[376 words]
The first attempt to escape the fact of the resurrection of Jesus was the attempt of the chief priests who tried to explain why the tomb was empty! The guards reported to the priests, and even these Jewish leaders did not question the report that the tomb was empty! They did not even go to see if the tomb was really empty; they knew it was! If they did go to the tomb to see, there is no record of such a trip.
Suppose they did go to see for themselves, would they not have found it either empty, or sealed with the body still in it? If they had found the tomb with the body of Jesus still in it, this would have been glorious news to them, and who can doubt that they would have published such news abroad? If they had gone and found the body still in the tomb they would have forced the disciples to see the same, and we would have never heard that Jesus was raised from the dead.
But, the Jewish preachers who had Christ killed did not go to see if the tomb was empty; they were strongly persuaded by the soldiers that it was. If they had any doubt about whether the tomb was open and empty, or sealed with the body still in it, why did they tell the soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body? Before telling this infamous lie, why did those Jewish rulers not go to the tomb and see for sure that the tomb was empty? If they had gone and had discovered that the tomb was still closed with the body still in it, they could have saved some money, for they paid the soldiers to say the disciples stole the body. They paid the soldiers to say that while they were asleep the disciples came and stole the body. Desperate men make such foolish blunders and ridiculous statements. Imagine those soldiers on the witness stand telling about that which happened while they were asleep. How could they have known what happened while they were asleep?
The empty tomb must be dealt with by those who deny the resurrection of Christ. “The rending tomb proclaims his conquering arm.”
Basil Overton
from Seven Score Short Sermons