Easter 2001
John 20:1-10

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. And so she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they were going to the tomb. And the two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. Simon Peter therefore also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, who had first come to the tomb, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. (John 20:1-10 NASB).

Jesus had talked about his resurrection so often that the Pharisees went to Pilate after Jesus’ crucifixion, voicing concerns about the possibility that the disciples might try to steal Jesus’ body and claim that he had risen from the dead just as he had predicted. While Jesus’ enemies took his words seriously enough to have the tomb guarded and sealed, his friends did nothing to indicate that they believed him. Although he very specifically stated that he would “rise on the third day,” no one even had the curiosity to wait outside the tomb to see whether or not he would.

So when Mary goes early to the tomb and sees the stone moved from the entrance, instead of being excited about the prospect that her Lord just might be alive, she hurries away to tell Peter and John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” that someone stole the Lord’s body. Her lack of faith blinds her to the joyous truth and fills her with anxiety and confusion.

But she sets off a wild race. John outruns Peter and gets to the tomb first but doesn’t go in. Peter blows past him and enters, but doesn’t know what to make of what he sees. John follows him in and examines the evidence—linen wrappings lying in place, the face-cloth rolled up separately where the head would have been—and quickly comes to some conclusions. He surmises that the body could not have been stolen—what thief would take the time to rip off the strips of cloth that were tightly wound around the body, and for what purpose would anyone carry around an unwrapped corpse? And more importantly, he understands that because the wrappings were just where the body was, not strewn about after being torn off, a miracle must have taken place—the body had to have passed through the wrappings for them to be left as they were. And with that realization, John moves past the lack of faith of Mary and Peter and becomes the first to believe.

How is it that John gained faith before the rest? Mary, Peter, Thomas, and others needed a direct encounter with the risen Lord before they could believe. Perhaps the key to John’s faith can be found in his designation as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” His prior, intimate relationship with the Lord perhaps gave him vision that others did not have, a vision, for example, that enabled him to be the first to recognize the person on the shore who was telling them to cast their nets on the right-hand side of the boat to find a catch of fish—“That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord’” (John 21:7). He had gotten to know Jesus so well that he could “see” him where others wouldn’t, even in an empty tomb.

John did not need a close encounter to believe, so the Lord didn’t give him one. He, as well as the others, also did not need to understand the Scripture—that Jesus had to rise from the dead, otherwise, being as sinful and separated from God as we all are, we have no hope of life beyond the grave. The conviction of sin and the theological explanation of the resurrection could come later. But what he did need was some rational evidence of Jesus’ risen Lordship, something to challenge his mind and turn a light on, some fact or truth to hook his faith onto. And Jesus gave it to him. He opened the door to his empty tomb, not so that he could get out, but so that John could get in and get what he needed to believe and trust in him as the risen Lord.

Jesus always gives us what we need to have faith in him. He gave John the rational evidence he needed by letting him see the linen wrappings. He gave Mary the experiential evidence she needed by calling her name and allowing her to cling to him briefly in the tomb. He gave Thomas the tangible evidence he needed by inviting him to examine and touch his wounds. He gave Peter the evidence that he gave the others, as well as a private time of reaffirming their love and relationship after Peter had denied him three times. He pursues each of us with what we need to have an intimate relationship with him as risen Savior and Lord.

Dear Lord Jesus,
All praise, honor, and glory to You, resurrected Lord and Savior whom no tomb or grave clothes could hold within. Forgive me for my lack of faith revealed by how I treat you as unrisen and unable to work your resurrection power into every part of my life. Thank you for pursuing me and giving me just what I need to have an intimate relationship with you. Help me draw close to you so that I may have the eyes of faith that see you readily and clearly. Enable me to bring to you others who can’t see you yet, but who need to know you as the one who had to rise from the dead to give them life. Thank you for your love for me and for them. In your name, Amen.