Seeing and believing an empty tomb

Details, details—eyewitness?

day of the week, time of day, visibility conditions, names, place, the conditions of the site in question, reaction—running, specifies who was told, and their reaction (running), words of the report, running together, one faster than the other (competitors), one more cautious than the other, etc.

Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and the other disciple

Mary Magdalene: figures in the immediate section after this passage as talking to jesus and seeing two angels in white. “Rabboni!”--

Simon Peter: (brother of Andrew, impulsive and leader, fisherman)

the other disciple whom Jesus loved (John-- brother of James, son of Zebedee, fisherman, competition with Peter and Andrew)

Racing to see “the” empty tomb

John 20:4 NET

The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.

John 20:5 NET

He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in.

john 20:

he saw and believed

John saw and believed, but yet did not understand that he was supposed to rise from the dead, according to the Scriptures.

It is possible to see and believe without understanding—but understanding is an “aha!!” moment.

Jesus tells Thomas: “blessed are the people who have not seen and yet believed.” ()t belief ultimately is a personal trust, and is a verb, not a noun. it is not a statement of a proposition—it is a personal trust and confidence. therefore, it can grow, develop, and weaken, and mature, but it is not the belief that matters as much as the object of the trust, the truthfulness of the one being trusted.

Conclusion

in this time of crisis, and world-wide renewed attention on the vulnerability of human existence to circumstances beyond our control, the message of the Resurrection is that not even death is the end of the matter. Christ offers hope and confidence of life beyond death, but also is a reminder of having to face our Creator, sitting at the “right hand of the Father” to whom we must give an accounting.

Conclusion

belief ultimately is a personal trust, and is a verb, not a noun. it is not a statement of a proposition—it is a personal trust