In John's gospel, the story of the resurrection is covered in the account of: the empty tomb, 20:1-10, the appearances to Mary, v11-18, the ten in the upper room, v19-23, and "doubting" Thomas, v24-29. The story of the empty tomb is reported by all the evangelists, although John's account is quite different to the three synoptic gospels. Although the telling of the story is different, the details remain the same.

v1. Only in the synoptic gospels are we told that the women were on an anointing mission, which was strange since Nicodemus had already undertaken the task, 19:39-40. It was normal practice for the female relatives of a deceased man to prepare him for burial and so obviously these female disciples wanted to stand in for his mother. Getting past the stone was the main problem, but when they arrived at the garden tomb the grave was open.

v2. Although it was "still dark", the women could at least make out that the grave was empty and so Mary Magdalene set off to tell the other disciples the news. She headed for Peter and "the one Jesus loved" (referring to John, the source of this account of Jesus' life, death and resurrection). The women obviously assumed that someone (one of Jesus' enemies) had "stolen" his body.

v3. Peter and John run to the tomb, followed by Mary Magdalene.

v4. Although Peter set off first, John outran him and reached the tomb before Peter.

v5. John hesitated in setting out for the tomb and now he hesitates again. As he looks in, he sees the linen sheets, used to cover the body for burial, "lying there".

v6-7. When Peter arrives, he goes straight into the tomb. As well as seeing the linen sheets, he also sees the head-cloth, the towel originally wrapped around Jesus' head. This he sees neatly placed beside the sheets. John is describing a scene of order, rather than chaos. Had grave robbers been at work they would have taken the sheets as well, or at least strewn them on the floor. John is not describing the scene as if Jesus' body has risen through the sheets, but rather as if someone has gotten out of bed, pushing the sheets aside, neatly placing the head-towel to one side.

v8. John now enters the tomb, and "saw" what Peter saw, and "believed". He too sees a scene evidencing the waking of someone who was asleep. Yet what does he believe? Does he just believe the report of Mary that the tomb was empty? If v9 qualifies John's belief then his belief is in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, even though he does not yet understand the Biblical support for such an event.

v9. The disciples did not invent a resurrection based on Biblical prophecy. They first believed in Jesus' resurrection, then they looked for its Biblical support. Interestingly, there is not much Biblical support, even if Paul and others often affirmed that Jesus was raised "on the third day according to the scriptures", 1Cor.15:4. References to the third day are found in Hos.6:2, Jon.1:17, (quite unconvincing!), and to resurrection in Isa.53:10-13, Ps.15:10...... Of course, the resurrection of the Messiah is the linchpin of Biblical prophecy in that it inaugurates the dawning kingdom of God. The resurrection itself may have little Biblical precedence, but its consequences are the stuff of Biblical prophecy.

v10. Having seen the tomb, the disciples went home.

On the first Easter morning a number of Jesus' friends come to the garden tomb to perform the accustomed burial rites on his body. John mentions only "Mary Magdalene", although he reports Mary saying, "we don't know where they have put him (Jesus)." Mary uses the plural when reporting the missing body to Peter and John. Obviously she was not alone. Matthew tells us that "the other Mary" was with her, Matt.28:1. Mark adds Salome, Mk.16:1, and Luke adds Joanna, Lk.24:10. So, it seems that there were four women on this early morning jaunt to the garden tomb.

Within minutes of finding the tomb empty, both Peter and John were at the tomb themselves. When John viewed the scene, he came to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. John believes, even though he has no inkling of such an event from his study of the scriptures. There are few references in the scriptures to messiah's resurrection on the third day. In that sense John's belief is based on the same limited evidence as ours. Jesus claimed that he would be arrested, crucified, and then raised on the third day. For John, there was little supporting evidence in the Old Testament scriptures for the resurrection of the messiah, so Jesus' claim could not be backed up with a clear word from God. All John had to go on was some ruffled sheets, a towel and the conviction of his heart.

Our faith rests more on conviction than on concrete fact. Like John and Peter, we have to go with our heart more than with our head, for in the end our faith rests on little tangible evidence. We just have to go out on a limb and affirm Jesus' resurrection, and do so, based on the most minute of evidence. The existence of the Christian church, the testimony of the eye witnesses, the faith of the disciples in the face of persecution, ....., on these threads of evidence we rest our faith. So, like John, our faith rests on some sheets of "linen lying."

1. What objective evidence do we have for the Christian faith?

2. In what sense do we live now in Christ?