Chapter 2: The Empty Tomb

Mary had found Peter and John and told them what she had seen.

MARY MAGDALENE“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him.”— John 20:2

She had seen the open stone and drawn the only conclusion that made sense to her in that moment. Peter and John ran. John arrived first. He stopped at the entrance, looked in, and saw the linen burial cloths lying there — but he did not go inside.

Peter arrived and went straight in without stopping.

The burial cloths were lying there. A body taken by thieves would have been carried away wrapped. But the cloths had been removed. And the cloth that had covered Jesus's head had not been dropped or discarded — it was folded and placed separately to one side.

Grave robbers do not fold things.

John stepped inside after Peter and believed — not yet that Jesus had risen, but that something had happened here that no theft could explain. Neither of them understood yet the Scripture that said he must rise from the dead. They left and went back to their homes.

Mary had followed them back to the tomb. Peter and John went inside, saw what there was to see, and left.