Song - No Bones To Be Found
- Bible Brian
- 17 hours ago
- 8 min read
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
The Carpenter's Son1 preached the truth to the crowds,
but they raised their voices just to drown His words out.
They were blinded by lies straight from the devil's throne2,
Their ears were not open3, their hearts made of stone.
They tried Him and mocked Him4, nailed His hands and His feet,
and said, “If You’re the Christ, then set Yourself free.”5
[Chorus]
They sealed up the grave with a government sign,
set guards at the door thinking they'd hold the line6.
The Empire and priests said, “the matter is done,”
but death could not hold down the Holy One7.
The tomb burst right open, the Lord walked right out,
the Son of the Father could never be bound8,
and no other prophet could turn death around9.
You can search all you like, there's no bones to be found!
[Verse 2]
Muhammad still rests where his body was laid,
and Joseph Smith is still stuck in his grave.
As God said to Adam "you will return to dust"10,
Darwin lies silent, as false prophets must.
And as it's appointed for all men once to die11,
even Moses faced judgement, though he told no lie.
[Pre-Chorus]
He wore the crown,
the days count down,
the tomb will open,
He's walking right out!
[Chorus]
They sealed up the grave with a government sign,
set guards at the door thinking they'd hold the line.
The Empire and priests said, “the matter is done,”
but death could not hold down the Holy One.
The tomb burst right open, the Lord walked right out,
the Son of the Father could never be bound,
and no other prophet could turn death around.
You can search all you like, there's no bones to be found!
[Bridge]
Oh, death, where is your sting?12
Hell has been trampled by our Holy King!
Man could not beat Him, neither could sin,
when you take the Lord on, HE WILL WIN!
[Chorus]
Walk up the grave with a skeptical sign,
a thorough look in will rebuke the world's lies.
No empire's, no priests, no worldly throne,
can suppress the light of the Holy One.13
He was nailed to a cross, He was put in the ground,
but He raised triumphant, refused to be bound.
He's coming right back with the trumpet's sound14,
You can search all you like, there's no bones to be found!
Background
No Bones To Be Found is a tribute to the empty tomb, and is built around the fact that this is a unique feature of the Christian tradition. No other religion, with the exception of heretical sects built around it, can lay claim to such a powerful testimony.
The first verse sets the historical context leading up to the main theme. Who was in the tomb? The "carpenter's son". This is how Jesus was known by many of His contemporaries, because from a legal perspective, Joseph the carpenter was His father. From the outset, this might actually cause dispute. Jesus, after all, was born of a virgin, and it is His enemies who identified Him as the carpenter's son. However, in Luke 2:48, Mary also identifies Joseph as Jesus' father, which is not disputed. As a step parent, Joseph is legitimately called Jesus' father, and Jesus would have honored and submitted to him as His siblings did. Thus, Jesus is legitimately identified as the "carpenter's Son".
The rest of the first verse references various Scriptures about the hostility Jesus faced during His ministry, leading up to His death. The majority of these come straight from the Gospels. The exception comes in the third line: "They were blinded by lies straight from the devil's throne". This is an indirect allusion to 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, which says "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
This actually mirrors Matthew 13:15, which says "For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’" This is in the context of Christ explaining why He so often spoke in parables. He distinguishes between the Apostles, to whom the knowledge of Heavenly mysteries had been granted, and the people, to whom that knowledge had been denied. Had they known the truth, they would not have crucified Christ (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). But of course, they ultimately did crucify Him, as was the plan the whole time. The rest of verse 1 details the mockery He faced during His trial and execution.
The chorus is significantly more triumphant, but beginning with the immediate aftermath of His death. During His ministry, Jesus repeatedly predicted His resurrection, up to and including the timing. Thus, the chief priests and Pharisees foresaw a conspiracy: The disciples would steal His body, claim He rose, and, to quote them, "the last deception will be worse than the first." (Matthew 27:64). So they petitioned Pilate, who granted them guards to post outside the tomb to prevent the body being stolen.
Of course, this ultimately failed, but the attempt is an important historical detail. If there were no guards, the body theft conspiracy theory could be legitimate. But it is unlikely, as the excuse was, that the disciples stole the body while the guards were sleeping. Such a failure would bring an instant death sentence upon the soldiers, who would have been far too disciplined to allow it to happen.
From here, the chorus points out an important theological truth: It is impossible for death to hold Christ. Which leads to perhaps my favorite line in the whole song: "the Son of the Father could never be bound,". This is because, as Christ says, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself," (John 5:26). Initially, I had intended to include a deep Trinitarian theme in the song, with the chorus originally including the line "He said take this temple down and I will raise it". I struggled to work the line in with the rest of the chorus, and eventually made the decision to take it out and shelve it for a more directly Trinitarian song. For now, "the Son of the Father" line is the closest reference I have to the Trinity in this song.
The chorus concludes with "You can search all you like, there's no bones to be found". This is the primary cornerstone of the whole song, which is literally built around this single line. The line before it is "and no other prophet could turn death around". This is equally deep, as it first ties into the idea that there is no other name by which we are saved (Acts 4:12). But it also digs into the main theme.
This theme is fleshed out in verse 2. In this verse, I point to 4 prophets: Muhammad (founder of Islam), Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Charles Darwin (founder of modern versions of Evolution), and Moses (founder of Judaism). The key is the contrast. There are "no bones to be found" in Christ's tomb because He rose again. By contrast, the founders of almost every other religion (with the obvious exception of religions founded within living memory) are still dead. In the majority of cases, we even know where their bones are. This is a flex, pointing out that the unique feature of the Christian religion is that our founder conquered death, proving His superiority over all prophets, be they false prophets like Muhammad, or even the true prophets and Apostles.
Initially, this was supposed to be a far more prominent theme. I wanted to address more prophets, and go into greater detail, even explaining how some of them died and where they are buried. Instead, I settled for condensing it. I ditched a large number of false prophets, like the Popes, Buddha, Charles Taze Russel etc., and just settled for the 4 I included.
Muhammad, of course, is one of the more prominent false prophets. He founded the second largest religion history has ever seen, and millions of people are following him to eternal damnation (with some of them even killing many other people along the way). Any song flexing over false prophets would be incomplete without Muhammad in the list.
Joseph Smith is less well known. Mormons are a minority around the world, and as a result they are less commonly addressed. They, too, need to understand the ultimate weakness of their prophet. He died, and will suffer the second death, along with all who trust his lies.
I added an extra layer for Darwin, dedicating two lines to him instead of just one. Evolution, being the religion from which I converted, is quite close to my heart, and I happened to have a clever way to include another Biblical truth over his head: He denied the Genesis account of origins, yet the law it established is inviolable. All descendants of Adam, including those who deny they are descended from Adam, will die, as Adam died.
Moses, quite frankly, deserves more than the two lines I dedicated to him. Unlike the other prophets, he "told no lie". This doesn't mean he never once lied about anything in his entire life. But it does mean that, unlike the others, he legitimately received, and passed on, the revelations of God, directly from God. But it's important to note that not even he could escape death indefinitely. At a ripe old age, he died, and right outside the promised land at that. This is actually quite deep, theologically speaking. Just as Moses could only peek at the promised land, so also can the law of Moses only point us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ, and Christ alone, sufficiently fulfilled the law to actually live by it. Yet, He died, so that we who have failed to live by it may nevertheless receive His reward.
Both the pre-chorus and the bridge are just more flexing. The most significant part is the reference to 1 Corinthians 15:55, which, for obvious reasons, is one of my favorite verses to reference in my songs. It says "“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”"
Following the bridge, I slightly altered the chorus. Up until this point, the chorus has mainly been from a historical perspective. But I wanted to impress upon the hearer that the empty tomb is still significant to us today. Admittedly, I goofed here, as I intended to write "walk up to the grave" instead of just "walk up the grave". While it makes little grammatical sense, I actually like the rhythmic flow a little more with my mistake. This re-vamped chorus also contains a secondary theme. The tomb is still empty because Jesus is not in it, but He will be returning eventually. Not as a humble son of a carpenter, able to be executed by corrupt officials, but as a conquering King, able to execute justice. The empty tomb is the victory, but history will take a while to catch up. Why? Peter tells us it's because He doesn't want anyone to perish. Every day Jesus waits, another soul may be saved. But even the Lord's patience has its limits. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.
Although "No Bones To Be Found" was not originally designed with "The Countdown Begins To Sunday" in mind, nor the other way around, I do think they make a perfect pair. One points to the Sunday, the other boasts of it. One hints at our hope, the other plays it out. One describes the crucifixion, the other rejoices in the resurrection. Personally, listening to them back to back, they even appear almost seamless, as though they were designed that way. Even the dark "whoah" at the end of Countdown contrasts powerfully with the opening "whoah" at the beginning of No Bones. If you enjoyed one, I strongly suspect you will enjoy the other.
Scripture references
Matthew 13:55
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Matthew 13:15
Luke 22:63
Matthew 27:40
Matthew 27:62-66
Acts 2:24
John 5:26
Acts 4:12
Genesis 3:19
Hebrews 9:27
1 Corinthians 15:55
Matthew 16:18
1 Thessalonians 4:16
AI usage
This song was produced using Mozart AI.
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