Outlook

John 20:^9-10 “for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.”

Today we start off by delving deeper into our final thought from yesterday. John 20:⁵ “He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.” Even though John told us how he outran Peter and got to the tomb first, John got there and did not act until Peter got there. This is deeply instructive, when we get this, our life and relationship will be transformed. John was younger, faster, and perhaps more athletic but he deferred to Peter. Sometimes people think that because they are more intelligent than their leader, they should take the biggest piece of meat. Or because they run faster than their leader, they should just go in. John arrived first, but he deferred to Peter. This is so important. Maybe this is the reason why John told us that he got there first. So that when we ask this question, we can get to this depth.

John 20:^6-7 “Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there. while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.” What is the significance of that? What does this tell you? I am not going to go to the Jewish implications of that because that is subjective. When they fold the napkins, it means I am coming back, I will be right back. Some people say it is and some people say it is not a founded Jewish tradition. However, just by looking at the whole scenario, we see that God is the God of order and that there was no rush. Jesus got up and folded the headcover. I am not saying that Jesus is saying when you get up from the bed you must lay your bed. Or that if you do not lay your bed, you are not Christlike. However, I am saying I think it would be a good attribute to copy from Jesus because he did not have to fold that cloth. Jesus was making a statement with the folded cloth that He did not rush out of the tomb. He got up from the dead. Huge!

John 20:⁸ “Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed.” By extension, Peter also believed something because they turned, and they went back home. So, what did they believe? What did Mary tell them when she ran to meet them? Mary told them that they have taken Jesus’ body away. They must have said it was impossible and ran there to see for themselves. When they got there, they saw, and they believed that Jesus’ body had been stolen. That was what they believed; we are eyewitnesses that His body was stolen. That is interesting because in Luke 24:¹² “Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” John tells us they believed, what did they believe? These people are crazy, they actually stole His body; that was what they believed. Even though Jesus had told them many times, that He would rise from the dead. Yet they saw it and did not get it.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to believe what You say will happen and the wisdom to defer to the people who have been placed in authority over me, in Jesus Name. Amen!