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.)
In my short blog two weeks ago, I spoke briefly about the ‘Emmaus road’ experience and how the two disciples (almost) failed to recognize Jesus, but in a moment in time ‘there eyes were opened’ and they recognized him. It’s rather interesting how we can be faced with similar circumstances in our lives and yet like Peter, Mary and John we see very different realities. Mary’s reaction was that of ‘loss’ she was convinced his body had been stolen. Peter saw the ‘strips of linen’ he too must have felt a sense of ‘loss’ maybe like Mary he might have also thought that the body of Jesus was stolen. Now John ‘saw’ something very different “He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in” John had a moment of revelation, he paused to consider, then took in the stunning implications.
Mary, Peter and John were all confronted with the same evidence…an empty Tomb! Now read the response of John “Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb, first, also went inside HE SAW AND BELIEVED.
The empty tomb spoke of; losses, emptiness, grief, despair and utter devastation, yet, within this same scenario a very different picture unfolded; joy unspeakable, life, new hope, a new beginning. Our moments of complete and utter loss have within them the very seeds of new life. Now its to easy to speak in a patronizing manner, making comparison between this event and our own private grief and pain, is a little ‘tacky’ I’m not seeking to do this.
My point is this, always a greater much more significant dynamic is at work…wherever you are right now! What is Gods perspective within your story?
Bob,
This story has two interesting points I think. For me anyway. The first is fairly minor in a way. It is John who tells us the story of Lazurus, who when he came out of the tomb, was still covered with the bindings of death, complete with headcloth. He had to be freed from these before he could move into his life anew. Here, on the otherhand, the wrappings are all left behind and John sees the significance of this. Jesus does not need to be freed from the trappings of death because he has been raised to new eternal life in God.
More importantly, for me, is the person of John, The Beloved Disciple. The Word Biblical Comentary on this passage points out that not only was he beloved by Jesus, but that it was reciprocal and that John also loved Jesus, and it was this love that drove him to reach the tomb before Peter. Is it possible that it is also this love that allowed him to believe so completely and so quickly.
Peter, the pragmatist was confounded, but John, the romantic, was not. He saw, and he believed. I am even led to wonder whether it was perhaps the other way around. He believed and so he saw..That is to say, because his love was complete and he believed so strongly in Jesus he was instinctively able to see what had happened.
Could it be that this is the same for us. That it is when we truly love and believe that we can see God’s working in our lives more clearly. That God’s perspective becomes apparent through the strength of our love and our belief?
Hi Carolyn,
You make some very good points, i’d never considered your comments about John and the resurection of Lazurus! very insightful indeed.And I take you point about the love that John had and that this may have been the catlyst, another good point. Thanks for your comments