What happened?

I think the Resurrection of Jesus is probably the most studied miracle in history.

There are countless books and research papers on the Resurrection. It is difficult to find out how many books have been written in it as it has been a topic for centuries. But just try to search for “resurrection of Jesus” on any search engine or online books stores. You will find a lot.

Resurrection sounds so unbelievable, but why so many books and so much time people have spent on understanding, investigating, refuting, or supporting it?

Let us really look into what the Resurrection incident is. Then we will see the main arguments from people who claim it actually happened, and from people who said it never happened.

What happened?

The gospel of Mark, the second book in the New Testament of the Bible, describes one of the earliest reports of the Resurrection:

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Jesus was crucified on Friday. He was laid into a new tomb before Friday evening. The “Sabbath” described in the passage means Saturday. The people in Israel during those days were forbidden to do work on “Sabbath”. Therefore, the women including Mary Magdalene had to wait until the Sabbath was over before they could go to anoint Jesus’ body. Anointing a deceased person’s body was part of a proper burial by then.

The tomb that Jesus was laid belongs to Joseph of Arimathea. He asked the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, for Jesus’ body after he was dead on the cross. Then he laid the body into his own tomb that was not too far from the place of crucifixion. The gospel of Mark describes,

“So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb”.

That is where we start our discussion: the Tomb.