Coming back to the appearances of Jesus Christ, as written in the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of the apostle John, where he mentions how Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty, distraught and in tears at what she found, her mind in turmoil, runs to tell it to the disciples and found the apostles Peter and John, all excited and out of breath, exclaimed: ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ Hearing this they immediately run to the tomb, Peter went in and: ‘saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’s head, the cloth was folded by itself, separate from the linen.’ John fearful, would not enter the empty tomb, but once Peter entered it, he followed, and he adds: ‘He saw and believed. After this astonishing revelation, it is written that: They (Peter and John) still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.’ (John 20: 2-9) 

It is astonishing how that was possible, but it is a living proof that by nature, men cannot understand the true meaning of the Word of Gods or believe it! We find as we read the Bible, that their minds were unable to understand quite a lot of what Jesus prophesied about His and their future, it is only later, after Pentecost really, that we discover a big change in their understanding and comprehension, to all what Jesus preached openly and taught them privately. We discover that often, during their journeying, they asked Jesus many questions, and even then, they could not really understand, or remember what He said. This shows that some years later, when they wrote the Gospels and epistles, that it was with the help of the Holy Spirit, and His inspiration, and centuries after, we can read all they wrote in the New Testament.

It appears to me, that from the time Mary found the empty tomb, and went to tell it to Peter and John, that they did not believe her, they thought that somehow, she was overcome with grief! But when Peter saw the empty tomb, it is written that: ‘‘He saw and believed.’ Not that Jesus was alive, for that was the last thing that they both expected, for what Jesus said was completely forgotten. Peter, and John for that matter, only believed that things were really what Mary said, the seals were broken, the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty! she may have had a broken heart, but she was of sound mind, so Peter ‘saw and believed,’ and accepted that it really happened just as Mary Magdalene told them! Peter and John returned to their dwellings not knowing what really happened, and wondered what could happen next? I can appreciate that it was as much as they could take and feared for their lives. Who, why, and how was the body of Christ taken from a sealed tomb, and where was he taken? The last forty-eight hours, from the moment they left the ‘Upper Room,’ were deeply emotional to all of them, for they never envisaged, nor believed, that Jesus would, or could die. 

It was early on the Sunday morning that more was added to their perplexities, because in the mind of Peter and the other disciples which was John, since he narrates the story, it was etiquette, in those days, for the writer not to mention his name, but John did see the Lord dying, for He stood by the cross with Mary the Mother of the Lord, and the other women, and according to the Lord’s direction, he took care of Mary. It is written: ‘Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw Has mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and the disciple, he said: ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple (John) took her into His home. (John 19: 25-27)

So, Peter and John, perplexed, returned to their dwellings, ‘But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her: Woman why are you crying? They have taken my Lord away, she said, and I don’t know where they have put Him! I wonder how long Mary Magdalene would stay there by the empty tomb? had Jesus chosen not to appear to her when He did. But His campaign of restoring the disciples had begun and He chose to reveal Himself first!