Gath's Empty Tomb Teaches Us To Set Our Sights on the Only Empty Tomb That Matters

WHILE EXPLORING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN MARYLAND this week, I came upon this old structure at Gathland State Park. While it looks ominously like a jail, it's really a 150 year old tomb---an empty tomb---which John Alfred Townsend, a war and political correspondent pen-named Gath, built after the Civil War, 20 years before his death, at his palatial summer retreat there. Gath had it constructed in honor of himself and his then-highly acclaimed status as a writer.

Since I came upon this crypt so soon after Easter and Christ's Resurrection after three days from the empty tomb where he was placed outside Jerusalem, I couldn't help but ponder the comparisons.

The sign for the interpretation of Gath's tomb is photographed below, and you can see it enlarge by clicking on the image. However, I'd like to copy it here because I think conveys great wisdom:

During the 19th Century few people bought burial lots in public cemeteries as we do today. Instead, a small parcel of their own land was usually
set aside as a private cemetery. If enough money was available a
mausoleum (tomb) was often built for certain family members.

Gath, concerned with his own burial, built this lonely tomb about 20 years
before his death, which came on April 15, 1914 in New York City.By this time
his great wealth had dwindled and the near penniless Gath was buried in a Philadelphia, PA. cemetery instead of his own tomb as
he had desired. Gath's empty tomb mutely symbolizes the uncertainties of Life, Fame and Fortune and the certainty of death.


I believe there is great truth here: Life is uncertain and fame, fortune, wealth, power and all manner of seeming advantages in life are indeed transient, as Gath's life and tomb surely attest to. In the end, there is only one true advantage that can sustain each of us through the ups and downs, the misunderstanding, the errors and the trials and tribulations of life: The empty tomb of Christ.

Bob Deffinbaugh has a wonderful commentary on the Resurrection at Bible.org. Hope you'll read it . Meanwhile, I want to post his opening paragraphs here:

One of my friends, Craig Baynham, tells the story of an uncle who one day was leisurely driving his convertible in the mountains. He had his top down, his radio turned up loud, and was enjoying to the full the beauties of the winding mountain road on which he was driving. So intent was he on the scenery, and so deafened by the blaring of his radio, he failed to notice the driver behind him becoming more and more impatient.

Finally the road presented sufficient room for the furious driver to pass. A blast of the horn and a shake of the fist (even a few not-so-well chosen words) were not sufficient to appease the anger of the hostile motorist. Forcing the uncle’s car to the side of the road he proceeded to verbally vent his frustration. Craig’s uncle, who had been oblivious to the whole matter until now, proceeded to apologize for the inconvenience he had caused. But no apology was sufficient.

“Your apology is not enough. I’m going to pick you up out of that car and beat you to a bloody pulp,” the man finally threatened. As the motorist began to close in on him, the uncle quickly removed a 45-caliber revolver from under the seat and aimed it point blank at his attacker. With only a moment’s hesitation the aggressor blurted out, “I accept your apology.”

And with this he returned to his car and went his way.

The moral to this story is that the introduction of one unexpected element can completely change one’s perspective on a situation. That, in my mind, is precisely what occurred early on that Easter morning nearly 2,000 years ago. In the mind of the Jewish religious leaders, the crucifixion of Christ had once and for all dissolved the popular movement that centered about Jesus the Nazarene, which so threatened their position of leadership in the nation Israel.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ overruled the verdict of the Sanhedrin that Jesus was a malefactor who must be removed. When He rose triumphant from the dead, the claims and teachings of our Lord were undeniably validated. This event revitalized the feeble faith of the disciples and became the heart of the message which the apostles began to preach. It forced the enemies of the cross to face their responsibility for rejecting God’s Messiah and to reconsider the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead not only demonstrated the truth of His teaching, but the value of His death. It proved Him to be the Son of God. It transformed discouraged and disbelieving disciples into fearless preachers of the gospel. Those who shrank back from suffering were now gladly willing to suffer and die for the cause of Christ. One new element transformed the course of history. That element was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.