John Calvin Commentary John 20:9

"For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise from the dead." — John 20:9 (ASV)

For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. They had often heard from Christ's own mouth what they now saw with their eyes, but this realization now flowed from their hearts. Being now alerted by the sight of a strange spectacle, they began to think of Christ as having something Divine, though they were still far from having a clear and accurate knowledge of him. John, therefore, accuses himself when he acknowledges that the first time that he believed was when he saw the proofs of Christ’s resurrection.

Besides, he represents more strongly his own guilt and that of his brothers by adding that they not only had forgotten Christ's words but also did not believe the Scriptures; for he attributes the deficiency of their faith to this ignorance. From this, too, we may draw a useful lesson: that we ought to ascribe it to our own carelessness when we are ignorant of what we should know about Christ, because we have not benefited as we should have from the Scriptures, which clearly reveal Christ's excellence.

Not to look further for an example of this, it might be thought that Christ's resurrection is taught in them obscurely and only through symbolic representations; but the attentive reader will find abundantly clear testimonies. Paul proves (Acts 13:34) that Christ must have risen from the dead because God declares by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 55:3) that, under his reign, the mercy promised to David would be sure. An unskilled person might imagine that what Paul quotes is not at all to the point; but those who believe the principles of faith and are well acquainted with the Scriptures have no difficulty perceiving the force of this argument. For, in order that Christ may secure God's grace to us forever, Christ himself must live forever.

There are many passages of the same kind, which it is not now necessary to gather. Let us therefore be satisfied with the three following. It is written:

Thou wilt not permit thy Holy One to see corruption,
(Psalms 16:10).

Peter and Paul explain this prediction as referring to Christ (Acts 2:27 and Acts 13:35), and justly so; for there is not one of Adam's descendants who is not inherently liable to corruption. Consequently, Christ's immortality is declared there. It is also beyond all doubt that the following passage refers to Christ:

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool (Psalms 110:1).

Now, death will not be destroyed until the last day. The kingdom is then given to Christ until the end of the world, and this kingdom cannot exist without his life. But Isaiah speaks more clearly than all the rest when, after having foretold Christ's death, he immediately adds that it impossible to declare his age (Isaiah 53:8). In short, we ought to believe that the doctrine of Scripture is so full and complete in every respect that whatever is defective in our faith should rightly be attributed to ignorance of the Scriptures.