“And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.” — Acts 13:35-37
Corruption. The Greek word is diaphthora from dia (through) + phthora (destroy). It is used only six times in the New Testament, four of them are in this remarkable, revealing and comforting passage. Three of them refer to the resurrection of Jesus without corruption or decay of His body after death. Amazing. The word literally means to destroy or perish and is used here in relation to the corruption of a dead body which happens in every death—but not in our Lord’s case. His body could not be corrupted at death.*
Today, among the notable tombs of Jerusalem are three that everyone who visits will make sure they see. The first is King David’s tomb, which is a Jewish holy site. The casket is covered with a blue velvet cloth embroidered with the words David Melech Israel Hai Vekayam, which means, “David, king of Israel, lives and endures.” Those are great words of sentiment but the fact is David’s body, unlike our Savior, did see corruption in the grave.
There are two other prominent sites in Jerusalem which receive more visitors than all the others in the Holy Land. They are the two possible burial sites of Jesus. One is called Gordon’s Garden tomb, named after the man who discovered it in 1867. It is a beautiful and peaceful site outside of the then walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was thought to have been a huge garden area in the first century. This setting appears to agree with John’s gospel which says at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid (John 19:41). The Scripture also points out it’s in full view of “the place of the skull” (Matthew 27:33) which notably can be seen on the hillside above.
The other tomb is located inside the famous Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter. It consists of many chapels that speak to various events in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is also managed by three major religions: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian—and to a lesser degree the Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopian Orthodox churches. In Christian “solidarity” these groups are well-known to verbally and sometimes physically confront one another in full-view, if they even step over a line.
However, no matter what site you believe to be the real one, there is one thing they have in common that no other religion on the face of the earth can claim. There are no bones there in either tomb. No body remaining. They are empty because the good news—the heart of the Christian gospel message—is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He is no longer in any tomb, anywhere. Jesus is alive because God raised Him up and He saw no corruption!
The Jews we saw that day praying at King David’s tomb can never make that claim, as great a king as he was. The Muslims who pray at Medina cannot say that about their prophet, Muhammad, because it is well-known that his bones are reportedly in the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia. The Buddhists, the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Ba’hais, or out of all the multitudes of other religious groups—none can make that claim about those they worship. Jesus overcame death for you and me. As the angel proclaimed that day to Mary Magdelene, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying” (Matthew 24:6-7).
If you ever go to Israel, and I hope you do, be sure and visit these three tombs but know that as elaborate and ornate as the locations are, I assure you nothing will have changed. One will still be full of old bones and the others will be empty, “but He whom God raised up saw no corruption” (Acts 13:37).
* Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p. 446