Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 24:1-12; Matthew 28:1-15; John 20 "THE RESPONSE OF PETER AND JOHN TO THE NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS"
Day 340 – Luke 24
Text: Luke 24:1-12; Matthew 28:1-15; John 20
THE RESPONSE OF PETER AND JOHN TO THE NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
The women disciples sought out Peter and John to tell them what they had just discovered. The larger group had spoken about seeing angels who announced to them that Jesus had risen from the dead. He would see His Disciples in Galilee as He had said. Mary had also come to them, and had said that the Body of Jesus was indeed missing, but she could not confirm what her friends had said about the angelic announcement.
Peter and John were initially skeptical about what they heard. However, they were not people who would just sit and do nothing. The least they could do was to check out the stories of the women folk! What harm could there be in running to the Garden Tomb to see for themselves what actually happened?
THE RACE TO THE EMPTY TOMB
Luke recorded Peter’s response.
“But Peter arose and ran to the tomb;
and stooping down, he saw the linen clothes
lying by themselves;
and he departed, marveling at what had happened.”
Luke 24:12
John recorded another observation.
“Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple,
and were going to the tomb.
So they both ran together, and the other disciple
Outran Peter and came to the tomb first.
And he stooping down and looking in,
Saw the linen clothes lying there; yet he did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb;
And he saw the linen cloths lying there,
And the handkerchief that had been around His head,
Not lying with the linen cloths,
But folded together in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first,
Went in also; and he saw and believed.”
John 20:3-8
Peter and John ran together to the Garden Tomb. John wrote that he had outrun Peter, but did not go into the tomb first. It was Peter who entered the tomb, and he marveled at what he saw! The linen clothes that bound Jesus were neatly folded away.
If anyone had snatched away Jesus for wicked reasons, they would not bother to put away the cloths that bound Jesus in neat piles! This Resurrection was different from a previous one they had witnessed. When Lazarus was resurrected, people had to be asked to remove the cloths that bound him.
John went into the tomb after Peter. He also noticed that the cloths had indeed been arranged neatly. Why, the cloth that was used to wrap around the head of Jesus was put aside separately from the rest of the linen cloths that bound the body of Jesus. Whoever was responsible for the empty tomb had been a very tidy person!
John was “the other disciple” . He recorded how after he saw, “he believed”. Did Peter believe also? Luke only said that he “marveled”. Perhaps, he wanted to believe, but he had not fully overcome all his doubts! Besides, how would he be able to face his Master after having betrayed him so badly?
“AS YET THEY DID NOT KNOW THE SCRIPTURES…”
Why was there such a state of unbelief in their hearts? The evidence was all too obvious and plain! John ventured this insight,
“For as yet they did not know the Scripture,
that He must rise again from the dead.”
John 20:9
John’s analysis led him to think and to conclude why his fellow-disciples all had problems with the news about the resurrection of their Teacher. The disciples had been taught about the resurrection of Jesus, but they had not come to full understanding and acceptance of the Scripture.
John therefore distinguished between mere knowledge, and faith as a result of that knowledge. It was all well and good to have knowledge of the resurrection. But if that knowledge did not result in faith, one could not really say he knew the Scripture portion taught.
This part of the teaching of Jesus had not been fully understood. Jesus had tried to explain to them that the Scriptures had indeed predicted that He would rise from the dead! But somehow, this teaching was not well understood by the disciples at all!
WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES DO ABOUT THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE?
The women disciples had run to Peter and John with the news that the Tomb of Jesus was empty! They had been very sure about the fact that angels of the Lord had spoken to them. How could they mistake the presence and the words of the angels? How could the men disciples think that their friends had been lying? Their news was about their Saviour who had risen from the dead! Nobody could do anything but tell the truth about something as dramatic as the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus!
The men, Peter and John, unfortunately did not do anything very much about what they had discovered! Perhaps, they needed to confer among themselves further about the meaning and the significance of the empty tomb, and the resurrection of Jesus.
John recorded an almost anti-climatic response of the two disciples who ran to the Garden Tomb. They were quite lost without the leadership provided by their Teacher!
“Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.”
John 20:10