Sunday 12 April 2009
"Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb ... Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, went in, and he saw and believed." (v.3-6, 8)
Background
Mary Magdalene was the first to discover the empty tomb, butthought the body of Jesus had been stolen. Peter and the otherdisciple, "the one whom Jesus loved", ran to the tomb when Marytold them what she had found. The 'other' disciple only looked intothe tomb, but Peter rushed in as soon as he got there. But theGospel-writer John tells us that it was initially only this 'other'disciple who believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.
The disciple "whom Jesus loved" (a phrase which is only ever usedin John's Gospel) could well have been the disciple John, the sonof Zebedee, but it is not certain.
For Christians, this narrative records the most significant eventin the story of Jesus. The Resurrection, the raising of Jesus fromthe dead, led the early believers to recognise Jesus as more thanjust another good man or prophet whose life had been brought to anuntimely end. They realised that the execution of Jesus on theCross was not, after all, the end of their hopes, but that it wasstill possible to have a living relationship with him. Moresignificantly, it was accepted as proof that the death of Jesusshowed the way to true life.
Exactly what happened in the Resurrection remains a mystery. Theclues in the Gospel stories are confusing (
Something of immense significance happened, enabling the disciplesto experience the living Jesus after he had been dead and buriedfor a couple of days.
Christians today still believe that the Resurrection means the lifeand death of Jesus have a significance for people in every time andplace.
To Ponder
Do you need proof for everything you believe?What sort of things do you believe without having complete proof?Why?
What is it about Jesus that has significance foryou? What is it about Jesus that has significance for theworld?