Do You See What I See?

Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and she saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved... So Peter 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 cloths 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. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. (John 20:1–9)

On Easter morning, many eyes saw the same empty tomb—but they did not all see the same thing.

Do You See What I See?

Just before Christmas in 1962, a new Christmas song became a quick hit. Its lyrics asked, "Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?" That's a good question to ask today, because of technology, more than at any other time in history we have the ability to all watch an event unfolding at the same time. Millions can see the same thing at the very same moment on the other side of the planet. But the amazing thing is that although many eyes can see the same event, not everyone sees the same thing.

Consider the Super Bowl. Around 110 million people watched the Eagles play the Patriots, and like many Super Bowls it came down to the final seconds. On the last play, Tom Brady took the snap, escaped a sack, rolled right, and unleashed a long Hail Mary to Gronkowski, surrounded by six Eagles defenders. When the play was done, the Eagles had won their first Super Bowl. But if you were a Patriots fan, that is not what you saw. You saw clear pass interference, and you're still convinced you were robbed by the refs.

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, writes about this in his recent book Win Bigly. He describes "two movies on one screen"—people watching the same events yet seeing them completely differently. I was talking with Pastor Nick about this; he was on jury duty this week and described watching two groups of lawyers look at the very same facts yet come to totally different conclusions. Sometimes the perspectives are so drastically different that we conclude the other person is delusional, deceptive, or working from "alternative facts." Such is the case with the resurrection. People look at the same data, the same testimony, the same evidence, and come to different conclusions.

Mary at the Tomb

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark. The other Gospels add more detail. Mark 16 tells us it wasn't just Mary Magdalene but also Mary the mother of James, and Salome, and that they brought spices to anoint Jesus for burial.

A couple days before, when Jesus had been crucified and died, His body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Because it was the preparation day for the Sabbath—and the most holy Sabbath of the year, Passover—they hurried to get everything ready and have Him buried before sundown, as was the cultural practice of that day. But because they had to do it so quickly, they didn't have time to do it properly. Then came the Sabbath, when no work could be done. Now, the Sabbath being over, the women gathered to honor Him by preparing His body the right way.

Mark says they came very early, asking among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" The tomb had a large stone in front of it, and they wondered how they would ever get in. But when they got there, they found they didn't need to. Mark 16:4 says, "But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large."

Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." (John 20:2)

Mary saw an open and empty tomb. What she saw spoke to her and compelled her to do something—she ran to find Peter and John. (When John writes "the disciple whom Jesus loved," you can simply fill in his own name; he's too modest to use it. I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "God loves you, but I'm his favorite." That's a bit like what John is doing here.)

The Empty Tomb Requires a Response

Mary made an observation, and that observation led her to a conclusion that seemed totally logical. She had been at the cross. She watched Jesus crucified, watched His lifeless body taken down, quickly prepared, and placed in the tomb by Joseph and Nicodemus, who closed it. She had seen these things with her own eyes just two days before, and she knew what we all know: dead people stay dead. So when she found the tomb open and empty, her conclusion was that someone had taken His body, because dead men don't open tombs and leave them.

As we'll see, Mary's was a brief and somewhat inattentive consideration of the evidence. Maybe you are here today with a similar conclusion: "I'll grant you the tomb is empty and no body was found—so it must have been stolen." For centuries that has been an objection of non-believers: the disciples stole His body. Mary assumed that too. But notice: the empty tomb of Jesus requires a response. There may be different ways to respond, but there must be a response.

The Testimony Demands Investigation

So 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. (John 20:3–4)

There's some intriguing side information here. John so modestly refuses to use his own name, yet he makes sure to inform us he was a little faster than Peter. You almost wonder if there wasn't a conversation about this years later—"So you outran me?" "Well, I am the disciple whom Jesus loves." And Peter might respond, "Yeah, but did you walk on water? And who did He give the keys of the kingdom to?"

This brings us to a second point: the testimony of the empty tomb demands further investigation. The testimony of Mary, Peter, James, John, and Paul recorded in Scripture calls us to look further. You cannot casually move on from the resurrection of Jesus. There needs to be a deeper investigation of what the Scriptures describe and what Christians have believed for twenty centuries—that these followers came, saw the tomb empty, and gave testimony that they had seen Him alive.

John got there first. "Stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in." He saw more than Mary saw. She saw the open and empty tomb at a distance, then ran. John sees the grave clothes of Jesus—those wrapped around His body for burial just two days before—still lying there, but empty. The body appears simply to have disappeared, as if the cloths had sunk down where it had been.

Many people stand at a distance to the things of Scripture. If you ask friends, neighbors, or coworkers what they know about Easter, they might tell you about bunnies and eggs (though bunnies don't have eggs—that's a problem). Some know more; maybe they went to church when they were young and have heard the story of Jesus rising from the dead. But they've only seen it from a distance, without the details. John inspects it more closely.

Peter Goes In and Considers

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. (John 20:6–7)

That little statement tells us something about Peter that I can identify with—I sometimes see my own reflection in him. You could never accuse Peter of being reserved. I imagine he sees John stooping there, kind of pushes past him, and goes right into the tomb. He has to see for himself.

The custom for burial in that day was to wrap the deceased in linen, then place another piece of linen, a handkerchief or shroud, over the face and head. When Peter looks in, the cloths that had been around Jesus are empty, but the cloth that had been over His head is folded by itself in a separate place.

Here there's a shift in the language that is invisible in English. Our English Bibles keep using the word "saw," but the Greek uses different words. When Mary saw the open tomb and when John saw the linen cloths, it's the Greek word blepō—to clearly see a material object, a brief, casual observation of the data. You see things this way all the time. Driving down the freeway at 65 miles per hour, a single word like "hope" can catch your eye and your brain registers it instantly. Speed-reading courses train you to scan and register words faster and faster. That's blepō—simply observing with the eyes.

But when Peter saw the empty grave clothes and the folded handkerchief, it's a new word, theōreō—to view attentively, to take a survey of, where we get our English word "theorize." He sees what John sees, but he goes further; he begins to contemplate what it means. So we come to a third point: the investigation of the empty tomb compels deeper consideration. Have you taken time to consider not just the data, but what it means? If 2,000 years ago a man was crucified, buried, and three days later rose from the dead, what does that mean for you personally? You can have questions, doubts, theories, or objections—but you cannot passively walk away from it.

John Saw and Believed

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. (John 20:8)

I love that John reminds us again he "came to the tomb first." And "saw" here is yet another Greek word—eidō—meaning to pay attention to, to know the significance of, to perceive and understand. My dad has a saying: "If you're paying anything, pay attention." For the first time it begins to click for John. He sees and he believes; he trusts. The pieces come together.

For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. (John 20:9)

That same afternoon, Luke records that two of Jesus' disciples were leaving Jerusalem for another city when the risen Jesus came and walked with them, though they didn't recognize Him. He asked why they were so sad, and they said, "Are You a stranger in Jerusalem? Don't You know what's happened—about Jesus of Nazareth? We thought He might be the Christ." Then beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus showed them that the Christ must suffer and die and rise again the third day.

The Scriptures Foretold It

What Scripture? As John pays attention, he begins to remember what he'd been taught from his youth. Psalm 22, written a thousand years before the crucifixion, tells the story in poetic detail—His hands and feet pierced, the Romans casting lots for His garments. The very words Jesus cried from the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani"—"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me"—open Psalm 22.

Isaiah 53 describes the suffering servant, "bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray... and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Psalm 16:11 says, "You will not leave my soul in the grave... You will show me the path of life." A thousand years before, the prophecies pointed to His death, burial, and resurrection.

And not just the Old Testament. At least three times in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus told His disciples plainly, "We are going to Jerusalem; I'll be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, I'll be crucified, and on the third day I'll rise again." At the very beginning of His ministry, when He cleansed the temple, the religious leaders demanded a sign, and He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They said it had taken forty-six years to build, but John tells us, "He was speaking of His own body"—which they did not understand until after He had risen.

The Testimony of the Witnesses

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (1 Corinthians 15:1–8)

Paul declares the good news: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and was then seen by eyewitnesses. The evidence is an empty tomb and the testimony of more than 500 individuals who saw Him alive after His death. Many of them went to their deaths as martyrs. When their executioners offered to spare their lives if they would recant their proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead, they answered, "I can't, because I have seen Him."

A Decision That Cannot Be Avoided

So we come to a fourth point: the understanding of the empty tomb begs a decision. For John, the decision was to believe, to put his trust in Jesus—to believe that Jesus was not dead, and the evidence supported that belief. For you, the question is the same: to believe or not to believe. You cannot be idle on this. There is no in-between, no passive, apathetic indifference to the testimony and the evidence.

And so a fifth point: I believe the most logical decision is faith in the risen Christ. If you will take the time to investigate the evidence, weigh the testimony, and consider what these things mean, the most logical conclusion is to put your trust in Jesus. Many of you have already done that. Your lives have been radically transformed by the resurrecting power of Jesus, who was crucified outside Jerusalem, buried in a tomb where no man had ever lain, and three days later left that tomb empty—seen alive by more than 500 witnesses.

I want that to be true for every one of you. As Paul said, Christ died for our sins. As Isaiah said, "We have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." We cannot, by our religious efforts or rituals, deal with our own sin. Jesus died to deal with it.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your great grace. As the Gospel of John says, the cross is the demonstration of Your love—that You loved this world so much You gave Your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Lord, we cannot deal with our own failures and sin by ourselves, but Jesus, on the cross You cried, "It is finished"—paid in full. Because of Your death in our place and Your power demonstrated in the resurrection, we can know that saving power in our lives.

It may be that you have never put your trust in Jesus, but as you think about the evidence and the testimony, you realize it's time to make that decision—that you'd like your failures and your sin to be forgiven. Jesus died in your place to deal with them. With the heart one believes unto salvation, and with the mouth confession is made. If you'd like to receive the free gift of grace today, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I know I can't deal with my own sin, but I thank You that You died in my place. I thank You that You are not still in a tomb, but that You are alive. I pray that You'd come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith and live in Your resurrection power. Amen.