John 20:8-9

Amplified Bible

⁸So the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went in too; and he saw [the wrappings and the face-cloth] and ^[a]believed [without any doubt that Jesus had risen from the dead]. ⁹For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead.^(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

John 20:8 John, the “other disciple,” knew immediately that no one could have fabricated the sight before him: (1) no one could have surreptitiously removed the stone covering the entrance (cf Matt 28:2), even if the guards assigned to the tomb had fallen asleep, as they were later paid to say by the chief priests (Matt 28:13); (2) removing the grave clothes from a dead body in a dark tomb in the middle of the night made no sense (cf note v 5); (3) stealing Jesus’ body would have accomplished nothing. The disciples’ reaction of disbelief when told of His resurrection implies they were neither expecting nor prepared for this miraculous event (cf Matt 28:16, 17; Mark 16:8-14; Luke 24:6-11). The actual resurrection of a living, flesh-and-bone Jesus gave the disciples the courage to begin proclaiming anew the message of salvation, and provided the strength for them to face both great personal suffering and martyrdom for their faith.