Simon Peter therefore comes, following him, and entered into the tomb, and sees the linen cloths lying,
News that the body was gone sent two men running to the tomb. John arrived first and stopped at the entrance; Peter walked straight in, and what he found was not a body but grave clothes.
John stopped at the entrance; Peter did not. One writer puts John's pause down to a Jewish fear of being made unclean by a grave, and Peter's rush inside down to the memory of his own denial.
You may ask, why did John not go in? He was a Jew, and no doubt he had a Jewish feeling that if he went in, he would make himself unclean... "Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb." He goes in, with no thought for the consequences. The memory of his ways and words in the high priest's palace, and his denial of his Lord, drove him to enter. It led him to risk everything, and lose sight of everything.
Commentators differ over why John stayed outside. One rejects that first reading, and looks instead at Peter — a man who had failed badly, but was no Judas.
He had slept when he should have watched and prayed. When the crisis came, he denied his Master — and that after His solemn warning, which made it far worse. But he was not a Judas: very far from it. He loved the Lord, and the Lord Himself knew that he loved Him. So, despite his deep and shameful sin, the news that the body had gone from the tomb stirred his heart... I reject the idea that John shrank from going in for fear of being made unclean. That would have kept him out later too, and Peter as well. Peter's eagerness burned more now, not less, because of his recent wrong. It drove him not just to glance in, but to enter and look at everything more closely.
Peter did not just look in. He fixed his eyes on one detail, and that detail rules out the obvious explanations.
John describes not only his own twofold look, but a further detail: Peter's intent gaze, noting how odd it was that the head cloth lay wrapped up by itself. What clear evidence that the body had not been taken away, by enemies or by friends! Why would either leave the linen wrappings behind? Who but a man rising from sleep would lay the clothes aside in this calm and orderly way?
The grave clothes also answer a rumour that circulated afterwards — that the disciples had stolen the body by night.
John saw this and has recorded what he saw; and his record gives the lie to the report that was circulated among the Jews, that His disciples had come by night and stolen His body. If they had done that, or if anyone else had done it, would they not have taken the clothes with the body?
The word for the way the cloth lay is exact, and commentators differ over what it shows. One reads the wrappings as left untouched:
The word used for "wrapped up" speaks volumes. It means "folded inwards" — turban-shaped, or twirled. What was so striking was the way the various parts still lay in relation to each other. The Lord had detached Himself from the head cloth and the shroud without disturbing them, let alone handling them. Only a miracle could explain it. Some say He simply folded the cloth up again and laid it in a new place, to show there had been no haste and no removal of the body by friend or foe. That idea is weak beside the full reality.
Another man had come out of a tomb alive. The difference between the two exits is the point.
Stronger still is the witness to the mighty power of this glorious Person. Having risen from the sleep of death, He can lay the grave clothes aside in a calm and orderly way. Lazarus came out of the tomb with the grave clothes bound on him, but the Lord left His behind.
Peter and John reached a right conclusion from what lay in front of them. But a conclusion drawn from evidence is not yet faith resting on God's word.
They believed the fact, but they did not know the Scripture. It was not a truth to them, bound up with God's character and God's word. It was a fact. They saw that the Lord was risen. But the link between His resurrection and God's glory, and their own deliverance, had not yet crossed their minds.
The folded cloth is not just tidiness. It is a man laying down clothing he will never need again.
It is like a man who has spent the night in peaceful sleep, then got up in the morning and laid his clothes aside. Here the Lord lays aside the death-clothes. What is the lesson? He has done with death. He has set aside everything that relates to death, the fruit and wages of sin. The head cloth folded and laid aside tells of the reign of death being over for ever.
- Love ran. Peter had denied his Lord, yet love, not innocence, drove him to the grave and straight inside it.
- Love looked. The word describes a searching gaze, not a glance — he stood and studied the linen and the head cloth.
- Love found order. No thief takes the body and leaves the wrappings. The calm arrangement rules out enemies and friends alike.
- Love saw power. Lazarus walked out still bound. The Lord left His grave clothes behind, and He has done with death for ever.
- Love still had to learn. Peter and John saw He was gone, but they did not yet know the Scripture. Sight can convince before God's word teaches.
and the handkerchief which was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a distinct place by itself.
The tomb of Jesus was empty, yet the wrappings that had held His body were still there — and one detail in particular caught the eye of the disciple who wrote it down. The head cloth was not lying flat with the rest, and commentators have long asked what that separation was meant to tell us.
The Greek word behind "folded up" is unusually specific, and one writer argues it rules out any tidying by human hands.
The word ἐντετυλιγμένον speaks volumes. It means "folded inwards" — that is, turban-shaped, or twirled. What was it that captivated him? The remarkable appearance the wrappings presented in how the various parts lay in relation to each other. The Lord had detached Himself from the cloth and the shroud without disturbing them, let alone handling them. Only a miracle could explain what they saw. "A place apart" refers to the different position, consistent with the whole arrangement, which had not been disturbed.
A story went around that the disciples had stolen the body. The state of the tomb answers it with a simple question.
John saw this and has written down what he saw. His record proves false the report spread among the Jews that His disciples had come by night and stolen His body. If they had done that, or if anyone else had done it, would they not have taken the clothes with the body?
Commentators differ here. The first reading takes the head cloth as laid aside on purpose, a sign of calm.
There is no evidence of disorder, untimely haste, or hurry. Matthew tells us of an earthquake, as the angel rolled away the stone. Do you suppose that act was to let the Saviour out? God forbid the thought. What was it rolled away for, then? To let you and me look in. He had risen, in calm majesty, long before that stone was rolled away. He rose from the dead a triumphant, victorious Saviour. He left behind Him the silent but powerful proofs of the victory He had won over sin, and Satan, and death.
The second reading finds that answer too small. It points instead to how odd the scene was.
The usual meaning attached to this is that it shows the calmness and orderliness of the resurrection. But surely there must be some other explanation. It hardly seems a worthy idea that the Lord or some attending angel carefully folded the cloth and laid it apart. The real point of the incident is how unusual it is. Ordinarily, when a person undresses he puts his clothes together. Here it is the opposite. They are left exactly as they were. You would expect someone to unwind the cloth and put it with the other garments. But here it lies just as it had been, wrapped together — no doubt in the place where His sacred head had been.
Jesus had once called Lazarus out of his grave. The difference between the two scenes is the point.
When Lazarus came out of his tomb at the command of the Lord, he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes. That was a witness that he would have to return to that grave again. He needed friendly hands to loose him and let him go. But the body of Jesus did not need such service. It did not rise from the dead wrapped in the garments of death. He left them behind Him, undisturbed by His rising. Neither they nor the stone that closed the tomb had held back His triumphant rising. He left behind everything that spoke of chains and prison.
The empty wrappings did more than prove a fact. They settled what the cross had achieved.
What did the tomb contain? What had death done with the Saviour? Or rather, what had the Saviour done with death? If the grave had held Him, His work was in vain, and not one of those for whom He had given Himself would stand acquitted or justified. The marks of death were there. Their very presence testified that death could not hold its prey, and that the victory over it came peacefully, without struggle or conflict. The "It is finished" was proved.
One writer looks from that scene forward to the day when Christ comes for His own.
There were the linen clothes lying in position, but Jesus was gone! The cloth was not unfolded, yet the head it had enclosed was not there. In His resurrection body Jesus entered the room where the disciples met, though the doors were shut fast. In the same way, at His resurrection He did not need to remove the clothes, unfold the head-band or disturb the shroud. He rose calmly, leaving them as they were. And so, fellow-believer, it will be with you if you are alive at the Lord's coming.
- Left, not loosed. No one untied or carried off anything in the tomb. The cloths stayed where they were, and He was gone.
- Left as proof. Thieves take a body with its wrappings. The cloths still lying there answer the theft story.
- Left in calm. No haste, no struggle, no disorder: the arrangement testifies that death could not hold its prey.
- Left forever. Lazarus came out still bound and would return to the grave; Christ left the garments of death behind for good.
- Left as a promise. The empty wrappings of the Head foreshadow what will happen to His own when He comes.