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. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
-John 1:1-9
Never have I seen a woman in such a state. Mary had run the entire distance from the tomb to the place where John and I were staying. We heard her frantic beating on the door and we had feared the worst. As she told her astonishing account I could hear John behind me hurriedly pulling his cloak around himself. Without a word he pushed past Mary and me in the doorway and ran toward the tomb, his footfalls upon the dusty street fading as he ran. I too picked up my cloak and pulling it over my head ran after him. We met few people on the street at that early hour – more the better. I was a wanted man. However I had greater matters to attend.
Mary’s account of going to the tomb, the stone rolled away, visions of angels pronouncing that the Lord had arose, and the tomb itself empty was all nearly too much to comprehend. When I arrived, John was already there, kneeling down and looking into the tomb. There was not a guard in sight. All of them had fled. I then entered the tomb and found the burial cloth where His body had been. It was as Mary had said; the tomb was empty and the body of the Lord was not there.
John came into the tomb behind me and seeing the linen burial cloth proclaimed that a miracle had taken place, and he believed it with all of his heart.
“Simon,” he said to me; “The Lord has indeed risen.”
I was trying my best to understand as we left the tomb and went our way. Somehow my steps were lighter and my heart more hopeful than ever before. If the Lord was alive then there was still hope; hope for me, hope for all who will believe, and hope for the world.
We will wait. I know what I saw.
The tomb was empty.
The Lord will appear to us.
