The Dressing Room
Struggling to catch his breath, Peter pushed past John and entered the tomb, allowing his eyes time to adjust to the dim light filtering in from the rock opening. Looking around, trying to collect his thoughts, he took mental inventory of the images before him. Linen grave clothes remained; however, the previous occupant was no where to be found.
“Why would someone unwrap a body they were trying to steal?” he thought. None of this made any sense, and he wrestled with pieces that didn’t seem to want to fit together.
Something caught his attention out of his peripheral vision and he turned his head to see what was in the opposite corner of the tomb. Peter realized it was the head dressing used in the burial preparation of Jesus, rolled around and around in a tidy pattern, secluded from the other garments.
He looked at John, and with eyes locked, they both had the same wave of emotion flood their system. It was all too much and not enough at the same time. He needed time to think and process through everything, and this was not the place. As Peter turned to head back to his house, his mind a tornado of thought, one thing he knew for certain; the body of his Rabbi was not stolen, as Mary assumed earlier that day when she broke the news of the missing body to John and himself. For now, that was the only fact he had, and it was enough to give him hope for what he believed to actually be true.
Resurrection day.
The Super Bowl of Christendom.
It is our hope, it is our freedom and it is our purpose, because we have the rest of the story. But on the morning the miraculous occurred, what it all meant was still a mystery to Christ’s disciples. I’m certain there had already been a stirring among the people in Jerusalem ever since the crucifixion. Whispers in the streets and even chatter between the Romans. Many had previously heard the claims this man had made, even the religious leaders, about how He would rise again, but what did that mean?
I am sure much of the talk of the town, was on Mary’s mind as she approached the tomb early that morning and noticed the stone rolled away. Still not fully understanding many of her Savior’s teachings yet, she was caught unaware and terrified, as she stared into a tomb that held not the remains of the man she saw just three days prior.
In the book of John, chapter 20, we are told her first reaction was to run and tell Peter and John. She had assumed Christ’s body was stolen and she was desperate to find Him. Without hesitation, the two men raced toward the grave site, needing to lay eyes on the situation for themselves.
The details John gives us in his gospel account, are very purposeful. As previously stated, the Messiah had already mentioned on multiple occasions, He would rise again on the third day, giving final proof of His deity. Because of this, the Jewish leaders were already making preparations to ensure the body of Jesus was not stolen by His followers, so His disciples couldn’t lie and proclaim Him God. They had gotten rid of the problem, and the leadership wanted it to remain gone. Taking every precaution, they sought Pilate’s permission to have the tomb sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers. (Matthew 27:62-66)
It is amazing to me, how God will take an action that someone intends to blatantly use against the Lord, and use it for His glory. We see this over and over again in scripture, and the resurrection is another, beautiful example. Think about it, when John and Peter ran to the tomb, the first thing they beheld, when looking inside, were the grave clothes, lying in an orderly manner.
They both knew in an instant, no one took the body of their Rabbi. Who is going to be able to fight off Roman soldiers, and also take the time to unwrap a decomposing corpse to leave behind the linen, burial wraps? In verse 7 of John, chapter 20, we are told the head napkin was neatly wrapped and laid in a different location as the rest of the linen clothes within the tomb.
I’ve watched enough surveillance videos of robberies to know, no one is taking the time to meticulously unwrap a body, remove the head napkin and lay it over to the side in a tidy pile, after fighting off Roman guards. Not happening! Thieves get in a hurry. They don’t want to get caught, so the name of the game is “get in” and “get out”, as fast as possible.
But why are the details of this scene so important to the disciples back then and us today as Christ followers? There is a clue found earlier, in the book of John, chapter 10:17-18.
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down for my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
No one was going to take Christ out of that grave, other than the power of the Holy Spirit which raised Him. Jesus was given full power and authority to lay down His life and He was given total power and authority to take it up again. The peaceful scene we read about inside the grave site, is Jesus saying-
“No one touched Me. I was not lifted out of this grave by human hands. I alone was given the power to raise up again, by God the Father. I conquered hell and death. It had and has, no grip on Me. I am in total control; therefore, no need to leave things in a disaster or chaotic. Oh, and when my children die to themselves, and raise up out of their graves of sin- there is no longer cause for chaos or strife in their lives either, for I am in control over them as well!”
During a deeper study on this passage years ago, one commentary I read stated what the disciples saw when the empty burial linens were discovered:
“They (the disciples), felt in the tomb as if they were in a chamber, where one had divested himself of one set of garments, to assume another.”
A chamber to put on new garments; assume a new set of clothes. Our Lord was robed in power and might, clothed in majesty, after He defeated sin! (Psalm 93:1, 104:1-2) And because He overcame the grave, we have the same victory.
For the believer, we need not fear death. The grave is merely a dressing room, where we strip off the old man and put on eternal life. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, washed by the blood of the Lamb. We will have pure, white linens- not for burial, but for a wedding feast!
Praise be to God, Who turned a dark, cold tomb, into a Light, saturated dressing room!
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55, emphasis added)