What Do You Do With An Empty Tomb?
Easter 2008 Message
This short message comes at the end of a four part skit that will interlace our Easter Service. The skit is entitled: Deuce Montana and the Adventure of the Empty Tomb. The skit is simply an illustration of the Bridge or Steps to Peace With God (Billy Graham) with two adventurers trying to get from one side of a canyon to the other to investigate a tomb that they discover. Eventually that find a “cross” and use if as a bridge, only to find that the tomb is empty. As they go along one of the explorers explains the meaning of the tomb, a cross, and ultimately the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection. For a text of the skit email: paul@churchforfamily.com.
Message:
That’s why we celebrate Easter! The tomb, the grave, is empty! Jesus died on a cross; He was seen dead. Jesus was buried in a tomb, a burial cave, for three days and then He came back to life. He resurrected and walked out of that tomb leaving it empty?
So what do you do with an empty tomb?
Tombs are for burial; tombs are for the dead, but what do you do with an empty tomb? More specifically, what do you do with Jesus’ empty tomb?
Listen to the account of the Resurrection as written by Luke in the New Testament:
“But very early on Sunday morning£ the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” Luke 24:1-8
Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened.
What do you do with an empty tomb?
ONE THING YOU CAN DO WITH AN EMPTY TOMB IS TRY TO IGNORE IT.
Ignoring an empty tomb is tough. Some years ago a misguided historian came up with the theory that when those women went to the tomb on Sunday morning they accidentally went to the wrong tomb. Of course to actually believe that explanation you would have to ignore the angels explaining to the women what happened and also assume that when the other disciples (John and Peter) went to see for themselves that they also went to the wrong tomb.
For centuries people have tried to simply ignore the empty tomb. To a lot of people, whether or not Jesus rose from the dead means nothing to them. They simply ignore it. What does it matter to me?
Here’s why it matters: because the empty tomb is a major proof that Jesus is still alive and that He has power over death. But let’s go on…
What can you do with an empty tomb?
You can deny the empty tomb!
That’s what the early Jewish leaders did. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish court that illegally sentenced Jesus to death on the cross tried to deny the empty tomb.
First they tried to protect the tomb. If you read the resurrection account in Matthew you find that the religious leaders when to the Roman Governor, Pilate, asking that he put a Roman guard unit at the tomb of Jesus.
“Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.” Matthew 27:63-64
Later after the resurrection those guards reported back to the Jewish leaders what had happened:
As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today. Matthew 28:11-15
The guards knew what had happened; they were eyewitnesses to the resurrection. They were so close to the resurrection that it literally frightened them into fainting! But when they told their superiors they were ordered to deny the resurrection and tell an implausible trumped up story. By the way, if the story the guards were supposed to tell had actually been the truth, the solders would have been killed on the spot; to lose a prisoner (even a dead one) was punishable by death if you were a Roman soldier!
So the soldiers denied the empty tomb, the resurrection, for the sake of a little money. The religious leaders denied the empty tomb for the sake of their power and position.
Today, many people are still denying the empty tomb. They deny the resurrection of Jesus because they are afraid of losing their position, their power or their stuff.
You can deny the empty tomb if you choose, but that doesn’t make it any less true. You can ignore the empty tomb, but that doesn’t make it go away.
Something else you can do with an empty tomb:
You can try to fill it up again!
There is a philosophy today (it’s actually as old as this earth) that goes something like this…
“If there is no resurrection, ‘Let’s feast and drink for tomorrow we die!’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:32)
We call that philosophy Epicureanism or Hedonism: live for today, enjoy life because what’s next is at best unimportant. Don’t worry about eternity. Ignore life after death. God doesn’t matter to us.
So…eat, drink, and be merry – for tomorrow we may die!
That was the philosophy of many at the time of the resurrection and it’s the way a lot of people live today. We try to fill the empty places in our lives and souls with STUFF.
Did you ever wonder what they put in tombs? Dead things.
Did you ever look around at most of the stuff we try to fill our lives with? It’s mostly dead stuff! We try to fill our lives with stuff that’s just that – stuff.
The only thing that ultimately fills us are living things – people and God!
What do you do with an empty tomb?
You can try to ignore it.
You can try to deny it.
You can try to fill it.
But, you could determine to investigate the empty tomb. That’s what some did!
Early on Sunday morning,£ while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. John 20:1-9
They didn’t just sit around, they went to investigate the claim of an empty tomb.
If you are here this morning and you are wondering about this whole empty tomb thing; you’re trying to figure out how the resurrection fits into your life, let me encourage you to take some time to investigate.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most validated events in all of history. There is more proof that Jesus rose from the dead than that Shakespeare ever existed! The empty tomb is undeniable, impossible to ignore and trying to fill your life with anything but the Risen Jesus will prove to be nothing but dead stuff.
Investigate the empty tomb. Investigate who Jesus was and what He said. Then look at what He offers you: acceptance, forgiveness, and His eternal life.
There’s one final thing you can do with an empty tomb:
You can accept it – Receive it.
Look back at the passage we just read from the New Testament book of John, it says…
“he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. John 20:8-9
After investigating the truth of the tomb, the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he simply believed. He saw and believed. It “clicked”. All of the things Jesus had taught before the cross, all of the other things he had read in the Old Testament – they all began to make sense.
Accepting Jesus Christ makes sense of everything else in this life!
Accepting Jesus Christ is the beginning place to bringing real eternal meaning to your life.
What can you do with an empty tomb? What should you do with an empty tomb?
The real question is what should you do with the One who walked out of that tomb and made it empty?
Accept Him.
For more information on this or any churchforfamily.com series contact the author at paul@churchforfamily.com
