Very early in the morning on Resurrection Sunday, before Jesus appeared to anyone in His glorified, resurrection body, a faith-event occurred to test the faith of His followers. A group of women who had followed Him from Galilee to the Passover in Jerusalem had arranged to meet at the tomb to complete the burial custom for His dead body. Mary Magdalene and another Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, had tarried on Thursday evening to see where Joseph of Arimathea interred His body; they arrived first, perhaps to point out the exact location of the tomb to the others. Probably unbeknownst to them, the religious leaders had set a guard and sealed the tomb on Friday with an official seal to prevent Jesus’ disciples from stealing the body and pretending He had risen from the dead, so they actually would not have been able to access the tomb as they anticipated. But God’s authority trumped that of the religious leaders, and to implement His faith-lesson, just before the women arrived, God sent an angel to roll away the stone, which caused an earthquake and so frightened the guards that they became like dead men. Arriving moments later, the women discovered the tomb was empty, and had a vision of an angel telling them Jesus had risen. But there was no body, and as soon as they left the tomb to inform others, the vision, like a dream, began to fade away so that by the time Mary Magdalene arrived to tell Peter and John what they had found, she had come to doubt herself and reported her own perception that someone must have removed the body from the tomb and they couldn’t find it; Joh 20:1-2. In the meantime, the other women arrived at the tomb, perhaps led by the other Mary who may have run into them as she was on her way to tell others. These had a similar but separate experience at the tomb with two angels reminding them of Jesus’ words that He would be crucified and rise again on the third day. As with us when we are reminded of God’s word, this fanned to life the dying embers of their faith and they returned from the tomb to inform others.
In this way God provided that the word would immediately go forth that the tomb was empty, but as to what had happened to Jesus’ body, it was still very much a matter of faith. For the experience of the women at the tomb was spiritual in nature, and depending upon one’s spiritual perception, such experiences may be perceived differently by different people; cf. Num 22:22-27,31, 2Ki 6:17, Dan 10:7-8, Mat 28:17, Joh 12:28-29, Act 22:9. Because of the sudden and unexpected nature of the event the exact details each remembered may also have differed, which would also have contributed to the doubt of those they told. Thus, when they reported their experience at the tomb to the rest of the apostles, it seemed like nonsense to them, and they wouldn’t believe it. This in turn would have had the opposite effect of pouring cold water upon the embers of their faith. As with Mary Magdalene, the vision of these other women at the tomb would also have begun to seem like a dream, so that they couldn’t help but second-guess themselves and their experience; it made no rational sense. What does this again teach us about the true nature of faith, and the way that our life in this world always has a way of rationalizing away what we would otherwise know in faith to be true?
What does Luke now record at this point that John would later clarify and expand upon in his account? See Luke 24:12, Joh 20:1-10. What three things does Luke highlight that John’s expanded account also notes? See Joh 20:4,5,6. Does the fact that Peter and John ran to the tomb indicate that they were full of faith that Jesus had in fact risen from the dead and they might meet Him somewhere in the vicinity of the tomb? See again Luk 24:11, Joh 20:2. Consider too that at that point their conception of Him rising from the dead meant being resuscitated to life after the manner of Lazarus, not resurrected to an entirely new body, so in their minds it no longer seemed possible that the life Jesus had in His flesh could be restored to His mangled body from which His life fluids had been poured out. Although Mary’s report may have sparked a tiny glimmer of hope, for what more likely reason did Peter and John race to the tomb? See Joh 20:2 and consider that the day had just dawned and Mary’s report would certainly have included the presence of the Roman soldiers at the tomb, so that if Jesus’ body was indeed gone, they should make haste to hopefully find out what happened to it. Although no doubt fearful of the soldiers as followers of Jesus whom the Romans had just put to death, having had the two sabbaths to consider his weakness and failure to stand up for Him as he had said he would, in what way is impulsively dashing off to the tomb so characteristic of Peter? Cf. Mat 16:16, 26:33, Joh 18:10. Although John arrived at the tomb first and hesitated to enter, perhaps from fear of the seal that had been posted or the defilement of the grave, in what way was Peter’s impetuous nature again on display when he arrived? See Joh 20:4-6. Although not necessarily always wise in hindsight, in what way does impulsively acting first from a good and honest heart and trusting God to sort out the implications demonstrate a certain faith that the Lord perhaps saw in Peter that resulted in his call as one of Jesus’ closest apostles?