(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

One of the most interesting exercises that I set my pupils was to give them a piece of Christian Aid propaganda about shanty dwellers in the large cities of Brazil and ask them what was wrong with it. I required them to identify those parts of it that were not true to life. For example, would poor peasants walk hundreds of miles from N.E. Brazil to Sao Paulo in the south when they could take a cheap bus ride to a much closer town like Recife or Salvadore? Needless to say my students did not find it easy to do. Propaganda by its very nature is very convincing.

The best indication that the gospel accounts of the resurrection are reliable is that they are true to life. We see it in Mary Madgalene going to the tomb while it was still dark - so eager was she to minister to Christ's body. We see it in her immediate reaction to the absence of the body; she thought the authorities had removed it from the tomb. We see it in the way she ran to Peter and John with the news. We especially see it in John racing Peter to the tomb and the different reactions of the two men on arrival at the sepulchre. The caution of John and impetuosity of Peter are very true to character. John's record of the resurrection appearances of Jesus is wonderfully vivid and entirely consistent with human nature and what we know of the personalities of the apostles. The testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved has, in the words of J.B. Phillips, the ring of truth.

(B) The overriding passion

Peter and John, on receiving information from Mary Magdalene about the empty tomb, were so eager to see for themselves that they ran through the streets of Jerusalem to their destination. There is something childlike in their reaction. My pupils ran whenever the work was over on Geography fieldtrips - they were so keen to get to the shops or amusements for a little while before the bus took them back to school. There is also something companionable about running together and spurring one another on.

John and Peter did not run side by side for long. It is likely that John was younger and more athletic than Peter. So the fitter, faster man broke rank and forged ahead such was his overwhelming desire to find out what had happened. John's devotion to Jesus and his mastering passion for him meant that he left his business associate and friend behind.

It is not always easy to accept that Jesus takes precedence over family relationships, friendships and even church life. But Jesus was serious when he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes even his own life - he cannot be my disciple." Lk14v26. If a man or woman with a secular job also accepts church responsibilities he or she will have to sacrifice time spent with their children. I attended a men's meeting recently at which a businessman spoke of his heavy work load and commitment to his church. Whatever fellowship this Christian attended he was willing to accept onerous jobs like secretary or treasurer. It is a good thing that there remain some who are willing to do so! Churches, too, need to accept graciously that some Christians will receive a special call from Jesus that necessitates them leaving their fellowship.

(C) Commendable decisiveness

Although John arrived at the tomb before Peter it was the latter who entered first. Peter showed commendable decisiveness and boldness to enter the tomb. That was the best place to investigate Jesus' disappearance. It is interesting that John followed the example of his fisherman friend.

Indecisiveness, timidity and caution can be great failings. We can save ourselves a lot of trouble by acting resolutely. I dithered and was lost when 3 Irishman came to my door and offered to tar macadam my path to a depth of 3 inches. If they put down 3mms I would be surprised. When a gypsy woman tried to sell me bags of compost a few weeks later she found me in a very different frame of mind!

It is said that former Prime Minister, Edward Heath, lost the love of his life through hesitancy and diffidence. I think it pays to be bold in the pursuit of the opposite sex. Faint heart never won fair lady!

I was at a prayer meeting this week at which the former secretary of the F.I.E.C spoke. Malcolm Laver reminded us of the reaction of the Sanhedrin to Peter and John after they had healed the cripple man: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, they had been with Jesus. AV. Acts4v13. The priests, elders and lawyers were impressed by the boldness of the two apostles. We will not impress the world by being timid and afraid to give offence. Christians in Western Europe are far too cautious about expressing their opinions, supporting the truth, denouncing evil, approaching others and witnessing for Jesus. See story about the lady in the bookshop.

(D) Careful observation.

Peter and John did not rush into the tomb and then rush out again. They very carefully noted the arrangement of the grave clothes. However, John's description of how the linen wrappings were disposed has led to differences of opinion about what happened. Professor Barclay writes: The grave clothes were not dishevelled and disarranged; they were lying there still in their folds - that is what the Greek means - the clothes for the body where the body had been; the napkin where the head had lain. The whole point of the description is that the grave clothes did not look as if they had been put off or taken off; they were lying there in regular folds as if the body of Jesus had simply evaporated out of them and left them lying. William Hendriksen on the other hand states: It is necessary to stress at this point that not more must be read into the text than is actually there. Ideas such as these namely, that the headband was lying there as if it had not been removed from the head, and that the bandages were lying there as if the limbs of Jesus were still enclosed by them, or as if the body had been abstracted from them are foreign to the text. ..... Could it be that the Lord had himself removed the bandages and the sweat-band, had provided for himself a garment such as is worn by the living, had calmly and majestically "put everything in its place" in the tomb putting the bandages here and the sweat-band there (neatly folded or rolled up in a place by itself), and had then departed from the tomb, gloriously alive?

I am afraid that the illustrious commentators for all their mastery of Greek have not taken sufficient notice of John, the eye-witness. First of all if Jesus' old body dematerialised, in the twinkling of an eye, and was resurrected an immortal body able to pass through locked doors and thus through flimsy grave clothes there is absolutely no reason why the strips of linen wrapping his head should be in a different place to the strips of linen wrapping his body. The grave clothes should all be lying flat and together in the shape of Christ's body. There would not be any discontinuity. Secondly Hendrikson is quite right in saying that it was the sweatband of Jesus that lay separately and was rolled up. But a sweatband was worn in life - not in death. Jesus was not altogether naked on the cross - he retained his bloodstained sweatband. A sweatband consisted of a long strip of cloth that was wound round and round the forehead. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus removed the sweatband, neatly rolled it up and left it in the tomb. What John so acutely observed was the difference between the carefully rolled sweatband and the strips of linen that had been used to prepare Jesus for burial. These had not been rolled or folded up. They did just lie as if the body had dematerialised. It was this that convinced John that Jesus had risen from the dead. No human agency had removed Jesus from the tomb leaving his grave clothes in the state they were. It might have been a different matter if they had been neatly rolled up like the sweatband!

It is details like the above that convince me that John is an honest witness and that Jesus did, indeed, rise from the dead - the firstfruits of them that sleep.

(E) The sweatband and grave clothes were left in the tomb by the followers of Jesus.

It is nice to have a few mementoes of the past - especially of those you love. I have most of my mother's old diaries and some times I read one or another in happy remembrance of her. I have one open now for Sunday 11th June 1965. My mother did not have many treats! But she spent this particular day with her in-laws in Ipswich. In the morning she went to Bethesda Baptist Church and got made much of by the Rev. George Bird. In the afternoon mother visited her niece Anne and husband Ken before going on to have tea with my grandparents. She had: A lovely, lovely time.

A couple at our chapel recently celebrated their ruby wedding anniversary with a family meal at a posh hotel. The wife asked the hotel management if she could have the menus and champagne corks as mementoes of the happy day.

Jesus was not past and gone. I am glad that Peter and John left the grave clothes where they lay. They did not need any relics or mementoes beause he was alive. What was a soiled sweatband compared to the living Christ and the great gift of the Holy Spirit they would receive to remember him by for the rest of their lives.

Christ's grave clothes were not holy, nor were the bloodstained sweatband, the sepulchre where they laid him or even the cross on which he was hung - only Jesus himself is worthy of all honour, glory and praise.

(F) The inadequacies of their faith

I am not surprised that John admitted: They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. v10. I do not think that there are lots of Old Testament references to the resurrection of the Messiah who died for the sins of the world. Belief in the resurrection of the body was comparatively recent amongst the Jews and not universal even then. That is because it is not a major theme of the Old Testament.

What is a lot harder to understand is the failure of the disciples to take Jesus at his word. His enemies did! Matthew records: The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead." Mt27v62to64.

Peter and John only believed when their experience complimented Christ's teaching. I am not even sure John expected to see Jesus again in the flesh. He probably thought that Jesus had been taken into the presence of his Father. Mark reports: Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Mk16v14.

Genuine faith involves taking a man at his word. I always gave my new classes of eleven-year-olds some good advice about revising for exams. I told them to make brief notes on the work to be examined - headings, key words and aids to memory. Most did not show much faith in their teacher; but little Lucy did. She showed me all the Geography notes she had made in her special revision booklet. Lucy retained faith in me until she left school and then how I missed her daily smiles in registration!

On buying a new freezer I read the maker's instructions. I had faith in the manufacturer's advice. I used the freezer in the way I was told. I took the makers at their word!

John and the other gospel writers have left us with the words of Jesus. Saving faith is not just relying on the sacrificial death of Christ to save us but also taking him at his word and making every effort to implement his teaching; anything less than that is evidence of an inadequate faith.