Emptiness, The Unshakable Evidence of Christ’s Great Victory!
You love it too, right?
What a season to be alive!
Let's muse, meditate upon and rethink Good Friday and Easter morning from the Scriptures -- something VERY SIGNIFICANT, something earth-shattering rocked our world.
Shake, rattle and roll--what a blessing for so many. It happened as Jesus said it would!
The Bible (Matthew 27:50-53) states that the earth shook, and the rocks split into pieces. Many bodies of Old Testament believers who had died (fallen asleep) were raised up, and they came out of their tombs after Jesus' resurrection. They entered the holy city, appearing to many people there.
The bodily resurrection of many dead Old Testament saints during that time of Jesus’ death and resurrection, as recorded in Matthew 27:52-53, serves as a profound testimony to Christ's divine authority over life and death. This totally underscores the truth proclaimed in 1 Timothy 6:14-16—that immortality belongs to Christ alone! The Scriptures affirm that only God holds the power to give and take life (See 1 Samuel 2:6; Deuteronomy 32:39). It is this very power of God that makes Christ's resurrection the cornerstone of our Historic Christian faith.
Unlike all the founders of other world religions, Jesus Christ alone conquered death, forever establishing His supremacy. He not only had a part with the Father and the Spirit in planning His death, His burial and His resurrection, He also remained sovereign over all of it. It's true, Jesus had a part in raising Himself out of that dank tomb.
His resurrection is not only the foundation of our faith but it's also the reason we gladly proclaim His name and trust in God the Father.
"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" 1 Corinthians 15:14
It assures us in Christ that our sins are forgiven.
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." 1 Corinthians 15:17
This confirms His victory over death.
Additionally, this event finds a parallel in Ezekiel 37, where the vision of dry bones being brought back to life literally foreshadows the fulfillment seen with the OT saints’ resurrection. Their rising signifies both the inauguration of Christ’s kingdom and a preview of the final resurrection that is to come. The fact that only some saints, rather than all, were raised highlights Jesus’ power over death while also pointing us forward to His second coming and final judgment. At that time, all whose names are written in the Book of Life—saved by grace through faith—will be raised with bodies fit for Heaven and to eternal life with the Father. The wicked dead will be raised with bodies according to where they are going.
Understanding that Jesus has died and risen victorious over death REALLY OUGHT TO FAN THE FLAMES IN US WITH EVANGELISTIC PASSION. It should SO STIR within us a holy urgency. Yes, to repent, to place our full trust in Christ alone, to study the word, to pray, to grow spiritually, to mature, and to compel us forward in simply spreading the gospel to others.
For those who do, the promise remains: we too will be raised and transformed in the Rapture -- “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52), sharing in His bodily resurrection and eternal glory. No blessing is earned by us. All the blessings are free, and the Blesser (God) is the our best blessing of all, therefore we will continue to worship Him! Yep, in Spirit and in truth. The Bible says...
"And Jesus cried out again with a loud agonized voice, and gave up His spirit voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father’s plan. And at once the veil of the Holy of Holies of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God’s people) who had fallen asleep in death were raised to life; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people." amp
And the stone was rolled away from one empty tomb that was MOST SIGNIFICANT. Christ's! I still love seeing the emptiness within!
The pivot point of all history-past and future just happened there: Jesus came alive!
This wasn’t wishful thinking or some religious legend—it was reality that had been foretold by Him.
And guess what.. the first eyewitnesses of Christ's reseretion were not kings, popes or scholars but humble, grief-stricken women who came to mourn His passing, and then left proclaiming the impossible: "He is not here; He has risen!" (Matthew 28:6). That one empty tomb is not just a footnote in history—it is the bedrock of our Christian hope.
* Matthew 27:64 – "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."
* John 20:8-9 – "Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead."
* Matthew 28:8 – "So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
* 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 – "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."
* Romans 6:4 – "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
When I think of all those answers from above to my prayers with such precise timing! Yes, with such divine precision, exactly according to what I asked for, I then remember Christ's empty tomb. I thank and praise Jesus for His death and His resurrection! He's 100% alive, HIS TOMB IS ALL THE WAY VACANT--Jesus hears me when I call. He'll hear you too, when you repent and cry out to Him.
And what's extra-intimate, what I really love is when God lovingly answers my requests in unique ways that only I recognize.. only I know it's for sure Him responding to me.
God beautifully initiates the longing. We each respond in prayer, then He deeply personally and intimately gives to us. There's such a satisfying feeling of being heard (answered by God). He's still a need-meeter, when His answers seem to align perfectly with your voiced needs at precisely the right moment.
The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—each uniquely recount this discovery of that vacant grave. There is a complete unity with them and with us believers today! We agree with the Word.
These independent yet totally harmonious testimonies point to a single, undeniable truth: Jesus was killed, was crucified unto death not some mere swoon. Yes, before many people, He his corpse was buried, and then His tomb was found vide, vazia, leer, vacía, vik, void, EMPTY (Mark 16:6, Luke 24:3, John 20:2)! It's still is empty. People saw it empty and saw Him out walking among them again.
"The empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!" – Matt Maher
"What silence filled the empty grave, yet all the world rejoiced that day. For in that hollow space so bare, lies proof that Christ has conquered there!" – Anon.
"The stone was rolled away from the tomb, not to let Jesus out, but to let us in to see that it was empty." – W.A. Criswell
"The empty tomb of Christ has been the cradle of the church." – William Lane Craig
"The resurrection is the hinge on which the story of Christianity turns, and the empty tomb is the doorway to our eternal hope." – Max Lucado
"The empty tomb tells the story, pure love poured out in saving glory. He is risen, death undone, victory shines in God's own Son!" – Gloria Thurman
"Christianity does not rest on a dead man’s bones, but on an empty grave." – Adrian Rogers
Sure, false teachers and other liars are still going to lie of course, and the skeptics will also do their own thing. Let the decievers do what they wish! They'll one day have to give an account!
Those of the world have long sought alternative explanations regarding Christ's empty tomb, but none hold weight against the overwhelming evidence we have.
- If the body had been stolen, Roman and Jewish authorities could have easily disproven the resurrection by producing Christ's cold corpse.
- If the disciples had gotten together to work out the kinks in fabricating their story, why would they endure such fierce persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom for a lie?
- If Jesus had only swooned and later revived, how could a severely beaten-up and crucified man with a hole in his side.. relocate that massive stone and totally escape notice by any human?
You know how the then known world of the first-century was filled with false teachers and messianic movements, but only one messianic movement—the one centered on the risen Jesus Christ—transformed the world.
A lifeless leader leaves a movement to wither behind him? Nope; a risen King ignites the spread of His gospel message with an unstoppable Kingdom.
The disciples, once paralyzed by fear, then became fearless proclaimers of the gospel. Peter, who denied Jesus three times due to fear, stood before thousands fearlessly and declared, "God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death" (Acts 2:24). This emptiness with that boldness was not fueled by deception but by divine purpose and power!
The empty tomb is not just an ancient event—it is a present call for you and me. It demands a response to God. If Christ has truly conquered death, then passive neutrality is not an option. Jesus' physical resurrection is an invitation to new life, a call to heartfelt repentance, a new relationship, and the promise of eternal victory. It silences every doubt, shatters every negative chain, and proves that the grave is not the end for any of those who believe in Him.
Do you need "Easter Hope"? Just grab hold of the gospel and Christ!
In love Jesus died for you, He now lives. And because He lives, so shall we with Him.
That Empty Tomb Still Points To Our Living Lord!
Imagine standing at the mouth of that one silent tomb, the air thick with the weight of huge loss.
Just days before, our living hope itself had been crucified, nailed to a Roman cross. There hung the man who dared to claim divinity.
Then, a big stone lies there rolled away, the darkness within that hole in teh earth was pierced by the unsettling reality of complete emptiness.
This isn't just any absence; this is the void left by the body of Jesus of Nazareth, and it screams a truth out that continues to echo through all the ages: He is not here. He is risen and you can do something with Him!
No, this is far from some fanciful tale spun from wishful thinking. There was a real historical earthquake that marked it, the tremors of which reshaped the world and continue to reshape.
Consider this: the very location of Jesus' burial was common knowledge, etched in the minds of both His devoted followers and His bitter enemies.
He wasn't tossed into an anonymous rocky pit; He was laid to rest in the private tomb of Mr. Joseph of Arimathea, a very respected member of the very council that condemned Christ to death.
Think about it – the early Christians, harboring understandable animosity towards those who orchestrated their Savior's death, would hardly invent a story crediting one of their adversaries with the generous giving to Jesus an honorable burial. This detail rings with the authenticity of eyewitness testimony and a reluctant admission of fact.
Furthermore, archaeology confirms those four Gospel accounts, revealing that the tomb described – a bench tomb normally favored by the wealthy – it aligns perfectly with what we know of that Joseph.
This wasn't some generic hole in the earth. This grave was a very specific, identifiable place. And here's the crux of it: the Sanhedrin, Jesus' chief opposition, knew exactly where He was buried.
If the resurrection was a hoax, a mere whisper or hint of delusion, wouldn't they have simply marched to that tomb, produced the lifeless body, and crushed that burgeoning Christian "Jesus movement" in its infancy?
Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus lived, taught, was loved, did miracles and was crucified, became the epicenter of this new faith.
This explosive growth in the face of it all speaks volumes. The silence from the grave was deafening to the doubters.
Even before the Gospels were penned, the Apostle Paul, writing a mere two decades after the crucifixion, anchors the resurrection in an early, foundational creed:
"..that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
When you share the gospel does it have that deliberate sequence: death, burial, resurrection? It really should!
For Paul, a former Pharisee steeped in the understanding of physical resurrection, an empty tomb wasn't an optional add-on; it was an inherent consequence.
What was buried down under dust and rock must be raised up out of that. This wasn't some spiritualized, ethereal rising; it was a tangible victory over death itself.
Paul's direct connection to the apostles Peter and James, the very pillars of the early church who walked closely with Jesus, lends undeniable weight to this foundational truth!
Interestingly, even the enemies of Christianity inadvertently testified to the empty tomb. That's worth repeating.
Matthew's Gospel itself records the Jewish leaders' desperate attempt to explain away the absence of Jesus' body: they claimed the disciples had stolen it (Matthew 28:13-15).
This accusation, echoed by later historical figures like Justin Martyr and Tertullian, is a VERY POWERFUL admission.
Why concoct a story about theft if the body was still securely within the tomb? Their counter-narrative inadvertently confirms the very thing they sought to deny – the tomb was empty.
Their efforts to extinguish the flame of the resurrection non-fake-news only fanned its embers.
Re-consider the unlikely witnesses: they were women. In that day they didn't even count.
In the patriarchal society of first-century Israel, a woman's testimony held significantly less weight than any man's.
If the Gospel writers were fabricating a story to gain credibility, they would have undoubtedly presented male disciples as the first to discover the empty tomb.
Yet, all four Gospels consistently name women as the initial witnesses. Mary Magdalene, in particular, a woman with a jaded and demonized past, is placed at the forefront.
This detail has the unmistakable ring of truth. Why would the early church intentionally choose less credible witnesses, even portraying their male leaders as fearful and absent, unless it was precisely what happened? Their insistence on this one detail, despite its potential to raise skepticism, underscores the undeniable reality that they encountered.
These aren't isolated coincidences; they are interwoven threads forming a robust tapestry of historical evidence. God knows what He is doing.
Even skeptical historians acknowledge the compelling nature of the case for the empty tomb. It stands as a powerful, undeniable fact.
But the empty tomb isn't the end of the story. Not for those living back then, and it isn't for us believers either; it's the beginning of a new one!
It's the resounding exclamation point on Jesus' claim to be the Son of God, the Messiah who conquered sin and death.
That emptiness wasn't a vacuum; it was a void soon filled up by the vibrant reality of the resurrected Christ, appearing to individuals and groups, offering irrefutable proof of His victory.
No ancient history NO NO! It's a living truth with a living Savior that demands a lively response from you and me today! Choose. Come to Jesus by faith, saying Yes Lord.
Yeah, right now is a good time.. or just put it off, ditching him forever!
The empty tomb isn't merely some religious relic of the past to build a Roman church or shrine on; it's an open door to a future filled with hope in Christ. We don't worship a tomb or a book or anything over in the Holy Land.
But that tomb declares that death has lost its sting due to Jesus, that the grave has no final victory. Because He (Jesus) lives, we too can fully live – not just in some fleeting existence, but an eternal one, reconciled to God through the sacrifice and triumph of Jesus. It's about abundant and eternal life! Believer, it means you will never be forsaken by God the Father as Jesus wasn't really forsaken by Him.
The question isn't just whether you believe the tomb was empty; it's what you will do with the profound implications of that tomb's emptiness. Will you allow this historical reality to remain a distant fact with a distant God, or will you let it ignite a fire in your soul to get right with God?
The empty tomb is an invitation to a new life, a life defined by real forgiveness, purpose, rez-power and the unwavering hope found in a risen Savior.
Embrace the truth -- embrace Jesus. Live in His light, and experience the transformative power of a loving Father who conquered death and offers you the same victory in His Son.
The tomb is empty. He is alive, and that changes everything!
"Then He said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.'" Jesus said that! It wasn't an easy prayer time.
- I (Kurt) was once told that Jesus was rejected and cut off from His loving Father, that He was totally separated from Him.
- I was told He died spiritually, in addition to being killed physically.
- I was told that He was turned into some wormy creature of the underworld due to our sins piled onto him.
- I was told that He fought with the devil in hell over the keys, and that He then needed to be born again in hell as our example.
I say Jesus obviously felt forsaken of God the Father for a moment so that you and I won't ever have one moment of being forsaken by Him. Yes, so we can know we're forgiven before the Father. Jesus entered the darkness so that we might ever walk in the light. He emerged alive from that sealed grave so that we will also one day emerge alive from our graves. Jesus righteously did everything He could do before the Father wanting you to be blessed. It was for you and me, so that we would never have to be separated from the Father for all eternity! He wasn't forsaken by the Father--the union of the Godhead was never broken, even when it felt like it was.
Jesus experienced rejection and loneliness.. sure. He experienced anguish. Earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked Peter, James, and John just to be there with Him. But Matthew 26:56 tells us that a short while later, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled.”
He'd felt forsaken before. Then, perhaps in the loneliest moment of His life, He cried out from the cross,” ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46). With excruciating pain and the dislocation of bones he cried out.
It is believed by many (myself included) that at that moment on the cross, God did pour all the sin of humanity onto His sinless Son there. As the Heavenly Father, who is holy, turned His face from the sin, Jesus obviously felt separated momentarily from Him. In that moment, Jesus experienced loneliness like we never have known, but in reality the Father didn't forsake Him.
I'm glad that the evidence is clear. It's so undeniable: the tomb is empty because the Father didn't forsake Jesus our living Lord.
Are you ready for the gospel today.. the earth-shattering announcement of a new dawn? Non-forsaken Jesus is alive!
The absence in that cold stone chamber wasn't due to some void of weakness or defeat, but due to the explosive evidence of ultimate victory!
The emptiness of that tomb isn't merely about what or who was missing; it's about what is now available to you right here and now: Jesus with His full forgiveness that washes away all the filth so that you can walk clean forever, with His purpose that transcends all the mundane, and a living hope that firmly anchors your soul amidst the fiercest of life's storms.
The risen Christ didn't just escape death once dead; He conquered it once and for all.. for you! For me!
He stands ready to bridge the chasm between any sinner and a holy God, offering a meaningful relationship defined by real grace and boundless agape love! Come to Jesus on His terms.. come back to Him now!
The empty tomb isn't a permanently closed chapter; it's the opening line of your own story of redemption. Step on through that open door. Jesus is the door of entrance. Embrace the living Lord now. Experience the profound, life-altering REZ-power and be filled with His Spirit. The tomb is still empty. He is risen and cares about you. Your new beginning awaits!
