Proof Positive

One cannot truly believe in God unless they believe that Jesus died, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead.  

There have been multiple attempts at debunking this.  They cover the gamut of Jesus swooning or passing out; he wasn’t really buried; mass hallucination of those who wanted Him alive; the disciples stealing the body; everyone checked the wrong grave; etc.  Every single attack on the credibility of Jesus rising from the dead is full of error.  William Lane Craig writes: the Jews did not respond to the preaching of the resurrection by pointing to the tomb of Jesus or exhibiting his corpse, but entangled themselves in a hopeless series of absurdities trying to explain away his empty tomb. The fact that the enemies of Christianity felt obliged to explain away the empty tomb by the theft hypothesis shows not only that the tomb was known (confirmation of the burial story), but that it was empty.… The fact that the Jewish polemic never denied that Jesus’ tomb was empty, but only tried to explain it away is compelling evidence that the tomb was in fact empty. 

Yet, there are at least 10 recorded situations where Jesus appeared to people after He rose from the dead.  They took place before He ascended to heaven.  Outside of Saul, who later became Paul, every appearance Jesus made after the resurrection was to believers.  Throughout Scripture, the normal means of unbelievers coming to salvation is not through the miraculous, but rather through the Church living out what Christ has commanded.  Again, we see that throughout Scripture, miracles rarely convinced anyone to believe.  In fact, Jesus commented that the people had not believed Moses and the prophets and they wouldn’t be likely to believe even if someone rose from the dead.

So, today, as we look at some of the proof that Jesus was truly risen from the dead, we are privileged to get a look at three different encounters.  Then we’ll find a fourth encounter in our own lives.

As believers, we are to live out the resurrection proof that we’ve already experienced.

Mary Magdalene - 20:11-18

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 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. 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 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 Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

It has been suggested that Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene and his relationship to her is a wonderful reminder of the fact that Jesus loves all believers, regardless of their background or social status.  Because she was a woman, she wouldn’t have had any status in the religious community at all.  She did travel with Jesus and others who closely followed Him.  

It also seems that after verse 10, where we find that Peter and John had left, that Mary had come back and was weeping outside the tomb.  She probably hadn’t heard anything about the empty grave clothes or the idea that Jesus had risen from the dead. Finally, Mary looked inside and saw the two angels sitting.  Again, when angels come to earth to communicate with humanity, we see throughout the Bible that they almost always take on the appearance of a human.  Then Mary explains to them that the reason for her weeping is that she didn’t know where Jesus was.  

This may not seem terribly important, but anyone who has lost a dear loved one knows what that anguish feels like.  Mary Magdalene had wanted to finish the burial preparations and was unable to do so.  However, that would not be necessary now.  

For some reason, Mary turned around and saw someone.  John tells us that it was Jesus but that Mary Magdalene did not recognize Him.  Again, we may find ourselves puzzled that someone who had followed Jesus everywhere and loved Him so much wouldn’t recognize Him.  But remember that last time Mary had seen Jesus, he had undergone terrible physical punishment and would have probably looked terrible. Or, it may simply be that she was prevented from recognizing Him.  Plus, she most likely had not thought of a resurrected Jesus.  Yet, now He has a resurrection body.

We have to give Mary credit for her single-minded perseverance here.  She simply wanted to get to the body of her Savior. So how did Mary finally recognize Jesus?  He simply spoke her name, Mary!  She uses a stronger form of the title Rabbi when she says to Jesus, Rabboni!  According to Mark, this carries the idea of high honor and extreme reverence.  One can almost see her fall down at Jesus’ feet in worship and love and joy. We cannot blame Mary for holding onto Jesus.  She had lost, in her mind, the One Who was most precious to her, and she didn’t want that to happen again.  

Then Jesus gives Mary Magdalene an assignment.  She was to go back and tell the others that He is going to ascend to the Father.  But there is even more significance, in that Jesus doesn’t call them disciples or slaves or friends, all terms Jesus had used of them previously.  He calls them brethren.  You see, now that Christ had accomplished what the Father sent Him to do, we have been purchased and been made children of God, thus making all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters.  This is seen even more so as Jesus says,

My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.  

So, she went back and shared everything with the disciples about her encounter with the risen Jesus.  John doesn’t describe their reaction.  However, Luke doesn’t paint a very good picture of them as they responded in disbelief.  

So, how are the disciples going to believe and accept proof that Jesus is truly alive?  After all, Mary Magdalene had first hand evidence, but they would not accept her testimony.

The Disciples, Minus One - 20:19-23

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

At this point, we’ve just gone from the morning activities to the evening on Resurrection Sunday.   We don’t know for sure where these 10 disciples were, but we can gather that they were behind locked doors.  We know that there were only 10 because verse 24 tells us that Thomas wasn’t there at the time.  Why were they behind locked doors?  John tells us that they were afraid of the Jews.  After all, if those religious leaders had the audacity to kill the Son of God, though that must have truly puzzled them, then it stands to reason if you want to shut down what Jesus was teaching, you get rid of all the followers of Christ.

Yet, even with the doors shut (the Greek word can imply that they were locked), suddenly Jesus is there right with them.  And as often happens when God startles people, Jesus states Peace be with you.  The temple police would have been startling enough, but for Jesus to appear without using the doors and to be right there in the middle of them, must have made their hearts skip several beats.  Jesus goes on to reassure them that it is He in the flesh as He shows them His hands and His side.  This is incredibly important, as there are many that suggest that Jesus is not fully God and fully Man.  Even in Luke, he records Jesus explained that a spirit doesn’t have a body.  It is at this point, that you probably could hear a collective cheer as they rejoiced in seeing Jesus again.  

As we peek into this room with the 10 disciples and Jesus meeting together, it probably appears almost like a team huddle as they are given instructions as to what happens next.  Not only are they given instructions, they are given the power to follow through on what they’ve been told.  I need to help you to not read into this a bit of hocus-pocus, but rather understand that this is symbolic and prophetic just as it was throughout the Old Testament when someone was given an assignment from God.  By Jesus exhaling upon them did not transfer the Holy Spirit.  That would have been unnecessary.  Plus, they would not receive the indwelling Holy Spirit on a permanent basis until Pentecost.  Jesus is merely using a typical object lesson to show them what will happen and how they will be able to fulfill their mission.

We understand that they had the Holy Spirit in them, just as any Old Testament saint would have who was a follower of God and living for God.  It is at Pentecost that we move from the Old Testament covenant to the New Testament covenant.  Jesus, Himself, had stated that the Holy Spirit would not yet be given until after He had ascended to the Father.  

I want to take a little time to deal with the last part of these particular verses.  There has been much confusion and wrong teaching by several, in what appears to be an effort to glorify man and elevate humanity’s power and importance.  Only God has the absolute power to forgive sin.   MacArthur explains it this way:  What Christ was actually saying is that any Christian can declare that those who genuinely repent and believe the gospel will have their sins forgiven by God. On the other hand, they can warn that those who reject Jesus Christ will die in their sins.  

In other words, we have been delegated authority by God to make a pronouncement based upon a person’s response to the salvation message.  It is not that we decide who’s in and who’s out.  It’s that we recognize, based upon their choice and actions, and can declare with confidence  whether someone is genuinely saved.  Now folks, we cannot truly know the heart.  However, when a person is defiant towards the salvation message or if they say they’re saved and then willfully choose to live a life which is defiant towards God and are promoting that by their lives, then we have the authority to publicly state that they are not saved based upon their response.  This is not judgmental, but is a response in obedience to God. And this is not just for the apostles, for the church has been given that authority from His Word, as found in Matthew 18, Galatians 6, and other passages.  It is not based upon position, gifts, personal piety or anything other than God’s Word, the Bible.  

We cannot pick and choose what we believe to be right or wrong or who we think is or isn’t saved.  But when the Bible unequivocally states something is right or wrong, we shall not shrink back in silence.  

But let’s not forget about Thomas.

Thomas - 20:24-29

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 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.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

It seems that Thomas has been linked together with such people as Eeyore or Darth Vader, or possibly lived in an area like Missouri, the show-me-state.  There always seemed to be a dark side to everything.  This is not always a bad thing, though it can be annoying to those who are always optimistic.  Thomas was actually a deep thinker and not easily duped.  He may have preferred to have been labeled a realist.  Why Thomas wasn’t there, the Bible is silent.  Some of us may feel that we can understand.  Sometimes, when your whole world has been shaken and is falling down all around you, you just need some alone time.

When Thomas meets up with the other 10 disciples, they were sharing their encounter with Jesus.  Here, Thomas makes it plain that unless there is indisputable evidence, he would not believe.  Lest, we be too hard on Thomas, the other disciples weren’t any better when Mary Magdalene and the other women had approached them about seeing Jesus.  They didn’t believe until they were in His physical presence and, according to another Gospel, had eaten with them.

Here we are, eight days later, where we find all the disciples (all eleven) in a closed room.  Jesus, not to be kept out by closed doors, showed up in the middle of them again, with His usual greeting to allay their fright.  Then, Jesus, showing that He is God, graciously deals with Thomas.  He is not being critical, but is meeting Thomas right where He is.  Thomas didn’t have to change for Jesus to do a work in Him.  Jesus knew exactly what needed to be done and because of His great love, did just that.  He invites Thomas to check out His wounds; visually and physically.  At that point, Thomas made such a profound statement: 

My Lord and my God! 

There was no more doubt.  

Then Jesus affirms Thomas’ belief, while reminding them that there will be a point when belief cannot be based upon physical evidence.  Theologian, D.A. Carson elaborates on this:  Blessed, then, are those who cannot share Thomas’ experience of sight, but who, in part because they read of Thomas’ experience, come to share Thomas’ faith.  

That’s all wonderful that those who were already with Jesus got to experience the proof of the resurrection personally.  But what about us here in the 21st century?

Us - 20.30-31

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

These verses are often used to summarize what the purpose of the writing of the Gospel of John was.  And they do a wonderful job of doing so.  I remind us that we can totally trust the authority and accuracy of the Bible.  We can rely upon what John has recorded for us as He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to put it into print.  

In essence, John is saying that we have all that we need to make a decision for Christ.  There were many more miracles that John observed Jesus doing.  But John states that the reason He recorded these particular miracles which Jesus did was so that we could believe:

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Ponderings

My friends, I am so grateful that the Gospel of John, along with the entirety of the Bible is available to me.  Yet, John holds a very dear place, for as we present Jesus, we do so not merely to prove to people anything.  We are incapable of doing that.  Yet, the Spirit of God can take the Gospel of John and make it clear to those who read with searching hearts that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh; that Jesus Christ came as the Lamb of God for the purpose of taking away the sin of the world; that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life; that when anybody will accept these truths then their sins are forgiven and they are given eternal life.  

As a result, I can tell you that the proof of all this is seen in the reality that I’m not the person I used to be; I’ve seen God do amazing things in my life; I’ve experienced love, peace, and joy that can be found in no other; I am a brand new person.  Warren Wiersbe shares: 

Historical faith says, “Christ lives!”  Saving faith says, “Christ lives in me!” 

Sometimes, the proof is seen by the evidence you live out daily as a child of God; a brother or sister of Jesus Christ. 

As believers, we are to live out the resurrection proof that we’ve already experienced.