Taking the Plunge

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’” John 20:1-2 Mary and some other women traveled with Jesus and the disciples and supported the group financially out of their own means. Luke and Mark also tell us that Mary and the other women were coming to the tomb with spices and perfumes. I’m guessing that much like women of today, they didn’t think the men could have done a good enough job!

Mary must have been with Jesus when he taught that he would rise from the dead after 3 days, but she didn’t understand that and was still mourning. When Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, her assumption is that the body was moved somewhere else. Not knowing what else to do, she runs to tell Peter and John.

“So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally, the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)” John 20:3-9 I get a kick out of John telling this story. Two times, he mentions that he outran Peter. But although he outran Peter and got there first, it was Peter – true to himself – who went straight into the tomb. This is the same Peter that said, “Not just my feet, Lord, but wash my whole body!” Peter is not a halfway kind of guy – though sometimes I believe he is in the middle of something before he realizes how he got there. John seems to be a bit more thoughtful about things and makes deliberate choices. Or, maybe Peter had been elected to be their leader now that Jesus was dead and John was humbly waiting for the leader to arrive and go in first.

Whatever the case, when John got inside and saw for himself, he tells us that he believed. Then why in the next sentence is he saying that, “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”? John 20:9 Somewhere down the road, these guys are going to have a ‘Dah!’ moment. Of course he wouldn’t be in the tomb. I think the emphasis in that verse is ‘had to’ meaning that because Jesus was God in human flesh, it was inevitable that he would rise from the dead. Scripture had prophesied this and Jesus had told them this. I think at this moment, Peter and John’s minds are racing as they try to remember all the things Jesus had said. They were so busy trying to not hear what they didn’t want to hear that they had pushed much of what Jesus had said to them about this time aside in their minds. They find themselves trying to make sense of the moment. Had someone moved the body? Or did Jesus rise from the dead like he said he would?

“Then the disciples went back to their homes.” John 20:10 They had been keeping a low profile, though Mary’s news caused them to risk going out. They had to see for themselves. Now they needed to go back and think about things. Did Jesus rise from the dead? Could he really do that? What was going to happen next? What was it Jesus said?

I wonder how many times my unbelief keeps me from hearing or understanding something that is really happening. I wonder how many times I put my hands over my ears or my eyes to not hear or see something I don’t want to deal with. And I wonder how many times I run to the entrance and then stop and miss the truth that awaits me. Thank God for friends and mentors who plunge in and encourage me to come see too!