Is There Life After Death? The Empty Tomb Of Jesus Examined Series

“When Corrie Ten Boom of The Hiding Place was a little girl in Holland, her first realization of death came after a visit to the home of a neighbor who had died. It impressed her that some day her parents would also die. Corrie's father comforted her with words of wisdom. "Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?" "Why, just before we get on the train," she replied. "Exactly," her father said, "and our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need--just in time." -Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 30.

Will you have the strength when the day comes for you to move from this world to another? We can trust the Father, that he will give us the strength we need in the moment, just like Corrie ten boom was taught by her dad.

That’s why it’s unwise to look into the future and worry about what might come. Sometimes I’ll be very tired after a long week, and I’ll sit and worry about the next week: How can I make it? But the next morning I wake up with the strength I need for that day. Then the next day, same thing. And on and on it goes. He gives us the strength we need for the moment. But don’t think about the future and stress, you have not strength yet for that, yet, in time, it will come.

Can a human live beyond the grave? That is the question we consider today. Many in our world today believe after death, there is nothing, life is simply over. People live that way. They expect no life after death. So they live how they please in this life. They do whatever they want, betting on the fact that there is nothing coming later.

They live in fear of death. In fact, the word of God says, from Hebrews 2:14-15, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Jesus Christ is the way to life beyond the grave. He frees those who are held in slavery to the fear of death.

I don’t fear death anymore. I know where I’m going. I know that there is life after the grave.

Why? Because it all started with Jesus Christ, the first man to rise from the dead. He showed us he could do it, so he showed us he can and will make it happen for us as well.

We scope in to Mark chapter 16, we’ve just seen Jesus betrayed and crucified. He was shown to be dead. And Joseph of Arimathea requested his body, to give him a proper burial.

Joseph of Arimathea had placed Jesus in his own tomb and the stone had been rolled in front of the entry to the tomb.

Many have wondered where Jesus’ tomb is in Israel. Many believe Jesus’ tomb is located at the site of the holy church of the sepulche, the church built around what was believed to be the site of the tomb where Jesus was laid. It was first discovered in about the 4th century AD by Constantine the emperor of Rome who ordered that the location be found.

But there are other sites where Jesus tomb could’ve been. Some believe it’s the garden tomb in Jerusalem. Still others believe it was the Talpiot tomb in the old city. W

We see in Mark 16 it says this, verses 1-3: “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. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

Jesus had been crucified on a Friday. It was the “day of preparation.” On Saturday the jews would practice the sabbath. And now it’s Sunday, the first day of the week.

It’s very early in the morning, just after sunrise. Three women, the women most important to Jesus’ ministry, his mom Mary, Mary Magdalene, the woman who was a prostitute but became a devout follower of Jesus, and Salome, who was the mother of James and John two of Jesus followers.

They are detail oriented. The men are hiding away somewhere trembling for fear of the roman and Jewish authorities. The women are concerned with anointing the body of Jesus.