Mystery of the Empty Tomb

“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, unto a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him…but some doubted.” Matthew 28:16


Not even Poe could have concocted a narrative to rival the mystery surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus. The enigma and significance of the empty tomb still baffles us today. Is it myth or fact?

Let’s take a little stroll through Christ’s Cemetery on St. Simons Island, Georgia. It’s early, the first day of the week, a cool, sunny day. Spring is abundant. Our spirits soar.

Bare limbs blossom in colors: green, red, pink, white. Daffodils decorate the grounds. The meditation garden is ablaze in watercolors of azaleas. Spring is making its resurgence after a comatose winter.

We come upon a crowd gathered around a fresh mound of red clay. The scene shocks us. There, in front of our eyes is an open grave. The heavy vault lid has been removed. Inside is an empty coffin.

The group murmurs in low, hushed tones. Someone asks, “Have you heard the rumor?” We reply, “What rumor?”

They repeat the story. “We arrived here early and saw two diaphanous apparitions in shining garments sitting on the edge of this vault. They seemed to speak, but no sounds emanated. We were afraid.”

“Yet we all recall hearing a voice say, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.’”

“They then disappeared. We’re still confused and a bit frightened. We were left here asking each other, What does this mean?”

How would we react to such an event?

As we approach Easter with its pageantry, its drama, its ideals, its passion, its emotion, it’s easy to become one of the crowd. There’s a lot to synthesize. As in year’s previous, it leaves us again with mixed emotions---hopeful, maybe confused, but often doubting and going along with the crowd.

Like nature, we yearn for renewal, too. Not just at Easter, but daily, to leave the tomb of self and experience the ‘more’ we know is out there but somehow seems just out of reach. Tennyson expressed our feelings with lines from In Memoriam, his epic poem: “That men may rise on stepping stones of their dead selves to higher things.”

But how do we capture the essence of resurrection? How can we allow it to regenerate our own lives? Even with the mention of the word we sense the feeling of incredulity. It’s difficult to imagine the reality of God’s promise.

We have stood at the red-clay gravesites of too many friends and family members, not to mention witnessing the ravaged consequences of violence in our streets and the blood of countrymen that cries from the dust of other lands.

But for now we’re looking down into this empty coffin. Doubt takes control of our minds as it leaps to plausible conclusions to this conundrum. Grave robbers, somebody says. But who? Friends, family? But why? And what would they do with the body?

Slowly we all disperse, leaving this strange spectacle of an empty grave as we found it. No answers, only questions and speculations, off to repeat to others the details of this extraordinary event.

Now here we are this week, another Easter, another opportunity to vicariously re-live the drama of Jesus’ resurrection. Are we any closer to an explanation of the empty tomb today?

Oh, yes, we want to believe it’s real, not an elaborate myth like that portrayed in Coppola’s film, Viva Zapata. Hollywood contrived an interesting parallel when Brando’s character, Emiliano Zapata, a revolutionary, was murdered as a heretic by the ruling junta. His dead body was displayed, then it disappeared. He morphed into a myth, his resurrection a living fable. Only it was a movie.

Our minds struggle to grasp this ephemeral concept of life after death. Logical conclusions evade us. But then someone mentions a word…faith. Our ears perk up. Tell us more. Help us understand this evanescent miracle of resurrection.

We want to believe. Yet we find ourselves like the man who asked Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son. Jesus told him that if he could believe, all things were possible. This father’s words are our own: “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.”

Easter is our opportunity to allow faith to blossom again and join the Heavenly Choir in singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, “He is risen indeed.”

Bud Hearn
March 25, 2016