Quick recap. Peter and John are running to Jesus‘s tomb post Mary Magdalene‘s announcement that Jesus’ body is missing. John gets there first and for some reason doesn’t go in. Wait a minute, we’re about to talk about the reason.
Verse 5 “he BENT OVER and looked in”.
Moving on, Peter arrived and went straight in. Of course this is the same Peter who is the only recorded disciple to walk on water. I think his pause button is on a more permanent jam.
Verse 11 & back to Mary Magdalene. “Mary stood OUTSIDE the tomb.” Why? Why did John not run in and why did Mary stand outside?
Here’s a guess, verse 11b “as she wept, she BENT OVER to look into the tomb.”
Here’s the point. It’s not about the tomb. It’s about our Christian upbringing, our visuals. It’s about iconography. It’s about our teaching of the Scriptures, our education on the word of God and truth.
Do I care that every pageant I’ve been to on the subject, every children’s coloring page, most every artist’s rendering displays an upright cave, not a cave entrance near the base of the ground, or indeed perhaps IN the ground, for Jesus’s UNDERGROUND burial site? No, not really.
Here’s what I care about.
I, perhaps like others, have had tectonic shifts in my spiritual life when I’ve chosen to study the Scriptures in depth and ran face first into texts that did not align with my doctrinal upbringing. (Hebrews was a bugger.)
Also, I’ve had times in my life where my spiritual experiences did VERY much align with accountings in Scripture, BUT the faith and practice of my community did not coincide, so the felt choice was something in the ballpark of silence or isolation.
Why couldn’t I just easily believe what was written?
Because I had a crisis of faith in relation to what I had been taught.
This is certainly no attempt to be down on the church. I love the church. Christ loved the church and died for her. Rather, it is a reminder that we need to be ever aware that we are simply FULL-UP of preconceived notions and need to approach the Scripture with great humility, attention and ears to its actual author.
We need to listen so we will hear. We need to watch so we will see. When approaching God‘s word, it is not the right time for our “knowledge.”
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things.” John 14:26
