Gospel Reflection on John 20:1-9

April 20, 2025

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,

while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

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Happy Easter! When Mary Magdalene discovers that the tomb is empty, she immediately thinks that somebody has taken Jesus's body away. Our first explanation for anything is always in terms of other people and objects. We always assume that someone is responsible for whatever has taken place, and we immediately ask ourselves, who did this? Easter, however, is about God doing something that we consider impossible.

The last line in the Gospel says, they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. This is the mystery unveiled by the scriptures that God offers us, life by means of a path that we did not create. Often, we tend to think we can construct a path for ourselves based on logic, based on what has happened before. In some ways, this is what Peter does and who Peter is. He uses reason and logic and past experience to determine the meaning of what has taken place.

But it's interesting in the story. It's the beloved disciple who arrives at the tomb before Peter. Saint John knew that love arrives at faith quicker than reason. The same happens later in one of the post resurrection scenes on the Sea Of Galilee when the beloved disciple recognizes Christ on the shore before Peter does. Encounter with Christ is never a private affair.

It always leads to love. That is why it's the one who loves that recognizes and understands Christ. Only then does Peter enter the tomb and see and believe. Finally, he is opened as well to the work of God and realizes that this is not the end, but the beginning. And it's a beginning that means a big change in their life.

When they enter the tomb, they discover the burial cloths folded up. Once we enter into the Christian life, we leave behind our old lives and clothe ourselves in Christ. The garments of the risen body are not the garments of death. Whenever one encounters the resurrection, one changes habit in the sense of our old habits of life. There is a tradition that newly baptized adults in the early church would wear a white garment for the first week, and then they would deposit the garment on the tomb of a martyr.

It was only worn for a week to signify passage from a habit in the sense of a garment to a habitual way of life. When one encounters new life, one leaves behind old habits and old objects that no longer serve us. We leave them aside as the garments of burial were deposited at the tomb. This new way of life is about to become a marvelous way of existence, the way of life of the resurrection. And so today, we open ourselves to the surprise of Easter and abandon ourselves to the power of God, trusting that he can find a means of escape from the dead ends that seem to confront us.