When the first women arrived at the house where the disciples were, they told them what they had seen: the stone rolled away, the angels, the missing body.
But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.
Luke 24:11
The Greek word for "nonsense" in this verse is lēros, used in ancient medical literature to describe the delirium of patients with high fevers. The apostles had, in effect, diagnosed the women as delirious.
But two of them, Peter and John, decided to go and check.
Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
John 20:3–4
John ran faster and arrived first, yet he stopped at the entrance and only looked in from outside.
Peter arrived later. And, true to his character, he went straight in.
He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. The cloth that had been around Jesus' head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths.
John 20:6–7
A thief would have left the linens in disarray, yet here they lay folded, the face cloth rolled and set carefully apart. The scene was too orderly to have been a robbery.
John went in after Peter. And the text adds a phrase that will define John's faith:
Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed.
John 20:8
Adding up: Mary Magdalene. Peter. John. Three witnesses of the empty tomb. But only Mary, up to that moment, had seen the Risen One in person.