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The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes once said, “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

This week, we have examined the scene at the empty tomb of Jesus. Only three possibilities exist. First, Jesus didn’t die and escaped. The evidence refutes this theory with numerous facts. The second possibility is someone took the body from the tomb. However, the enemies of Jesus wanted the body present and placed a guard and a seal on the tomb. Jesus’ disciples couldn’t steal the body because of the guard. And the sealed tomb kept the guards from stealing the body.

Today, we look at a final fact that refutes the theory the disciples took the body. Look at the change in their behavior. They fled at Jesus’ arrest and cowered in discouragement after his death. But after Sunday, they boldly proclaimed Jesus in the face of persecution. Hauled before the authorities who forbade their preaching, Acts 5:29-30 says, ‘Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead–whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.’ (NIV 1984) These men eventually died for their faith. Would they die for a lie? Would stealing the body cause this change in their behavior? No. We are left with only one possibility. Jesus rose from the dead.

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Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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Many plays and stories have three acts. A problem develops. The problem gets worse. And finally, the hero solves the problem.

When we examine the empty tomb of Jesus, most things have two states. First, how does the item appeared at the end of the crucifixion? And second, how does it appeared three days later? However, the guards at the tomb display three stages or acts.

First, they are the professional soldiers guarding the sealed tomb as Matthew 27:66 says. Then on Sunday, Matthew 28:4 tells us the guards were so afraid “they shook and became like dead men.” (NIV 1984) Finally, the guards reported to the chief priests about the events they witnessed on Sunday. Matthew 28:12-15 tells us ‘When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.’ (NIV 1984)

What could cause Roman soldiers to go from competent, to scared stiff, to bribed liars?  Only one thing, they witnessed the resurrection of Jesus.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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Where do you keep your valuables? Many people rent safe deposit boxes at a bank. The bank guards, security systems and locks make it difficult to steal items in the bank vault. Bank security reminds me of the security at the empty tomb of Jesus.

Yes, Jesus’ tomb had security. The Jewish leaders were afraid the disciples would steal his body. They knew Jesus promised to rise again. So, they asked Pilate for security measures. Matthew 27:66 says, “They went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” (NIV 1984)

To seal the tomb the Romans stretched a cord from the closed stone to the wall of the tomb and anchored it is place with a large amount of wax or clay. A pattern representing the Roman governor was pressed into the lumps of wax.

I know, it doesn’t sound very secure, does it? It’s certainly not the same as a vault door. But the seal prevented the guards from looting the grave or stealing the body. Breaking the seal violated Roman law. The seal provided the ability to audit the trustworthiness of the guards, as well as, defer others by declaring the tomb closed by the governor. Anyone breaking the seal faced Roman wrath. If Jesus died and no one moved his body, how do we explain the empty tomb? Well, he rose from the dead.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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Have you ever seen the carnival game where someone uses a sledge hammer to hit a target on the ground to launch a weight up a rod in an attempt to ring a bell? It takes strength to smack the target hard enough to ring the bell.

Strength is also important in our examination of the empty tomb. One detail required great strength. Matthew 27:60 says that after Joseph buried Jesus, “He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.” (NIV 1984) Tombs often had a rolling cover, like a large stone disc set on edge. It rolled in a track that guided it over the door. The language used in Mark indicates the track led downhill, making closing the tomb easier than opening it. So Joseph’s strength was enough to close the tomb.

But listen to John 20:1, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.” (NIV 1984) The word removed used here, and the description in Luke’s account, indicate the stone wasn’t simply rolled back up the track enough to open the door. The stone had been carried away, removed from the tomb.

Here again, this would have been impossible for Jesus to accomplish if he’d simply fainted on the cross and revived in the tomb. The power of the resurrection moved the stone.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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In one of my favorite detective shows, the main character often notices a small detail at the crime scene. The early theories about the crime do not explain that one, nagging fact. He doesn’t rest until he understands how the detail occurred, often leading him to a different suspect, the true murderer.

As we examine the empty tomb of Jesus, we have to understand a nagging detail, namely, Jesus was prepared for burial. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body from the cross. John 19:40 says, “Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” (NIV 1984) Earlier verses tell us that they used 75 pounds of spices, not a light dusting. The strips of cloths were probably about a foot wide. They wrapped the body, placing spices between the layers of cloth. Some of the spices probably had a sticky consistency, holding the cloth to the body and each layer of wrapping to the next.

Why is this fact important? It proves again that Jesus was dead. He could not have revived in the tomb and escaped the wrappings. But more importantly, all the cloth wrapping lay exactly where Jesus’ body had laid, but were empty, flat. Only the face covering was in a different place. How did this happen?  Jesus rose from the dead.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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A common plot device in mysteries is the impossible crime. One of the most used devices is the murder inside a locked room. The detective has to determine how the murderer entered the room and then left it locked, if it can only be locked from the inside. These puzzles stump the detective until he or she has the “aha moment.”

When we look at the death and resurrection of Jesus, we must examine the tomb. Luke 23:53 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and “wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.” (NIV 1984)

The tombs of Jesus’ day had a low doorway that entered a tiny room. The body would be placed on a shelf, often carved from the rock on one side. After the body decayed, the bones would be place into boxes or in niches in the back or sides of the tomb.

Why is the tomb important? Because it is further evidence that Jesus was dead. He would not have been placed in the tomb otherwise. Also, tombs only had one entrance. The body of Jesus could only leave the same way it entered. In fact, when news came to the disciples that Jesus was alive, where did they run? To the tomb. They found it empty, evidence of his resurrection.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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Do you like who-done-it stories? I enjoy watching mysteries and police shows. When the detectives arrive at the scene of the crime, they examine the scene for evidence, trying to understand what happened. The forensic team members examine everything in the greatest detail and the coroner examines the body.

This week, the podcast will do something similar. We will examine the scene of the resurrection of Jesus. Many doubt it occurred. But what does the evidence say? Is there reason to believe Jesus rose? In order to do this, we must examine seven things as they appeared at the end of the crucifixion, as well as how they changed just a couple of days later.

The first item we’ll examine is the body of Jesus. It was lowered from the cross and judged dead by his executioners. He had been tortured by scourging, carried the cross, then nailed to it for hours. He even hung an extended time after he stopped breathing. The soldiers rammed a spear into his chest cavity to ensure his death. These facts are known. What must be determined is why did his body disappear. Rather than solving a crime, we need to determine if a miracle occurred.

After the cross, we have the dead body of Jesus. But on Sunday, his body is missing from the tomb and people claim he has appeared to them alive. Their witness is the first reason to believe in the resurrection.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.