Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-065 Easter Day – 31 Mar 2002

Reading: John 20:1-9 – SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

Mary’s devotion to Christ is profoundly moving. ‘Risen Lord help me to cultivate such love for you.’

The darkness of the crucifixion is gradually driven away by the dawn of the resurrection. John’s way of putting it is to tell us that Mary went to the tomb early in the morning ‘while it was still dark’ only to find the stone removed and the tomb empty.

We’re so familiar with the story that we have difficulty appreciating how incredible it is. The early disciples did not easily reach the conclusion that Christ had risen. Only gradually did they overcome their bewilderment, pacify their emotional turmoil and conclude that Jesus was alive again.

When Mary saw the empty tomb, her first reaction was to go and find others to sort things out. She thought Jesus’ body had been moved and she was still determined to anoint his corpse. Simon and ‘the beloved disciple’ (almost certainly John) come to examine the scene. John cautiously hovers at the entrance, while Peter rushes in headlong. But though Peter saw the evidence of the discarded burial clothes it made no sense to him. In contrast the other disciple, who saw exactly the same thing, believed. But even for him it was an elementary trust rather than a complete understanding.

We sometimes say ‘seeing is believing’ but it’s not always so. Here is the greatest of the seven ‘signs’ John mentions in his Gospel. They serve both to reveal God and to stimulate belief (John 14:11). Signs have their place but do not necessarily convince people. Here the closest of Jesus’ disciples see evidence of a miracle but still struggle to comprehend it and only gradually come to full faith. What they still lacked was an encounter with the living Christ.

Pray for those who have heard the evidence and seen the signs but still do not believe, that they may encounter the living Lord.

– Bishop John B Taylor

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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