Read Ellen G. White, “In Joseph’s Tomb,” pp. 769-778; “The Lord Is Risen,” pp. 779-787; “Why Weepest Thou?”, pp. 788-794; “The Walk to Emmaus,” pp. 795-801; “Peace Be Unto You,” pp. 802-808; in The Desire of Ages.

 Modern sentiment doesn’t believe in something like the resurrection of Jesus. However, the historical evidence is so strong that even those who can’t accept the reality of the resurrection are forced to admit that many people believed that they had seen the resurrected Jesus. Thus, much anti-resurrection apologetics is the attempt to explain what could have caused all these different people to believe that they had seen the risen Christ.

 Some have argued that all the disciples hallucinated the resurrected Jesus; others that Jesus hadn’t really died but only had swooned and then come back to life after He had been brought down from the cross, and when He had reappeared, His followers thought that He had been raised from the dead. And (believe it or not) some have argued that Jesus had a twin brother whom the disciples mistook for the risen Christ. In other words, the historical evidence is so strong for Christ’s resurrection that these are the kinds of arguments people concoct in order to try to dismiss it. With the resurrection itself so important, we should not be surprised by all the good reasons we have been given to believe it.

 “The voice that cried from the cross, ‘It is finished,’ was heard among the dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the dead in Christ shall arise. At the Saviour’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Him, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 787.

 1. “It is finished” (John 19:30) and “He is risen” (Matt. 28:6, NKJV) are two of the most meaningful statements ever made. How do they complement each other within salvation history? What great hope is found in these words for us?
 2. At first the religious leaders wanted guards at the tomb to keep the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus. Later they paid the guards to say that the disciples did steal the body. How does this account help to reveal the reality of Christ’s empty tomb, and why is that empty tomb so important to us as Christians?