03.7. By The Empty Tomb

By The Empty Tomb

John 20:1-10 Witnesses of Christ’s resurrection

John, the beloved disciple, witnessed not only Christ’s crucifixion but also His resurrection from the dead. By the empty tomb of Christ we meet him again, together with Peter. Mary Magdalene had come to them with the alarming message that the body of the Lord had been taken away out of the tomb. This news prompted Simon Peter, together with the other disciple whom Jesus loved (John 20:2), to set out for the garden tomb. Peter, I assume, did so timidly, for his relationship with the Lord, whom he had denied, had not yet been restored. This was to happen later (possibly in the afternoon of this first Easter Sunday), when the Lord appeared to him privately (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5). Some time after that he was also publicly restored before the disciples as a servant of the Lord (John 21:1-25). Therefore Peter was slower than John, although both of them, curious as they were, ran together to the tomb.John - driven by his love for the Lord - was the first to arrive (John 20:4). Stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there (John 20:5). The Greek wording suggests that he looked sharply to see whether he could discern anything, as there might be something important to be seen (cf. James 1:25; 1 Peter 1:12). Yet, the only things he saw were the linen cloths; the body of the Lord was gone. John, however, did not enter the tomb but waited for his companion. As soon as he had arrived, Peter - ever the impulsive man - entered the tomb. He saw not only the linen cloths lying there, but also "the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself" (John 20:7). This was a clear proof of the Lord’s resurrection. As someone else remarked: ’After His resurrection the Lord rolled up the linen cloths and the handkerchief that had been around His head, and laid them in separate places, not hurriedly but calmly and deliberately, just like a person neatly folds away his nightclothes after a good night’s sleep’. And yet this was not sufficient to convince Peter of the fact that Christ had been raised from the dead. He departed, "marvelling to himself at what had happened" (Luke 24:12). Once again, we see the contrast between Peter and John, for of John it is said that he saw and believed after entering the tomb (John 20:8). But then even John failed in clinging to the Lord, for he did not stay and wait to meet the risen One. Leaving the tomb, he and Peter went away to their own homes (John 20:10). Here Mary Magdalene surpassed even the beloved disciple in her dedication to the Lord, for she stayed by the tomb. She did not go home, but stood outside by the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb (John 20:11). She longed to see the Lord, although she could only think of Him as the One who had died. Her dedication was rewarded. She first saw two angels in white sitting at the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and they tried to comfort her. Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. She was the first to have the privilege of meeting Christ as the risen Lord, as is clearly confirmed by the account in Mark’s Gospel. "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons" (Mark 16:9). She came to know Him in this new capacity, this new character: as the One risen from the dead, who would soon ascend to the Father (John 20:17). And she had to pass on the important message about His departure and the new relationships that had come into being within the family of God. The importance of Christ’s resurrection

It is important to consider these experiences of the disciples as they plainly present the resurrection as a historical fact; they also paint a picture of the disciples’ spiritual growth. Their growth in the knowledge of the risen Lord is an illustration of our own growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). It is one thing to see Christ as the crucified One and to side with Him. It is another to know Him as the risen One and to be aware of our union with Him in this new capacity.In order to be saved I must first focus my eyes on the crucified Christ and accept in faith that He died on the cross in my place, bearing the judgment that I had deserved. Secondly, I must believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). What is needed is faith in His atoning death, and in His resurrection from the dead. Both elements are essential to the Gospel message: Jesus our Lord was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:25). That is why Paul says, "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore (or, ’more that that’, NIV) is also risen" (Romans 8:34).Now what made Christ’s resurrection so outstanding? What was the superiority of the resurrection, compared to the importance of the cross? The cross was necessary to put away our sins and to judge sin in the flesh. This was, in fact, a negative thing, although the cross also had the positive end of manifesting God’s loving-kindness in the gift of His Son. The resurrection, however, was clearly positive, since something unknown came to light: an entirely new order of things came into being. Leaving death behind for ever, Christ entered into this new world of the resurrection. Having solved the problem of sin by His death, He now rose as the great Victor over Satan, sin, and death. He became the Firstborn from the dead, the Head of a new creation of which we are the firstfruits (Colossians 1:18; James 1:18).Christ is the Firstborn from the dead, but we are united with Him as the firstfruits of a new creation. Our old man was crucified with Him, we died with Him, we were buried with Him. With Him we were also raised to a new life, and God even made us sit together in the heavenly places in Him (Romans 6:4-6; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 2:11-12). Believers are the fruit of the travail of His soul, the yield from the fruitful Grain of Wheat that fell into the ground and died. We can say as new creatures: "Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

One spirit with the Lord In the light of these things we can, so to speak, take our place by the empty tomb with those disciples, Peter and John. We do this in the consciousness of our union with the Lord, who was buried there. The two disciples even entered the tomb, which is exactly the truth expressed by Christian baptism: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). Baptism is a burial rite. Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus is baptism into His death. We have put off the old man and we leave it behind in the water grave. This means that we have been made one with a dead and buried Saviour. And yet this is not the full truth about the Christian position - there is more. Like Mary Magdalene, we have to learn to know the Lord as the risen One, who defeated death and the grave, and who has now returned to the Father. We are also united with Him in this wholly new position, across the river of death, across the grave. We belong to the family of the last Adam, the risen Christ. He calls us His brethren, and we call the Father our Father (John 20:17). What a tremendous privilege!Newly converted people who put their trust in the Lord Jesus will not immediately realize the scope of these things. And we all need spiritual growth to understand how closely we are linked with the Lord. The story of these disciples illustrates this. How much did they experience with the risen Lord, and how fast did they grow during those fifty days between Easter and Pentecost! First, they learned to know Christ as the true Paschal Lamb, by God appointed. Then they knew Him as the true Sheaf of the firstfruits, to be offered to God on the day after the Sabbath. For He rose from the dead on the first day of the week, the day on which the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest was brought before God (cf. Leviticus 23:1-44). After many appearances of the risen Lord, they witnessed His ascension forty days later. They realized that He had taken His place at the right hand of God - as the Man in the glory (Acts 1:1-26).

Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, they learned to know Him as the One who baptized them with the Holy Spirit, thus building His body, His Church (Acts 2:1-47).Reading further in the Book of Acts, we can only be amazed at the powerful testimony of the apostles concerning the risen and exalted Christ. They knew that they were united with this heavenly Lord, and they had accepted the clear consequences of this. Thus they had come far in the knowledge of His Person and the great results of His work. Even though they had known Christ according to the flesh, yet now they knew Him thus no longer (2 Corinthians 5:16). Christ had entered a heavenly sphere, a new order of things, the basis of which He had laid through His finished work on the cross. In his ministry, Paul explains to us these new and heavenly things, and teaches us more about our union with the risen and exalted Lord. But all this begins by taking our place in genuine faith - just like John - by the cross and by the empty tomb of Jesus.I have died and have been buried,Did descend into Thy grave.To a sheltered haven carried,Now I’m one with Thee, and safe.