John 20:1-10 NIV

Suggested Praise Songs:

• Passion, Kristian Stanfill – Glorious Day (Live/Lyrics And Chords)
• Phil Wickham – Living Hope (Lyrics)
• Christ Is Risen – Matt Maher | LYRIC VIDEO

Resources for Family Worship (with Children)

• The Empty Tomb | Easter Sunday School lesson for kids! – Lesson for Kids
• My God Is So Big | Bible Adventure Worship | LifeKids – Song for Kids
• Jesus is Alive | Cross Culture Thailand Music Video | Group Publishing – Song for Kids
• To God Be the Glory | Yee-Haw VBS | Group Publishing – Song for Kids
• Discussion Questions for Children & Youth are located in the section after Explanation, Meditation, and Prayer (at the end of this email/blog).

Explanation:

Earlier, we saw that when John reports the same events as the other Gospel writers do, he tends to include details they did not emphasize. The same tendency appears in his report of the empty tomb.

“Early on the first day of the week” (v. 1) means early Sunday morning in today’s terms. The Jews regarded the Sabbath as the last day of the week and Sunday as the first. Since no activity could take place until sunset on Saturday, Mary Magdalene ran to Jesus’ tomb at dawn on Sunday. John remains silent about the other women who were with Mary Magdalene.

When she arrived at the tomb, the stone door blocking the entrance was open. Mary Magdalene assumed that someone had stolen Jesus’ body, so she hurried to “Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved” (v. 2) and told them what had happened. The two disciples immediately ran to the tomb.

The one who arrived first was “the other disciple” (v. 4), but he did not go in. Instead, he stood at the entrance and looked inside (v. 5). Peter, on the other hand, arrived later and went straight into the tomb (v. 6). Peter saw that the linen cloths that had wrapped Jesus’ body were lying there, and the cloth that had wrapped his head was folded separately (v. 7). From the circumstances, it was clear that Jesus’ body had not been stolen. If thieves had taken it, they would not have left behind the rather valuable linen cloths. And if it had been stolen, the inside of the tomb would have been in disorder. Instead, it looked arranged, as though someone had put things in order before leaving.

“The other disciple,” who had been standing at the entrance, also went into the tomb, looked over the situation, and accepted the fact that Jesus’ body was gone (v. 8). The phrase “believed” does not mean that he believed in Jesus’ resurrection. It means that he believed the woman’s report that Jesus’ body had disappeared.

They still did not realize that Jesus had risen. That was because they had not believed the scriptural prophecies that such a thing would happen (for example, Ps. 16:10; Isa. 53:10–12; Hos. 6:2) (v. 9). Wondering what had happened, the two disciples returned to where they had been staying.

Meditation:

All four Gospels record in careful detail the process of Jesus’ suffering and death. One scholar said of Mark’s Gospel that it is “a passion narrative with a brief introduction,” and this is true of all four Gospels. In recording the story of Jesus’ public ministry, they devote most of their space to the events of the final week. This shows how important Jesus’ suffering and death were. They were the sacrifice made to atone for the sins of humanity.

In comparison, very little space is devoted to the resurrection. Among the four Gospels, John gives it the most attention, yet even he spends seven chapters (chapters 13 through 19) on Jesus’ suffering and death, while devoting only two chapters (20–21) to the resurrection. The other Gospels are satisfied with reporting only two or three stories.

This is not because the resurrection is less important than the cross. The crucifixion took place on earth. Many people witnessed it. Therefore, it could be described just as it happened. The resurrection, however, though it took place on earth, was an event beyond ordinary human experience. No one saw the process of Jesus rising from the dead.

Even if someone had witnessed that process, there would have been no one able to understand it properly. Even if someone had seen it and written it down, there would have been no way to describe it adequately, and no one would have been able to understand that record. It was an event that went beyond three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time. For that reason, people could only infer what happened by looking at the traces left on earth by the event—the linen cloths lying on the floor and the folded cloth.

Then as now, the resurrection is something beyond our understanding. It is an event that shows the Absolute to us who are trapped within the relative, and that shows eternity to us who are trapped within the limits of time. It is a mystery that can be received only when the Holy Spirit touches our hearts.

Key Verse: Verse 9

For they still did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Prayer:

In the middle of the night, in a corner of Jerusalem, that event took place unnoticed by anyone. Quietly and slowly, it spread from person to person and changed the world. Thank you for calling us into that “hidden yet great” drama of salvation. Let this river of salvation flow through us to many more people. Amen.

Discussion Questions for Children & Youth:

Key Point: Even when the disciples did not fully understand what had happened, the empty tomb and the folded grave cloths pointed to one truth: Jesus is alive, and the resurrection leaves real signs that invite us to trust him.

• For Preschool-Elementary:
  • How do you think Mary felt when she saw the stone rolled away?
  • What did Peter and the other disciple see inside the tomb?
  • When you do not understand something about God right away, what can you still do?
• Youth:
  • Verse 9 says the disciples still did not understand the Scripture. What does that teach us about spiritual growth?
  • Why is the resurrection central to Christian faith, not just an “extra” part of the story?
  • What “traces” of Jesus’ living presence do you notice in your own life, church, or family?