The Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, April 17, 2022

John 20, 1–9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. 

The Evangelists tell of the same event, but differ as to what details they include and do not include in describing it.  This is true in terms of their Gospels as a whole, in various events within them, and particularly in their telling of the aftermath of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  We note that none of the Gospels give us details of the Resurrection itself: no one takes us within the tomb to see the Lord awaken.  No one shows us the angels carefully folding the burial cloths and setting them aside to serve as evidence for the Apostles as to what did occur.  And this works for our benefit, for we gain greatly from studying the reactions of the witnesses.

First, we see the action of Mary Magdalene, the mysterious woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, who had then followed him, and who stood under the Cross with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John.  She “came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark”, unable due to her love to remain in her home until it was light and it would be safer for her to go outside the city walls.  When she arrives at the tomb, she sees no one.  The guards posted there had fled at the sight of the angel who descended from heaven.  But it is likely that Mary did not know of the guards.  She does see that the enormous stone used to seal the tomb had been removed.  Moving this stone to admit a new burial (for a tomb of this type was meant for the bodies of members of a family) or to seal it again required several men, and it would have taken time.  Certainly, heavy work like this could not have been done at night.  She would have felt great amazement and a sense that something was not right.  It is the sense we would have if we saw the saw rising from the west.  We would not understand and no one to explain it.

“So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved.”  She knew the house where the Apostles had eaten the Passover meal with the Lord, and she knew that they would still be there.  Perhaps John had told her after the Death of the Lord, as they stood with the Blessed Virgin beneath his sacred Body, that she would find them there.  She ran in confusion and fear.  “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”  She does not say who “they” are.  She might have thought that it was the Sanhedrin and Pharisees who had done this, defiled the tomb and the Body of the one they hated so terribly.  We also learn that Mary of Magdala had not been the only witness to this, for she says “we”.  From the other Gospels we know that at least two other women had accompanied her to the tomb.  Also, St. John does not mention that Mary and the others had looked into the tomb and found it empty, but gives us this information now through Mary’s own lips.  

“So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.”  John does not tell us if all the Apostles ran to the tomb but that he and Peter led them, or if they alone went there.  It is significant that John mentions that they both “ran”.  Peter, whose denials of the Lord John had described in so much detail, does not shrink from service to the Lord now.  If his Master’s Body has been taken by the Sanhedrin, he will recover it, whatever the cost.  John runs with the same intention, but maybe with a little more hope in what the Lord had said previously about “rising again”, for of all the Apostles, he was the most thoughtful.

“They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first.”  The Fathers comment on this verse that love arrives first and faith follows.  That is, we fall in love with the Lord Jesus, and this leads us to believe in him.  “He bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.”  This detail, easy to overlook, reveals to us the care with which John kept this day in his memory and also assures us of his veracity and accuracy.  It is as though John were reliving for himself each moment and we are privileged to hear him do so. 

“When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.”  As we learn from Matthew 28, 11-15, the Sanhedrin told the guards to spread the story that his Apostles, for some unknown motive, had stolen the Lord’s Body.  This is belied by the fact that the burial cloths were still in the tomb.  If the Apostles had somehow managed to roll back the stone without waking the guards, they would not have foolishly and needlessly took the time to unwrap the Lord’s Body before making off with it.  Furthermore, the unrolling was done without haste.  The cloth for his head is “rolled up in a separate place”.  The moving of the enormous stone, the disappearance of the Body, and the neatly placed burial cloths must have mystified Peter and John.  They do not even speak to each other.  They simply look at what there is to see.  “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.”  Love seeks to understand and gains faith.  “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”  The Greek verb translated here as “did not yet understand” is in the pluperfect tense, not in perfect, and so the translation should read, “For they had not understood the Scripture that he had to die from the dead.”  The lectionary version does not make sense because it says that John “saw and believed” at the same time that neither Apostles understood the Scripture about him rising from the dead.  The Greek actually tells us that they “had not understood” previously, but now they saw and believed”.  Now they see that the Lord had not come merely to save Israel from the Romans but to save us all from sin and death.

Happy Easter, everyone!  I finished my last Mass about an hour ago, and I prayed in it for you all!