John 20:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What, then, is signified by John, if not the synagogue? What by Peter, if not the Church? It should not seem strange that, according to the account, the synagogue is signified by the younger and the Church by the elder. In relation to the worship of God, although the synagogue was before the Church of the Gentiles, nevertheless in time the multitude of the Gentiles was before the synagogue. Paul bears witness to this, saying: "The spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual" (1 Cor 15:46).

Therefore by the elder, Peter, the Church of the Gentiles is signified, and by the younger, John, the synagogue of the Jews. They both ran together, because from the time of their beginning even to their fall, paganism ran with the synagogue by an equal and common path, though not with an equal and common understanding.

The synagogue came first to the tomb, but did not enter. Although it received the commandments of the law and heard the prophecies concerning the Incarnation and Passion of the Lord, it did not wish to believe in the One who had died. John sees the linen bands lying there, yet does not enter. So also the synagogue, though it knew the mysteries of Holy Scripture, did not consent by faith to enter into faith in the Lord's Passion.

The One about whom it had long prophesied it saw before its eyes and rejected. It despised Him because He was man, and did not wish to believe that He is God, made mortal according to the flesh. What is this, then, if not that it ran more quickly, and yet stood idle at the tomb?

After him Simon Peter comes and enters the tomb. He was more courageous and bold, as he appears in all the Gospel accounts. The Evangelist Luke, speaking of this same journey of Peter to the tomb (Lk 24:12; cf. the note and the note on Lk 24:24), says that he bent down and saw only the linen bands lying there. He does not say that Peter entered the tomb itself.

This does not contradict John's account under consideration. Luke speaks this way because of the brevity of his account of the matter, while John supplements him. Besides, nothing prevents us from supposing that Peter, who came after John, first bent down and looked into the tomb just as he did, and only afterward entered it. Luke, in his brief account, passes over this last point in silence.

At the moment when Mary Magdalene brings them the unexpected news, they know that the Lord's tomb had been sealed and guarded by a watch of Roman soldiers, Mt 27:66. She tells them that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and that the guard is no longer there. The guard had probably already fled when Magdalene was at the tomb. Peter and John do not yet fully understand the event. Their hearts beat more strongly with anxiety and hope. Yet before all else they hasten to see with their own eyes exactly what has happened.

John, being younger than Peter, naturally runs faster than he and reaches the tomb first. Yet he does not enter the tomb, being seized by reverent fear. He only "stooped down," that is, bent over and looked with strained attention into the opened tomb, now guarded by no one and apparently empty.

He does not enter the tomb before Peter because, with his characteristic humility, he acknowledged Peter's seniority over himself. He also 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 grasp more quickly the mystery being disclosed. Before him is the second testimony, the empty tomb. There is also the third testimony, to which Chrysostom especially points: the linen cloths and the napkin that had wrapped the Lord, folded in order.

These testified that, in the event that had taken place, no criminal human hand had disturbed the repose of the tomb. Rather, something supernatural had occurred. The Jews would not have removed the garments and folded the napkin if they had carried away the Lord's body. It was clear to the disciples that the Lord's earthly burial garments were left in the tomb to signify that they were no longer needed. The following verses explain still more clearly the state of the disciples' souls.

Indeed, when the Savior appeared before the assembled disciples themselves, according to John, those who saw Him rejoiced. Yet this did not convince Thomas, who was not with them and had not seen (cf. Jn 20:24-25). If he did not believe the apostles, one can hardly shame the others for not believing the women before they had seen Him. Scripture shows many instances in which the disciples carefully investigate and proceed cautiously. They are not ready to agree with words, but defer judgment until the truth is revealed to them fully and clearly.

This passage can also have another meaning. It may be said that the eleven disciples did not believe the woman who, according to Luke, told of the Savior's Resurrection on the basis of the words of the two men who had appeared before them. Among the eleven were Peter and John themselves, who also did not believe. But the two disciples did not believe Mary either when, according to John, she said: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb." That is, they did not believe that the Savior had been taken away, until they came to the place and were convinced that it was so.