He laughed. “However, if your Christ Commission had spoken to the same witnesses that you already have, I am certain they would agree that they had heard testimony of the strongest kind—testimony affirming without doubt that none of the nine who fled from the garden could have possibly removed the body of Jesus from the tomb. Matthew told you that they had all fled from the garden and eventually hid in the woods for two days. Then James, the son of thunder, corroborated Matthew’s testimony, and the sisters have corroborated that of both men. Now you have two reasons why the nine could not possibly have been involved in the act that you suspect them of committing. First, they had no knowledge that Jesus was dead and buried until after the empty tomb was discovered and, second, they were too terrified and broken in spirit to do anything about it even if they had known.”

“I thought you told me that I was the Christ Commission.”

“You are, my son, you are.”

“Well, I’d like to reserve judgment until after I’ve checked out this tomb. It may offer some testimony that could destroy a few alibis and all your fine logic.”

“Testimony? From a tomb?”

I didn’t elaborate.

Flush against the smooth wall of the cliff stood a heavy piece of chiseled stone, rounded in such a way that it reminded me of the old American Indian millstones used for the grinding of grain. It was approximately nine inches thick and stood four feet high, with small boulders wedged against the curvature of its bottom to keep it from rolling.

Dismayed, I asked, “Is this it?”

“What were you expecting? This is a grave, no more, no less. See there, how the stone still shows signs of the white paint that was applied to it, after Lazarus was laid to rest, in order to warn trespassers against defilement.”

“No other marks? No inscriptions?”

“What for? Can the dead read? Do not the owners of tombs know who is buried within? Certainly God needs no identifying signs.”

“Why aren’t there any other tombs along this cliff? I would think this is an ideal burying place for the dead of Bethany.”

“All this land was owned by Simon and now belongs to Martha. This family grave is on private property.”

“And where is the tomb’s opening?”

“It is covered by the round stone.”

As I had suspected it might be. I could feel myself growing tense.

“From what we know, Joseph, that stone was rolled away at the request of Jesus before he commanded Lazarus to come forth.”

“That is correct.”

“But now the tomb is empty, is it not?”

“Of course it is empty. You heard Martha, did you not? It is for the three of them and they are all still alive. Therefore the tomb is empty.”