It's Still Empty!

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 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. (John 20:1-9 ESV).

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to an article describing the excavation of the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This photo was taken October 26th and shows the moment workers remove the top marble layer of the tomb. According to the Associated Press, a restoration team peeled away a marble layer for the first time in centuries in an effort to reach what it believes is the original rock surface where Jesus' body was laid. Many historians have long believed that the original cave, identified a few centuries after Jesus' death as his tomb, was obliterated ages ago. But an archaeologist accompanying the restoration team said ground penetrating radar tests determined that cave walls are in fact standing — at a height of six feet and connected to bedrock — behind the marbled panels of the chamber at the center of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. "What was found," said National Geographic archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert, "is astonishing." (Dusan Vranic/National Geographic via AP) (The Associated Press). So, I’m going to be very brief. The astonishing thing they have found is nothing. And, the more they dig, the more nothing they will find. That tomb has been empty for almost two thousand years! I know we don’t really celebrate the resurrection as we could. That message is usually reserved for the spring of the year at Easter. However, it is the fundamental basis for all of our hope. We have nothing but a hope-so, maybe-so kind of faith without Jesus’ resurrection. The empty tomb gives us all we need to persevere. even under the greatest challenges of life. Just as Jesus did not end his life with his earthly death, nor will we. Death is merely the change from the encumbrance of mortality to the freedom of eternal life. Whatever you may be experiencing today, rest in that kind of hope. He is not there!