J Philip Bible Readings

"20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going towards the tomb. ⁴ Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes.

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ Having said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her."

John 20:1-18

We turn now to a consideration of the other two disciples mentioned in this passage, Peter and John. What happened to them at the tomb is full of significance and importance. The question John is dealing with in recording their reaction is: How does the message of the resurrection come home to our hearts, and how does 'the difference Jesus makes' happen to us? The simple answer to this question, according to John, is that there must be a personal apprehension of the significance of the gospel. And we are given a glimpse of what this means in this passage. It will be noticed that the word 'see' occurs frequently (cf 1, 5, 6, 8, 12, 14). The important point to realise is that the Greek word is not the same in each case. There are in fact three different Greek words used, and each has a different shade of meaning. When Mary came and saw the stone taken away (1), the word used describes simply the physical act of seeing. She noticed the fact. And this is the word that is also used in 5, of John. But when Peter saw the linen clothes lying (6), a different word is used, and it is one which suggests that Peter's attention was arrested by what he saw. The sight to him was unusual, and it made him look again. One can almost see a puzzled look in the word. This word is also used in 12, when Mary saw the two angels; it registered with her as something unusual. The same word is used in 14. But there is a third word, and it is used in 8: John saw and believed. Here the Greek word is one that involves an experience. It means perception, knowledge, understanding; it is the word that denotes spiritual illumination. In this 'seeing', everything became clear to John, and he believed. His eyes were opened, he was illumined by the Spirit of God. This is the point at which blessing comes to us, and salvation is sealed to our hearts.