Today I was reading in Mark 15 and 16 and came across an interesting situation. In 15:46 it mentions the rigamaroll that Josepth of Arimathea went thru in preparation for the burial of Jesus, finishing off with the statement “…and rolled a large stone in front of the sepulchre”.
Okay. Then in 16:3 it mentions when the two Marys are on the way to the tomb and it is mentioned “who will move the stone for it was very great”
Question. How big was that stone?
The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, which many believe to be the Lord’s burial place, was dug into the rock hillside to make a cave-like room.
The opening is nearly big enough to walk through without stooping. It would take a stone of 5-6 feet in diameter to cover it. To the right of the opening, an inclined groove or track was cut into the rock, running across the opening. It had a deeper indentation at the tomb’s entrance.
We’re told that a large round stone about a foot thick was placed in the track when the tomb was built and blocked to keep the entrance open.
After the Lord was placed in the tomb the block was removed allowing the stone to be rolled down the incline and dropped into the indentation to cover the opening and lock the stone in place.
It would have taken several men a considerable amount of time to dislodge the stone and open the tomb.