04/02/2026
Join us tomorrow at 7PM for our Good Friday Service and on Easter Sunday at 10:30AM, where we will learn more about the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many people find the resurrection of Jesus Christ to be one of the most challenging topics to understand, but it's essential to recognize that it truly happened.
Below is an excerpt from Pastor Tim's most recent article, which discusses one of his four points to prove the validity of the resurrection.
"The Empty Tomb
First, we have the empty tomb. In the three synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—like John, mention Joseph of Arimathea asking for the body of Jesus and placing him in the garden tomb. In the other three gospels, all of them mention that the women saw where the body of Jesus lay. The women went to prepare perfumes, ointments, and spices for the body, but because of the Sabbath that had just begun, waited until Sunday morning. So on Sunday morning, Mary sees the empty tomb, runs and tells John and Peter, and they come and see the empty tomb.
Why is the empty tomb so important? Dead bodies don’t decompose into nothing in a matter of days. The empty tomb is consistent with the Christian message of bodily resurrection. This was not a “spiritual” resurrection. The body was gone.
Some have suggested that maybe the ladies were mistaken, and they went to the wrong tomb. But it wasn’t as if they walked into an empty tomb as if they got the wrong house address. They saw him wrapped in graveclothes and buried on Friday. Then they saw the empty tomb and the grave clothes on Sunday. Jesus was there, and now his body was gone. Not only that, but when Peter and the disciples began preaching that Jesus had raised from the dead, somebody could have checked that the tomb he was laid in was empty.
Others have suggested, like the Jews during Jesus’ day, that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 29:15). (This is a significant admission because the Jews explanation confirms that the tomb was in fact empty.)
It could be mentioned that the tomb was guarded or that the heavy stone sealing the tomb would have been a feat to move and so on. But what I find most compelling to answer this objection is that the disciples have zero motive to steal the body and fabricate a resurrection. None. Zip. Nada.
Jesus promised eternal life, forgiveness of sins, peace with God, new bodies, a kingdom, Eden restored—all of the things ushered in by the Messiah, God’s chosen King. The disciples, if they stole the body to fabricate a hoax, they would have known all of it to be false. Jesus was not the one. His lifeless body lay dead. They were swindled, conned. No eternal life, no forgiveness, no peace with God, no kingdom—Jesus was not the real deal. Does it make any sense that, knowing this, would hatch a plan to tell others Jesus was indeed the Messiah? They would steal the body, ditch it in a common grave without being seen or noticed, and tell the world that he is risen!
It sounds like a great plan! They would be famous! No, they were hated. They would live forever! No, they would be a co**se like their master. They would have power! No, they were outcasts. They would be right with God! No, they would be blasphemers and liars, and God certainly would punish them with eternal fire.
There is no motivation for the disciples. There is no reason for them to lie. There is no advantage to them to fabricate the resurrection. And every single one of them were in on this plan?
The fact that more than a dozen men would go forward with this terrible plan without any motivation is harder to believe than the resurrection!
Some might think the empty tomb is not enough evidence to believe in the resurrection. John 20:8 says that when John entered the tomb, “he saw and believed.” He saw the empty tomb, he saw the place where Jesus had been laid, he saw the grave clothes and the cloth which covered his face. He saw and believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
That was enough for him. Maybe it’s enough for you. The tomb is empty, Jesus is alive!"
Read the entire article by Pastor Tim and his four points, which prove the reality of the resurrection, here - https://www.fairviewbaptistchurch.ca/the-resurrection-really-happened/
