Read John 20:1-10.
I Don’t Understand.
Early Sunday morning, after Jesus had been in the grave 3 days, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. She immediately ran to the disciples telling them that somebody took the Lord out of the tomb. So Peter and John ran to the tomb. John reached the tomb first, but Peter is the one who went inside first. They saw the linen and cloth that Jesus had been wrapped in, and John believed. Yet they did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
MARY MAGDALENE: Her purpose for going to the tomb was to finish the burial ritual of anointing Jesus’ body with burial spices. She went there out of love for Jesus but she wondered how they could remove the stone from the tomb. Yet when she got there, the stone was already removed. She went, not having a clue how to remove the stone, but God took care of it. Have you ever started something for the Lord, and got to a point where you run into an obstacle? It seems too big of a problem and you can’t figure out how in the world you’re going to remove or overcome the problem. But you persevere and don’t give up, and God provides a way. A miracle happens, and you know it had to be from God.
PETER AND JOHN: After Mary Magdalene shared about the empty tomb, both Peter and John ran to the tomb. John outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first. Then when Peter got there, he ran into the tomb first. Then John went in, and after seeing the linen and cloth folded, he believed Jesus resurrected even though they didn’t understand the Old Testament prophecy that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
In life there’s always things we don’t understand, and that don’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean God’s not at work. He’s always at work doing something. Sometimes we just have to believe even though we don’t understand because God is doing something to help us become more like Jesus. Never give up! Always persevere even when you don’t understand. What’s chaos to us, is always God’s opportunity for an upcoming transformation.
