John 20:1-8 – Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then 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.”
Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
This was not what the disciples had expected that Easter morning when they woke up. They were startled by voices outside followed by an an unexpected knock on the door. Then Mary and the others started making confusing, somewhat contradictory statements; the tomb was empty, we saw angels, but no one believed anything about a resurrection at that point. This rude awakening led to a foot race to the empty tomb, about a mile from where they were staying. John arrived first waiting outside the tomb and then Peter rushed in followed by John.
The first rays of faith began to burst into their souls, maybe just maybe Jesus was alive.
After a long day of unanswered questions the disciples were held up in that familiar upper room where they often gathered with Jesus. Just three days before they had celebrated Passover with Jesus in this very room, now they were hiding out wondering if they would be killed next. That’s when everything changed, the room was suddenly filled with light as Jesus appeared in right before them. He showed them His hands and His feet which bore the wounds of Calvary. That’s when the unthinkable happened, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. This is what He must have meant they imagined when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the wind and being born again. The words of Jesus were coming back to them as they breathed in the Holy Spirit. They were beginning to understand everything now, they even understood the mystery of John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is why Jesus came, He came so that we could be filled with the Holy Spirit, He came that we could be born again.