M o n t h l y N e w s f r o m F P C Ty l e r • Vo l u m e 1 3 , I s s u e 5 : M a y 2 0 1 8
An Aha! Moment by The Rev. Dr. Stuart Baskin Then the other disciple, who 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. John 20:8-9 Occasionally I’ll read a familiar passage from the Bible, and something I’ve read a thousand times over will suddenly jump off the page. Believe it or not, that actually happened during worship on Easter Sunday. The passage above comes in the middle of the story of the first Easter morning. In John’s telling, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early, though he does not say why. Seeing the stone covering the tomb rolled away, she runs back to tell the disciples. Peter and the mysterious “disciple whom Jesus loved” run to the tomb. The unnamed disciple stoops to look in and sees the linen wrappings “lying there.” Then Peter arrives and goes into the tomb and sees the same thing, along with the cloth that has covered Jesus’ head lying there also. Now the unnamed disciple goes into the tomb, which brings us to the verses above. Do you read what I read? “Then the other disciple…also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture…” The sentence literally makes no sense. It says, in effect, he believed because they did not yet understand the scripture.
When I read that during worship on Easter, I nearly stopped reading. Sometimes it’s hard to know how much weight to place on a single word or phrase in Scripture. Is it just a sort of “throwaway” line that carries no particular meaning, or does it signal something truly and singularly important? This is one of those passages. And don’t bother going to the commentaries. If they deal with it at all, they’re all over the map. Even Calvin, who is usually a thoroughgoing follower of St. Augustine, pointedly disagrees with Augustine’s interpretation. So where does that leave us? Simply with this: No matter how much we study scripture, there’s always something new. No matter how many times we read a familiar passage, there is always more it can reveal to us. And for the record, my take on this passage is that the writer of the Gospel of John meant exactly what he said. The disciple believed on the basis of what he saw: not Jesus in the flesh, as Mary Magdalene soon would see, but grave clothes carefully folded where the body should have been. Unlike Thomas, who had to see Jesus and touch his wounds before he would believe, this unnamed disciple got it almost immediately, before he saw Jesus, and even before he fully understood the scripture. That’s faith.
i n t h i s i s s u e | H I GH LI GHT S & F E ATU RE S TCC 50th Anniversary Gala | pg 3 The Tyler Civic Chorale will be led by all of its conductors at this festive program.
2018 Easter at FPC | pg 5 FPC’s Easter celebration is captured in pictures!
PW: Birthday Offering | pg 4 Celebrate life-changing, world-wide mission at a special service.
First Presbyterian Church of Tyler, Texas 230 West Rusk Street, Tyler, Texas 75701-1696 (903) 597-6317 | www.fpctyler.com