Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple: and they came to the sepulchre.
εξηλθεν ουν ο πετρος και ο αλλος μαθητης και ηρχοντο εις το μνημειον
14 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Peter and John everywhere appear in great harmony with one another. Peter gives John a sign at the supper. They go together to the tomb. Concerning John, Peter says to Christ, "But what about this man?" (Jn 21:21). And immediately these two disciples, Peter and John, hastened to the tomb. This wondrous woman followed after them.
Then the disciples come to the tomb and see only the linen bands lying there. This was a sign of the true Resurrection. For if someone had moved the body, he would not have stripped it. If someone had stolen it, he would not have taken care to wrap the face cloth and place it separately in its own place. He would simply have taken the body as best he could.
Therefore the Evangelist said beforehand that Christ's body had been buried with much myrrh, which fastens the linen bands to the body no less than pitch. Thus, when we hear that the face cloth lay in its own place, we should not in the least believe those who say that Christ's body was stolen. A thief would not have been so foolish as to spend so much effort on something unnecessary, without suspecting that the longer he worked, the sooner he might be caught.
No one knows at what hour the Resurrection took place, just as the time of the Second Coming is also unknown. If Matthew the Evangelist says that the earthquake occurred in deep evening, while John says that Mary came and saw the stone rolled away in the morning, while it was still dark, there is no disagreement.
First, according to Matthew, the women came late on the Sabbath. But in John the women are not mentioned at this point. Since Matthew had spoken of them, it would have been superfluous for John to say the same. Instead, Mary Magdalene comes in the morning. The visits to the tomb are different: at one time Mary comes with the other women, and at another she comes alone. Hence the appearance of disagreement between the Evangelists arises, because they speak of different visits, each of his own.
Thus, first, we say that Matthew speaks of one visit, that of the women, while John speaks of another, that of the woman Magdalene. Then, "deep evening" and "morning, while it was still dark," which another might call deep morning, coincide in one and the same time, so that all this time is the middle of the night.
If you ask how Peter and John, and the women, entered the tomb when guards were there, the answer is simple. When the Lord rose and the Angel appeared at the tomb with an earthquake, the guards went away to report this to the Pharisees. Thus the tomb was freed from the military guard, and the disciples could come without fear.
As soon as the disciples heard this report from the woman, Peter and John, the writer of this book who calls himself the other disciple, ran with all their strength. They quickly came to the tomb itself, where they became spectators of the miracle. They were sufficient in number to bear witness to the event, for there were two of them according to the law.
Here one must pay attention to the repetition and not pass over in silence how the account returned to what had been omitted, and nevertheless attached it as though it followed in sequence. For when John had already said, "they came to the tomb," he returned to tell how they came, and said: "They both ran together," and so forth. Here he showed that the other disciple, as he calls himself while speaking as though of another, ran faster and came first to the tomb.
They said nothing to any of the other disciples. Moreover, in their fervor, they paid no attention even to the Jews and to the guard at the tomb.
She ran and announced it to the disciples. But those ran more swiftly who loved more than the others, namely Peter and John.
When Cephas and the son of Zebedee heard this, they immediately ran, as though competing with one another. John arrived more quickly than Peter.
Despite this, the women friends of Jesus go to the tomb with spices. Mary Magdalene comes ahead of the others and sees the tomb open. Troubled, she runs to the apostles, thinking that the Lord's body has been carried away. This new and confused report, which concerned the apostles themselves, produced only perplexity. At least it awakened the spirit that had been sleeping from despondency. It stirred up questions, conjectures, and inquiries that could lead to the truth. Two of the apostles, one always distinguished by resoluteness of character and the other by tender love for Jesus, leave all conjectures behind and hasten to the tomb. In order to be assured of what Mary had said, they seek the means of explaining it.
From the whole and coherent history in John the Evangelist concerning Mary Magdalene's journey to the tomb and the appearance to her of the risen Lord, the first three Evangelists transmit only certain separate parts. Thus Luke, summarizing the account of the events experienced by the myrrh-bearing women on the morning of the first day of the week, mentions Peter's journey to the tomb as occasioned by the report of all the myrrh-bearing women.
From John's Gospel we see that this happened before all the women returned to the city. It was occasioned by Mary Magdalene's report, and Peter made this journey not alone, but with John. Mark, after setting forth the angelic message to the women about the Lord's Resurrection, begins to recount the history of the appearances of the Risen One Himself. First of all he tells of the Lord's appearance to Mary Magdalene. But he does not describe in detail the circumstances in which this appearance occurred. He says only that it was the first appearance, and that the disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene's report.
On the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb. The thought arises in her that the body of her beloved Teacher and Lord had no rest even in the tomb, but had been carried away. With this sorrowful thought in her soul, she hastily runs to Peter and John, without having inspected the tomb.
On the way she may have met her companions, who were likewise going to the Lord's tomb, and told them her sad supposition. Naturally, she thought that after inspecting the tomb, her companions had come to the same thought concerning the Lord's body. Therefore, when she came to the apostles, she spoke on behalf of all the women: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."
Peter and John rose and ran quickly with Mary to the tomb. Young John ran faster than Peter and came first to the tomb. He, however, did not enter the tomb, but only bent down to see the inside of the tomb. Therefore he could make out only the linen bands lying in the tomb.
When Peter came up, with his usual impetuosity he immediately entered the tomb. John then entered after him. And they saw that the linen bands with which Jesus' body had been wrapped, and the face cloth that had been on His head, lay carefully folded in their places. Their order and appearance clearly indicated that there had been no theft of Jesus' body.
This, however, produced a different effect on Peter and John. The latter saw and believed (Jn 20:8), while the former only marveled within himself at what had happened (Lk 24:12). Having inspected the Lord's tomb, Peter and John returned again to their own place.
Frightened by this report, the Apostles ran to the cave. But John was younger and ran faster, and therefore arrived first. For some reason he was afraid to enter the cave alone, and so only looked into its opening and saw the linens lying there.
But not all the disciples treated the women's reports with indifference and unbelief. Two of them, Peter and John, immediately ran to verify personally what had happened. They ran with such speed that they outpaced one another, and John reached the tomb before Peter. The stone had been rolled away, and the cave was open.
Immediately he went out, and so forth. Because of the report brought by Magdalene, and perhaps soon by the other myrrh-bearing women also (Lk 24:10-12), Peter and John hastened or ran to the tomb.
Three testimonies of the Lord's Resurrection were given to the disciples Peter and John, so that on their basis they might rise on the wings of faith to understand the mystery that had taken place. Mary Magdalene brings the news of the stone rolled away. They themselves see, first, the empty tomb, and second, the "garments," that is, the linen bands, the face cloth, and the shroud, not scattered in disorder, but laid in order (cf. Chrysostom, Homilies on John 85).
At the moment when Mary Magdalene brings them the unexpected news that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and that the guard is no longer there, Peter and John still do not fully understand the event. They know that the Lord's tomb has been sealed and guarded by a watch of Roman soldiers (Mt 27:66). The guard had probably already fled when Magdalene was at the tomb. Their hearts beat more strongly with anxiety and hope, but above all they hasten to see with their own eyes what exactly has happened.
John, being younger than Peter in years, naturally runs faster than he and comes first to the tomb. But he does not enter the tomb, restrained by reverent fear. He only "stoops down," that is, bends over and looks with intense attention into the open tomb, no longer guarded by anyone and apparently empty.
He does not enter the tomb before Peter because, with his characteristic humility, he recognized Peter's seniority over himself and remembered the Lord's words: "You are Peter" (Mt 16:18). At this time Peter comes up and, without stopping, enters the burial cave, for his soul thirsted to comprehend more quickly the mystery being revealed.
Before him is the second testimony, the empty tomb, and the third testimony, to which Chrysostom especially points: the linen bands and the face cloth that had wrapped the Lord. They were folded in order and testified that no criminal human hand had disturbed the tomb's repose, but that something supernatural had occurred.
The Jews would not have removed the garments and folded the face cloth if they had carried away the Lord's body. It was clear to the disciples that the leaving behind in the tomb of the Lord's earthly burial garments had to signify that they were no longer needed. The following verses further clarify the state of the disciples' souls.
It seems that Peter and John come to the tomb by daylight. By not coming at night and in darkness, they remove the suspicion of that very thing with which the chief priests falsely charged them, namely, that they came by night and stole Him (cf. Mt 28:13). Therefore these men did not come by night, nor at all while it was dark, but came when day had dawned.
Since the Gospel says that the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews (Jn 20:19), someone may object: "How could men shut inside a house appear at the tomb in daylight?" We answer that it was entirely natural for those living in the city among the Jews to hide, gathered together in a house. But those going to the tomb, since they were outside the city, had no need to fear the Jews, for they were going to a deserted and uninhabited place.
It may also be that Peter and John, having mastered their fear, dared to leave the house, while the others were too frightened. Otherwise it would have been written that they were counted worthy of greater honor among the disciples.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 13 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS