I am always struck by what is written in Acts 2:29-36: "29 Men
and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that
he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did see corruption. 32 This Jesus
hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself,
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, 35 Until I
make thy foes thy footstool. 36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Here, Peter is preaching what many refer to as the first gospel sermon. Peter is preaching in Jerusalem, where he and the other disciples were told by Jesus to "tarry," Luke 24:49.
After Jesus was crucified, his body was taken and placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. The location of this tomb would have been known by the Jews because it was their tomb and the tomb was known by the Romans because they placed guards there (Turek, 302). Thus, the belief that anyone would have gone to the wrong tomb can be dismissed.
Further, the words of Peter in become even more striking because again, Peter is delivering this first gospel sermon in Jerusalem. In his discourse, Peter gives the hearers in Jerusalem a little history lesson in order to provide context for what he's saying.
Peter moves on and says that the soul of Jesus was not left in hell (actually, hades, the unseen world of the dead), which is a quote from the Psalmist, David (Psalms 16:10). Peter is tying the prophetic words of David to the reality of Jesus Christ. Peter says that the one who was resurrected, the one who was not left in hades, the one they crucified--Jesus--God has made both Lord and Christ.
This is striking because, again, Peter is speaking in Jerusalem. The well-known place of the burial of Jesus was in Jerusalem, so all those who heard Peter speaking would have to do in order to prove him wrong would be to go to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and produce the body of Jesus.
But they didn't because they couldn't. The tomb was empty.
