The Empty Tomb

Richard Bavin

What an unusual perspective. It’s only now that I am standing inside the grave that I realise that I normally stand outside. I’m always looking into the grave, past the stone which has been rolled away. I wonder why? Is it just that everyone always draws and paints it that way and I’ve never had the imagination to think of the scene any differently?

It is an intriguing perspective from inside the grave. It feels like a huge question, asking “What now?” Are we going to believe the evidence of the absent body? Are we going to rush out into the light? Or are we going to sit here and wait for a bit? Trying to take in that the body has gone. Trying to work out what resurrection actually means. What, after all, is out there? We can’t see anything. So if we do go out, then we won’t know what we’re going into, what we’re letting ourselves in for. What is going to be demanded of us, if we go out there? If we dare to believe? If we dare to follow Jesus’ footsteps? Are we going to hesitate, taking one step at a time, only very slowly climbing those steps? Or will we rush out, half-stumbling through the entrance? Jesus clearly didn’t waste any time: no folding of the cloths or anything like that. He just upped and went. Are we going to make our exit as quickly and easily as he did?

It’s light out there. That should be a good sign. But I can’t help wondering whether it really is light or not. I keep catching myself not seeing brightness outside, with a stone half blocking the entrance, but instead an optical illusion where I see a tunnel leading into darkness, into night. The moonlight from elsewhere lighting up the wall of the tunnel. Indeed, when you look at this picture from a distance the first thing you see is a moon in the dark night sky. I keep having to remind myself that this crescent of brightness is the rest of the world bathed in sunlight. So what is it out there? Light or darkness?

Are we worried by the uncertainty of what awaits us? Does it make us hesitate? Are we tempted to stay in the darkness of the tomb? That small familiar space with the feel of a comforting cocoon. Or does this bare tomb look more like a prison than a cosy home? Surely, once we’ve seen the open door, we don’t really have any other option than to go up those steps. After all, out there is where Jesus is waiting for us. Friend and God. Love and life. Hope and the one we can trust.

Biblical References

The empty tomb (Matthew 27:62-28:15, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10)

The Artist

Richard Bavin is predominantly a landscape artist who is based in the UK. For more information, see his website.

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