Translated by Qwen.
Father Noel Alexandre's Literal and Moral Commentary on John 20:1-9
LITERAL COMMENTARY
1–2. “But on the first day of the week,” that is, the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, together with the other pious women of whom she was the leader in this work of piety, came while it was still dark to the tomb. She set out on the journey while the darkness had not yet been dispelled, and they arrived at the tomb when the sun began to shine. And she saw the stone taken away from the tomb. She beheld the great stone, by which the mouth of the cave had been blocked, rolled away from it. Therefore she ran to her companions and to the chief disciples, quickly reporting what she had first seen and what had come to her mind, namely, that the body of the Lord had been taken away. And she came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, namely to John himself who wrote these things, and said to them: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,” whether out of a motive of honor or of greater insult being uncertain, “and they have laid Him.” This is not something Magdalene seems likely to have said when, with the other women, she had already seen the angels and heard such a clear and certain testimony concerning the Lord’s resurrection. [Alexandre notes here that John compresses the narrative, recording her initial reaction before she had fully processed the angelic message.]
3–4. Peter therefore went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the tomb to investigate the matter. And the two ran together, and that other disciple ran on ahead faster than Peter, being younger in age and swifter, and came first to the tomb. And when he had stooped down, having put his head into the cave (since he could not look into the tomb while standing upright, because the entrance was narrow and the tomb deep), he saw the linen cloths lying placed on the ground, with which the body of Jesus had been wrapped, like the discarded garments of an absent person. Yet he did not enter, waiting for Peter.
5–9. Therefore Simon Peter came a little later, following him, and being about to examine everything more carefully, he entered into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloths placed, or lying, and the face cloth, which had been upon His head, by which His head was covered and His face veiled according to the Jewish manner of burial, not placed with the linen cloths or burial wrappings, but separately, folded apart in one place. Such careful arrangement of the linens removed all suspicion of theft. For thieves act in haste, nor do they trouble themselves with orderly arrangements. Then therefore that other disciple also entered, who had come first to the tomb, and he saw and believed that the body of Jesus had been taken away, as Mary Magdalene had reported. For they did not yet understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. They did not yet fully comprehend Sacred Scripture. And although they had not heard Jesus asserting that He would rise on the third day, the sublimity of the mystery and the slowness of their minds and the weakness of their faith stood in the way of their admitting this to their understanding. Compare with Luke 24:11, where it is written of the eleven Apostles that when they heard the women reporting that they had seen angels at the Lord’s tomb who asserted that He had risen from the dead, just as Jesus Himself had foretold them, “these words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.”
MORAL COMMENTARY
1. “But on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early while it was still dark to the tomb.” The example of Mary Magdalene teaches us that all obstacles must be overcome if we are to seek and find Jesus. We shall easily overcome all things if we love God, if we are diligent and fervent for what is good, not negligent, not sluggish, not lukewarm. “She came early.” If charity grows cold in our hearts, He will remove external obstacles by the help of His grace. “And she saw the stone taken away from the tomb.”
2–3. “Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them: ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’” The faithful soul, which believes it has lost Christ Jesus, is troubled, grieves, sighs, and leaves nothing undone to find Him. It does not walk with slow and soft steps, but runs to find its beloved. “She ran, she came” to the pastors, who represent for her both Peter and John, joining authority and charity. Moreover, the Rectors of souls ought to be diligent, to come to the aid of souls in dangers and anxieties, and to help them find Jesus. But they must also run together like John. Authority and charity ought to be inseparable in pastors and rectors of souls. “The two ran together.” The greater the authority, the greater ought to be the charity in the rulers of the Church. That we may run to seek Jesus, we ought to love Him, as Peter was loved by Him, as John was loved. We must first be loved in order to love. “For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom 9:16), who prevents our good will, works it in us, and provides the most effective strength for running, which is hindered by no obstacles, delayed by no delays, suspended by no causes. “The two ran together.”
4. In the governance of souls, let charity go before authority and prepare the way for it, lest the weak, terrified by authority or crushed by its weight, fail to find Jesus. “That other disciple ran on ahead faster than Peter, and first to the tomb.” Let every ruler have compassion for his neighbor, lest, suspended above all in contemplation, the pastor, through the bowels of piety, transfer the weakness of others into himself, and through the height of contemplation, by reaching for invisible things, transcend them; lest either, seeking the high things, he despise the weaknesses of his neighbors, or, accommodating himself to the weak, abandon the pursuit of high things. Hence the Apostle says: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?” (2 Cor 11:29). Hence Jacob saw the ladder on which the Lord leaned, and angels ascending and descending (Gen 28:12), because right preachers not only seek the holy Head of the Church, namely the Lord, by contemplating Him, but also descend downward to His members out of compassion. Hence Moses frequently enters and exits the Tabernacle, and he who is caught up within in contemplation is pressed without by the affairs of the infirm. Within he considers the secrets of God; without he bears the burdens of the carnal. The Truth, shown to us by the assumption of our humanity, cleaves to prayer on the mountain, works miracles in the cities, laying down a path of imitation for good pastors, so that even if they already seek the highest things through contemplation, they nevertheless mingle with the needs of the weak through compassion. Let those who are in charge show themselves to be such that their subjects are not ashamed to reveal even their hidden struggles to them, so that when they endure the waves of temptations, they may flee to the pastor’s mind as to a mother’s bosom. Thus teaches St. Gregory.
5. Thus Peter and John run together to seek Jesus, but John runs ahead faster than Peter.
6–8. “And when he had stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he did not go in. Therefore Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb.” John is a type of the contemplative life, given to prayer and the study of truth. Every pious soul loving God can attain this by contemplation; nevertheless, it submits with humility to the examination and authority of the Church and its pastors its inspirations, thoughts, visions, intentions, and all the paths to which it believes it is drawn by God, so that they may be approved by them, lest, deceived by illusions, it fail to find Jesus but lose Him. Peter is a type of the active life and of the authority of pastors, to whom it belongs to enter into the sanctuary of the truths of faith, which are wrapped and folded, like linen cloths, in the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition. To judge controversies of faith, to unfold and explain the mysteries of Scripture, belongs to Peter and his successors and to all bishops, whose person he bore. “Therefore Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb, and saw the linen cloths lying.” “Then therefore that other disciple also entered, who had come first to the tomb, and he saw and believed.” It is very dangerous to anticipate the judgment of pastors in matters of religion and questions of faith not yet defined by the Church, to whom the knowledge of Scripture and the authority to interpret it is entrusted. It is a mark either of imprudent zeal or of proud ignorance. “For they did not yet understand the Scripture…” [The text cuts off here.]
CONTINUE
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