Text: John 20: 1-10
Text verse: John 20: 6-7
We often think of the believers of that time as people who were naive in their faith and this passage shows us that it was not easy for them to believe that Jesus would rise from the dead.
Acts states that Jesus showed unequivocal evidence that He was alive (Acts 1: 3).
It was not easy for the disciples to believe. In verse 8 it seems for a moment that John believed, but then the next verse tells us that he thought Jesus’ body was gone. His faith was not yet a faith in the resurrection of Jesus.
Even Jesus’ disciples could not believe until they saw Him again.
We also live in a time when Jesus’ resurrection is being questioned. Therefore, it would be wise to go and see what finally convinced the disciples. If it could turn their thinking into a profound faith, then what they saw would also be enough to strengthen our faith.
The cloths
When you read this passage, it may make you think of a detective arriving at a murder scene and looking at all the evidence to determine what happened.
What John tells us here about the cloths, had to prove to him personally that Jesus’ body was not stolen and moved. He records it precisely so that every reader can come to faith (also see John 20:31).
Think of it this way. If Jesus’ enemies wanted to steal his body, they would certainly not remove the cloths, because it was a decomposing body. It would be much better to take the cloths along.
On top of that, they would not bother to fold the headscarf neatly either, because they would like to get away from the scene as soon as possible.
Nor could it be one of His disciples who removed the body in an attempt to make people think that He had risen from the dead, because they had too much respect for Jesus’ body and therefore would not remove the cloths.
Upon reflection, John realised that what they saw here at the tomb were the first signs of the indisputable evidence that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Believing in the resurrection is difficult because it is totally beyond our reality and logic. What we need to do is look at this clear evidence that John saw with his own eyes. In this way the truth is confirmed to us.