60IN60 Day 53 - Thurs Feb 23

It's Day 53 and we're in John 21.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 21-23 - Just a reminder to me that sometimes we read things into passages that are not intended.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Questions and Comments:

- "Who was the 'other disciple' besides Peter? What is the significance of the face cloth being folded, and the other linen just 'lying there'? Vs. 8 says the other disciple entered the tomb, saw, and believed. Then Vs. 9 says they (neither one) didn't understand. The two disciples went onto the tomb, and Mary only looked into the tomb. Why did the angels appear to Mary but not the disciples?" - 1. The "other disciple" was almost certainly John. He refers to himself in similar ways in other places as well. 2. I've heard a number of speculations on the significance of the face cloth being folded separately, but I haven't found most of them particularly convincing. The one thing I do think we can solidly take from that is this: the neatly folded cloth speaks to something happening there that was not a grave robbery. If someone snuck in to steal the dead body, you would expect them to rush in and out as quickly as possible to avoid being caught. The folded cloth speaks to something else going on (namely, a resurrection!). 3. The disciples went in and saw that the body wasn't there (v. 8) but they didn't understand that meant that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead by God (v. 9) (it could have meant the body had been stolen or something like that). The disciples leave and then Jesus appears to Mary. We can't know for certain why Mary was chosen as the first to see Jesus because the Bible doesn't speak directly to that, but there a couple things about it that are significant. First is that the women were the last ones at the cross after most of the male disciples (not John) had fled. It's fitting in a way that the first to see the resurrected Christ is a woman since they were the most loyal to Him at the end of His life. Second is that having a woman as the first witness (in a culture that devalued women) is a bold statement about Christ's concern and attention to those who are downcast and outsiders.