“He saw and believed.” (John 20:8).
When the apostles got to the Tomb of Christ, they saw and they believed.
And I have been reflecting on what it was that convinced them – in a second – that Christ had risen from the dead. After all, Christ had died publicly, painfully and over a period of many hours a few days before. Considering the climate in the Middle East, it would be safe to assume that a dead body would begin to decompose almost immediately following its burial. In fact, in some religions which are prevalent in the Middle East, immediate burial of the body of the deceased is stipulated due to the problem of decomposition within the climate…
So, what was it about the scene that caused the apostles to immediately believe…?
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!’ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.” (John 20:1-8).
So what was it about the linen strips and the cloths that had been wrapped around the head of Christ that caused the Apostles to see and believe?
Well, it was the placement and arrangement of those cloths. You see, the cloths were “still lying in its place” and that means everything. You see, that means that when Christ rose from the dead, He rose THROUGH the cloths. They were not sprawled on the floor as though He had unwrapped Himself. Instead, He can through the cloths in much the same way that Tradition tells us that Christ came through the womb of the Blessed Virgin to be born in a stable. How else could she have remained the eternal and everlasting Virgin if not by a miraculous birth that allowed her body to remain intact?
And it occurs to me today – after I have heard this story countless times in the past – that God has created miracles more wonderous than I could ever have imagined. And He did these at Christmas and at Easter too.
And today – on the cusp of a miracle – I have to stop and give thanks. For the Lord my God rose from the dead. And through that miracle my own miserable soul can be saved…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.