The Empty Tomb

The idea that the women could not find Jesus' body because they went to the wrong tomb was popularized by Kirsopp Lake in 1907. While Lake's proposition was creative, the explanation didn't generate any following because the Jewish authorities knew the site of Jesus' tomb (see Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15). Even if Jesus' followers had made this mistake, the authorities would have been very happy to point out the tomb and correct the disciples' error when they began to proclaim that Jesus had risen from the dead.

This and other theories by skeptics of the empty tomb are far too improbable. Obviously, the disciples had no motive to steal the body and then die for a lie, and certainly the Jewish authorities wouldn't have removed the body. Could the empty tomb merely be a legend that developed so long after the death of Jesus that the location of the tomb had been forgotten? This is equally unlikely because we have an extremely early account of the resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) that clearly implies an empty tomb and which goes back to within a few years of the event itself, rendering the legend theory worthless. Even if there were some differences in the secondary details of the story, the historical core of the empty tomb remains securely established.

Upon analysis, the option supported best by the evidence is that the crucified Jesus returned to life--a conclusion some people find simply too extraordinary to swallow and thus rule out because of their philosophical presuppositions.

~ From The Case for Christ Study Bible

adapted from an interview with Dr. William Lane Craig

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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.

~ I Corinthians 15:3-4