Lockdown Day 20: BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL

“In the last days there will only be two kinds of Christians in the world: Those who are surprised and those who are expectant”. Dr.David Aikman

John 20:1-10 tells the story of the empty tomb and the different responses by those who followed Christ. It starts with an EXPECTANT Mary and ends with the SURPRISED disciples. For Mary it was not a leisurely stroll to a grave. She rose early, while it was still dark, and came to the grave to attend to His body after the crucifixion. She expected to find the crucified Jesus, she discovered the resurrected Christ. Those who seek God in COVID-19 will be those who discover the empty grave.

Mary then runs to the disciples and report that the body of Jesus has been taken away. (3) So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He finds the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Good old Peter however, upon arrival, stormed the empty grave and finds the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

And then follows one of the saddest accounts of Scripture. What was to be the most glorious event in the lives of the disciples went amiss because of their lack of expectation! They were surprised and (9) still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

One could empathise with the disciples denying Jesus in the sight of the cross, but going back to business as usual in the sight of an empty grave is incomprehensible.

Or is it? Two more weeks and lock-down is over (Lord willing). Two more weeks and it is back to business as usual. Or will we be expectant like Mary? Mary observes the empty cave with a mental attitude that understands there is something more to discover than just the emptiness. The emptiness excites her as she does not want to miss a thing, even in the unseen. She understands that something significant has taken place and responds by staying behind. Peter and John lack the understanding and fail to interpret the empty cave from a redemptive context. The emptiness of the cave disappoints them, and they react by going back home to business as usual.

Can we embrace the attitude of Mary and understand that there is something to see in the unseen, that there is more to discover in COVID-19 – that something significant is taking place and that we refuse to go back to business as usual.

Tomorrow we will look at the significance of the cloth, still in it’s place but separate from the linen (verse 7).