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

Wonder in the Sky

The light was so unique last evening. There was some heavy cloud cover blowing through, with occasional thunder and lightning; but to the west, the sun was visible and was making the colors of everything - the neighbor's field, leaves on the trees, etc. - so vivid. It was beautiful, but almost had an eerie feel to it, as if the storm could suddenly increase in tempo and fury and cause significant destruction.

Isn't the sky a marvel? The variety that is present there is mind-boggling. The shades of color, the cloud formations, the "feel" it has - these factors are always changing in seemingly infinite designs. And then there's the wonder of the things we see in the sky: sun, moon, stars, planets. I don't know much about all of that; astronomy never held my interest for too long. But now I'm thinking in particular about what I do know about the sun and the moon and the way they are perfectly created to allow for life here on earth. This is what commentary in my new Bible (The Case for Christ Study Bible which I bought with my birthday money last month) has to say about that:

As astronomers are now discovering, our sun and moon are much more exceptional than once thought. Our sun is far from ordinary; it has exactly the right mass and composition and is the ideal distance from Earth to enable life on our planet. If it were much smaller, its luminosity would not allow high efficiency photosynthesis in plants; if it were much closer, the water would boil away from the planet's surface. Similarly, our moon is just far enough away and just the right size to stabilize Earth's tilt. Without the moon's stabilizing presence, Earth would experience wild temperature swings, with devastating consequences for life.

So, yes, the factors that contribute to life on our planet are unusual - unusually ideal. The sun and the moon are only two among innumerable variables that have aligned perfectly since the beginning of the universe to set the stage for human life on Earth.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

~ Isaiah 40:26