Empty tomb most often refers to the tomb of Jesus which was found to be empty by the women who were present at Jesus’ crucifixion. They had come to his tomb to anoint his body with spices. These are things his close disciples should have done, but Mark portrays Jesus’ female followers as consistently showing more faith and courage than the men.
The gospels report the incident with slight variations. Although Christ's body is said to have been laid out in the tomb after crucifixion and death, the tomb is found to be empty, the body gone, and a young man or angel(s) within the tomb tells the women that Christ has risen. These accounts lead to beliefs concerning the Resurrection of Jesus. According to all four gospels, the empty tomb led to the revelation of Jesus' resurrection, implicitly in the canonical Gospel of Mark (without the later endings) and explicitly in the other three canonical gospel narratives.
Read more about Empty Tomb: Agreements and Differences in The Gospels, The Visitors, The Time, Resolving Differences, The Tomb, The Grave Clothes, The Four Accounts, Cultural Background and Parallels
Famous quotes containing the words empty and/or tomb:
“To people off alone, as we were, there is something stirring about finding evidences of human labour and care in the soil of an empty country. It comes to you as a sort of message, makes you feel differently about the ground you walk over every day.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“She hears, upon that water without sound,
A voice that cries, “The tomb in Palestine
Is not the porch of spirits lingering.
It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay.””
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)