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Jesus’ tomb was EMPTY, but these theories are “FULL OF IT.” The tomb was emptybecause Jesus rose from the dead! But resurrection-deniers have been proposing alternative (false) theories ever since Matthew 28:11-15 (where the Pharisees were already devising the “stolen body theory”).
We’ll look to a handful of these false theories: what they’re claiming and why they’re clearly false. First of all, they’re all clearly false because they say Christ did not rise from the dead and they contradict God’s clear Word! But they are each also easily dismantled by some basic reasoning.
#1: The Swoon Theory
The Theory Explained: This theory states that Jesus didn’t actually die. Instead, He merely faintedon the cross. Then the Roman soldiers took Him down thinking He was dead. Jesus later revived in the tomb, rolled away the stone by Himself, came out of the grave victorious, and convinced His disciples that He had risen from the dead.
A Few Problems with That: First of all, this theory assumes that the Roman soldiers, trained killers, couldn’t tell the difference between a living man and a dead one.
Secondly, it also requires that a badly beaten man, after hanging on a cross for about six hours and losing a great deal of blood, would revive in the tomb on His own, roll away the stone (which weighed several tons), singlehandedly overcome the Roman guards (possibly up to 16 soldiers, depending on some interpretations, though at least several), and then somehow convince His disciples that He had risen from the dead (“And, by the way, could you quick go grab a doctor??”).
#2: The Wrong Tomb Theory
The Theory Explained: This theory simply states that the women who were the first to witness the empty tomb simply went to the wrong tomb. Jesus hadn’t really risen from the dead—they just happened to go to the wrong tomb, and that tomb was empty.
A Few Problems with That: For this theory to work, it’s not just the women who would have had to have gone to the wrong tomb. Everyonewould have had to go to the wrong tomb—including Peter, John, the other disciples, and even Jesus’ enemies. Everyonewould have had to have somehow forgotten where He had been buried that same weekend.
This theory also fails to explain the many eyewitness accounts of the resurrected Jesus, as well as how apparently no one at any point ever simply discovered the correct tomb.
#3: The Hallucination Theory
The Theory Explained: This theory states that the disciples never actually saw the risen Christ but just hallucinated that they did.
A Few Problems with That: It’s true that people can hallucinate. But what are the odds that eleven men would all hallucinate the same thing at the same time? Even if they somehow did hallucinate, how would they have hallucinated the same thing, let alone on several different occasions with Jesus’ resurrection appearances taking place over a period of forty days? Furthermore, would they all be so sure of a hallucination to go boldly forth unto their deaths (as all but John did)?
This theory also doesn’t explain the empty tomb. Or maybe the guards hallucinated that the tomb was empty? And the Jewish leaders did too? And the women? And five hundred people all at once? (See 1 Cor. 15:6). For this theory to work, pretty much everyone has to be hallucinating and/or crazy. And a person can choose to not believe in Christ’s resurrection, but the Scriptures and other nonbiblical accounts do not support the idea that the disciples were crazy, nor that they were hallucinating anything.
#4: The Stolen Body Theory
The Theory Explained: This theory says that Jesus’ disciples stole the body of Jesus.
A Few Problems with That: First, the disciples were scared out of their minds and deeply troubled at Jesus’ death. The bravest of them, Peter, had denied even knowing Jesus for fear of being killed like Him. They had all abandoned Him back in the garden of Gethsemane, and following the crucifixion they were hiding behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). To steal Jesus’ dead body would require bravery, and their bravery was clearly (and understandably!) at an all-time low.
Second, if they all had worked together to somehow steal the dead body of Jesus, how did they all manage to keep it a secret and proclaim that Jesus had risen, even unto their deaths? Many people are willing to die for a cause they believe in (whether it’s true or false)…but would ten of these men be willing to be brutally murdered (and the eleventh man, John, exiled) for what they knewto be a lie?
Third, again, how would they have overcome the guards—those highly trained killing machine Roman soldiers?
…So there you have it. Four false theoriesand some of their most glaring problems.
Sadly, people will come up with anything they can to avoid belief in Jesus. There’s also the strange “twin theory” (that Jesus had a nowhere-mentioned identical twin who took His place on the cross; by the way, that still does not explain the empty tomb), the disgusting theory that “dogs at the body,” and even the absurd theory that Jesus was a super-advanced alien who beamed Himself out of the tomb.
But hear this and believe it: the Resurrection of our Lord is a true fact of history!And by God’s grace, we have heard and believeit!(Rom. 10:17): Jesus Christ the Son of God truly lived, died, and rose from the dead for our justification (Rom. 4:25). And thanks be to God! Because if He hadn’t, “your faith is futile and you are still in your sins”! (1 Cor. 15:17). “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). Because He is risen, we are forgiven of all our sins, heaven is our home, and our bodies will be raised to immortality on the Last Day when He returns. Thanks be to God. Believe it, rejoice in it, and share it! He is risen!!