Jesus' Tomb

Jesus' Tomb

Jesus Tomb

Tomb of Jesus

The details of the Biblical tomb of Jesus ("Jesus' tomb") precisely match those mentioned in the Bible, as follows.

The Bible says Jesus was buried in a tomb near Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified: "So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby" (John 19:42). Jesus' tomb is located just 90 meters northwest of Golgotha.

The Bible says Jesus was laid in a tomb "hewn out of the rock" (Mark 15:46). As you can see above, Jesus' tomb is hewn out of the rock.

The Bible says Jesus was laid in "a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid" (John 19:41). Below is the loculus (burial place) inside Jesus' tomb, where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid the body of Jesus. Notice how the rock facade slopes into a 'pillow' at the head (left) but drops off at a right angle at the opposite (right) end. On the other side of Jesus' tomb (under the area shown below) is a second loculus whose rock 'pillow' had not yet been smoothed, indicating that the tomb was almost but not quite finished and therefore new when Jesus' body was laid in it.

Jesus Tomb

The Bible says that a "large stone" was rolled "against the door of the tomb" (Matthew 27:60). The 1.5 liter (50 ounce) water bottle in the groove running along the front facade of Jesus' tomb gives an idea of the size of the stone that was rolled along it to enclose the tomb.

Jesus TombCould a wounded but still-alive Jesus have escaped from the tomb on His own?

Rolling the stone by pushing it from behind would have been a struggle; rolling it away from inside the tomb with nothing to grip onto by a mortally wounded man would not have been possible.

Could Jesus' disciples have come and freed Him?

To eliminate that possibility, or more precisely to eliminate the possibility of Jesus' disciples taking His body from the tomb, the chief priests and Pharisees asked the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to "seal" Jesus' tomb and post guards, and Pilate granted their requests. Even if Jesus' disciples had dared to come to the tomb, they would have been no match against armed Roman soldiers who would have defended the tomb with their lives since failing to defend the Roman seal would have meant their own execution.

Any speculation of Jesus escaping from the tomb also needs to explain how someone whose back had been shredded by Roman flogging, whose wrists and feet had been punctured by large nails, whose shoulders had dislocated on the cross, whose torso and vital organs had been pierced by a spear, and who had been confirmed dead by multiple Roman soldiers - trained killers - returned to life in the first place.

Jesus Tomb

Above is the plaque on the door of the tomb that quotes the angels' words in Luke 24:6 about Jesus' resurrection: "He is not here, for He is risen."

How can we be sure that Jesus rose from the dead?

Despite all that Jesus said and did, if He had died and stayed dead, Christianity wouldn't even have started. Consider things from the perspective of Jesus' disciples. They followed Jesus around for three years and saw amazing miracles. Yet when Jesus was crucified, all but one of them fled and hid, fearing that they too would be arrested and killed.

But just six weeks later, they marched up to a massive crowd in Jerusalem and confidently declared that Jesus, "whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36), "this Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:32). Something happened during those six weeks - something so dramatic in fact, that it confirmed their faith in Jesus being God more than all of His miracles (see Tabgha) that they had witnessed during the previous three years.

But what could be more dramatic than seeing Jesus heal the sick, make the blind see, feed thousands, calm the storm, and walk on water?

This time, it wasn't what Jesus did, but what He couldn't do: Jesus couldn't stay dead. During those six weeks, they had seen and talked with the physically resurrected Jesus, who proved His deity and power over death and even ate in front of them to prove that they weren't seeing a ghost.

Consider things also from the perspective of those who heard the disciples' declaration. The last thing they wanted to hear was that Jesus, whose death they had called for, is back and that He is their "Lord" (Acts 2:36). If Jesus hadn't risen from the dead, they would have yelled back, "What are you talking about? Jesus is dead and we know where his body is buried!"

But instead of challenging the disciples, they listened in silence, and then 3,000 of them became believers right then and there (Acts 2:41).

Why?

The only possible explanation is that they couldn't deny the truth of what Jesus' disciples had declared: Jesus indeed had risen from the dead and thereby proven His deity.