“Nicodemus and I had shared many hours with Jesus, in the darkness of night, listening to his wise advice and counsel. Now we shared the darkness of a tomb with him, and our grief was nearly unbearable. Finally, I placed a linen napkin over his bruised face, as is the custom of our people, and we came out of the grave and prostrated ourselves on the grass in prayer. Later, at a signal from me, Shem released the great stone, and it rolled down the trench until it came to rest in front of the opening, closing the tomb.”

“By the way, where is the stone?”

“With my permission, Nicodemus removed it to a place of honor in his garden, two or three years ago. It was necessary for him to build a special wagon to transport it, because of its size and weight.”

“Where was the stone when the tomb was discovered empty?”

“It was still standing, resting against the left side of the opening.”

“Could one person have moved it away from the entrance, after it had settled in place?”

“Never. The trench on which it rolled downward until it covered the opening was at its deepest directly in front of the entrance. Once the stone lodged itself, there was little danger of anyone’s ever tampering with the grave.”

“Could Shem have moved it?”

“Not even Shem.”

“How about three or four strong men?”

“Perhaps. Do you know of such men, Matthias, who would have risked their lives in the darkness, against the soldiers of the high priest, rolled away the stone, removed the body of Jesus without disturbing the linen sheet we had so carefully wrapped around and around the body, and then disappeared with the remains without being apprehended? If so, you certainly should interrogate them.”

He had me—and he knew it “Do you mind if I go inside?”

The old man tenderly cupped my face in his hands, shaking my head gently from side to side. “Who has a better right to go inside after the journey you have taken to view this place? Even Thomas came here to see for himself.”

The vacant tomb smelled like a damp cellar. Once within the small alcove, I turned and bumped my head on the low ceiling before I was sitting on the right side of the shadowy room just as Mark said he had done after his initial discovery of the empty grave. Resting there, it was easy to appreciate the terror that must have seized the women when they arrived at the grave in semi-darkness, expecting to tend to a dead man, and instead came upon someone dressed in white moving around inside. Anyone, superstitious or not, would have fed.