Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.” (John 20:1-10)

Many criticize the tradition of hunting for Easter eggs because they say that it has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus. But I think it’s a beautiful reminder that there’s nothing in all history like the excitement of this morning. Every illustration breaks down eventually. It’s said that they arrived that morning to find an empty tomb, but it wasn’t completely empty. But Jesus’ burial clothes were inside, folded neatly. I’ve thought about making the illustration of Easter egg hunting more accurate by eating all the candy and just placing in the eggs empty candy wrappers, folded neatly. I don’t think my kids would get it. Peter saw the clothes lying there, and simply wondered what it could mean.

Peter was a man that I think we can all relate to. He got it all wrong so often. When he cut off a guard’s ear. When he denied Jesus. When he wanted to build tents for Moses, and Elijah, and Jesus at His transfiguration. But when Peter got it right, he really got it right. Peter was the one who first confessed his belief that Jesus was the Christ. Peter preached when the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers at Pentecost, and 3,000 got saved. In this passage, we find a Peter who is just confused, trying to figure out what’s going on.

He did not see and believe in that he now had faith (v. 8), because the very next verse says that they didn’t yet understand (v. 9). Rather, this is referring to believing what Mary said about the body of Jesus being gone. This was a good place for him to be. It gave him reason to think about all that had happened over the last 3 years. It gave him reason go over the events of Jesus’ death once again in his mind. This is the place that all people should be when they first consider the resurrection.

Like Peter, we should all have a sense of wonder and amazement at the empty tomb. Our wonder should turn to pure joy as we realize the implications of the empty tomb. An empty tomb means that our Savior is alive! Death had no power over Him. An empty tomb means that we, too, will not remain in the grave. We serve a risen Savior!