1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. ~ John 20:1-10
In John 20 we are given John’s eyewitness account of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Early on Sunday the women came to His tomb with more spices, only to find out that His body was not there. Yet again, the Lord Jesus controls every detail of His dying, burial, and resurrection in order to fulfill prophecy.
Among many other Old Testament passages, in Psalm 16, we are given the prophecy about His resurrection. In Psalm 16:9-11, we read, "9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Along with the death and the burial of the Lord Jesus, His resurrection was fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
In John 20:1, we read, "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.” Mary came back to complete what was a very hurried burial. But when she got there, the stone was rolled away and His body was no longer in there.
The Roman soldiers made the tomb secure, and along with a guard, they set a seal on the stone. But an earthquake occurred, and an angel came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. The stone was not rolled away so that the Lord Jesus could get out, it was rolled away so that the disciples could see into the tomb.
After recognizing the Lord Jesus was no longer in the tomb, according to v.2, Mary ran and came to Simon Peter and to John to tell them that someone had taken His body away. She assumes He was still dead, not raised from the dead and someone had stolen His body.
We read in v.3-5, "So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in." Peter and John ran to the tomb and John notes that he arrived first. John looked into the tomb, seeing "the strips of linen lying there but did not go in."
According to v.6-8, "6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed."
If robbers had taken His body, they would have not unwrapped His body. But what Peter and John saw were the linen wrappings wrapped and lying exactly as they were when they were on His body. And, then there was the napkin that had wrapped the head lying exactly as it was while on His head, indicating that what had happened was Jesus had just come out of them. He had resurrected.
And, as a result, the followers of the Lord Jesus believed. It is not easy to believe in a resurrection, especially when you don’t expect it. Especially when you have been told that somebody stole the body. But there was clear evidence in the left behind linens that these two disciples believed that He rose from the dead.
Later, it all became clear, when the Holy Spirit came and the Lord Jesus appeared before them bodily, that He had overcome the product of sin: death. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10, “If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved.” Saved from our sin and death. This changes everything.
Through His resurrection, “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). Accordingly, we will one day be in heaven for eternity, separated from all that is the product of mankind's rebellion against God. My old man died at the cross of the Lord Jesus, and my new man was made alive through His resurrection.
The Christian hope depends entirely on the teaching that the Lord Jesus died a physical death, vacated an actual grave, and ascended into heaven. “I am making everything new!,” God announces in Revelation 21:5. The old will be gone. God will lay hold of every living thing, every diseased body and every afflicted mind, and make all new.
John 20:7 tells us that the napkin that was placed over the face of the Lord Jesus was not just thrown aside. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of the stony coffin. That is significant!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the master and servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. If the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up the napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m done.”
But if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.” The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!” This is the conclusion behind the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: "He will one day, perhaps soon, come to receive unto Himself His own.
