“Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:8–9, The Message)
I was struck, this morning (well, actually it is late last evening in the eastern time zone—11.57pm as I write—but I am in Germany so it is early in the morning, but I digress) while reading The Message in John 20 where John grounds his knowledge that Christ would rise again.
It is Sunday morning, the third day after the crucifixion and a breathless Mary Magdalene arrives to explain to the gathered disciples that the tomb is empty! Hardly daring to imagine what might have become of Christ, Peter and John run to Gethsemane. Peter gets there first. John is the first one into the empty tomb. He—by his own testimony here—took one look at the evidence, and believed. Jesus, who had raised others from the dead, had arisen from the dead himself. Amazing moment. John saw and believed.
No one yet knew, comments John as he writes this account many years later, from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. What John discovers by obvious physical evidence, he will find out later (along with the other followers of Christ) was written in the Scriptures all along. Christ had to rise from the dead. So for John, the Scriptures reinforced and solidified what he knew from being an eyewitness—Christ was prophesied that he would rise from the dead, and he did rise from the dead.
What more evidence do we need to understand that by believing in Christ we might have life in Christ's name apart from the prophecy of Scripture and John's testimony in the Scriptures.
