Why did Jesus' tomb need to be open for him to ascend to heaven?

Question

It makes more logical sense that someone came along and removed his body in the middle of the night to make it look like a miracle. The most likely person would be Jospeh of Aramathea, who had Jesus' body put into his own tomb in his own garden. Quite simply people moved the body and buried it elsewhere. Of course that would be devastating to Christianity and the money machine that it is, since it Jesus was not the son of God, but a mortal, then the whole religion would be exposed as a farce.
Why would someone who could walk on water, heal the sick, turn water into wine, was born immaculately, etc, need the door on the tomb opened to get the physical body out? Not much of a miracle there..........but certainly makes you question the whole thing.

Answer 1

Wow, just reading the answers, and there have never been any soldiers either caught not at their post, paid off, etc. No these were the perfect soldiers stationed there. We all know that the story about Jesus, etc is so hugely exaggerated that it is not even close to being anything by myths and fables. They are just as believable as any Roman or Greek myth out there, just all tall tales. The sad thing is that people believe it, shame on them for having child like minds.

Answer 2

Well, the first flaw is your "assumption" that the stone was moved out of necessity. This you cannot know. I would think the large stone was rolled away to prove that it was not a man that moved it...but God. That it was a miracle..it was a sign.

The idea that Joseph of Aramathea took the body is not a new one by any means...but it is an illogical one. First of all..he had obtained permisson to take the body of Christ from the Romans. This would have been known by the Jewish priests. He put Jesus in his own tomb because the laws of burial and the sabbath was approaching.

Now, the idea that he would have secretly moved the body makes little sense...why the secret? He had every right to move the body if he wanted to...it was his tomb. If he was trying to make it look like Jesus raised from the dead...that's a large undertaking for one man pull off. He would have had to get help...at least 2 other men to help move the stone and relocate the body. This means the sworn secrecy of others. He would have had to do this without anyone else knowing about it. It just doesn't seem likely. Plus being a good Jew he would have waited until the Sabbath was over to even embark on such a mission. Had it been early Sunday morning, then when the women came to the tomb early...daybreak...it seems they'd have run into him. If he and his men had come earlier, in the dark, they'd have needed torches and lamps. They would have had to carry the body of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, secretly and put him in another grave. They would have removed all the grave clothes (since they were found in the tomb) and carried a naked body to it's destination. It would have taken at least a couple of hours to pull this off...in the dark, with the city crowded with those who had come for the Passover feast...it seems unlikely that, even given the hour, no one would have seen them.

It just doesn't make sense. But if he had pulled it off...when the tomb was found empty...wouldn't he be the first questioned by the Jewish elders? And as the controversy ensued over the next several weeks why wouldn't those who had helped him speak up? You have to realize that the tomb was only about 1/4 mile from Jerusalem. Anyone and everyone could have gone to see the tomb...check it's contents or lack there of.

Another thing is, if the followers of Christ has moved the body. They certainly would have paid hommage to the grave...to the remains. Even if they did it in secret. At some point someone would have told, someone would have known. There is no way that the true Christian followers would have buried Christ and walked away...never to revist the grave.

Over 500 people witnessed and saw the risen Christ..
In the first 3 or 4 years there were over 5000 converts to Christianity that's more then 3 a day. Things were going crazy in Jerusalem. It was like fire and the Sanhedrin were getting nervous. Then the persecution began...Christians being tortured and killed. Someone would have spoken up, someone would have known...it is absolutely impossible to believe anything different.

There are just too many holes in your theory.

Answer 3

The Bible just says that when Mary came to mourn at Jesus' tomb, the stone had been rolled away and Jesus was not there. Here is the passage from Mark 16:

1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

The point was made because no human by themselves could easily roll the stone of the tomb away. The angel of the Lord was present and it was those angels who rolled the stone away.

Jesus' resurrection and ascension were two DIFFERENT events. After Jesus was raised from the dead, he appeared to many different people including his disciples many times before he ascended to heaven. The idea that Jesus' body was stolen away and buried elsewhere while this elaborate plan was concocted is ridiculous. You've been watching too much "Weekend at Bernie's".

For the Son of God, nothing was impossible because he was God himself. This includes walking on water, rising from the dead, and all the other miracles he performed.

Answer 4

Well your right about the fact that the son of God didn't need a door to get out of the tomb. Actually it wasn't opened so he could get out...it was opened so people could see in. The first person to go to the tomb after Jesus was burried was Mary Magdalene. She was going to anoint his body with oils and spices (wich was a tipical ritual for the time). When she saw that the stone was rolled away from the tomb she ran and told the disciples. Peter was the first disciple to enter the tomb (according to scripture) and see that the grave linens and the napkin that covered his face was folded, and laying inside the tomb. (John 19-20) The significance of the large stone being rolled away was so that people could look in and walk in and see that he was gone. The large stone and guards had been placed at the tomb to keep believers in Christ out. The leaders of the time did this because they didn't want people to take his body and claim something miraculous had happed. They really were trying to anticipate it. That is why the open tomb is so important. The tomb had been created with only one entrance to keep grave robbers from getting in. It was a big problem at that time for graves of the wealthy to be ransacked. Joseph of Aramathea is said to have been a wealthy man if I am not mistaken. Only the wealthy at the time had tombs like the one Jesus was buried in. The whole point of the stone being rolled away if for other people to be able to see in because without that one small detail it's untelling how lolng the tomb would have lain empty before anyone noticed his body was gone. After all the people who had him crucified really didn't want his body going anywhere. They were the ellite of the times and quite frankly taking his body from that tomb without setting of all the bells and whistles would have been super hard.

Answer 5

Your question has some merit but you forget some important things. The tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers who would have been killed for falling asleep at their post or leaving before they were told to. The point of having the tomb guarded was to prevent anyone from removing Jesus' body. Opening the tomb was as much a matter of showing the supernatural power of God as it was about letting Jesus out. It doesn't make me question anything because I know history and refuse to think of ancient lives being exactly the same as today.

You also seem to think Christianity is all amout money. The people who ask for money do seem to make it that way but you'll find the largest majority of Christians do not send money to those people and they don't adhere to the dollar the way you think.

Answer 6

Actually, if you read the scripture more closely, and study the customs of that land in those days, you will learn that it was not a door that sealed the tomb, but a huge stone, probably weighing several tons. It was rolled down into a depression in such a way that it could not be removed without breaking it into smaller pieces. The purpose, of course, was to show the doubters that no man could have moved it away from the opening, and yet it was rolled, up hill, away from the tomb. On the day that Jesus returns to the earth you will know, without a doubt, that He was raised from the dead.

Answer 7

I'll tell you the story since you obviously didn't read it yourself:

Mary and Mary Magdalene go visit the tomb and see an angel sitting on the rock that covers the entrance. The angel takes the rock and moves it out of the way. He tells the two to take a peek inside. Lo' he isn't there.

Got it?

That's the story which kicks your agrument right in the crotch.

BIBLE TIME:

Mat 28:1 ¶ In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.


Mat 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.


Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:


Mat 28:4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead [men].


Mat 28:5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.


Mat 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Answer 8

Your observation is apparently based on speculation brought about by the fact that you cannot believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

The stone being rolled away was for the people who went to the tomb. They saw the stone rolled away and were compelled to look further. Also, Jesus was in a physical body, not yet ascended.

The ideas of Jesus' body being taken away elsewhere is theory. There is not one shread of evidence that His body was moved or placed elsewhere. It is theory, plain and simple. There are no writings or records of anyone in that day which shows contradiction to the details listed in the Bible.

Answer 9

That fact that the stone was rolled away was actually part of the miracle because it was HUGE and heavy and would have taken several men at least to move.

Roman guards were there to witness the stone being rolled away, which was also important. If Jesus had just "teleported" it would not have had as much of an impact.

The rolled away stone also had a great impression on His followers when they returned to the tomb. The visual impact was huge. Imagine going to visit your loved one in the cemetery and finding an empty hole in the ground. It wouldn't be quite the same if the grave looked exactly the same.

I wonder why no one has ever discovered the human remains of Jesus?

Answer 10

You forget that the Roman soldiers were stationed on guard in front of the tomb to prevent this very thing. By orders of Pilate. Also, the stone was rolled back so that the women who came to anoint Jesus' body could see that He had risen, and was not there. Jesus knew that the women would come for that purpose, so He helped them.