The Empty Tomb
THE EMPTY TOMB
JOHN 20:1-10
It only took the open tomb and the empty graveclothes to convince the disciple that Jesus had risen.
The hand of legalism may seem to have triumphed as the drama must wait for a day while the Sabbath is observed. But after the Sabbath rest comes a new week and with it a new era in the history of mankind. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, while it was still in every sense dark (cf. 13:30; Luke 22:53), but while dawn was imminent. She sees that the stone, such as would normally be placed across the entrance of a tomb to keep it safe, has been taken away. She naturally assumes that someone or other has violated the tomb and taken away the body of Jesus.
With this news she runs off to Peter and the “beloved disciple.” The two of them then run as fast as they can to the tomb, and the beloved disciple, presumably the younger man, gets there first. He stoops to look into the tomb from the outside and sees the strange phenomenon of the graveclothes lying there. When Peter arrives he, as usual, is more impetuous and goes into the tomb. He sees the extra details—the different wrappings all lying in place. The boldness of Peter emboldens the “beloved disciple” also, so he goes in and sees the evidence more closely and believes what has happened. This has come as a surprise because of their failure to know the scriptural prediction that he should rise from the dead. So they go back home, thrilled no doubt but still mystified.
Notes 20:1: Mary Magdalene was presumably not alone (“we do not know,” 20:2), but is probably mentioned as the leader of the group of women and the one to whom the Lord appears personally (20:11-18). It is a forgiven sinner who makes the first discovery of the empty tomb and sees the first appearance of the risen Lord. 20:2: she probably thought of the enemies of Jesus, but the rifling of tombs was a fairly common crime. 20:7: Lazarus came out of the tomb with the wrappings still on him (11:44). This was resurrection of a different kind, in which the form of the body seems to have been changed, so that it could slip out of the graveclothes without disturbing them. No one removing the body would have left the wrappings. 20:8: this is the first true Christian faith in the Gospel, because it is faith in the risen Lord. For an adequate confession we have to wait until 20:28.