11). Even when Jesus appeared in the midst of the company on the evening of His resurrection, they would not believe it was He, but supposed they saw a spirit. The Lord upbraided them for their unbelief and proved that He was present in His material body by eat ing a piece of fish in their presence (Luke 24:39-43). F utile E fforts to D isprove T he R esurrection Faced by these witnesses to the resurrection, and noting their evident sincerity, there have been men who admitted that the disciples saw Jesus after His crucifixion, but contend that He had not actually died: that it was a case of swoon or suspended animation. They suggest that in the cool atmosphere of the tomb He regained conscious ness and rejoined His disciples. Dr. David Friedrich Strauss shows the absurdity of this suggestion. “It is impossible,” he declares, “that a being who had stolen half dead out of the sepulcher, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to His sufferifigs, could have given to the disciples the impression that he was a conqueror
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