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John 20 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The empty tomb (Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 24) is the most contested event by skeptics of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is because if a skeptic concedes that the tomb was indeed empty, it becomes very problematic to try and prove anything different than a resurrection.
The swoon theory (that Jesus faked His death) doesn’t hold any credibility when you consider how many people wanted Jesus dead. The Romans and especially the religious leaders would never have allowed Him off the cross alive. On top of this, multiple Jewish sources outside the Bible confirm His death.
The stolen body theory is taken right from Scripture as this is what the religious leaders were so worried about themselves. The question is, who would benefit from stealing His body? Again, the Romans and religious leaders passionately wanted Christianity to die with Jesus. His followers were mourning His death. Even if they wanted to plan such an elaborate scheme, the Roman guard and the stone sealing the tomb would have been extremely difficult to overcome. More than that, it’s highly unlikely they would steal a body and then be willing to be tortured and/or killed for it.
Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
John 20:4-7 ESV
The text says that Peter looked in and saw the linen cloths. It is the Greek word ‘theoreo’ which means “to contemplate or “to scrutinize.” He takes a careful look. Why? Because the linens laid there undisturbed which was incredibly perplexing. In fact, with all of the spices mixed under the clothes, it would be impossible to unwrap a corpse without damaging the wrappings. The linen cloths could only remain undisturbed if Jesus passed through them.
And if Jesus could pass through clothes, He certainly didn’t need to roll the stone away. Why did God choose to roll that stone away? It was so His followers, (and eventually you and I through the Scriptures) could walk in and observe for ourselves the factual reality that the tomb could not hold Jesus Christ!
You can go to Israel and visit a lot of tombs of ancient days. You can go and view the tombs on the Mount of Olives. You can visit the multitude of graves just outside the Temple Mount. You can even go and visit the tomb of King David, however, you will never find the tomb of Jesus Christ because He’s not there!