John 20:1-10

1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.

4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.

6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,

7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.

9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Mary Magdalene visited the tomb before sunrise (Mark 16:2) with other women (as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke). John 20:2 says “we.” This was after Christ rose, after the earthquake rolled away the stone and after the soldiers had fled.

The women went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1).

Magdalene — from Magdala, a town near Capernaum (Luke 8:1-3)

John looked in and saw the clothes (v. 5) and probably thought it was the body. Peter went into the tomb and saw the head cloth lying separately (v. 6) and called John in.

John saw (v. 5) = in Greek, “glanced”

Peter saw (v. 6) = in Greek, “observed” — passive, without understanding

John saw (v.8) = in Greek, “understood” — John was the first to grasp the truth of the resurrection, but he still didn’t understand everything (v. 9).

The grave clothes were in order (v. 7), proof that no thief had taken the body. They were still in the shape they would have been in if a body had been inside.

All three members of the Trinity were involved in the resurrection — Father (Romans 6:4); Son (John 10:17); Spirit (Romans 8:11).

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