City Life Starter

Written by Blesson Selvanesan

The Word

³ So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. ⁴ Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes

Interpretation

The disciples of Jesus were hiding in despondency.  They were scared for their lives and future not knowing what will happen to them. Mary Magdalene along with other women went to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus’ body. They were expecting a decomposing body, instead, they were shocked to find that the tomb was open. They could not find His body and they encountered angels who told them what had happened. They ran trembling and told this to his disciples. On hearing this, Peter and John took off to the tomb to see for themselves. They ran, John outran Peter to reach the tomb first and saw the linen cloth lying there, that was used to cover Jesus’ body. Peter, who came behind him, went inside the tomb and saw that there was no body, instead found the face cloth neatly folded and kept. They were stunned and confused.

Although, Jesus told that he will have to die and rise again, his disciples had no clue about this. They heard him speak all the time, yet they never understood what he meant. They were upset when Jesus was betrayed, shocked when Jesus was captured, crest fallen when Jesus was killed and totally surprised and confused when he rose back from the death. When they saw the empty tomb, their instinct was to ask how come? They just did not expect this to happen. They were joyfully surprised at the event. Once they understood what had happened, they recalled the words of Jesus. They were convinced that a miraculous resurrection happened there, and they had become eyewitnesses for the event.

Application

Jesus conquered the death. Death was considered irreversible and inevitable. Jesus raised people from the death when he was doing ministry. All these people who came back to life will have to die physical death one day. However, what Jesus showed was that there is something beyond the physical realm. He died and came back with an eternal body beyond time and space and showed it to his inner circle despite their unbelief. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the truth even if we are surrounded by it. Without divine revelation and intervention, it’s impossible to experience supernatural events and God’s power. God does as he promised. Are our eyes and hearts open to experience the supernatural power of God?

Prayer

Heavenly father, open our eyes to see the supernatural power of God. Help us to trust and obey your word. In the name of the resurrected Christ, Amen.