In this episode, Clint and Michael explore the first scene of John’s Easter narrative in chapter 20, diving deep into the moment Mary Magdalene discovers the empty tomb and the footrace between Peter and the “beloved disciple”—presumed to be John. The discussion highlights the uniquely Johannine details that emphasize the personal witness, symbolic actions like the folded grave clothes, and how belief often precedes full understanding. They reflect on the theological significance of light and darkness, the evolving faith of the disciples, and the subtle pushback against resurrection skepticism woven into the text. It’s a thoughtful conversation about how Easter isn’t just a moment—it’s a movement of growing faith.
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00:00:00:32 – 00:00:37:44
Clint Loveall
Friends, thanks for joining us. Thanks for being back with us. We hope that you had a great Easter weekend. And, kind of as we alluded to last week, the timing of this, and we can’t take credit for it because it certainly wasn’t planned, but the timing works out well. We’re fortunate in that today we move into chapter 20 of the Gospel of John, which is John’s Easter story, and as is the case generally, John has a different spin, some details that are not in the other gospels.
00:00:37:44 – 00:01:00:16
Clint Loveall
And so today we’ll just we’ll look at the time in the front half, we’ll look at the front part of the story. And then I’ll start reading here, we’ll come back and talk it through early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
00:01:00:21 – 00:01:22:12
Clint Loveall
So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Then Peter and the other disciples set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
00:01:22:17 – 00:01:54:13
Clint Loveall
He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrapping lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up and placed by itself. Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed, for as of yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.
00:01:54:18 – 00:02:27:52
Clint Loveall
Then the disciples returned to their homes. So I mentioned only John gives us this kind of foot race story. The idea that first Mary Magdalene, who goes in, in this instance by the tomb to herself, or at least no one else is mentioned, she comes back, she tells them that she can’t find Jesus body for some reason, only John and Peter, who are kind of the two primary disciples in most of the gospel stories, take off running the, it.
00:02:27:57 – 00:02:54:14
Clint Loveall
Well, I should back up Michael. We scholars, I I’m sorry I didn’t feel that in the reference here is to the disciple that Jesus loved. That is generally understood to be John. In fact, correct me if I’m wrong here, Michael, but I think the the vast bulk of scholarship and scholarly biblical work says that this is very likely to be John himself.
00:02:54:25 – 00:03:26:38
Clint Loveall
And so they run to the tomb. John’s faster than Peter, maybe also younger. Or interestingly enough, John hesitates. But if you know the gospel portrayal of Peter, he never hesitates. He runs right in. They both see the clothes, but John sees and believes, and then they do not yet understand, and they return to their homes. Which probably doesn’t mean their own houses.
00:03:26:38 – 00:03:50:45
Clint Loveall
It means to the place that had been, lots of interesting things happening here, Michael. We have it’s pretty as we’ve said, probably for the last couple of weeks as we’ve been working our way to the resurrection story, kind of scant details, a pretty condensed telling. John could spin this out longer, but doesn’t, kind of a lot going on here.
00:03:50:45 – 00:03:59:42
Clint Loveall
And, interesting. The things that John gives us and the way he gives us the details that are not found in the other stories.
00:03:59:47 – 00:04:29:02
Michael Gewecke
It we see a lot of the characters making the appearance really quickly. There’s a strong economy in this story because you see, Mary is that one who goes to the tomb, comes back. Then you have this idea that you’ve got these two other disciples and, and, you know, you have this idea that there’s a kind of, not competition as much as there’s a, a display of, of leadership priority that’s happening.
00:04:29:02 – 00:04:51:00
Michael Gewecke
And who’s getting to the tomb first? There’s a the foot race has some interesting implications for how, you know, these leaders of the church, both will move forward as being core witnesses to what they’ve seen and what they come to believe. This idea of outrunning Peter is certainly fascinating when this is couched within the telling that John has given.
00:04:51:01 – 00:05:11:24
Michael Gewecke
And to your point, Clint, the idea that scholarship, they talk about this being a way of the author remaining humble, right? The idea that without naming yourself as being central to the story, you can also say, you know, I was there. Hey, by the way, when I talk about being a witness, that’s not just me saying that I’m collecting other stories, but I I’ve been part of it.
00:05:11:29 – 00:05:33:52
Michael Gewecke
There’s a relational aspect to that kind of witness. And so this foot race, I think is fascinating because on one hand, it’s a jab because Peter doesn’t get there first. On the other hand, it’s the admission. You know, John is a person with caution and the person looking to see the whole situation. And Peter runs right in and is the first to enter into the tomb to see what’s there.
00:05:33:52 – 00:05:41:51
Michael Gewecke
It’s so there’s an honoring of the fact that Peter’s the rock upon which the church. There’s a lot of those details happening in a story like this. Clint.
00:05:41:56 – 00:06:16:03
Clint Loveall
Yeah, I, I think what’s interesting, on one hand, it probably is humble not to put your name in, but when you give yourself the title The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved, maybe, maybe it pushes back on that humility just to touch. One of the things that I think scholarship is helpful in, in assisting us to see is that this gospel is very likely written within and to a community that was very supportive of John, that was very influenced by John.
00:06:16:08 – 00:06:48:04
Clint Loveall
And so, again, this idea that this the disciple Jesus loved, would be very comforting, very inspiring to a group of people who at least looked themself to the line of John’s testimony and thought of themselves as kind of an extension of John’s own faith, that they thought of themselves as John’s. He’s their beloved pastor, their beloved disciple. He’s kind of their origin story, as they might understand it.
00:06:48:09 – 00:07:21:46
Clint Loveall
And so we see here, I think, the whether he gives himself this name or whether someone else helps him get there, I think it’s easy to see why that would have been celebrated. There’s another detail, I think, Michael, that is here that, I’ve always been fascinated with, and it says that the wrappings were lying there. And then in verse seven and the cloth that had been on Jesus head was not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
00:07:21:46 – 00:08:11:47
Clint Loveall
And that word rolled up implies almost folded. In other words, it wasn’t thrown. There was a certain order to it, like it had been placed there, on purpose. And I heard a wonderful take on this that was essentially along the lines of, if we’re ever tempted to think that Jesus somehow, you know, ran breathlessly out of the tomb or narrowly escaped death, this is John’s little nod to the victory being so complete that Jesus got up and folded his clothes before he left the tomb that that he that his resurrection was so total and so final that he’s not running from anyone.
00:08:11:56 – 00:08:27:28
Clint Loveall
He took time to put the cloth away in an orderly fashion. And I. I don’t know if that’s the intention here, Michael. I’m not sure that’s what John is or isn’t trying to tell us, but I think it’s a nice way to look at that detail.
00:08:27:36 – 00:08:55:13
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, I think that absolutely helps us. And I think we should know this, Clint. Also that we now have the return of clothing as a, as a meaning in which we had that explicitly pointed out just a few verses ago when the centurions, the Romans were divided and casting lots over Jesus’s clothes. And so here, at the end of the day, the last clothes that Jesus was supposed to wear are now left behind.
00:08:55:24 – 00:09:35:04
Michael Gewecke
There is in a book like John going to be theological significance to that. I also want to point out that the other gospels include their own ways of pushing back on the idea of a of a body theft, which was a natural belief that would be had that someone just went in and took the body. And of course, the disciples didn’t find Jesus’s body because someone else took him in, who went in there broke and took the body and part of the lesson in this, I think very practically, is no grave robber goes in and takes the body and leaves behind folded grave, grave clothes that it would not make any sense at all.
00:09:35:04 – 00:10:01:08
Michael Gewecke
So this is also a nod for those who might be skeptics to say no. Listen, some of those assumptions you’re making about what happened, it is not true. And the reason they need to do that, by the way, and we’re in the Easter season liturgically here. That’s just the moment that we’re recording this, but listen, people have been doubting the resurrection since literally day one, and let’s not miss that even within this text.
00:10:01:08 – 00:10:23:43
Michael Gewecke
Right. The other disciple reached the tomb first and went in. He saw and believed, but they did not fully understand yet the Scripture. So where where’s the other gospels are going to have even embedded in it? A portion of doubt? Your John’s not going to ascribe that to John’s experience, but yet there’s still a lack of awareness, a fullness of understanding what’s happening.
00:10:23:52 – 00:10:45:43
Michael Gewecke
They have to go back and they have to see all of these things come together in the revealed presence of Christ. And I think that’s an important reminder in this story, is that it’s not here to answer all of our questions about how things happen. It is, however, addressing some of the the deeper concerns that people were raising about these disciples.
00:10:45:43 – 00:10:55:51
Michael Gewecke
Witness. And John is embedding both a theological meaning with the practical sort of, the notes that need made to help people along that path.
00:10:56:06 – 00:11:23:09
Clint Loveall
I think there’s a nice devotional element to that as well. We we often think that understanding precedes believing that you have to understand something before you could put your faith in it. And here, for this disciple is exactly the opposite is true. He he believes he just doesn’t yet understand the Scripture. His faith precedes his knowledge, his understanding.
00:11:23:09 – 00:11:51:11
Clint Loveall
And I think that there’s a really powerful invitation in that we we will struggle if we need to understand Easter before we can believe it. We will struggle if we need to understand resurrection, and if we think we need to make sense of the empty tomb before we can believe it, before we can embrace it in faith, we will have a hard time, I think.
00:11:51:16 – 00:12:16:39
Clint Loveall
And there’s a I think there’s a flow to this that is helpful because I think it feels true in our own lives that we put our faith in something. And once we do, then we move toward understanding what it means. But it it doesn’t always necessarily work. The opposite way. Faith often comes first, and then we move toward understanding.
00:12:16:39 – 00:12:21:49
Clint Loveall
And I think a lot of people in our day and age maybe assume that that’s the other way around.
00:12:21:54 – 00:12:41:25
Michael Gewecke
So it’s interesting. I think this story embeds that lesson in a really consistent way. And we see it again here today. And if you’ve been with us for the study, this is not going to be new to you. But I just want to have us all look back on verse one here. It’s the first day of the week when it is still dark.
00:12:41:25 – 00:13:01:01
Michael Gewecke
And if you’ve been with us through the study of John, we’ve mentioned how important the time of day is and even the amount of light present in the scene and here the disciples, when they arrive at the tomb, they arrive in darkness. And this idea that they get in to the tomb, I just think of this as powerful.
00:13:01:01 – 00:13:28:15
Michael Gewecke
They get into the tomb and they begin to understand. They begin to see. There’s there is belief here, right? But the understanding is not yet complete. How are they going to get that explicitly? The scriptures. Right. This is a teaching moment. It’s to say if you get to the tomb in the darkness, where are you going to turn to understand on the other side of belief, you’re going to turn to the scriptures.
00:13:28:15 – 00:13:53:11
Michael Gewecke
You’re going to turn to the accounts of what God has done. And of course, the scriptures referenced here would be what we would call the Old Testament, a firm understanding of how God’s been working throughout the whole of history. This is a cosmic story that John is telling, and I just think even those small details about the time of day that this is it gives us a sense for where the disciples were at in their individual journeys right now.
00:13:53:11 – 00:14:12:25
Michael Gewecke
And it’s not full day yet. They don’t have complete comprehension that they’re not the master preachers of the thing. They witnessed it. That’s still coming. Right now there are people encountering a thing that is unbelievable that they are leaning into, and it’s leading them down a path of discipleship.
00:14:12:34 – 00:14:37:32
Clint Loveall
You know, thing. It’s really interesting, Michael, that in some of the other gospels, they sort of try to put us in the story. Us being the reader is he isn’t. He did he didn’t he? I think, you know, Mark, maybe Matthew to an extent, lesser extent, but trying to draw us in as characters or have us enter the story.
00:14:37:37 – 00:15:11:01
Clint Loveall
John, I think, always allows the reader to know more than the characters. And so we we watch the characters here with the full knowledge that Jesus has risen and, and in the narrative, we already know that, right? We would be. He tells us they didn’t understand. Jesus must rise from the dead. You, the reader, understand that. And and that gives John a unique flavor, because then we get to watch the characters and how they react to this news as it dawns on them or as they encounter it.
00:15:11:06 – 00:15:38:36
Clint Loveall
And I, I think that is a different aspect than reading some of the other gospel pictures. I, I, I appreciate about John that he always allows us to know what’s happening as it happens or before it happens. And so then we become an observer of the characters in the story in a way that I think is more true than it is in some of the other tellings.
00:15:38:45 – 00:16:10:04
Michael Gewecke
It gets in a way, since we are a third party looking in. John does cast these characters in fully human clothes. I mean, we see these characters with their doubts, with all of their misgivings. There’s a real sense in which John doesn’t shy away from the fact that these men and we’re, as we’re going to see tomorrow, these women are all in radically different places trying to understand what’s happening to and around them.
00:16:10:04 – 00:16:34:04
Michael Gewecke
And there’s a way in which John is giving permission to us, the reader, in that equation, because we know this of ourselves, we know that we as humans are a mixed bag, full of moments of great faith and believing, and also many doubts and sinfulness and and brokenness and all of this besets us in this complicated turn that we call life.
00:16:34:04 – 00:16:57:50
Michael Gewecke
Right. And John is comfortable showing us Jesus Christ, who has perfect intention and perfect execution on that intention his entire life. And the men and women who surround him are in many ways jostling back and forth because of their reality. And yet they are the witnesses that give us the hope and promise of what they see in this man, Jesus Christ.
00:16:57:50 – 00:17:19:37
Michael Gewecke
It’s the fact we can relate to these disciples, the fact that they get to the tomb, and we can imagine all the feelings that they feel that that lead them from despair to hope. And then we think, well, what’s going to happen next to them as they go along the journey? That’s exactly what a disciple is. And that’s what John’s trying to show us through their reactions.
00:17:19:37 – 00:17:47:58
Clint Loveall
And even this 20th chapter, John, just it just is the case. John unfolds this story for us in more acts than do the other guess, the other gospels. So this is just scene one, and there are multiple scenes to come. John paints more portraits of this day than do Matthew, Mark and Luke. We just John includes more of a variety of stories, some different details.
00:17:47:58 – 00:17:59:20
Clint Loveall
So thank you for joining us on scene one. Hope you can be with us as we continue through. John does some really fascinating things with Easter, and I hope you’ll be able to be a part of it as we continue.
00:17:59:29 – 00:18:00:59
Michael Gewecke
We’ll be back tomorrow. See you then.