John: The Gardener
Notes
Transcript
Exegetical Point:
Homiletic Point:
Intro
Intro
Kids, why was the book of John written?
The author John had to go through a similar process to his readers. He had to see and hear and grow in understanding so the he would believe in Jesus as the Messiah. He wrote to help us believe, but today in our passage, we get a glimpse into how John himself came to believe in Jesus.
See and Believe
See and Believe
We return to the story from last week: Jesus has been killed and laid in a tomb
He was arrested on a Thursday night, crucified on Friday, buried before Sundown.
The Jews sabbathed on Saturday, so they were keen to make sure the deed was done before Sundown.
Now, on a Sunday, the first day of the week Mary is on her way to the tomb of Jesus to continue the traditional burial processes.
What happens?
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
It doesn’t say so in John, but she had friends with her. Whenever we tell stories we always leave out irrelevant information. It’s such a drag when you’re listening to somebody trying to tell a story but they insist on telling you every detail. Gospel writers had to choose what was important to put down, and what was not. In this case John, by the inspiration of the HS, left out details about Mary’s companions.
She would be the first person to meet the resurrected Jesus, so John prioritizes her role in the story.
Mary arrives in the early morning hours.
Because Jesus was buried in a wealthy man’s tomb, there was a large stone used as a “vault door” - rolled over the entrance. Yet even in the early dawn light, Mary can see the tomb was open!
So she legs it back to the crew of disciples to raise the alarm!
Mary’s first assumption is that somebody has come and taken away the body of Jesus. At this stage a few options could be swirling in their minds
Perhaps a well-meaning associate has moved the body to a different tomb to continue the burial process,
Perhaps the religious leaders or the Roman occupiers have taken the body to prevent a shrine being built, or riotous crowds gathering for mourning.
Or perhaps grave robbers have taken off with the contents of the tomb.
Peter and John (the beloved disciple) spring into action!
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
John was faster, probably younger, and beat Peter. Now we have sealed for all human history the record about who would win a race between Peter & John!
John gets there in the early dawn light and is able to peer in. The doors on these tombs are fairly small, and it would have been pretty dark in there, but theses enough light to see Jesus’ grave clothes lying there.
Peter catches up a moment later
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Peter goes into the tomb to investigate, he too sees the grave clothes, but interestingly the face cloth is especially placed off to the side. (the ESV seems better than NIV here).
This doesn’t look like the work of grave robbers,
Someone moving the body to do burial stuff is not going to pull the cloths off the body and leave them there.
It would be weird if the authorities stripped the body to move it.
Why would somebody fold up the face cloth?
Imagine for a moment that you woke up with a cloth over your face, what would you do? You would take it off, and probably put it off to the side.
It looks like the body that was here has come back to life, pulled the cloth of his face, and left through the door! John puts the pieces together, and he believes!
Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
John saw an believed!
What did he believe? He didn’t believe everything the OT had said, because it says they didn’t yet understand that prophecy.
But John believed something: that Jesus was alive! He didn’t understand it, but he believed it! He had before him the empty tomb, with grave clothes, and the face cloth folded like someone casually tidying up before leaving the room.
John saw - he was an eyewitness of both the death (he was standing there), and now that dead body was mysteriously missing. He saw what he couldn't see - a dead man was nowhere to be seen.
And so he believed - Jesus rising from the dead seemed the best conclusion. I’m sure he would have had rising hope in his heart, a glimmering desire to hope beyond the bounds of natural processes,
John has seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead! Could it be that Jesus could be raised from the dead too?
Jesus had told John these words:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Could it be that after laying down his life on the cross, Jesus has taken it up again?
Yes! Jesus had risen from the dead! The tomb was empty!
Jesus was not passive in the whole affair, he willingly chose, moment by moment, to endure the suffering and shame of the cross, to bear our sin, and then die in our place. He did it willingly! He did it to honour God the Father, he did it to win us Salvation!
He lay down his life, so that he could take it up again in triumph over death!
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See and believe dear ones! No, you were not there on that day to see it with your own eyes, but you have in your hands several eyewitness accounts of what happened!
You are faced with two options - either Jesus did rise from the dead, in which case his words are validated, and he has all authority over you,
Or he did not, and Jesus is a liar, all the disciples are lying, and they died for their lies (many were killed for proclaiming Jesus risen from the dead), and the Christian religion is based on a lie, and we are to be pitied for wasting our lives trying to follow this dead man.
See and Believe!
John believed, and then he went home.
Proclaim the Risen Christ
Proclaim the Risen Christ
We return to Mary. She obviously does not yet believe. She is wrecked with grief and still on the lookout for Jesus body.
She owes her life to Jesus. Jesus had cast 7 demonic spirits out of Mary. She had become a devoted disciple who traveled around with the 12. She loved her deliver, her savior. Yet Mary did not understand that Jesus must die, and then rise from the dead!
While she’s weeping at the tomb she see something interesting:
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
Its as though she is checking the tomb again for answer or at least a clue to what has happened. And Mary sees what? two angels.
These angels have miraculously appeared to testify to the reality that Jesus is alive! Angels don’t have a habit of appearing in tombs of misplaced bodies!
They question Mary:
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
So the Angels probe Mary’s reasoning: Why is she weeping? What is there to weep for?
She has not come to understanding yet, in fact her mind is so darkened that she cannot even recognize the one she is looking for, although he be standing right there!
Jesus asks the same question as the angels
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus speaks kindly to Mary, and she pleads for the dead body of Jesus, while the resurrection life stood before her!
Mary thinks he’s the Gardner or caretaker. Perhaps he has moved the body to a different tomb?
This mistaken identity, is it so mistaken? First Adam was a failed gardener, Jesus is the second Adam!
In her grief Mary is laser focused on the earthly matters, she needs to lift her eyes to behold the greater things God has for her.
Jesus speaks to wake her from her trance:
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
Mary recognizes Jesus! She knows him! She calls to him!
It is clear that Mary would happily receive her Teacher and savior back, perhaps a thought floated across her mind of a return to happier days as the band of disciples traveled the countryside preaching the gospel. Yet Jesus immediately says “don’t hold onto me” “don’t cling to me”.
This is not return to the way things were. Everything has changed! Jesus has returned from the dead, and he is on the way back to the Father.
But, Jesus has chosen to reveal himself to Mary, and for her to be his special messenger, his angel, to the other disciples. Mary was to take the news of the Resurrection, and the Ascension to the other disciples.
Some people think that Christianity is sexist because of the way that God has created distinct gender roles in homes and in church. Somehow there is backward thinking that because women are not called to be the spiritual leadership in the church that somehow women are less valued. Yet here, Jesus clearly undermines that thinking. He honors this special woman with the privilege of being the first eyewitness of the Resurrection, and then being the one to tell the other disciples this news.
This happened in a society that had undervalued women to the extent that their testimony was not admissible as evidence in court cases.
Despite how society might treat Mary, Jesus treats her with dignity and charges her with a special role in proclaiming the risen Christ! She is sent on this mission, and so what does she do, she goes!
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary faithfully obeys, she testifies to the Resurrection!
Not all of us will Peter’s preaching at Pentecost, but each of us who come to believe in the resurrection of Christ can testify to the resurrection.
We can proclaim Jesus is risen from the dead. This is the point on which our faith turns.
Death is de-fanged. Conquered.
And you can tell others about that, you can take this news forth, even to people who will not believe you at first.
So What?
So What?
Jesus is alive - See and believe!
Jesus is alive - proclaim the Risen Christ!
Hope secured
Don’t live as if this is all there is!
Join Jesus in burial & resurrection!
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
References:
Carson’s Pillar Commentary on John.
Hutcheson’s commentary on John
Hendrickson’s commentary on John
Sermons by Richard D. Philips,
Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005.
Phillips, Richard D. John. Edited by Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani. 1st ed. Vol. 1 & 2 of Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014.