The Empty Tomb: Physical Proof of the Resurrection

I'm Michael link and welcome to the Depositum where we explore the depths of christian theology through ai
 Please note the voices ahead are ai generated. We vet each episode but ask that you listen with both faith and reason
 Let's dive in
 Imagine trying to fake a resurrection
 I mean, um
 You would have to break a roman seal sneak past armed guards and somehow unwrap a body that's practically glued in pitch
 Right, it's uh
 Virtually impossible exactly. So today we're taking a deep dive into the historical reality of the resurrection
 We're looking at the gospel accounts early church commentaries and the catechism of the council of trent to investigate this ultimate
 Locked room mystery. Yeah the physical evidence of the empty tomb and well really the cure for doubt
 Right and to grasp this you the listener you have to mentally stand in jerusalem on that first friday evening
 The man the disciples believed was the messiah is dead
 I mean they are hiding for their lives the mourning women are just suffocating in despair
 I have to interrupt you right there because we really need to establish the absolute stakes here using the catechism of the council of
 Trent. Oh, go ahead. Well as san augustin noted everyone
 Um, even the romans and the pharisees they all agreed jesus truly died
 The entire christian faith hinges entirely on this fact, right?
 There was no dispute about his physical death exactly and look at the precise timing
 He waited until the third day to prove he truly died as a man, right?
 But he rose quickly enough to prove his divine power. Yeah, that makes perfect sense
 And the enemies wanted to ensure he stayed in that tomb
 Let's read the account of that morning in matthew chapter 28 verses one through six
 And in the end of the sabbath when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week
 Came mary magdalene and the other mary to see the sepulcher
 And behold there was a great earthquake
 For an angel of the lord descended from heaven and coming rolled back the stone and sat upon it
 And his countenance was as lightning and as raiment as snow
 And for fear of him the guards were struck with terror and became his dead men
 And the angel answering said to the women fear not you for I know that you see jesus who was crucified
 He is not here for he is risen as he said come and see the place where the lord was laid
 You know notice the irony here saint thomas aquinas analyzes this and points out that the enemy's own actions actually proved the miracle
 Like a modern sealed vault right exactly the massive precautions they took sealing the stone setting armed guards
 Um all of that removed all possibility of deceit, but a broken vault leads to immediate panic
 I mean the guards flee and the chief priests have to resort to a desperate bribe
 Listen to their plot in matthew chapter 28 verses 11 through 15
 Who when they were departed behold some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all things that had been done
 And they being assembled together with the ancients taking counsel gave a great sum of money to the soldiers saying
 Say you his disciples came by night and stole him away when we were asleep
 And if the governor shall hear this we will persuade him and secure you
 So they taking the money did as they were taught and this word was spread abroad among the jews even into this day
 Saint augustine exposes the sheer absurdity of this lie
 I mean think about it
 They brought in men to testify as witnesses to a theft they admit happened while they were asleep
 Right, uh sleeping witnesses exactly if you are unconscious
 How do you know who took the body it completely collapses under its own logic?
 It really does which brings us to the second punch of evidence
 Peter and john raced to the tomb for physical proof. Let's read this specific detail in john chapter 20 verses 5 through 8
 And when he stooped down he saw the linen cloths lying, but yet he went not in
 Then cometh simon peter following him and went into the sepulcher and saw the linen cloths lying
 And the napkin that had been about his head not lying with the linen cloths, but apart wrapped up into one place
 Then that other disciple also went in who came first to the sepulcher
 And he saw and believed
 Those neatly folded linens
 They are the physical proof against the stolen body theory because of the myrrh, right?
 Yes, saint john crsostom notes that the burial myrrh they used acted like pitch
 It made unwrapping a body incredibly difficult. Wow, so it was basically glued on right?
 Thieves working in the dark would not take the time to painstakingly unwrap a sticky corpse and then neatly fold the grave clothes
 No, they would have just grabbed the body and run
 Which brings us to the emotional climax of all this thomas experienced profound trauma and simply refused to believe without tangible proof
 Let's read the climax in john chapter 20 verses 24 through 29
 Now thomas one of the 12 who was called didymus was not with them when jesus came
 The other disciples therefore said to him we have seen the lord but he said to them
 Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails
 And put my hand into his side. I will not believe
 And after eight days again his disciples were within and thomas with them
 Jesus cometh the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said peace be to you
 Then he says to thomas put in thy finger hither and see my hands
 And bring hither thy hand and put it into my side and be not faithless but believing
 Thomas answered and said to him my lord and my god
 Jesus said to him because thou hast seen me thomas thou hast believed
 Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed
 The haydock commentary really helps us unpack why this matters so deeply to the human experience
 How well st. Cyril explains that thomas's intense grief actually
 Excused his initial lack of belief and st. Gregory the great points out that thomas's hesitation was permitted by god permitted
 Like intentionally yes to firmly establish our own minds in faith
 And the catechism of the council of trend anchors this dogmatically right the dogmatic side is crucial here
 It is it states the resurrection confirms our faith which is necessary for justification meaning the process of making us right with god
 Thomas's physical touch provides that irrefragable or you know undeniable proof
 It bridges the historical fact to interior justification exactly it secures the faith of the church entirely
 So if you are listening to this and you are struggling with doubt just know you are in the company of the apostles
 Absolutely christ did not condemn thomas for needing an encounter right he literally stepped through locked doors to give it to him
 And while we cannot physically touch the nail marks today christ's resurrection is what gives us the power to rise to a new
 and spiritual life