If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then there is no Christianity. We are still in our sins, we have no hope in the world, and we are the post pitiable who believe in resurrection. But there is no way that Jesus did not rise from the dead. He had to.

There are multiple historical proofs that He did rise. We will see many of them in John’s account of the resurrection in John 20. Some of the evidence, in particular some of the witnesses, are the least likely and least impressive, a fact itself that lends more credibility to the reality of the resurrection. (If you were making up proof, you’d make up the best possible proof.)

But the resurrection is not only true, it is inexorable. I could have described it as indispensable, that is, absolutely necessary for sake of the gospel of salvation out of eternal death. The word inexorable goes further: the resurrection was impossible to stop or prevent. The mudslide in Oso was an inexorable force. In Jesus’ case, the inexorable force wasn’t deadly, it was lively. It could not not happen that Jesus rise from the dead. From Friday to Sunday morning, the story of His death advanced on a straight and non-stop line toward resurrection.

It had to happen because God said it would happen. This is John’s point in 20:9. Peter and John saw evidence of resurrection in the tomb and John believed based on what he didn’t see. But they could have (and should have) believed before getting to the grave, “for as yet they did not understand the Scriptures that he must rise from the dead.” We will swing at this piñata again when we get to verse 9, but the Book said He would rise.

And Jesus Himself said He would. He had to rise from the dead or else He would be a liar. Who knows how many times He went over the blueprints with His disciples. Of the times that are recorded by Gospel writers, Jesus even told them how many days it would be: three.

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21, ESV; see also Luke 18:31-34)

He was going to go to Jerusalem: check. He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders: check. He would be killed: check. Why would they not believe that the last part, the part that He would be raised, was just as certain?

Proof that He rose doesn’t mean that He had to. For that matter, that Scripture said He would gets closer to inexorable, since God doesn’t lie. But why did He say that He would? Why put His truthfulness on the line for this? Was resurrection from the dead just one of His best power plays? Did He have a grab bag of ways to make a point and He just happened to pick this one?

Jesus had to rise from the dead because resurrection is part of His person. In other words, if He didn’t rise from the dead then He wasn’t God. This belongs not only to what He said, but more closely to who He is.

Jesus is truth. Take away truth and it isn’t the same Jesus. Jesus is light, the light of the world. Jesus is the bread, the sustenance of life. Jesus is the good shepherd; He cares for His sheep. All of the “I am” statements in John show who Jesus is. And, if you remember back outside the city of Bethany, Jesus declared another of His attributes to two grieving sisters. Martha believed that her brother would rise again on the last day, Jesus told her that she was in the presence of something greater, the presence of resurrection. He told her, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

He is resurrection. Resurrection is one of His attributes. Take away resurrection and He would be someone else. If you take away one of the three sides of a triangle, it isn’t a triangle. Words may form phrases without a verb, but they can’t make a sentence. A Jesus who would not rise from the dead is another Jesus. He had to rise from the dead because resurrection is essential, not just for our life, but as part of His own.

From a plot perspective, this has taken some time to develop, thousands of earth years. Some of God’s attributes He displayed on the first day: power, imagination, order. Some attributes He revealed more and more over time: holiness, love, kindness. Some took even more time: patience and endurance. Many of these attributes He continues to display, not always at the same degree, but still of the same kind. That isn’t the case with the resurrection.

There were times in the Old Testament when God used a prophet to raise the dead; i.e., Elijah and widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 18:17-24), Elisha and the Shunamite’s son (2 Kings 4:20-37). Jesus raised the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-16) and Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43) and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). These miracles certainly show God’s power over death. Maybe they also hint at God’s special delight at overturning death. But they don’t necessarily make us think that resurrection is part of the fiber of His being.

This is it. This is the moment for God to demonstrate in Christ His resurrection nature. An eternal attribute is stuffed into one created minute. Epochs hinge on that moment on that morning. This is the kind of thing people write songs about. We talk about putting all our eggs in one basket; God put all His linen cloths in one tomb.

Yet even now there is such little pageantry. The celebration did not start out with trumpets blowing. Jesus didn’t fly over Jerusalem or vindicate Himself outside Pilate’s headquarters or make a display at the temple. After waiting all of this time, He didn’t light off all the fireworks of His glory. He let women discover the empty tomb. He let His disciples sit in confusion and grief a little longer. The One who makes all things new, the One who just finished His one and only resurrection, lets the pages turn slowly.

In verses 1-10 we have enough to be hopeful if we know what to look for. Mary discovers the tomb door opened and runs to tell Peter and John (verses 1-2). She’s the first to see the resurrected Lord in verses 11-18. In between, Peter and John find only grave clothes in the tomb, but they are not exactly sure what it means.

Mary’s Alarm (verses 1-2)

Things aren’t what Mary expected when she went to Jesus’ tomb.

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (John 20:1–2, ESV)

Rather than say “on the third day” and using the same words Jesus did (see Matthew 16:21), John writes on the first day of the week, as do all three other Gospel writers (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1). We have all lived our whole lives in a culture that considers Sunday special. This is the first special first day, the one from which all following first days of the week get their lifeblood.

Before considering what happens next, isn’t it amazing that nothing is said about Saturday?

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She didn’t come alone according to the Synoptic writers (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10), but John knows their accounts and highlights Mary (though she does say “we” in verse 2). She saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Presumably the ladies came to put more spices around the body, so they would need to open the door anyway. But it was too early and the only explanation Mary can think of is that someone, maybe grave robbers, took the body. So she ran to tell a couple of guys that They have taken the Lord out of the tomb. She was upset so she went to find help, and she tells the same thing to the angels and the “gardener” (John 20:13, 15).

The contemporary thought that they could create a resurrection hoax or experience a joint encounter with some mystical Christ as some have suggested is absurd, given the defeatism that enveloped Jesus’ followers after they realized Jesus was truly dead. (Gerald Borchert)

Mary did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. Mary was still at a point where her comfort depended on finding Jesus’ dead body.

Peter and John’s Discovery (verses 3-10)

Peter and John investigate more closely than Mary but their conclusions are only slightly better.

So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. (John 20:3–4, ESV)

The other disciple is the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved (verse 2), John, the Gospel writer. He and Peter have been paired a number of times in recent chapters. Peter asks John to ask Jesus about the betrayer. Peter and John (and James) go with Jesus to pray in Gethsemane. John got Peter into Annas’ courtyard. Peter asks Jesus about John in John 21, too. These two disciples are often together, though John outran Peter to the tomb, probably because he was younger. John was also more timid.

And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (John 20:5–7, ESV)

John stopped outside and stopped to see inside. He saw the linen cloths lying there, but did not go in. The cloths were lying there, meaning that they were not cut or folded or thrown into a pile in the corner. They were laying as if they fell off the body and the body wasn’t there anymore.

Peter arrived after John but walked right by John into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded in a place by itself. If grave robbers had stolen the body, they would have taken the cloths and the spices, partly for the money, but also due to time. They would not have carefully unwrapped the body but taken the whole package.

Mary hadn’t said anything about the clothes still being there. Lazarus was still wrapped in grave-clothes when he came out his tomb (John 11:44). Jesus’ clothes without Jesus’ body argues against the theory of robbers.

Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. (John 20:8–10, ESV)

Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first (John apparently wanted his readers to remember his speed) also went in and he saw and believed. First, unlike the testimony of a single woman, two men made this testimony credible (Deuteronomy 17:6).

Second, what exactly did John believe? It can’t be that he believed that someone stole the body. It can’t be other than that he believed Jesus rose from the dead. The next verse demonstrates why he believed, not a different what.

For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. John believed based on sight, not yet based on Scripture. Jesus will make a similar distinction to Thomas later in the chapter (John 11:29). John believed but not on the strongest witness of God’s Word, which Peter said is more sure (see 2 Peter 1:21).

Peter identified the Old Testament prophecy of Christ’s resurrection from Psalm 16 on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
(Acts 2:24–28, ESV)

Paul also preached in Antioch from the same Psalm.

as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. (Acts 13:34–37, ESV)

The resurrection was inexorable, he must rise from the dead or “it is necessary (δεῖ) that He rise”. Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Speaking of Peter, nothing is said about his response. In fact, both disciples went back to their homes. To whatever degree John believed, he may have witnessed to others about what he saw, but that isn’t mentioned.

Conclusion

We’ll see Jesus in the next paragraph talking with Mary, not first with any from the eleven. This is a strange way to conquer sin and death, just as it was a strange glory in the hour of His death, just as it was a strange condescension to come as a baby boy born in Bethlehem. It may be strange to us, but there is no doubt about it.

Our meeting today, on this day, gives testimony to that Sunday morning. It reminds us that our Lord and Savior is the resurrection and the life. The resurrection wasn’t only a “get to” for Jesus as much as it was a “had to.” He resurrected once, but our spiritual and bodily resurrections in Christ are the eternal and inexorable reverberations of His resurrection.