John 20:1-10 - John's Testimony - Confusion to Faith

Intro:

As we begin chapter 20, we will focus first on John’s testimony.

And as we look at this testimony, we will see 3 different reactions to the sight of the empty tomb.

I. Mary – Fear (vs. 1-2)

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early, while it was still dark.

It was the first day of the week – Sunday.

She was going to meet with the other women who had been at the cross, to finish embalming Jesus’ body with spices.

But as she arrived, she found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. And Jesus’ body was not in the tomb.

How did Mary react to the empty tomb? By fear.

Mary was immediately convinced that someone had stolen Jesus’ body.

So she ran back to tell Peter and John.

“They have taken the Lord … we do not know where they have laid him”

Who is they? Possibly the Jewish leaders. Maybe the Roman guard.

For someone like Mary, who watched Jesus die on the cross, losing the One she believed was the Messiah was heart-wrenching. But then for his body to be stolen would be unbearable – she would lose her last physical connection to him. She was afraid.

But fear has never walked hand-in-hand with faith.

I'll – How can you tell if your wife trusts you? By whether or not they get scared when you take a new back road. The more reason she has to trust you, the calmer she will be when you take that unknown turn. But on the other side, the more she has reason to not trust you, fear will abound as you turn down that foreboding road.

In the same way, faith – trusting Jesus – does not grow in fear. Yes, we do learn a lot when we go through scary situations. But what we learn is that we should have trusted Jesus’ words instead of letting fear take over.

Faith does not grow in fear; faith grows as we learn to put our fears to the side and trust Jesus.

II. Peter – Wonder (vs. 3-7)

As soon as Peter and John hear Mary’s news, they run to the tomb.

John tells us in vs. 4 that he beat Peter to the tomb. (Competition? Or was John more eager to see the tomb than Peter? Remember, the last time Peter saw Jesus was right after he denied him.)

Even though John reached the tomb first, he didn’t go inside. He saw the linen cloths lying there, but he waited outside the tomb for Peter.

When Peter arrived, he didn’t stop, but went right inside the tomb to check it out.

How did Peter react to the empty tomb? With wonder.

Peter walked into the tomb and saw the linen cloths (the cloths that Jesus’ body was wrapped in). But they were lying there intact, but with no body inside.

Then Peter looked and saw the face cloth (the cloth that covered Jesus’ head). But the face cloth wasn’t lying like the rest of the linen cloths. It was folded up and put in a place by itself.

Vs. 6 tells us that Peter “saw” these things. But the word for “saw” is a different word than the word in vs. 5. Vs. 5 is a general word for seeing something – “to notice”, “to glance”.

“Saw” in vs. 6 means “to behold attentively” or “to observe”. It is the idea of active, attentive looking.

Ill – Just like when you are driving to a new place (another driving illustration). Let’s say you are going to a small restaurant in Onna-son. You know the area where the restaurant is. You have heard of the name, but you don’t know if the sign is written in English, Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji. If you were just driving through, you might see the sign and say, “Look, I’ve heard of that place.” But if you are looking for that specific restaurant, you are going to scour the area. You will look intently at every single sign you pass. You will drive the cars behind you crazy.

Peter looked intently at the empty tomb and the linen cloths left behind. And Luke tells us that he “marveled”. He was in wonder at the sight.

It is great to see something God has done or something God has made and wonder… but it can’t stop there.

There are some who say they are religious because they appreciate nature. The believe that being faced with the wonder of God’s creation is all you need to get close to God.

But we experience the sense of wonder for a reason. It is to remind us that there is a God who is much, much greater than we are. And it is to give us a desire to come to know that God personally.

The wonder of God’s creation and the wonder of God’s amazing works leads us to our knees, desiring to experience the presence of such a wonderful God.

III. John - Belief (vs. 8-10)

Finally, John entered into the tomb.

He also saw the linen cloths and face cloth. He also saw that Jesus’ body was not there.

How did John react to the empty tomb? He believed.

The word for “saw” in vs. 8 is, again, a different word from the first two. This word is the idea of “perceiving” and “understanding”.

[perceiving -> understanding illustration]

When Mary saw the empty tomb, she got scared that someone had stolen her Lord.

When Peter saw the empty tomb, he was filled with wonder as he looked around attentively trying to understand what had happened.

When John saw the empty tomb, he perceived what had happened. He saw the linen cloths lying there, but not having been unwrapped. He saw the face cloth folded and placed by itself as though someone had simply folded it without being in a rush.

He understood what this meant – Jesus was alive. He knew there was no other option. And so vs. 8 tells us that he saw and believed. He saw the evidence and he believed that Jesus was alive.

Conclusion

What can we learn from John’s testimony?

We have a saying in English: “God is in the details.” Meaning: “Opportunities for discovery and creativity come from digging into the details.”

Vs. 9 tells us that John, and the rest of the disciples, didn’t understand that the Scripture teaches that Jesus would rise from the dead.

John’s understanding and faith came as he noticed the small details of the empty tomb – details that could only point to one thing – the resurrection.

In the same way, the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection thrives in the details of life.

What is the easiest way to find evidence that Jesus is alive? Changed lives.

If you are doubting, or need to be strengthened in your faith, look at the lives of those around you – not negatively, but seeking to see Jesus’ work in them. God’s work strengthens faith.