John 20:1 reports that Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb “and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.” This was a large, round stone placed in a groove in front of the tomb to secure it from grave robbers. It would have taken several strong men to roll that stone out of the groove. The Jewish leaders feared that the disciples would come and steal Jesus’ body and claim that He was risen.

So they went to Pilate and got a Roman guard to secure the tomb (Matthew 27). “Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, ‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I am to rise again. Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, He has risen from the dead, and the last deception will be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.’ And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone” (Matthew 27:62-66 NASB).

Those who set a seal on the stone were guarding the tomb when an angel came and rolled away the stone (Matthew 28:1-4), not so that Jesus could get out, but so that the witnesses to the resurrection could get in to verify that the tomb was empty! The guards reported what had happened to the Jewish leaders, who gave them a large sum of money and told them to tell anyone who asked that the disciples came at night and stole Jesus’ body while the guards slept (Matthew 28:11-15).

There are several problems with that story. The Roman guards would have faced the death penalty if they had fallen asleep while on guard. Even if they had dozed off, the sound of a group of men moving the heavy stone would have awakened them. Besides, after the crucifixion, the disciples were too depressed and fearful to pull off a grave robbery. And even if they had stolen Jesus’ body or bribed the guards to take it away, in no way, form, or fashion would they have endured persecution and eventual martyrdom to proclaim what they knew to be a hoax. In addition to all of that, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.

Mary Magdalene was not expecting the resurrection, but when she saw that the stone was rolled away, she assumed that somebody had taken Jesus’ body. She immediately ran to the disciples to report: “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple 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’” (John 20:2 NASB).

This was the incentive that motivated Peter and John to run to the tomb to see for themselves. “The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw [blepo, the ability to see] the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw [theoreo, gazing with intense contemplation] the linen wrappings lying there, and the face cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw [eido, I get it, I understand] and believed” (John 20:4-8 NASB).

John outran Peter, but he hesitated to go into the tomb. He stooped and looked in, seeing, blepo, to look at the grave clothes. Typically impetuous Peter brushed past John and went in. Then John went into the tomb and they both confirmed that Jesus’ body was not there. If the Jewish leaders knew where Jesus’ body was, they would have produced it the instant that the apostles began proclaiming the resurrection. So the stone rolled away and the empty tomb both bore witness to Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.

That would be the motivation for John who goes into more detail concerning the grave clothes than the other gospels do. In telling the story, John uses three different Greek words meaning “to see.” When John first arrived at the tomb, he stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. “And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in” (John 20:5 NASB). He uses the common Greek word that suggests nothing more than sight.

But when Peter got there, he entered the tomb and saw the linen wrappings. “And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there” (John 20:6 NASB). Here the Greek word has the nuance of looking carefully or examining something. We get our word theater from it. Audiences at a theater watch carefully so as not to miss any part of the play.

Finally, John went in, saw, and believed. “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead” (John 20:8-9 NASB). Here John uses a word that means to see with understanding.

Once again, what did Peter and John see? Jewish burials involved wrapping the corpse with linen strips and tucking spices into the folds to offset the stench of the corpse. The head was wrapped separately. Peter and John saw the linen wrappings with the face cloth rolled up by itself in an orderly manner, but Jesus’ body was gone.

Grave robbers would not have taken the time to remove the grave clothes at the scene, but would have grabbed the body with the grave clothes and left. Or, if they had removed them, they would have left them scattered in a disorderly fashion. For those observers, the description is powerful and vivid, not the sort of thing that would have been dreamed up; and the fact that two men saw it, “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8 NASB), makes their evidence admissible in a Jewish court. For example, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed” (Deuteronomy 19:15 NASB).

Note that when the disciples of Jesus proclaimed the resurrection, they did so as eyewitnesses and they did so while people were still alive who had had contact with the events they spoke of. It passes the bounds of credibility that the early Christians could have manufactured such a tale and then preached it among those who might easily have refuted it simply by producing the body of Jesus.

A skeptic might counter that the reports of Jesus’ resurrection are all given by believers. Question: why didn’t Jesus appear to any unbelievers so that they would come to faith? Peter alludes to this when he preached to the Gentiles gathered in Cornelius’ house. “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead” (Acts 10:40-41 NASB).

Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.

You may wonder, “If the evidence is so convincing, why don’t more people believe it?” The answer is: people refuse to believe in Jesus’ resurrection because it has personal implications that they do not want to face. If Jesus is risen, then He is the rightful Lord of all and I must turn from my sin and live under His lordship. Because people don’t want to do that, they refuse to believe in Jesus in spite of the evidence.

Three ways of seeing. First, blepo, simple sight, a casual glance that takes in the facts but goes no deeper. Second, theoreo, careful examination, the contemplative gaze that studies and considers. Third, eido, understanding that leads to belief, seeing with the eyes of faith that grasps the truth and is transformed by it.

John saw with blepo at first, a quick glance that left him hesitant. Peter saw with theoreo, examining carefully, taking in every detail. But when John entered and saw with eido, he believed. The evidence was the same for both men: the empty tomb, the orderly grave clothes, the rolled-up face cloth. But John’s seeing led to belief because he saw with understanding.

The question for us today is not whether the evidence is sufficient. The empty tomb stands as historical fact. The question is: how will you see? Will you merely glance at the claims of Christ and walk away? Will you examine them carefully but remain uncommitted? Or will you see with understanding, grasp the truth that Jesus is risen, and believe? The tomb is empty. The evidence is overwhelming. Jesus is Lord. How will you see?