Simon Peter—went into the sepulchre, and seeth, &c.— These circumstances were very awakening, and very proper to prepare the minds of the disciples for something extraordinary, since nothing but the resurrection of Jesus could in right reason be concluded from them. The body they saw was gone; but by whom could it be taken away, and for what purpose? Not by friends; for then, in all probability, they would have known something about it. Not by the Jews; for they had nothing to do with it. Pilate, to whom alone the disposal of it belonged, as the body of a supposed malefactor executedby his orders, had given it to Joseph of Arimathea, a friend and secret disciple of Christ, who laid it in the sepulchre but two days before. And wherefore should they remove it again so soon?—Not to bury it; for in that case they would not have left the winding-sheet, and the napkin folded up, behind them. Whoever therefore had removed the body, they could not have done it with a design to bury it; and yet no other purpose for the removal of it can be imagined. Besides, it must have been removed in the night by stealth, and consequently in a hurry. How then came the winding-sheet and napkin to be folded up and disposed in so orderly a manner, in the sepulchre? Add to this that the stone was very large, and therefore many people must have been concerned in this transaction; not one of whom was there to give an answer to any such questions. These and such like reflections could not but rise in their minds, and these difficulties could not but dispose them to expect some extraordinary event. They knew the life of Jesus was a life of miracles, and his death was attended with prodigies and wonders; all which could not but come crowding into their memories; and yet none of them at that time believed that he was risen from the dead; (See on John 20:8.) for, as yet, the evangelist assures us, John 20:9. They knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead; that is, they did not understand from the prophets, that the Messiah was to rise again from the dead; being on the contrary persuaded, that these very prophets had foretold, that the Messiah should not die, but abide for ever. And, as they did not know from the scripture, nor yet from our Lord's own predictions, that he was to rise again; so neither could they collect it from any thing which Mary Magdalene hadtold them; for she herself had not the least notion of it, even when Jesus appeared to her; as is plain from what she says in the 13th and 15th verses. See the note on Matthew 28:11; Matthew 28:20.
Related Commentaries of John 20:6
John 20:6-7
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.