The April 8, 1966 Time Magazine cover story was entitled “Is God Dead?” and the article began with this statement – Is God dead? It is a question that tantalizes both believers, who perhaps secretly fear that he is, and atheists, who possibly suspect that the answer is no. The very last statement in that same article sadly read – Perhaps today, the Christian can do no better than echo the prayer of the worried father who pleaded with Christ to heal his spirit-possessed son: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

Dr. Steven Smith, Dean of the College at Southwestern of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary made an interesting case when he said “If God is dead, then no one really needs to prove that he is”. Dr. Smith, certainly does make a point. The virtue of the fact that there is so much on trying to prove that God is dead is evidence in and of itself that He is not.  Is there something in the Holy Scripture (the Bible) that answers the question – Is God dead?. We don’t have to look too far.

When Jesus was entombed, note what the Bible states about the tomb. It was covered with a great stone which was sealed and a watch (guard) was set (posted). Think about it, have you seen any tombs (or graves) with a guard outside it when you know that the resident of that sepulcher is dead? If Jesus was dead, there was no need for the tomb to be guarded. Of course the reason that was given to post a guard was that the disciples of Jesus could steal His body and claim that He was alive. But this only further proves the fact that Jesus is alive today, because with the presence of a guard, the disciples of Jesus could now not steal His body, accentuating that the empty tomb meant one thing and only one thing – God is not dead.

Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from Latin meaning, “the thing itself speaks” but is more often translated “the thing speaks for itself.” It signifies that further details are unnecessary; the facts of the case is self-evident. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and THE LIFE (John 11:25) and the facts, a guard guarding the tomb of Jesus, the empty tomb is res ipsa loquitur that answer the question on the cover of Time Magazine.

Matthew 27:65-66 (KJV)
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.