RACING TO THE TOMB . . . .

SO THEY BOTH RAN TOGETHER . . . AND CAME TO THE TOMB . . . .

        Most of us don't think about hurrying to the grave or running to a tomb, the place of the

The two of them were
racing to the tomb.

dead.  We usually avoid cemeteries, unless we have a friend or family buried in one; and then we only go there occasionally.  But we don't hurry. 

In fact, think of that phrase:  hurrying to the tomb.  Or even racing.  We might use that idea to describe someone who lives a carefree and daredevil kind of life.  When I was young there was a stunt man called Evil Knievel.  He did all kinds of jumping performances with his motorcycle.  He lived dangerously, and he got himself hurt a lot over a period of years.  Perhaps every young boy goes through that experience of life:  of believing they cannot die, and so they live very dangerously and take grave risks.  We hope those boys will grow out of that phase soon, and, thank God most of them do.

          Maybe you've been to a funeral.  I know I have.  In my former line of work, I went to lots of funerals.  And if you've been to even a few, hopefully you have and paid attention to the people around you.  They often have what's known as a grave-side service.  People travel -- very slowly -- to the cemetery, usually in a long queue of cars, led by the hearse.  Then they park near the tomb, and all the people get out of their cars.  And they

Like this person I often
weep at funerals . . . . No, really!

walk slowly to the grave site.  Nobody is in a hurry to get to the open pit and look at the casket which sits above it.  And usually a good many of the people are weeping. 

I know I do.  Even when the person who died is very elderly and of no relation to me, I often cry at funerals.  That's because death is just a very sad thing!  Yes, I know we are Christians.  We know there is eternal life, and that life goes beyond death and the grave.  We know Jesus was raised, and that we as believers will be raised from death too.  But that's later.  We don't know when that will happen for us.  So in our right minds, we admit to ourselves, and to others that death is a very sad thing, and it makes us sad.  Grief is all too real, so we do cry, and rightly so.

I remember one grave side service I was at.  I was actually officiating at it.  The cemetery was located up on the side of a big hill north from the little town of Des Moines, New Mexico.  We all got out of our cars, and walked slowly to the grade side.  Most people

actually walked slower than usual, because the ground was rocky and uneven -- the slope was part of the a big mountain actually.  We finally all got assembled.  And I remember how many of us wept big tears at the loss of this one woman.  And there were many other occasions like this one.

It is also true that we normally walk slowly to our own grave.  As we grow up we learn not to take foolish chances with our lives.  We know deep down, without even thinking about it very much, that life is precious, so we do what we can to preserve our own for as long as

we can.  It is a sort of survival instinct.  It is the instinct of self-preservation. 

Even more:  we know that death is a negative thing in many respects:  the known aspect of life that we are familiar and comfortable with comes to an end, and is replaced with a large question mark.  Death has been called the great unknown, and even with a number of New Testament scriptures which offer some insights into what comes after this life (Philippians 1,

The Des Moines Cemetery was a sad place.

1 Corinthians 15; and Matthew 22:23-33 to name but a few).  These passages rightly offer us reassurance, even for people who are not Christians.  But they leave much to the imagination and do not answer all of our questions or fill in all of our blanks.  So because of this large uncertainty that we know of death to be, we walk very slowly towards our own grave.  We are not anxious to get there at all.

So it strikes us as really odd to read about a passage in which people run, even race, to get to the place of burial.  Yet that is what Peter and "the disciple whom Jesus loved" did.  Probably this is John, and they ran to get back to the place where they were all sure Jesus had been buried following his crucifixion.  Why did they do that?  And even more what would make you do that?

The answer for the two disciples is that they heard a report about this one grave that was out of the ordinary.  It caught them completely by surprise.  Here is what their friend Mary Magdalene said to them:

2 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's Gospel has it that
Mary of Magdala got there first.

3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.

4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

What made Peter and John hold a foot race to get to the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid?  It was an unusual report from a friend!  The report of Mary Magdalene was out of the ordinary.  Things like this were not supposed to happen -- especially at graves where the dead were left.  Even 2000 years ago in the land of Israel when the dead were placed in cave-tombs, they were not expected to come back to live.  Nor was it expected that someone would come along shortly after burial and steal the body out of the grave.  Jesus's own tomb had been sealed with a stone, but Mary's first assumption is that someone had stolen his body:
1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

2 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.”

This was an unusual report.  This got them both up on their feet and headed to the tomb.  They were running to the grave, holding a race, and John, the younger, got their first.  It was their excitement over this unusual announcement about Jesus that got them up and running.  They had watched Him die.  They knew He was dead.  To hear that He was gone from the tomb, got them running to the crypt.  And when they got there they got the vindication that what Mary had told them thus far was true:  either Jesus' body had been taken or not, but the stone cover was certainly gone, the tomb was open, and the body of

Would you run back to look at an
empty hole in the ground
where once a body had been?

Jesus was most  certainly missing!  They had run to see if the strange report was true, and then they saw that it was.

We still wonder about those first disciples, however.  Jesus had taught them all that the Son of Man had to suffer at the hands of sinful men and be killed by them.  But in the same breath Jesus would also tell them that this same Son of Man (Himself) would rise again on the third day.  
Even in John's Gospel the Lord makes reference to his own death and resurrection, though in a veiled way.  He did that when he challenged His opponents to "destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up!" (John 2:19).  The Gospel writer goes on to tell us ". . . He was speaking of the temple of his body.  Therefore when He had risen from the dead His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the scripture and the word which He had said to them."  (2:21-22).

The other Gospels report that He told them such things a number of times over the course of their ministry together.  But the disciples appear -- even in John's Gospel -- not to have remembered it or thought about it on the day of the cross itself.  So they ran to see if Mary's report was true; they looked in the empty tomb; they went inside.  But only one of them believed.

Today, maybe nothing, maybe not even a fabulous report by a friend or family member would get you hurrying back to a cemetery to stare at a hole that was formerly filled by a dead body.  But today you and I still get to hear Mary's report:   "they have taken away my Lord, and we do not know where they have put Him."  We get to hear that report and act on

There really was a cross for Jesus.
And now it really is empty . . . .

it.  Oh, we cannot run back to ancient Palestine to find and look at the empty cave-tomb where Jesus' body had been laid.  But we can respond with energy and urgency.  We can go to look for more evidence that Jesus is alive.  We can be open to the other senses we have, and believe and act on the evidence God will give us for those other senses.  We could even be like the disciple whom Jesus loved:  see the empty tomb and perhaps the folded grave clothing, and come to the conclusion that Jesus His Lord was alive again.  His feet got Him there fast, but the evidence of his own eyes helped John turn the corner and move into the realm of faith.

So read the Gospels!  Read them prayerfully.  Go back to the story of Jesus' crucifixion and then turn next to the Easter stories.  Hear once again the excited, worried report of Mary.  Use a bit of inspired imagination.  There is evidence there for all the senses.  They will get you on your feet and moving quickly to those places where Jesus has been, and where He will appear again (as He did for Mary).  I don't necessarily mean for you to travel geographically; but travel spiritually!  Get excited in your mind and heart to go and check out the truth about Jesus Christ.  Go and look for Him, the Living Jesus, and you will find Him!  He is alive, and He lives for you!

BIBLE STORY TO READ, USE, AND LOVE:  John 20:1-18


1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2 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.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.
4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths,

No picture really does justice to what
those first disciples saw . . . .

but folded together in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

LBC