In 1st century Judea, grave robbing was a serious offense, so much that Caesar declared that grave robbing carried the penalty of capital punishment ([[Carson1984-ef]], [[Davies2004-dm]]). The Roman authorities had a vested interest in preventing tomb raiding because they believed that it disrupted the peace and stability of the region. As such, it is unlikely that anyone would have risked stealing the body of Jesus from his guarded tomb. Furthermore, there would have been no motive for anyone to steal the body of Jesus. The tomb contained no valuable objects or treasures, and stealing a body would have been considered sacrilegious in Jewish culture. Moreover, the religious leaders who opposed Jesus would have been unlikely to want to give any credibility to the idea that he had risen from the dead. The idea that necromancers might have been responsible for stealing the body of Jesus is also highly unlikely ([[Joyce_IrenePlinyVictoria_and_Albert_Museum_Whalley1982-yv]], [[Apollonius2017-tc]]). Necromancy was not a common practice in Jewish or Roman culture, and those who did practice it were unlikely to be in the area during a major Jewish holiday in Jerusalem ([[Keener2012-jw]]), [[noauthor_undated-oh| Dale]]. The context of 1st century Judea, particularly under Roman law, makes the theory of Jesus' body being stolen from the tomb highly improbable. Grave robbing was considered a severe crime, punishable by death, indicating the significant measures in place to deter such acts. The presence of Roman guards and the societal reverence for burial sites further diminish the likelihood of the tomb being disturbed. Additionally, there was no tangible motive for removing Jesus' body; the tomb was devoid of valuables and, culturally, disturbing a grave would have been abhorrent, especially to the Jewish community. Critics and religious leaders opposed to Jesus had no reason to remove the body and risk promoting the narrative of His resurrection, which they wanted to suppress. The suggestion of necromancy as a motive for stealing Jesus' body is also implausible, given the cultural and religious contexts of the time, making it clear that the circumstances surrounding Jesus' burial site were not conducive to grave robbery or tampering. This backdrop reinforces the early Christian claims of the resurrection, challenging the skepticism surrounding the empty tomb narrative.