John Saw and Believed

We are continuing to meditate on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and looking today at His resurrection itself. One man, Josh Mc Dowell, tried to disprove the story of the resurrection for his college thesis. As he began to study and write, his careful study of the Scriptures, evidence from history, and his logical reasoning led him to the opposite conclusion — the evidence that he uncovered affected him to his core. He wrote a book called “Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” which has become one of the most popular Christian books of our time. It indeed illuminates the whole resurrection story. The climax of this story, i.e., Jesus’ rising from the dead, gives us all a foretaste of the victory we can expect to experience as Christians. Death had no power over Jesus. It will have no power over us. 

Having watched where Joseph and Nicodemus put the body, it is likely that the women, having different homes in which they were staying, decided to meet at dawn at the tomb to put more spices on the body. The first there that morning was Mary Magdalene. She came alone while it was still dark:

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ²So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" ³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) (John 20:1-9).

Mary did not go into the tomb, but after seeing that the stone had been rolled away (and without looking further) she ran to where she knew John and Peter were staying the night. She burst into the house and stated that they had taken the body of the Lord and that she did not know where they had put Him. Perhaps, she was accusing the ruling elders, thinking that they did not want Christ to be buried in a rich man’s tomb and give Him an honorable burial. I’m sure she was angry and very tearful at the loss of Christ’s body. John wrote about how the news was received by the two of them that morning. When Mary Magdalene burst into the room to tell them the incredible news, John and Peter reacted by running to the tomb. What kind of thoughts do you imagine were occurring in their minds as they ran that morning?

When they arrived, John does not mention seeing an angel. He wrote about the strips of linen, also indicating the way the head cloth was folded by itself and separate from the linen (v. 7). John writes that, after Peter went in, he also went into the tomb and whatever evidence he saw made him believe (v. 8). What do you think he saw that made him believe? (v. 8). We know from Luke’s Gospel (23:53) that the body was wrapped in strips of cloth and that the spices were placed inside the wrappings as custom dictated. It seems very likely that what John and Peter saw was that the shape of the wrappings and spices were still completely intact and that the body of Jesus had passed through the strips of linen, thus leaving a cocoon with the cloth that was around His head laying there on its own. Thank God we serve a risen Savior! Keith