The Empty Tomb Was Real
Month 12: Risen & Sending · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: John 20:1-9
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9 For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Memory Verse
“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.”— Matthew 28:6 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 2 Corinthians 5-7
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. ("If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" — and God has given us "the ministry of reconciliation," pleading with the world to be reconciled to Him.)The Heart of It
John gives us the report of an eyewitness who could not stop noticing details. Mary Magdalene comes "while it was still dark" and finds the stone taken away. So she runs to Peter and John. The two men race to the tomb. John is younger, and he gets there first, but he stops at the entrance. Peter is bolder, and he goes straight in. And here John records something a forger would never invent. The burial cloths were lying there. And "the handkerchief that had been around His head" was folded by itself, in a place by itself (). Grave robbers don't tidy up. A body carried off would take the wrappings with it. Instead the linens lay collapsed and empty, as if the body had simply passed through them, with the face-cloth set neatly aside. John "saw and believed" (v. 8). The evidence was sitting right there on the stone shelf.
This is why "Why We Believe" matters. Our hope is not a feeling we work up. It is a fact we can examine. The tomb was empty. And notice that everyone agreed it was empty. The disciples said so. And the authorities never produced a body to prove them wrong. Instead they paid the guards to spread a story (). If the body had still been in the tomb, the whole Christian movement could have been crushed in an afternoon. People could have simply walked down the street and pointed at it. No one ever did, because no one could. The empty tomb is one of the best-attested facts of the ancient world. Even Jesus' enemies admitted it. We do not believe in the resurrection in spite of the evidence. We believe because of it.
Around the Table
Jesus' friends ran to the tomb and found it empty! The cloths He was wrapped in were lying there, all by themselves, but Jesus was gone.
Let's do it: Have a fun race across the room like Peter and John, then "look inside" and say, "Empty! He's alive!"
John noticed the head-cloth was folded neatly by itself. Robbers in a hurry don't fold things. This looked calm and on purpose.
Let's talk: What are some little clues in this story that show Jesus really rose and wasn't just taken away?
Even Jesus' enemies admitted the tomb was empty. That's why they made up a story that the disciples stole the body. They could not just show the body, because they didn't have it.
Let's go deeper: If the authorities could have ended Christianity by showing a dead body, why do you think they never did?
💬 Conversation Starter
Have you ever solved a mystery by spotting a clue everyone else missed?— John spotted the folded grave-cloths, and he "saw and believed."
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says, "The disciples just stole the body": Kindly point out three problems. First, the disciples were terrified and hiding. They were not the sort to overpower an armed Roman guard. Second, a stolen body doesn't explain hundreds of people later seeing Jesus alive (). Third, and most telling, eleven men don't suffer torture and die one by one for a story they know they made up. People will die for what they believe is true. They will not die for what they know is a lie. As urges, we give this answer "with gentleness and respect." We do not say it to win an argument. We say it to point a real person to a real risen Lord.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Gary Habermas has spent decades building what is sometimes called the "minimal facts" approach. It is a short list of events surrounding the resurrection that even skeptical scholars accept. Jesus died by crucifixion. The disciples sincerely believed they saw Him alive. The church's chief persecutor, Paul, converted after he claimed to meet the risen Christ. So did Jesus' own doubting brother, James. And the tomb was empty. You don't have to win the debate by force. You can simply lay these stones in a row and let your older children watch the weight build up. Teach them that Christianity is a faith with its sleeves rolled up. It welcomes investigation rather than fearing it. The angel himself said, "Come, see the place." A faith that says "come and look" is a faith you can hand your children without flinching.
Draws on: Gary Habermas & Michael Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that the empty tomb is real. Help us believe with our minds and with our hearts. Give us courage to gently tell others why we believe. In Jesus' name, amen."
Our faith is not a wish. The tomb was truly empty, and the risen Lord invites us to come and see.