Did Jesus escape the tomb (naturally)?
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Jesus couldn't move the stone
- We know that Jesus could not have moved the stone for two reasons:
i) Tomb blocking-stones weighed about a ton, which was far too heavy for an individual to move, even if it was not cube-shaped, like the sealing stone blocking Jesus's tomb was.
ii) Jesus had suffered severe blood loss, dehydration, and wounded hands/feet, among other things.• J.P. Holding: “…the fact that the temperature in the tomb was probably about 56-58 degrees Fahrenheit, which would cause death by exposure on its own after 36 hours (note that linen is not much of a protector in this context)… lain out shivering and losing energy in a tomb… after hanging for hours on a cross (how do those dislocated shoulders and/or strained muscles feel about pushing anything?).” [Defending the Resurrection (Xulon, 2010), 382.]
• Craig Keener: “Further, if one could revive [from crucifixion], one would still be trapped within the tomb, which would soon lead to death. (Char. Chaer. 1.4.11-12; 1.8.)” [The Historical Jesus of the Gospels (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009), 341.]
• John R. W. Stott: “…are we to believe that after the rigours and pains of trial, mockery, flogging and crucifixion He could survive thirty-six hours in a stone sepulcher with neither warmth nor food nor medical care? That He could then rally sufficiently to perform the superhuman feat of shifting the boulder which secured the mouth of the tomb” [Basic Christianity (IVP, 1958), 48-49.] (Cited by McDowell)
• James Rosscup: “Those who hold this theory have to say that Christ in a weakened condition, was able to roll back the stone at the entrance of the tomb-a feat which historians say would take several men” (As cited by McDowell)
Jesus would not have been able to move the stone from inside the tomb.1
- We know that Jesus could not have moved the stone for two reasons:
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Guards were stationed at the tomb
Guards were stationed at the tomb of Jesus.[Forthcoming] This is relevant because they would know if Jesus had started to escape (especially given the considerable noise involved in moving the stone). Jesus would have been re-executed.