Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Topic: The empty tomb 23
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 doubts about the historicity of the empty tomb have taken us through the inescapable Jerusalem factor and enemy attestations, the viciousness and fierceness of the latter having endured centuries of debates right from the moment the news of the resurrection broke out.
Historical research is still ongoing regarding the empty tomb saga, attracting attention from theologians of diverse background. This is understandable, considering that the fact of the historicity of the empty tomb strikes at the very heart of the Christian faith. For without Jesus dying for our sins, it meant that we are still in our sins. If the empty tomb narratives were false, that meant the disciples of Jesus Christ succeeded in perpetuating the greatest fraud on humanity in history. That would imply that Jesus really didn’t rise from the dead, and that means there is no hope for Christian believers and we are of all men most to be pitied.
Refreshingly, there is the third testimony of women. The women were the first and chief witnesses of the empty tomb. Due to the lack of respect for women in first century Jewish culture, it was extremely unlikely that if the empty tomb was a myth, the apostles would appeal to women as the chief witnesses to that myth. Instead, they would appeal to men as their primary witnesses. Even in the Gospel of Luke, the empty tomb and the appearance of Jesus to the women was seen as “nonsense” by the disciples (Lk. 24:10-11). Yet, Luke was not afraid to include the women connection that could potentially have signalled the death knell of the truth of the resurrection.
Food for thought: The relegation of the witness, wisdom and contribution of women to our human development since time immemorial, has caused incalculable losses to the human race till date.
Declaration: And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. (Luke 24:11)
© Author: Rev Fred Aboe
