Yesterday we began to think together about people Jesus encountered after his resurrection.

We know that John was among them and I want to think about him today, but I want to go

back a little in time to the garden where Jesus had been buried in the tomb of Joseph

of Arimathea. You remember that when Mary Magdalene told Peter and John that the

body of Jesus had been moved, they both ran to the garden and there's a delightful little

human touch in John's gospel at this point. John tells us he beat Peter there and he looked

in and saw the linen grave cloths. Peter, who has always mentioned first in the gospel

stories, came second in the race, but still he was first to go right into the tomb, perhaps

breathlessly running past his friend. And it seems he saw something that John hadn't

at first noticed. He saw the linen cloths lying there. Those same words are used to describe

what John had seen, but then Peter saw something else and the face cloth that had been on

Jesus head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Did Peter

say something to John or stay in the tomb, staring or come out to let John in? Well, we

don't know what Peter did, but we do know what John did when he went in. It's at this

point that John's gospel makes the comment and he saw and believed. But he had seen before,

why did he only believe now? Why was that? John says they didn't yet understand the

scriptures that said Jesus would rise from the dead. Up to this point they hadn't fully

understood the prophecies about Jesus, but now things were beginning to fall into place.

And it looks as though the trigger was that John now saw not only that the grave cloths were

there, but also that the face cloth was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded out in a

place by itself. At the very least this was a sure sign the body had not been stolen.

We're not told how the grave clothes were left, but the face cloth was neatly folded out.

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