On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” 3 So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. 6 When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, 7 and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. 8 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned home.
Mary Magdalene, one of the women standing at the foot of the cross (Jn. 19:25), was the first person to visit the tomb of Jesus. She found the stone at the entrance of the tomb (Mk. 15:46) rolled away and the tomb empty so she ran to get Simon Peter and John. She most likely thought that the Jews had taken the body (v. 2). Peter and John went to the tomb and found it empty as Mary said. Finding the burial cloths in the tomb indicated that the body had not been stolen as all the burial cloths would still be on the body (Jn. 11:44). John entered the tomb after Peter and immediately believed what Jesus had told them; “The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day (Lk. 24:7).” The disciples would not understand the significance of the events until the Holy Spirit enlightened them, “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you (Jn. 14:26).”
Almighty God, when we do not understand how you are working in our lives, let the light of the glorified Christ shine brightly in our hearts that we may continue our journey not by our understanding but by faith in the risen Lord. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Comments