What is the core of the Christian faith?
One of the best places to find the answer to that question is in 1 Cor. 15:1-8 “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
The “core” of Christianity is the GOSPEL and Paul lays out a spectacular synopsis of the GOSPEL in these 8 verses. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the core of the Christian faith.
With that in mind, what if I told you that the GOSPEL contained not only the EMPTY tomb, but another EMPTY that was just as important and powerful? Would that surprise you?
To uncover this other EMPTY, we first need to start with the burial of Jesus. Here is Kermit Zarley’s blended account with every detail from all 4 of the Gospels. “With Pilate’s permission, Joseph came, took down the body and wrapped it in the linen cloth. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of clean linen cloth. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, Joseph’s own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. The Sabbath was about to begin, and since the tomb was nearby, they took Jesus’ body and laid it there, where no one had ever been laid. Then they rolled a big stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.”
Jesus’ burial was in accordance with Jewish customs of the day, similar to what we read concerning Lazarus’ burial in Jn. 11:43-44: “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’ ”
Jesus was covered with an inordinate amount of spices (75 lbs.) because of the splendor of who He was. Normally only 1-2 pounds would be used. Then, like Lazarus, His dead body was first wrapped round and round with strips of linen and then a burial cloth placed round His head.
On RESURRECTION Sunday morning, after the women had witnessed the EMPTY tomb, they ran to tell the disciples. When they heard the women’s testimony, Peter bolted out the door, heading for the tomb to check things out for himself. John also sprinted to the tomb, but even faster than Peter, so he arrived first. Peter entered the EMPTY tomb fist, then John.
Zarley’s blended account: “Peter and the other disciple, however, got up and started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying there by themselves, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. He went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.”
Notice that the EMPTY tomb was only one EMPTY that stunned them. There was another EMPTY that hit them both even harder than the EMPTY tomb. What was it? The EMPTY GRAVE CLOTHING.
The EMPTY tomb could just have meant that someone stole the body. The Romans thought that made enough sense that it was the lie they adopted. But no tomb thief would or could EMPTY the linen strips. They would have to unwrap Jesus’ body just to steal the body by itself. But that isn’t what Peter and John found. They found the wrapped linen strips EMPTY. And also no grave robber would carefully fold up the burial cloth that covered His head. The EMPTY GRAVE CLOTHS and COVERING were an even more powerful EMPTY than the tomb.
So why all of this emphasis on EMPTY? The EMPTY tomb and the EMPTY grave clothing are 2 of the proofs that legitimize the resurrection of Jesus. The core of Christianity is the GOSPEL, which is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Two proofs of that resurrection are EMPTY. So it can be said, “YES, the core of the Christian faith is EMPTY X 2.” God bless.
Mike “Pawdad” Sublett, Pastor @ Hi-Land Christian Church, Pampa, Texas 79065, 630-730-8015
