Grace peace and mercy from God the Father and our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the significance of the empty tomb? Have you ever really given it serious thought? There are people who have invested considerable time and energy into the significance of the empty tomb.

For academics on the side of unbelief there are numerous theories presented to explain away the empty tomb. You may have heard of the most prominent ones:

The "Body Snatcher" Theory
The "Wrong Tomb" Theory
The "Swoon" Theory
The "Legend" Theory
The "Hallucination" Theory
The "Contradictory Gospel Accounts" Theory

For each theory theologians and believing academics have refuted the theories from various perspectives. Physicians have validated the outcome of the horrendous suffering of scourging and hanging on a cross. Physicians are able to explain the water mixed with blood flowing from the pierced side of Jesus. Medical science is confident that the man Jesus actually did die on the cross.

Legal analysis of the testimony found in the gospels show that accounts are in harmony with one another. The analysis included the context and common phrases of the time period. From a legal perspective the testimony concerning the discovery of the empty tomb and activities soon after are credible.

Perhaps we could say prophesies about the messiah and the events surrounding Jesus' death make the empty tomb significant.

Just looking at the events of the Passion Week we could refer to these passages in Psalms:

You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (Ps 16:10)
he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. (Ps 34:20)
They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. (Ps 22:18)
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
"He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." (Ps 22:7-8)

Or this verse from Zechariah:

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zech 12:10)

And these passages from Isaiah:

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. (Is 53:9)
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Is 53:4-5)

Maybe its Jesus' own prophetic words that He would suffer die and rise again. The women that first Easter morning had heard His words. Like the disciples His words didn't make sense they had dismissed them. That is until the words of the two men proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus to the women by the empty tomb. Then they remembered His words and they were transformed by them. Their sorrow turned to joy as they rushed back to share the good news with the disciples.

Maybe these prophesies make the empty tomb significant in that they were fulfilled in the Passion Week and the first Easter morning.

I was once asked by an elderly man from Norway what could I point to that makes me believe Jesus rose from the dead. The gentleman was a scientist and worked at the heavy water plant in Norway during World War II. He definitely had doubts about Christianity. My reply was the activity after the discovery of the empty tomb. After Jesus appeared to the disciples they were no longer hiding in fear. They were fearless, especially Peter and John with their bold teaching in the temple court yard. The disciples experienced something remarkable to have undergone such a significant transformation.

I expected a challenge from this elderly gentlemen but he didn't challenge me. In fact he dropped the subject at that point and returned to his experiences during the war and immigrating to the United States. I wonder if the Holy Spirit reached out and touched him at that point.

Or maybe the words of a devout atheist can tell us about the significance of the empty tomb. During a trip to Portland, Oregon, noted atheist Christopher Hitchens laid down some seriously good theology. Hitchens is the author of the bestselling book God Is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything. Since the book's publication in 2007, Hitchens has toured the country debating a series of religious leaders, including some well-known evangelical thinkers. In Portland he was interviewed by a Unitarian minister. Here are the opening comments to the interview:

The Minister: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the Scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Hitchens brings the significance of the empty tomb into perspective. He is living and breathing his belief or rather his unbelief while many Christians don't live their belief. There are many like the minister who claims to be Christian however dismisses the possibility that Jesus is the Savoir of the world, that He was both God and man that he did die for our sakes and rose again in victory.

The world is a troubling place.

Even for those who do believe there are struggles with belief to challenging for us to overcome on our own. The Holy Spirit came into this world to open our eyes to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the truth of the empty tomb.

Even though I believe, everyday I fail in many ways to do what Jesus commands. I even fail in ways I don't even realize. Our lives are full of failings large and small but Jesus doesn't care about failings. Even though our hands have His blood on them Jesus says I love you.

Everyday I struggle with the futility of life in this world. So many problems surround me and I don't have enough time and resources to fix more than a few. Jesus doesn't want me to fret and worry. He says cast your earthly cares aside trust me I will take care of your needs.

Everyday I struggle with the finality of this world. I will leave this world and be nothing more than a fading memory. I was born with nothing and can take nothing with me when I die. Jesus says believe in Me I will share eternity with you in heaven.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is 53:6)

Ultimately that empty tomb means we have freedom from our failings, from the futility, and from the finality of this world. The empty tomb means that someone came forward to do what we could not. Jesus Christ true God and true man made the sacrifice that broke the chains of sin and death.

The empty tomb means we have the hope of eternal life through Him.

Hallelujah Christ is Risen!!!