Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna
Monday, May 9, 2016
Topic: The empty tomb 36
Reading: Matthew 27:57-66, 28:1-15
Scripture: He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee. (Luke 24:6)
Note: The historicity of the empty tomb is impacted by three main factors: The Jerusalem factor, the enemy factor and the testimony of the women. The dedicated and avowed enemies of the truth of the empty tomb have since time immemorial been very unrelenting in their singular pursuit of making mockery of Christianity, attacking the evidence of the empty tomb and trying to undermine the confidence of adherents of the Christian faith through various hypothesis that appeals to the intellect and the vain imaginations of the crusaders of doubt in our generation.
The most popular among these hypothesis that seems to appeal to the intellect of the unsaved and doubters are: The swoon hypothesis, vision hypothesis, stolen body hypothesis and Christ’s crucifixion, which is contemptuously and derogatorily referred to by the attackers as the Cruci-fiction.
Having sufficiently addressed the stolen body hypothesis, which was primarily started by the Jewish religious rulers as a desperate attempt to deflect the evidence of the truth of the resurrection from its frightening reality and its consequent backlash on their positions as well as the safety of their own lives, to the unfortunate, frightened disciples as a bunch of discredited and desperate followers trying to clutch at straw, after the massive disappointment, failure and death of their hitherto powerful Master.
The shameless collusion of the religious rulers with hardcore, blood thirsty Roman soldiers that witnessed the truth of the resurrection, saw a quick turnaround of illicit money changing hands from the rulers to the greedy, ambivalent soldiers witnessing a brief survival of this fraudulent hypothesis until the outpouring of the Spirit on the disciples on the day of Pentecost dispelled any further lingering doubts on the minds of the unsuspecting public, who trooped eagerly in repentance crying for redemption in the name of the risen Jesus Christ.
Food for thought: The truth is one. It cannot be drowned through a myriad of man-made wishful hypothesis.
Declaration: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
© Author: Rev Fred Aboe
