1. EASTER SUNDAY
John 20:1-18
March 31, 2013
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
MARCH MEMORY VERSE:
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think
about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
PRAY FOR OUR PASTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE:
Sam Peeples, Chairman, Brad Antici, Paul Calhoun, Larry Johnson, Jackie Meck,
Beverly Shelton, Ann Southerland, Marla Speed and Thomas Wiley.
2. VBS at DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
June 3-7, 2013
9:00 AM to 12:10 Noon
for children entering 5K in August 2013 - completion of 6th grade
Open Doors publishes a list of the top 50 countries where persecution of Christians for
religious reasons is the worst. The 2013 list has the following countries as it's top 4
offenders:
1) North Korea
2) Saudi Arabia
3) Afghanistan
4) Iraq
Next week:
Exodus 19
Called to Holiness
Today:
John 20:1-18
"In the Old Testament, the sheep gave their life for the shepherd.
In the New Testament, the Shepherd gave His life for the sheep."
Dr. Michael Catt
John 20:9 NASB
9 “For as yet they (Mary, Peter and John) did not understand the Scripture, that He
must rise again from the dead.”
John 20:9 NASB
3. QUESTION???
If they did not yet understand the resurrection, what were these three so excited
about?
Acts 1:3 NASB
3 “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing
proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things
concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3 NASB
Acts 1:6 NASB
6 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at
this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6 NASB
John 16:7 NASB
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away,
the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7 NASB
Abraham, Moses, King David, and Isaiah may all want to sit down with you in Heaven
and ask, “What was it like to live on earth and have God’s Holy Spirit living inside of
you?”
That is what they were so excited about, that Jesus was still there!
And He is still here today!
Here is the complete record:
Buddha's tomb – occupied since 484 B.C.
Confucius' tomb – occupied since 479 B.C.
Jesus' tomb – empty since A.D. 29!
Mohammed's tomb – occupied since A.D. 632
Joseph Smith’s tomb – occupied since A.D. 1844
Harry Houdini’s tomb – occupied since A.D. 1926
JFK’s tomb - occupied since A.D. 1963
Elvis Presley’s tomb - occupied since A.D. 1977
5. by Eugène Burnand
4 The two were running together; and the other disciple (John) ran ahead faster than
Peter and came to the tomb first;
5 and stooping and looking in, he (John) saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he
did not go in. 6 And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb;
and he saw the linen wrappings lying there,
7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings,
but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple (John) who had first come to
the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. (He believed that Mary was
right about the tomb and the body.) 9 For as yet they did not understand the
Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 So the disciples went away
again to their own homes. 11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and
so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
6. 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where
the body of Jesus had been lying.
13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them,
“Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
Him.”
14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did
not know that it was Jesus.
7. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him
away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to
her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means,
Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and
My God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and
that He had said these things to her.”
John 20:1-18 NASB
The Empty Tomb
John 20:1 NASB
1 “Now on the first day of the week (Sunday) Mary Magdalene came early to the
tomb,”
John 20:1 NASB
From that time on, believers have been gathering together on the first day of
the week.
The Sabbath Day belongs to the old creation.
After God had created everything, He rested on the Sabbath Day.
Now we have come to the new creation in Christ Jesus.
8. John 20:1a NASB
1 “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb,”
John 20:1a NASB
No one ever loved Jesus so much as Mary Magdalene.
He had done something for her that no one else could ever do, and she could
never forget.
Luke 8:1b-2 NASB
1b “The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil
spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons
had gone out,”
Luke 8:1b-2 NASB
In Mark, Matthew, and John, Mary Magdalene is first human to witness to the
resurrection.
Among the women who are specifically named in the New Testament, Mary
Magdalene’s name is one of the most frequently found.
9. In Matthew 27:56, the author names three women in sequence: “Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.”
In the Gospel of Mark, he lists a group of women three times, and each time, Mary
Magdalene’s name appears first.
Finally, in the Gospel of Luke, the author enumerates the women who reported the
tomb visit, writing that, “It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James,
and the other women with them,” which once again places Mary Magdalene at the
head of the list.
Mary Magdalene must have held a very central position among the followers of
Jesus.
10. John 20:2
2 “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,
and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not
know where they have laid Him.’” John 20:2
We find Simon Peter and John together.
Apparently John has taken Peter in.
What a wonderful thing that is.
Thank God, John took him in at a time when Peter desperately needed someone to
befriend him. John, the son of thunder, has become the apostle of love.
John 20:7
7 “and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings,
but rolled up in a place by itself.” John 20:7
It was not the scene of a grave robbery, for no robbers could have gotten the body
out of the graveclothes without tearing the cloth and disarranging things.
Jesus had returned to life in power and glory and had passed through the
graveclothes and the tomb itself!
John 20:12 NASB
12 “and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had been lying.” John 20:12 NASB
11. The judgment seat has become the mercy seat!
John 20:14
14 “When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did
not know that it was Jesus.” John 20:14
She could not recognize Jesus because she insisted on facing in the wrong direction.
She could not take her eyes off the tomb and so had her back to Him. Again it is
often so with us. At such a time our eyes are upon the cold earth of the grave; but we
must wrench our eyes away from that. That is not where our loved ones are; their
worn-out bodies may be there; but the real person is in the heavenly places in the
fellowship of Jesus face to face, and in the glory of God.
John 20:16
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary (Marium)!”
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew (Aramaic), “Rabboni!” (which means,
Teacher). John 20:16
12. When He called her by name, she recognized the voice as only He could speak.
When Jesus spoke her name, she recognized Him.
He calls His own by name (John 10:3-4), and they know His voice.
See Isaiah 43:1
Isaiah 43:1
“I have called you by name; you are Mine!”
Isaiah 43:1
John 20:17
17“Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My
brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and
your God.’” John 20:17
The KJV says:
17 “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Touch me not’;”
But the modern translations seem to be more accurate:
“Stop clinging to Me”…
John 20:27
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and
reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but
believing. John 20:27
Mary had lost Jesus once before (at His crucifixion) and it was natural to fear the loss
of His physical presence again.
13. Jesus said, in effect,
This (the physical contact) is not My real presence for the church.
A new relationship will begin with My Ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the
church.
Jesus then explained the fact of the new relatives.
He called His disciples His brothers.
Earlier He had said they were friends:
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants . . . instead, I have called you friends,
John 15:15
Believers in Jesus become a part of Jesus’ family with God as our Father.
Every human is created by God but not every human is a child of God.
We are not “all God’s children”.
You have to be adopted into the family of God.
Galatians 3:26 NASB
26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26 NASB
Galatians 4:4-7 NASB
4 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,
born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that
we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Daddy!) 7 Therefore you
are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians 4:4-7 NASB
So there wasn't anything wrong with actually touching Jesus before He had
ascended to His Father.
The command is better understood not to 'hold onto' Him or prevent Him from leaving
again.
John 20:17c NASB
17c “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.”
John 20:17c NASB
As to when He went back to the Father, that is given in the
Acts 1 passage.
14. Christ ascended by His own act. "I ascend."
Is there not exquisite beauty in the fact that "Father" comes before "God"?
John 20:17
‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:17
The tenderer relation comes first.
You will notice He was specific in calling God "my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God."
His relationship to the Father is different from our relationship to Him.
We become the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, while Christ is a member of
the Trinity, the eternal Son of God.
He made this distinction here.
His is a unique Son-ship, though doubtless at the same time there is an emphasising of
the truth that His God and Father is also ours.
Matthew 11:28-30 NASB
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden (or who work to exhaustion),
and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy (or
comfortable, or pleasant) and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NASB
When we come to God through Jesus Christ, we are adopted into His family and He
gives us rest.
As we yoke up with Him throughout life and learn from Him, we find a rest that is
as precious to us as the “salvation rest” that He bestows on us.
That is Good News!
Ray Stedman
Some may ask:
◦ “What difference does it make if Jesus did rise from the dead or if He did not
rise?”
They may say:
◦ “If He did, it's not going to make any difference to me -- or if He didn't.
◦ I'm going to go to work tomorrow just as I always have.
◦ I'm going to do the things I usually do.
◦ It's not going to make any difference to my family or to me, or to my
attitudes or my daily life, whether Jesus did or didn't rise.”
15. The resurrection is not a legend, it isn't a myth.
It isn't merely a nice idea that Christians have, but it is a well documented
event which actually occurred in history.
It is a historical fact, and it produces a dramatic, global change.
In fact, everyone in the world is affected by the resurrection of Jesus.
Nobody can live unchanged by that great fact.
If it didn't happen, your life is going to be changed tremendously.
And if it did happen, your life is going to be changed tremendously.
It is, as the Bible makes clear, the central fact of history.
Nothing is more important!
And everything is different, depending upon whether this did or didn't happen.
There is a great deal of evidence that our Lord did indeed rise from the dead.
We are not believers simply because it is a nice thought, because it gives us a
little something to hang onto when we are about to die.
We are not believers because this has only been traditionally taught.
We are believers because we have examined carefully the tremendous
evidence which exists, evidence which again and again throughout history has
been examined by thoughtful, careful, logical minds, and which again and
again has convinced even those who set about to destroy the idea or to show
how weak and illogical it was.
C. S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, and Lee Strobel were all non-believers who set out
to disprove Christianity and the resurrection specifically.
C. S. Lewis
Josh McDowell
16. • There is substantial evidence in the documents which exist from the 1st century
and which say that this happened.
• There is great evidence also in the witnesses who were there and who persisted
long after the event in bearing unceasing testimony to the fact that they saw
Jesus after He had risen.
It wasn't an illusion, and it wasn't an hallucination.
There is tremendous evidence in the changes which occurred and which can't
be explained in any other way except that this dramatic event did take place.
What if it didn't happen?
We aren't the first ones to face that question.
The Apostle Paul, among others, faced that question in the 1st century.
This is such a fantastic claim that you are making -- that one could actually rise
from the dead, break the bonds of death by Himself and come back again!
Paul took up that question in one of his great chapters.
In First Corinthians 15, he says that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then to all
practical effect, Christianity is a waste of time, that your time here this morning,
and mine as well, is just a big waste; that if Jesus did not rise from the dead,
though Christianity says some very brave and noble things, and puts them in
rather beautiful language at times, nevertheless, it is really all a pipe dream with
no basis in fact, it is just the wishful thinking of people who are tired with all the
grief and heartache of life and want something beautiful to cling to, but it
really is not worth anybody's time; and that the New Testament is the account
of a deluded dreamer who thought he had powers he didn't have, who
thought he was somebody he really wasn't, and who kidded himself, and a
group of other people, into thinking he was someone else.
He is either Lord, liar or lunatic.
He does not fit into the category of just being a great Teacher.
A great teacher would not claim to be God nor the Son of God.
If He didn’t rise, then all wonderful writings which many people have
appreciated in the Bible must be thrown aside.
All of the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament concerning the
Anointed One Who would come to save us from our sins and all of the glorious
accounts in the New Testament about the One Who promised that He would
never leave us nor forsake us would be worthless and empty.
17. Everything hangs on the fact that Jesus was Who He said He was and could do
what He said He could do and would do.
If He didn't rise from the dead, then forget all of it.
And if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then, of course, we really don't have any
hope beyond this life.
We really don't.
The grave is the end.
This brief life is all that we have.
Paul says:
1 Corinthians 15:19b
We are of all men most miserable, 1 Corinthians 15:19b
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your
sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we
have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
We don't have any hope beyond the grave; we are just kidding ourselves if we
think there is anything else.
Furthermore, we don't have any release from guilt and fear.
Forgiveness of sin is a meaningless expression.
If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then we are locked inescapably into our past,
and we can't change it or do anything about it today.
No power can deliver us from the fatal tendency within each of us to do what
we don't want to do, and to fail again and again to achieve what we want to
achieve.
We all do that, don't we?
If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, there is no way we can change it.
We are locked into our sinful humanity, and there is no way out.
We are doomed endlessly to repeat again and again the sad story of history.
And then, of course, you can't believe that God is love.
That phrase has no more meaning than a bumper stickers which says, “Our
company loves you!”
Or the assurance we are given by a local savings and loan association: “We
care about you!”
What difference does it make?
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, there is no reason to take those words
seriously at all.
So you can't merely go on unaffected and unchanged.
If the resurrection didn't happen, then this whole business of Christianity is a
joke, a big fraud, and we ought to forget it and get on with trying to get to the
top of the heap in the best way we can.
18. But, what if He did rise?
If Jesus rose from the dead, as the Bible says, and there is One Who has come
back and told us what lies beyond, if Jesus did break the bonds of death and
come out of the tomb on that first resurrection morning, and if all the simple
story which is so wonderfully told in the Scriptures is true, if it really happened,
then what does that mean?
Well, the first and most obvious thing is that it means that Jesus is still alive.
In the early part of the last century, a group of lawyers met in England to
discuss the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.
They wanted to see if sufficient information was available to make a case that
would hold up in an English court of law.
When their study was completed, they published the results of their
investigation.
They concluded that Christ's resurrection was one of the most well established
facts of history!
In his little book, Countdown, G. B. Hardy has given us some thought-provoking
questions about the resurrection.
There are but two essential requirements:
◦ Has anyone cheated death and proved it?
◦ Is it available to me?
Here is the complete record:
◦ Buddha's tomb – occupied since 484 B.C.
◦ Confucius' tomb – occupied since 479 B.C.
◦ Jesus' tomb – empty since A.D. 29!
◦ Mohammed's tomb – occupied since A.D. 632
◦ Joseph Smith’s tomb – occupied since A.D. 1844
◦ Harry Houdini’s tomb – occupied since A.D. 1926
◦ JFK’s tomb - occupied since A.D. 1963
◦ Elvis Presley’s tomb - occupied since A.D. 1977
19. The Incredible Hope Audio sermon by Ray Stedman
Christianity is not a philosophy, it is about a Person – Jesus Christ.
All the other religions center upon the teaching and ideas but not Christianity.
Christianity centers on the Person of Jesus Christ.
One solitary life!
The first news of the first Easter was not good news, it was shocking, terrible
news brought by Mary Magdalene to Peter and to John.
The body of Jesus had disappeared!
The body of Abraham Lincoln was stolen and held for ransom.
The ransom was paid and then his body was buried under tons of cement in
Springfield, Illinois.
The 1,000 pound stone that sealed Jesus’ tomb had been rolled away!
When John entered the tomb and “believed” it did not mean he believed in
the resurrection because the next verse says they did not yet understand.
What he believed was that Mary was right, she had the right tomb and the
body was missing!
All they could do was to go home.
They had forgotten Jesus’ promises that He would rise on the third day.
Remember that on those days when everything is falling in around you and you
have forgotten all of His promises and you begin to complain and feel sorry for
yourself and troubled and anxious and nothing good can come out of this.
We so quickly forget the promises of God.
”Don’t cling to Me” – a new relationship has come into being.
I am no longer to continue here on earth in a physical relationship.
“Touching Me gives you comfort but it will no longer be that way”.
Just like in the death of one of our loved ones.
”When the Spirit comes, My nearness to you will be total and complete so go
tell my brothers that you will have Me as you have never had Me before.”
(John 17)
That is the Good News of Easter!
The fact that they would live again after their deaths was not what gave them
comfort.
No!
What turned their hearts into delirious gladness was the Good News that Jesus
was back again!
He is still with us (Emmanuel) and He will always be with us and we will never
lose Him again!
Jesus can enter your life (Revelation 3:20) and go with you through the
roughest parts of life and not just be someone who shows up at your death to
give you hope but SomeOne – a long trusted Friend – not only as a Companion
but as Lord, in charge of life, able to work through all of the difficulties you are
going through.
No one wants to face the tough things in life alone and it helps to have
SomeOne with you Who has the power to solve your problems – what a
comfort!
20. His promise of Easter is that His presence is His reward!
He promises to never leave you nor to forsake you.
What do you face this week?
◦ Anxieties?
◦ Loneliness?
◦ Emptiness?
◦ Sorrows?
◦ Disappointments?
◦ Heartaches?
The Good News of Easter is that you do not have to face it alone.
In one brief word He turned Mary’s sad heart into delirious joy!
He can do the same today with anyone who trusts Him to be their Savior and
their Lord.
You don’t have to just hang on until this life is over.
John 10:10 NIV
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they
may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 NIV
The Good News of Easter is that He is still with us!
The abundant life is within your reach regardless of your situation.
He lived the abundant life once, He can do it again – through you.
Your job is to allow Him to live through you.
John 16:33 – Be of good cheer!
Jesus is still around, still available -- this beautiful Man Who lived in such a way
that He captivated the people of His day, and shook them to the core by the
way He lived and things He said and did, by the compassion of His heart and
the honesty of His life which would strip a religious hypocrite naked right before
the eyes of a crowd, Who could not abide falsehood and untruth but was
always tender and loving and compassionate toward those bound up with
their own guilt and problems, their own evil.
If Jesus rose from the dead, He is still around, still available.
He still can meet us in the same way.
The promises He uttered are still valid promises:
◦ Jesus said that it would be better for His disciples (and for us) if He went
away.
John 16:7 NASB
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go
away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
John 16:7 NASB
Matthew 11:28
28 "Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,"
Matthew 11:28
21. John 8:12b RSV
12b "He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of
life," John 8:12b RSV
John 10:9 RSV
9 "I am the door; if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and
out and find pasture,"
John 10:9 RSV
John 14:27 RSV
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,"
John 14:27 RSV
John 16:33b
"Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,"
John 16:33b
This means that freedom from guilt, and power to conquer our failures and our
weaknesses are still available to men.
And that has been the Good News for over twenty centuries -- that in coming
to Jesus Christ, men and women find ability to rise above this locked-in evil
within us.
And though we don't do it perfectly, and at times fall back into evil -- for
nobody yet has presented a perfect pattern in doing this except Jesus --
nevertheless, the healing begins to take place.
Changes occur, and life is different.
“Proclaim liberty to the captives. Give sight to the blind. Set at liberty them that
are bruised. Go out to all the world and tell men who are bound mentally,
spiritually, and physically, ‘The Liberator has come!’"
That is what the resurrection of Jesus means.
It means that the grave is not the end of the road; death does not have the last
word.
As Paul put it,
Philippians 1:23b
"To depart and to be with Christ is far better," Philippians 1:23b
That isn't just a faint and glimmering hope for Christians.
That isn't merely something nice we say when we get close to death, in order to
steady us so that we'll die well.
No, that is a robust, positive certainty in thousands and thousands of Christians'
hearts as they come to the end of life.
They look forward to it, they anticipate it with welcome joy.
That is why Christians have something to hope for, to hold onto, to be confident
of, as we face the last issue of life.
22. It also means we don’t have to wait to have it.
Then, of course, if Jesus rose from the dead, it means that the value of your life
and mine will be determined by our relationship to that resurrection.
In the book of Acts we are told that the Apostle Paul came into the city of
Athens, the great university center of his day, the city of Pericles, of
Demosthenes, of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle -- the great minds of that day
and this.
And there, in this center of learning, in the midst of all the monuments to
beauty and art and truth which still are found in that city, the apostle stood and
said to them that all of this represented nothing more nor less than the
strugglings of men to try to find truth in the midst of life, and yet their search was
ineffectual, it hadn't brought them anywhere, it hadn't solved any ultimate
problems.
He said to them,
Acts 17:30-31 RSV
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all men
everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which he will judge the
world in righteousness by a Man Whom He has appointed, and of this He has
given assurance to all men by raising Him from the dead."
Acts 17:30-31 RSV
This means that every life here this morning, every one here, ultimately will stand
before the risen Lord Jesus.
He is the Lord of the world.
Jesus is Lord, whether men know it or not.
We live in His universe, we must abide by His rules.
We must live life on His terms.
There is no way out of that.
And ultimately our life will be judged, examined, on those terms.
If you link your life with the world and its ways, live for its pleasures, and its
praise, and its values, you will ultimately find yourself joined to what the cross of
Christ brought to a jolting halt.
And, as someone has said, "Hell is nothing less than truth known too late."
John says,
1 John 2:15b
"If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,"
1 John 2:15b
But if we begin to live in the power of Jesus' resurrection, in the fact of it, which
God has set as the basis of life, we will learn to live in the world, right in the midst
of it, right up to the hilt -- not withdrawn, not isolated, not in a monastic Bible-
City experience -- right in the midst of it, but on a different basis:
◦ Drawing upon His forgiveness every day to recover from our failure and to
stand again accepted in His presence; drawing upon His strength by which
23. to meet the demands which life throws at us, so that we are never suddenly
caught short without adequate resources with which to respond; drawing
upon His love, the grace of a risen Lord Who knows us, understands us, and
has made provision for our weakness and failure and Who picks us up again
and carries us through – not away from the situation but right through the
midst of it!
When we do this we discover that;
1 John 2:17
"the world passes away and the lusts thereof; but he who does the will of God
abides forever," 1 John 2:17
There is no joy like a Christian's joy.
It is so different!
It can well up in the midst of tears.
There is no peace like the peace of God, which defies circumstances and
passes understanding, so that when you have no business being peaceful, you
are.
There is no love like the love of Christ, which forgives and heals and restores.
Savonarola, of Florence, Italy, hundreds of years ago said, "They may kill me,
but they can never, never, never tear the living Christ out of my heart!"
That is what we would like to say to you today.
We don't live perfectly.
The church is always a kind of clinic where people are being healed.
We are in all stages of the process of healing.
There is a deep and deadly sickness loose in humanity which tears people up,
eats out their hearts, destroys them from the inside -- even though everything
looks great on the outside.
But that sickness is what Jesus came to heal.
And here we are, being healed.
But we are in all stages.
Some are just barely beginning, and the evidence of disease is all over among
us.
So don't look for perfect people here.
But we have found the One Who has the answer, and He is working it out.
It isn't an instantaneous process -- one touch and it's done.
It is something which is happening day after day, week after week, hour by
hour.
God has fulfilled His word; the promises are true.
We offer them to you.
All we can say to you is that we hope you find Jesus Christ our Lord.
24. He Himself says,
Revelation 3:20
"Behold, I stand at your door and knock; if anyone hear My voice and open the
door, I will come in to him, I will come into him -- and live with him, and he with
Me," Revelation 3:20
And we would just like to say, "That is true! Jesus lives, and so do we."
And we thank Him for it.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that
He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than
five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but
some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the
apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
1 Corinthians 15:12-22
12 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do
some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is
no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ
has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we
testified against God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise, if in fact the
dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been
raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in
your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be
pitied.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are
asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the
resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be
made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:12-22
1 Corinthians 15:32b
32 “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
1 Corinthians 15:32b
What Difference Does it Make?
Author: Ray C. Stedman
April 22, 1973
www.RayStedman.org
26. Jesus' friends could not come to the tomb on the Sabbath, because to make
the journey then would have been to break the law.
Sabbath is, of course, our Saturday, so it was on Sunday morning that Mary
came to the tomb.
She came very early.
The word used for early is “proi” which was the technical word for the last of the
four watches into which the night was divided, that which ran from 3 a.m. to 6
a.m.
It was still grey dark when Mary came, because she could no longer stay away.
When she arrived at the tomb she was amazed and shocked.
Tombs in ancient times were not commonly closed by doors.
In front of the opening was a groove in the ground; and in the groove ran a
stone, circular like a cartwheel; and the stone was wheeled into position to
close the opening.
Further Matthew tells us that the authorities had actually sealed the stone to
make sure that no one would move it (Matthew 27:66).
Mary was astonished to find it removed.
Two things may have entered her mind.
She may have thought that the Jews had taken away Jesus' body; that, not
satisfied with killing Him on a cross, they were inflicting further indignities on Him.
But there were ghoulish creatures who made it their business to rob tombs; and
Mary may have thought that this had happened here.
Christ had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2), and she
dearly loved Him.
Luke 8:1-2 NASB
1 “Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to
another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with
Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and
sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had
gone out,” Luke 8:1-2 NASB
Mary Magdalene was the one from whom the Lord had cast seven demons.
Some Bible students think she was the sinful woman who wiped the feet of
Jesus with her hair.
This is an assumption which cannot be proved.
I take it that she was a person of very high caliber.
She was eternally grateful to the Lord for healing her.
John 20:2
John 20:2
2 “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus
loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and
we do not know where they have laid Him.’” John 20:2
27. When she saw the body was not here, she immediately ran to tell John and
Peter.
In her confusion and disappointment, Mary jumped to conclusions and thought
someone had stolen Christ's body.
She ran to tell Peter and John, who in turn visited the tomb.
The disciple "whom Jesus loved" is John.
He always refers to himself in this way rather than by name.
Any of the disciples, except Judas, could have used this title for himself.
You can use it for yourself.
Jude says,
Jude 1:21
"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life." Jude 1:21
Keep yourself in the love of God, because you know that He loves you.
You can't keep Him from loving you!
It is wonderful to take that position for yourself as John did: "the other disciple,
whom Jesus loved."
We find Simon Peter and John together.
Apparently John has taken him in.
I wonder if some of the other disciples, when they heard of Peter's denial, had
pushed him to the outside.
Thank God, John took him in at a time when Peter desperately needed
someone to befriend him.
John, the son of thunder, has become the apostle of love.
What a wonderful thing that is.
Mary Magdalene was not expecting the Resurrection.
Her thought was that someone had stolen away the Lord's body.
Isn't it interesting that the religious rulers would later accuse the disciples of
stealing the Lord's body, and that Mary's first thought was that the religious
rulers had stolen the Lord's body? (The religious rulers would have given
everything in the world if they could have produced the body on that first
Sunday!)
It was a situation Mary felt that she could not face herself; so she returned to
the city to seek out Peter and John.
Mary is the supreme instance of one who went on loving and believing even
when she could not understand; and that is the love and the belief which in the
end finds glory.
John 20:3
John 20:3
3 “So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.”
John 20:3
28. Simon Peter and John were not expecting the Resurrection.
They probably thought that Mary didn't really see well in the dark.
She saw the stone rolled away, became frightened, and ran.
Or maybe she went to the wrong tomb.
So they rush to the cemetery.
You don't go into a cemetery to look for the living.
They were not expecting to look for the living.
They were not expecting to find Jesus alive when they rushed to the tomb.
They were expecting to find the Lord's body.
John 20:4
John 20:4
4 “The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than
Peter and came to the tomb first;” John 20:4
John was younger and could outrun Simon Peter.
John was probably the youngest of the disciples.
These men represented quite an age span.
John may have been in his late teens.
Why did John outrun Peter?
Yes, there was a physical reason but there is also a spiritual lesson here:
◦ Peter had not yet reaffirmed his devotion to Christ, and therefore his "spiritual
energy" was low.
Isa 40:31 says that those who wait on the Lord "shall run and not be weary," but
Peter had rushed ahead of the Lord and disobeyed Him.
Peter's sin affected:
◦ his feet (John 20:4),
◦ his eyes (John 21:7),
◦ his lips (He denied the Lord),
◦ even his body temperature (John 18:18; and see Luke 24:32).
John 20:5
John 20:5
5 “and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he
did not go in.” John 20:5
What John saw convinced him that Jesus had risen from the dead.
He got there first, but because he had a certain amount of reticence and
reverence, he didn't go in.
He stooped down to look in through the very small entrance that was hewn out
of the stone.
He saw the evidence that convinced him.
It is amazing how God uses little things like this to bring conviction to the hearts
29. of men.
Someone has said, "Great doors swing on little hinges."
John saw the linen cloth lying there, but the body had gone out of it.
There are three different Greek words used in this passage, and they are all
translated as "seeing."
This is unfortunate.
Here in verse 5, when John stooped down, looked in and saw, the word means
to perceive and understand.
It involves inspection and perceiving.
John 20:6
John 20:6
6 “And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he
saw the linen wrappings lying there,” John 20:6
Here in verse 6, when Peter went in and saw, the word used is theaomai from
which we get our word theater.
He viewed it.
Then here comes Simon Peter puffing and blowing.
I tell you, it was hard on him to run.
Reticence is not one of his qualities; so he goes right into the sepulchre.
He, too, sees the linen clothes and the wrapping that was around His head.
Remember that Joseph and Nicodemus had wrapped our Lord's body in the
linen and had sealed it with the myrrh and aloes, which made a sort of glue to
seal in the body.
How could the body get out of such an encasement without unwinding all that
linen?
Jesus Christ came up out of that tomb just like a seed comes out of the soil.
Remember He had said that a grain of corn falls to the ground and remains
alone unless it dies.
Then new corn will grow out of it.
But the old shell of the seed is still in the ground.
That is what was left in the tomb -- just the old shell that He had been in.
He was no longer in that shell.
He was alive.
Do you remember that when the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus, he came forth from
the grave all wrapped in the grave clothes and the Lord had to tell them to
loose Lazarus?
Lazarus came out in his old body wrapped in the old grave clothes.
The body of Lazarus would have to die again.
However, Jesus Christ came forth in a glorified body which will never see death.
This is the Resurrection!
30. John 20:7
John 20:7
7 “and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen
wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.” John 20:7
God carefully records through John another small but important detail.
The napkin that was wrapped around His head lay there intact, separate from
the linen wound around His body.
It was in the shape of the head, lying just as it had been folded around the
head.
Question: Is there anything symbolic about Jesus folding the “napkin” which was over
his face in the tomb?
Here is the story as it floats around the internet. The response is below.
THE EMAIL:
Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this....
The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of
Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.
The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was
placed separate from the grave clothes.
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and
found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.
She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where
they have put him!'
Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter
and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but
he didn't go in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying
there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the
side.
Was that important? Absolutely!
31. Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand
a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the
Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly
the way the master wanted it.
The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight,
until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table,
until the master was finished.
Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his
mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the
table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded
napkin meant, 'I'm done'.
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his
plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........
The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!'
He is Coming Back!
ANSWER
The problems with this reconstruction are multiple. First, note that no ancient text is
cited in support of this interpretation. It is hard to prove a negative (that no such text
exists), but I have never read any ancient material that even remotely resembles the
details given in the historical reconstruction suggested. Second, napkins were not
common in the ancient world, and as late as the middle ages, people were still
wiping their hands and mouths with leftover BREAD. Third, the Greek verb of the
original means “rolled up,” not “folded up,” which would not communicate the same
information that a folded napkin does on modern tables. Fourth, there were no
“tables” or (insinuated) chairs such as exist today that were used to eat meals in
Jesus’ day. The Greek gospels are perfectly clear in their choice of verbs to describe
meals. The participants RECLINED—they ate in a semi-prone posture with their heads
pointed toward a very short (approximately one foot high), long, “u”-shaped food
tray called a triklinium. These are mentioned in many places in ancient literature and
have been discovered by archeologists in places like Masada, Israel. Fifth, neither
Jesus, nor His closest followers, nor most of His other contemporaries were wealthy
enough to afford household servants who could wait upon them hand and foot as
32. though they were royalty. Therefore, to dip into the life of aristocracy for symbolism to
communicate to commoners is not typical of Jesus and perhaps would even be seen
as a slap in the face (note, for example, the nature of the preponderance of images
evoked in Jesus’ parables—they are almost exclusively snapshots from the lives of
average citizens). Sixth, it was not common for the average villager to keep “Jewish
boys” as servants/slaves. This is not only because of the burdensome expense, but
also because the Law of Moses required that slaves be manumitted (released from
servitude) every seven years (Exod. 21:2; Lev. 25:39-41; Deut. 15:12). Seventh and
perhaps most detrimental to the historical reconstruction suggested is the unlikelihood
that symbols would be shared between burial contexts and dining contexts. This is
because ritual IMPURITY exuded from the former, whereas ritual purity is required of
the latter. We would accuse the user of “mixing metaphors” in poor taste if this was
tried today.
Rather than an accurate portrayal of ancient near eastern realities, the
reconstruction described below sounds more like an act in a medieval passion play
reenactment in western Europe. Therefore, what appears to be a meaning-filled and
exciting interpretation has actually distorted reality and created anachronisms that in
turn generate more problems than they solve. All kinds of interpretative and
applicational problems arise when we attempt to interpret ancient texts in light of
more recent practices, customs, and word usage. The present case is no exception.
The solution is to let ancient texts speak from their own perspective rather than
superimposing our world, culture, and language upon them. This indeed is the only
way to consistently arrive at the intended meaning of the biblical authors, and THEY
are the ones operating under infallible divine inspiration, not US.
The real meaning of the details in John is unclear. It is possible that John was not
attaching ANY symbolic meaning to his description, but was simply accurately
reporting the details as he as an eyewitness had observed them. However, this in
itself is quite valuable, and should not be quickly passed over. The details are not
given in the other three gospels, and we can conclude that such vivid details
validate the claim that the gospel writer was indeed an eyewitness. This, in turn,
provides a strong argument for the historical reliability and authority of the entire book
of John.
It is also possible to observe that the details simply make sense in the physical world in
which we live. That the grave clothes were separate and not as orderly would make
perfect sense if Jesus’ hands and arms were tightly bound and had to be removed
with some difficulty (remember that Lazarus needed help removing his grave-clothes,
John 11:44). However, once the hands and arms were free, He could remove His own
face-cloth with greater ease and control.
Finally, it is possible that the condition of the face-cloth is intended by John to
demonstrate the God-controlled and orderly nature of a resurrection that occurred in
normal stages. As He acted at creation and at the resurrection, so He will act toward
us, and this we can count on. That God works in orderly, consistent, and usually
33. predictable ways is an encouragement to those who look to Him to be “the same,
yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebs. 13:8). Further, the consistency and orderliness
of God also serves as a challenge to those of us to seek to serve Him because He has
called us to imitate and reflect these and other aspects of His nature to those within
our sphere of influence in order that they might observe His power that has changed
us, see His true nature, and ultimately be drawn to Him to receive forgiveness,
cleansing, new life, and a restoration of relationship with Him.
W.E. Nunnally, Ph.D.
Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins
Evangel University
My sense is that most commentators and students of the Bible understand this folded
cloth to indicate that the scene in the empty tomb was evidence of a very calm and
orderly process, rather than that of a burglarized tomb, from which the body of Jesus
was hastily stolen -- from a sealed tomb, guarded by soldiers. The real meaning of the
details in John is unclear. It is possible that John was not attaching ANY symbolic
meaning to his description, but was simply accurately reporting the details as he as
an eyewitness had observed them. However, this in itself is quite valuable, and should
not be quickly passed over. The details are not given in the other three gospels, and
we can conclude that such vivid details validate the claim that the gospel writer was
indeed an eyewitness. This, in turn, provides a strong argument for the historical
reliability and authority of the entire book of John.
W.E. Nunnally, Ph.D.
Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins
Evangel University
John wrote:
John 20:7
"And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together in a place by itself" John 20:7
The word "wrapped" ("wrapped together") comes from the Greek word "entulissō";
meaning to entwine, roll or coil round and round. The napkin
(“soudarion”/“sudarium”) was placed over the face of Jesus and then wrapped
around His head.
The New Testament Greek word "entulissō" is used also in two other places only.
34. Matthew 27:59
"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,"
Matthew 27:59
Luke 23:53
"And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was
hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid"
Luke 23:53
These two verses tell us, that like the head of Jesus which was wrapped by a napkin or
kerchief (“soudarion”/“sudarium”), the body of Jesus was also wrapped around
(swathed) by a linen cloth.
On the day of Christ’s resurrection, we read in John 20:12 that Mary Magdalene "saw
two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the
body of Jesus had lain". Their sitting positions indicate to us that the area between
them contains the evidence to prove that Jesus Christ has resurrected. In that spot
was where the shroud and kerchief (“soudarion”/“sudarium”) still lie –wrapped
up ("entulissō").
Peter and John had seen the grave clothes before Mary Magdalene.
John was the first to reach the sepulchre. He stooped and looked in, and he saw the
linen clothes. But what made him stop short of going into the sepulchre for a closer
look? I believe that John was momentarily shaken in what he saw. He probably could
not believe his eyes. By then Peter had arrived and entered into the sepulchre. He
saw where the linen clothes (shroud) lay and also the napkin
(“soudarion”/“sudarium”) for Christ's head) lying by itself and not with the shroud. And
the grave clothes were both still in a wrapped state. This is what caught the eyes of
the Apostle John. And when he went into the sepulchre right after Peter, once again
he saw, and then he believed. John had witnessed the evidence that Jesus had
resurrected, that His body was not stolen by friends or foes. Had Jesus' body been
stolen, the thieves would not have had the time to unwrap Him. The evidence of the
intact and not unwrapped grave clothes, both the shroud and the "sudarium" prove
that Jesus Christ rose up, from His sleeping position, right though the wrappings, and
then passed through the wall of the sepulchre in His resurrected glorified body!
Amen. He was unlike Lazarus who need to be loosed from his wrappings after He
raised him from the dead (John 11:44).
John 20:8
John 20:8
8 “So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw
and believed.” John 20:8
There are three different Greek words used in this passage, and they are all translated
35. as "seeing."
This is unfortunate.
In verse 5, when John stooped down, looked in and saw, the word means to perceive
and understand.
It involves inspection and perceiving.
In verse 6, when Peter went in and saw, the word used is theaomai from which we get
our word theater.
He viewed it.
In verse 8, when John went into the sepulchre and saw, it means to know.
He knew and he believed before he ever saw the risen Christ.
What did the men see in the tomb?
They saw the burial wrappings lying in the shape of the body, but the body was gone!
The graveclothes lay like an empty cocoon.
The napkin (for the face) was carefully folded, lying by itself.
It was not the scene of a grave robbery, for no robbers could have gotten the body
out of the graveclothes without tearing the cloth and disarranging things.
Jesus had returned to life in power and glory and had passed through the
graveclothes and the tomb itself!
Verse 8 tells us that the men believed in His resurrection because of the evidence that
they saw.
Later they met Christ personally and also came to believe on the testimony of
Scripture.
There are, then, three types of proof that you can rest upon when it comes to spiritual
matters:
(1) the evidence God gives in His world,
(2) the Word of God, and
(3) personal experience.
How can a man know that Christ is real?
He can see the evidence in the lives of others; he can read the Word; and if he trusts
Christ, he will experience it personally.
John 20:9
John 20:9
9 “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the
dead.”
John 20:9
John tells us something strange.
These men had not understood even though Jesus had told them repeatedly that He
would rise from the dead, and even though the Old Testament spoke of this. Even
today we need the New Testament as sort of a flashlight to go back and interpret the
Old Testament.
One of the reasons the Old Testament is not popular is because we do not sufficiently
use the New Testament to interpret it.
36. In the same way, we cannot interpret every thing that happens here on earth without
viewing it through the eyes of eternity.
There are a great many of us today who read the Bible but still do not know certain
Scriptures.
There are two reasons for this:
One is that we may read a passage many times and each time see things in the
passage that we have never seen before. (Mrs. Sugg used to tell Judge that “they just
put that in there”.)
The Holy Spirit gives us further light as we study and read the passages over and over
again.
Also I believe that we must experience some of the Scriptures to understand their
meaning.
The trials and sufferings and experiences of life explain their meaning to us.
For example, when David wrote that the Lord was his Shepherd, he knew from
experience the shepherd-care of God.
John 20:10
John 20:10
10 “So the disciples went away again to their own homes.”
John 20:10
Note that in v. 10 they go back home without proclaiming the message of the risen
Christ.
Mere intellectual evidence alone will not change people.
We must meet Christ personally.
John 20:11
John 20:11
11 “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she
stooped and looked into the tomb;”
John 20:11
Apparently Mary is the first one to whom the Lord appeared.
There are eleven appearances before His ascension and three after His ascension.
There are others which were not described.
A proverb can be found for all situations.
For those who ask why Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
Proverbs 8:17
"I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me."
Proverbs 8:17
She sought Him and she sought Him early.
37. John 20:12
John 20:12
12 “and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had been lying.”
John 20:12
John 20:13
John 20:13
13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them,
“Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
Him.”
John 20:13
John 20:14
John 20:14
14 “When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did
not know that it was Jesus.”
John 20:14
This story is the greatest recognition scene in all literature.
To Mary belongs the glory of being the first person to see the Risen Christ.
The whole story is scattered with indications of her love.
She had come back to the tomb; she had taken her message to Peter and John, and
then must have been left behind in their race to the tomb so that by the time she got
there, they were gone.
So she stood there weeping.
There is no need to seek for elaborate reasons why Mary did not know Jesus.
The simple and the poignant fact is that she could not see him through her tears.
So we see there were two very simple and yet very profound reasons why Mary did
not recognize Jesus.
• She could not recognize him because of her tears.
They blinded her eyes so that she could not see.
When we lose a dear one, there is always sorrow in our hearts and tears
shed or unshed in our eyes.
It is of our loneliness, our loss, our desolation, that we are thinking.
We cannot be weeping for one who has gone to be the guest of God; it is
for ourselves we weep because of the temporary separation.
That is natural and inevitable.
At the same time, we must never allow our tears to blind us to the glory of
Heaven.
Tears there must be, but through the tears we should glimpse the glory.
She could not recognize Jesus because she insisted on facing in the wrong
38. direction.
She could not take her eyes off the tomb and so had her back to Him.
Again it is often so with us.
At such a time our eyes are upon the cold earth of the grave; but we must
wrench our eyes away from that.
That is not where our loved ones are; their worn-out bodies may be there;
but the real person is in the heavenly places in the fellowship of Jesus face
to face, and in the glory of God.
John 20:15
John 20:15
15 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?'
Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away,
tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’”
John 20:15
Again we are interested in the fact that she does not know Him.
Do you know why?
She does not believe that He is back from the dead.
Unbelief is blind and unbelief is dumb, as in the case of Zacharias.
She loves Him, yes, but love must be coupled with faith.
She is weeping because she loves Him but also because she does not believe.
How much is the glorified body changed?
I don't know, but I don't think the change is so great that this accounts for her lack of
recognition of Jesus.
I believe that Mary is absolutely single-minded in her grief.
Although she sees two angels, this doesn't seem to draw her attention in any
particular way.
They ask a question, not because they don't know the answer, but because they are
trying to arouse some evidence of faith in Mary.
She is single-minded in her answer.
He is still dead, and the probable answer is that the body has been stolen, as Mary
reasons it out.
She does not expect to see Christ alive; and, in her unbelief, she does not recognize
Him.
Her whole conversation with the person she thought to be the gardener shows her
love.
"If you are the man who has removed Him, tell me where you have laid Him."
She never mentioned the name of Jesus; she thought everyone must know of Whom
she was thinking; her mind was so full of Him that there was not anyone else for her in
all the world.
"I will take Him away."
How was her woman's strength to do that?
Where was she going to take Him?
39. She had not even thought of these problems.
Her one desire was to weep her love over Jesus' dead body.
John 20:16
John 20:16
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary (Marium)!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew
(Aramaic), “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:16
When He called her by name, she recognized the voice as only He could speak.
If the Lord should tarry and all of us go through the doorway of death, our bodies will
be raised when He calls us by name someday, just as He called by name those whom
He raised from the dead over nineteen hundred years ago.
As soon as she had answered the person she took to be the gardener, she must have
turned again to the tomb and so turned her back on Jesus.
Then came his single word, "Mary!" and her single answer, "Master!" (Rabbouni) is
simply an Aramaic form of Rabbi; there is no difference between the words.
When sorrow comes, we must never let tears blind our eyes to glory; and we must
never fasten our eyes upon the grave and forget the heavens.
Alan Walker in Everybody's Calvary tells of officiating at a funeral for people to whom
the service "Was only a form, and who had neither Christian faith nor Christian
connection. "When the service was over a young woman looked into the grave, and
said brokenly: 'Goodbye, father.' It is the end for those who have no Christian hope."
But for us at such a time, it is literally "Adieu!" "To God!" and it is literally "Until we meet
again."
When Jesus spoke her name, she recognized Him.
He calls His own by name (John 10:3-4), and they know His voice.
Isaiah 43:1
“I have called you by name; you are Mine!”
Isaiah 43:1
Mary lingered and met Christ.
How many times it pays to wait!
Proverbs 8:17 NASB
17 “I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.
Proverbs 8:17 NASB
She saw two angels in the tomb (Luke 24:4 calls them "two men") but was too taken
up with her grief to let them comfort her.
The description of the angels in v. 12 reminds us of the mercy seat in the holy of holies
(Exodus 25:17-19); the risen Christ is now our Mercy Seat in Heaven.
40. Mary turned from the angels, for she was seeking Christ; she would have rather had
the body of Christ than the sight of angels!
The person she then saw was really Christ, but her eyes were clouded so that she
could not recognize Him.
The one word "supposing" in v. 15 explains all her sorrow.
Many Christians today are miserable because they "suppose" something that is not at
all true.
John 20:17
John 20:17
17 Jesus said to her,
“Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren
and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your
God.’” John 20:17
Verse 17 suggests that, early that Easter morning, Christ ascended to heaven to
present His finished work to the Father.
That secret ascension fulfilled the type of sacrifice discussed in Lev 23:1-14, the
waving of the "first fruits sheaf' the next day after the Sabbath (see 1 Cor 15:23).
Mary's meeting with Christ made her a missionary!
The Lord told Mary not to touch Him.
The word touch is haptomai, meaning "to hold on."
Later, He told the disciples to touch Him.
Why this difference?
He says to her, "for I am not yet ascended to my Father."
This is the reason she should not hold on to Him.
So apparently He did ascend to His Father before the appearance to the disciples in
the house.
I believe that the Lord Jesus presented His blood at the throne of God and that His
blood turned the judgment seat into the mercy seat which it is today.
That blood was shed for your sin and for my sin.
I think the blood will be there throughout all eternity as an eternal testimony of the
price He paid for us.
41. You will notice He was specific in calling God "my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God."
His relationship to the Father is different from our relationship to Him.
We become the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, while Christ is a member of
the Trinity, the eternal Son of God.
He made this distinction here.
John 20:18
John 20:18
18 “Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and
that He had said these things to her.”
John 20:18
"In the Old Testament, the sheep gave their life for the shepherd. In the New
Testament, the Shepherd gave His life for the sheep."
Michael Catt
I am one of those sheep!
New Testament scholar Frank Stagg points out that Mary's role as a witness is unusual
because women at that time were not considered credible witnesses in legal
proceedings.
Because of this, and because of extra-biblical traditions about her subsequent
missionary activity in spreading the Gospel, she is known by the title, "Equal of the
Apostles“.
John 20:1-18 NASB
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it
was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and
came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them,
“They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they
have laid Him.”
42. 3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. 4 The
two were running together; and the other disciple (John) ran ahead faster than Peter
and came to the tomb first;
5 and stooping and looking in, he (John) saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he
did not go in. 6 And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb;
and he saw the linen wrappings lying there,
7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings,
but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple (John) who had first come to
the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the
dead. 10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes. 11 But Mary was
standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked
into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at
the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman,
why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord,
and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned
43. around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus
said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him
to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where
you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which
means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet
ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My
Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Mary’s new responsibility was to testify to His risen presence.
She was the recipient of four special graces:
(1) to see angels;
(2) to see Jesus risen;
(3) to be the first to see Him alive; and
(4) to be a proclaimer of the Good News.
Christians today are also the recipients of special grace;
we too are given this new responsibility to witness to the world (Matthew 28:16-
20).
18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and
that He had said these things to her.”
John 20:1-18 NASB
