Thursday 19 February, 2015

1 Comment/in /by

John 20:1-10

20 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. 2 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!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

What strikes me most about this scripture is the words “until then they still hadn’t understood the scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.”. Peter and John were the closest friends Jesus had, they got to spend quality time with Him and witness the miracles He did. They heard Him explain about the resurrection in Jn 16:16-20. But they still needed it to HAPPEN before they understood.
How many times as humans do we have trouble understanding, trusting, being patient. I am going to keep this passage in mind for the times when I am afraid and confused to remind me that Jesus speaks the truth to us and his promises will be honoured. Like the disciples our mourning will be turned to great joy because we have the promised Holy Spirit of God in us. He came because Jesus walked out of his tomb.
Faithful God help us to trust in your words and to have faith in the unfathomable. Not to question your power, but to live with joy knowing that you have overcome. Holy Spirit please give us all the understanding we need to be the person you made us to be. Amen.

Written by Dimity Milne

1 (reply)
  1. David Newton says:

    I know exactly how you feel Dimity but to be far on us all there are very few instances in the Bible where ‘even with prophecy’ the people of God could predict God’s next move.
    Apart from a specific ‘gift of faith’ for something faith is primarily about trusting in the goodness of God in spite of what our eyes are telling us to the contrary.
    .
    A good place to build faith is the current Sermon series on Faith.

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