The disciples stole the body.
They had an alternative explanation for how the tomb became empty (the disciples stole Jesus’ body; Mt. 28:11-15), but they acknowledged that the tomb was empty nonetheless.
That is, do one’s enemies admit to the events in question? In this case, the Jewish authorities are said to have bribed Roman soldiers to report that Christ’s disciples stole the body. It’s true that Matthew is the only biblical writer to mention this idea, but it was still being taught for the next two centuries. In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr (AD 100–165) spoke of this teaching being pushed in his day.
… “yet you not only have not repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before, you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilæan deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.”
Several decades later, Tertullian (AD 160–225) acknowledged that this lie was still being used in his day. Writing around A.D. 200 in what is today Tunisia, on the northern coast of Africa, knew of the Jewish claim. "This is he," Tertullian's "De spectaculis" ("On the Games") quotes Jewish skeptics as saying about Jesus, "whom his disciples secretly stole away, that it might be said he had risen again." It was the best explanation Christ’s enemies could come up with. “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:13).
Enemy attestation is a powerful form of testimony that involves an enemy stating something in favor of the opposing view. Enemies have nothing to gain when they do this. In the case of Jesus, the enemies of Jesus certainly didn’t have anything to gain by reporting that the tomb was empty – but they did so anyway.
There are a number of reasons to believe that the tomb was empty, one of which involves its location in Jerusalem. The Romans, Jews, and Christians knew where Jesus was buried; the location of his tomb was no secret. When Christians began spreading the news (in Jerusalem) that Yeshua had risen from the dead, the Romans and/or Jews could have simply removed the body of Jesus from the tomb and displayed it in order to shatter the “hoax.” However, Jesus’ body was never produced; if it was we would have certainly heard about it from the critics of Christianity, particularly the second century skeptic, Celsus, who wrote against the resurrection
They had an alternative explanation for how the tomb became empty (the disciples stole Jesus’ body; Mt. 28:11-15), but they acknowledged that the tomb was empty nonetheless.
That is, do one’s enemies admit to the events in question? In this case, the Jewish authorities are said to have bribed Roman soldiers to report that Christ’s disciples stole the body. It’s true that Matthew is the only biblical writer to mention this idea, but it was still being taught for the next two centuries. In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr (AD 100–165) spoke of this teaching being pushed in his day.
… “yet you not only have not repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before, you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilæan deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.”
Several decades later, Tertullian (AD 160–225) acknowledged that this lie was still being used in his day. Writing around A.D. 200 in what is today Tunisia, on the northern coast of Africa, knew of the Jewish claim. "This is he," Tertullian's "De spectaculis" ("On the Games") quotes Jewish skeptics as saying about Jesus, "whom his disciples secretly stole away, that it might be said he had risen again." It was the best explanation Christ’s enemies could come up with. “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:13).
Enemy attestation is a powerful form of testimony that involves an enemy stating something in favor of the opposing view. Enemies have nothing to gain when they do this. In the case of Jesus, the enemies of Jesus certainly didn’t have anything to gain by reporting that the tomb was empty – but they did so anyway.
There are a number of reasons to believe that the tomb was empty, one of which involves its location in Jerusalem. The Romans, Jews, and Christians knew where Jesus was buried; the location of his tomb was no secret. When Christians began spreading the news (in Jerusalem) that Yeshua had risen from the dead, the Romans and/or Jews could have simply removed the body of Jesus from the tomb and displayed it in order to shatter the “hoax.” However, Jesus’ body was never produced; if it was we would have certainly heard about it from the critics of Christianity, particularly the second century skeptic, Celsus, who wrote against the resurrection