Dr. Dan Hayden •
Steve is an artist and I am not. So as we stood together in the gallery I just saw the picture, but as an artist Steve saw so much more. That’s our word for today – saw.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a surprise to Jesus’ disciples, even though He had told them it was going to happen. They didn’t get it until after He had actually risen from the dead. The first two disciples to arrive at the tomb were Peter and John, and as John tells the story they experienced a progressive awareness of what really happened. John arrived first. So in John 20:5 we read that John “…came to the tomb first and stooping down, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.” The word saw here is a Greek word blepo, which refers to a quick glance or a simple look.
Then in verse 6 of the story Peter arrived second, and the text says, “Simon Peter also came…and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there.” Here the word beheld is another word for “to see or look.” But this Greek word, theopeo, carries the idea of looking “carefully; to observe intensely.”
Well, then John followed Peter into the tomb (v. 8) – “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb, entered then also, and he saw and believed.” Here we find a third word for saw. It is the Greek word horao, which means “to pierce with intelligent comprehension.” The evidence of the collapsed linen wrappings which John saw registered in his mind and he suddenly realized what had happened. Jesus had risen from the dead! John saw and believed.
Now you know the real meaning of the word. Say – Sometimes the truth dawns on you. It’s like somebody turns the light on. You see and believe.