The Moment the Resurrection Became Real

We continue our meditation on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, focusing today on the resurrection itself. The writer, Josh McDowell, initially tried to disprove the resurrection story for his college thesis, but as he studied the Scriptures and the historical evidence, logical reasoning led him to the opposite conclusion. The evidence he found deeply affected him, leading him to become a Christian and author of “Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” which has become one of our most popular Christian books. It truly illuminates the entire resurrection story. The climax of this story—the resurrection of Jesus—gives us a preview of the victory we can anticipate as believers in Christ. Death had no power over Jesus and will have no power over those who believe in Him.

Having observed where Joseph and Nicodemus placed the body, the women, who each had different homes, probably decided to meet at dawn at the tomb to add more spices to the body. The first one there that morning was Mary Magdalene. She arrived alone while it was still dark. Here’s John’s testimony of the event:

¹Early 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. ²So 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!" ³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally 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.) (John 20:1-9).

When Mary Magdalene told the two disciples about the stone being removed from the tomb's entrance, they assumed the Jewish priests and elders had stolen Jesus' body. Mary told Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (John 20:2). When they ran to the tomb and John entered, he believed (v. 8), but what exactly did he see that led him to believe that Jesus was alive from the dead? He became convinced that Jesus had risen when he saw the grave clothes. He was the first to "get it." Let's consider what John saw when he looked at the burial wrappings. We know the body was wrapped in linen strips, with about 75 pounds of spices between the wrappings (John 19:39-40), similar to the Egyptian practice of wrapping a body. The head cloth was separate from the rest. The way I imagine it, the wrappings were probably stiff from the myrrh, aloes, and spices. The body must have passed through the wrappings, leaving behind what could be described as a cocoon of wrappings and spices. These intact wrappings, I believe, convinced John that Jesus was alive.

It's interesting to consider that when Mary Magdalene finally returned to the tomb and entered, she saw two angels on either side of the linen burial wrappings.

11Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot (John 20:11-12).

As Mary looked inside the tomb, there were two attending angels at the head and the foot of the burial wrappings. The two angels in the tomb symbolized the Holy of Holies inside the temple, where, on either side of the Mercy Seat, the high priest sprinkled the atoning blood; in that sacred space, two statues of angels cast in gold stood (Exodus 25:18). Christ's empty tomb now represented the very mercy seat of God. It's also interesting to consider that Jesus was wrapped in white linen, just as the high priest was required to wear a white linen garment to sprinkle the blood of atonement before God. What does atonement mean? To atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God.

What impact does this have on our lives? If we believe Christ has risen, we must respond personally to His claims. Each person must decide whether He is your King. Thank God we serve a risen Savior! Keith Thomas

The YouTube video of this talk with closed captions (subtitles) in 65 languages is found at the following link: https://youtu.be/OSV2bnALI6w

The written notes are at the following link: The Burial and Resurrection of Christ