John 20, Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” 3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. 4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; 5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. 6 And so Simon Peter also *came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he *saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
It seems that from all other scripture accounts it was so hard for the disciples to believe Jesus was actually risen from the dead, even after they encountered Him post resurrection. Yet, without even seeing the risen Christ first, John believed just based on the circumstantial evidence of an empty tomb, and the grave cloth wrappings. Why was it so easy for Him to believe something so miraculous and unbelievable? I believe it was because He had already encountered Christ in a miraculously, life changing personal way. As you may already know, John became known in Church history as “John The Beloevd,” and he referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus is always loving” 5 times in his gospel account. The interesting thing is that he never referred to himself that way until the night before the crucifixion when he laid his head on the breast of Jesus. I believe that in that moment he personally encountered the miraculous life changing love of Christ in a personal way. He heard more than the physical heartbeat of Jesus. He heard the heart beat of a loving savior who was prepared to give His life for fallen and broken people, just like John. What Holy “magic” this grace filled love was, and from that time forward his self worth and identity changed forever. He was now, no longer John the “son of thunder;” he was now the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” It was only here that he began to refer to himself that way, and did 4 more times afterward. My point is, that when he came to the tomb that first Easter morning he already had a history with the “magical” Jesus and knew He was capable of extraordinarily magical things; therefore it was easier for him to believe in the magic of resurrection. He had already been changed by Aslans Roar.