The empty tomb stands as the decisive historical fact confirming that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. After Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body in clean linen and placed it in his new rock-hewn tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary observed the large stone rolled across the entrance. On the following day the chief priests and Pharisees obtained Pilate's permission to seal the stone and station a guard, ensuring no one could remove the body during the three days and nights. Early on the first day of the week the same women returned and found the stone already rolled away. Entering the tomb, they discovered it empty; the body of the Lord Jesus was gone. An angel seated on the stone announced that He had risen, invited them to see the place where He had lain, and instructed them to tell the disciples. Peter and John ran to the tomb, entered, and saw only the linen wrappings lying there. Later appearances verified the reality of the resurrection: Jesus showed His hands and feet, invited touch, ate food, and conversed at length with the disciples. More than five hundred brethren saw Him at one time, and the apostles continued to bear witness that the tomb remained empty while David's tomb still held his bones. This empty tomb directly refutes every alternative explanation. The disciples could not have stolen the body, for the tomb had been sealed and guarded. The women could not have gone to the wrong tomb, for they had watched the burial. No substitution or hallucination accounts for the physical interactions and the unbroken testimony of those who refused to recant even under threat of death. Because the tomb was empty, the resurrection supplies the final assurance that sin has been paid for and that believers possess a living Savior who will raise them likewise. The apostles therefore preached with boldness that God had raised Jesus Christ from the dead, offering forgiveness and the hope of eternal life to all who confess Him as Lord.