That First Easter Sunday Morning

The followers of Jesus have never struck me as the athletic type, but when Mary was told to go tell the disciples that "He is risen, just as He said," John arrived at the tomb with unusual speed. The Bible says that he looked in the empty tomb to see what he could. The verb "to see" is simply one of the most common words in the New Testament. Peter quickly caught him and pretty much barged past him to see what he could. The verb changes here to "thereo" from which we get our word theory, and carries the idea of scrutinizing. John goes in to the tomb further to see the folded linen burial cloth and now he sees "orao," which means to see with understanding, and it becomes clear from the text that he now believes in the resurrection for the first time. In fact, I believe at this point we can say with certainty that John is saved. When the Awana children were asked Wednesday night the significance of the linen cloth being folded, one young lady correctly replied that if someone stole the body they would not take the time to be folding the burial cloth. One of the boys submitted the amusing observation that "Women just don't like to leave things untidy, so they must have folded it!" The joy that swept over the women and the other disciples must have been palpable. I trust that your joy is full this Easter season as we consider His triumph over the grave.

On a medical note - please pray that the MRI this next Tuesday will go well. Issues related to the liver are still frustrating because most enzyme levels remain high, including an 11 point rise in the bilirubin, to 44.1.