The thought of stealing Jesus's corpse would strike any contemporary as very costly, both in general terms of effort required and chances of failure, as well as in terms of the very intimidating risks involved in such a heist. [Full article].
• …a theft attempt would require a quickly assembled team
• …the team would need to be super immoral
• …the team would need to be willing to super-risk their life
• …as one works through the potential candidates, they each have additional unique reasons they would not steal the body.1
Few if any contemporaries existed who would, in choosing to steal Jesus's corpse, would decide to first remove the graveclothes from it and leave them behind.
• Movers would worry about the time-cost of removing the clothes.1
• The stench of the putrefying corpse would be needlessly exacerbated.
• Touching a corpse was very taboo (and generally repulsive).
• Removing the clothing would be especially dishonorable.2
Few/none who were stealing Jesus's corpse would choose to do it such that it gratuitously amplifies their chances of getting caught. This is relevant because, if Jesus's corpse was stolen, it was done in a way that was overtly1 and gratuitously2 risky.
By the day after Jesus's corpse was buried, guards had been stationed at the tomb.
But, so what? Couldn't it simply be that…
• …the body was stolen before the guards arrived?1
• …the body was stolen while the guards were sleeping?2
Few/none who would steal Jesus's corpse would be able to steal it within 40 hours (“Mission Impossible”).1 This is relevant because Jesus's corpse was gone within 40 hours of its entombment (i.e. by Sunday morning).2
The bundle of graveclothes left on the tomb's bench were not emptied by human hands. [Full article.]
• …the wrappings (feet-to-chest) were clustered
• …the grave spices were still tucked in wrappings
• …the clothes looked supernaturally removed
But wait, plausibly…
• …there were no emptied graveclothes in the tomb
[Brackets] mean “Forthcoming”1
Jesus's corpse was stolen by Necromancers (occultist-practitioners/sorcerers) for witchcraft. Right? [Full article].