SEEING WHAT’S NOT THERE
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, that as I come to worship you in spirit and in truth today, you welcome me, you come and give me great cause to be joyful. Help me to express my reasons for the joy that is mine with those around me today.
Read JOHN 20:1–10
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Empty Tomb
20 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.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Search for the ‘Rubin’s vase’ optical illusion online. What do you see first—the vase or the faces?‘It’s been moved!’ Arriving in the still dark hours of the early morning (v. 1), Mary found the stone rolled away. Someone else had gotten there sooner. Had graverobbers been responsible? Running, breathless conversation, more running, and Peter tumbles into the tomb, with John more tentatively behind. There, the linen cloths tell a different story. No one taking the body—friend or foe—would have had the time or inclination to remove the graveclothes, never mind folding them neatly (vv. 6, 7). Realizing that Jesus’ body no longer rests there and hasn’t been robbed, John’s heart stirs (v. 8). Belief settles more deeply, sending out new roots and shoots that will soon be nurtured into understanding by Scripture and Spirit (v. 9).
Seeing, believing … and later, understanding. Is that the way we’d like it to go? Certainly, there’s a grace in seeing (whether in person, as the apostles did, or through Scripture and other sources as we do now) first. But would we prefer understanding to precede believing— especially when we encounter unexpected emptiness or inexplicable events? What we see and believe in God’s apparent absence is significant. Even in our breathless confusion, the shrouds of mystery we find can point us to the truth of who he is and the new life he gives.
Apply
In what ways has God increased your understanding of who he is, not only through Scripture, but in your journey with him?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I want to see, believe, and understand more of you and the new life you invite me into. Open my eyes. Enable my belief. Enrich my understanding.
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