John 20:1-18
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Empedocles.
Empedocles.
(494 – c. 434 BC born in Sicily, Italy Follower of Pythagorus- he is credited with the four element theory of matter- Earth, Air, Fire, and Water)
Aristotle called him the inventor of rhetoric.
Galen regard him as the founder of Italian Medicine.
“I, an immortal god, no more a mortal, so honored by all, go about among you… I am praised by men and women, and followed by thousands who ask for deliverance…”
This is a prideful man, who promises deliverance to his followers.
Empedocles is reported to have died when he threw himself into the molten crater of Mount Etna, the volcano that dominates Sicily.
there are many stories like this one. There are many religions and man a man who have promised deliverance, but there is one thing that each of those men have in common. Their ability to provide deliverance ended in their death.
We come to a passage of Scripture that really means so much for us.
Really, it is the reason we are even here today. We worship as believers on Sunday, because Jesus rose on a Sunday. This is known as the Lord’s Day. Evil Men had their day on Friday, but Sunday is Lord’s Day.
And what He did on that Sunday makes all the difference for us.
The entirety of our faith hinges on what happened on this particular day. And really…
It is the definitive difference between our faith and all the other religions of the world. Jesus, Our Lord and God, rose from the dead.
The message of the resurrection is the truth we proclaim.
This resurrection is the truth we rest in as the assurance of our victory.
The resurrection is our message of hope.
The resurrection is the reason why funerals for believers should have some sense of celebration in the middle of our sadness. Why? Any preacher will proclaim the resurrection in a funeral.
We believe because Christ is raised, we will also be raised with him.
On the other hand, if the resurrection is not true, we have no hope.
There is no gospel message. There is no hope apart from the resurrection of Jesus.
In fact, can you imagine what the disciples must have been feeling?
Jesus is dead. He’s gone. A man that appeared to be larger than life has succumb to the weight of death.
And that had to be what the disciples and the true followers of Jesus were feeling after his death and then a day without him.
Remember what has happened over the previous weeks.
Jesus has been betrayed by one of his own followers.
He has stood before the Jewish leaders as they in their self righteousness and sin have done their level best to ensure that he will be killed.
He has stood before Pilate who struggled with the idea of killing an innocent man, but he did it anyhow.
He has stood as they beat him within an inch of His life.
He has stood before the people where the mockery of a crown of thorns and a purple robe.
He has carried his cross to Golgotha.
Jesus has hung for hours stripped naked of any clothes and dignity.
Jesus has stood in our place, as the Father has empty the cup of wrath out on him.
Now it appears that Jesus is done standing.
They have laid him in a tomb. They believe they he will never stand again.
His followers believe that they will visit him, but he will no longer visit them.
Its a typical death scenario. The person dies and those who know and love them take it upon themselves over the next days or weeks to do what we can to pay tribute to their lives.
Look what happens in verse 1.
John 20:1
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.
Mary Magdelene- This is a woman who has been faithful to Jesus.
She was there at the crucifixion of Jesus.
She is now coming to care for the body of Jesus. No doubt, she is sorrowful. She is in mourning. This trip would not have been one of expectation, but one of lamentation.
She loved him, and she missed him.
But when she arrived, there’s something wrong.
John tells us, its dark and the stone is already been taken away from the tomb.
She automatically jumps to conclusions.
She doesn’t run away joyful. She isn’t running to celebrate the resurrection. Her immediate thought is the worst.
Look what she does.
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.”
They run to Peter and John. These men were the most prominent of the disciples, the most mentioned of Jesus’s disciples. These were the men she knew would know what to do.
“They have taken him away.”
Grave Robbery was common is this time period. The assumption her is that the grave of Jesus has been robbed.
This really is the most logical conclusion for her to make.
Someone has taken the body and they have laid him some where else. Why?
BecauseThe assumption is that the dead stay dead. The grave stays closed unless tampered with. The assumption is that the dead body of Jesus is somewhere.
Mary assumed this. The disciples assumed this. I f they would have thought that Jesus would rise, they would have been waiting by the grave.
They don’t expect Jesus to rise. The disciples do not correct her interpretation of the events. They go to investigate.
So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, 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 20:3-4
Couple of interesting things here.
John arrives first. He beat Peter there. He’s younger. This is to be expected, and of course John includes it. (btw I beat Peter to the tomb)
But John doesn’t enter. John may be fearful of defilement, fearful of entering a grave. He may be fearful of defilement. John looks in from the outside.
Peter isn’t afraid. Peter, true to character rushed right in to the tomb.
Peter goes in a sees the linen wrappings.
A different word is used here by John for what Peter sees.
John simply glanced in.
Peter gazes. This is a spectacle to behold and Peter is getting his eyes full. And what he sees is grave wrappings.
These weren’t clothes. They were grave wrappings. Burial wrappings. We’ve seen this before.
Remember Lazarus. Jesus had called him forth from the grave, he came out with these burial wrappings still on.
The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The wrappings that Lazarus walked out with, Jesus has left behind. Everything about Lazarus’s raising in under the authority of Jesus. Called and unwrapped according to Jesus.
Jesus walks out of the grave on his own accord having unwrapped himself and having been raised by His own power. He leaves these grave wrappings behind. There’s no need to take them with him. He ain’t coming back.. This is what Peter sees.
Peter sees all this, and then John gets curious enters.
John 20:8
So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
now another word is used for saw- Now it becomes visible. At first John glance revealed nothing. Stepping into the tomb now, there is no doubt. The body of Jesus is gone.
Here is where we see a difference in John response from other at this point. John goes a step further from seeing to belief.
He doesn’t conclude that the body has been stolen.
John believed. John isn’t altogether sure what has happened, but he believes.
Based upon The Word of Jesus and the Empty tomb.
Essentially, the basis of our belief. We believe based upon the Word of God and the Empty Tomb.
John has not yet seen Jesus alive, but he believed.
We learn more of Peter’s response to this in .
Peter is said to marvel at these things in Luke
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.
Marveling and believing are two different things, but both it seems are at least thinking correctly.
Peter a man who had urged Jesus not to go into Jerusalem to be killed.
A man who had urged Jesus not to wash his feet.
A man who had tried to physically protect Jesus from being taken away and killed, is now rethinking all of what Jesus said.
The disciples at least have the benefit of having been told by Jesus that this was gonna happen.
Maybe he was right. Maybe he is alive. There is a glimmer of hope, but neither one understands it just yet. Look what he says here.
For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
joHN 20:
Luke tells us they are marvelling.
What has happened? They will know soon enough.
but for now, Mary is grieved.
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
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.”
Woman, why are you weeping? She lets them know.
There is so much here in this question:
Why are you weeping?
There really is no more need for weeping, but she still can’t believe that Jesus could be raised.
They’ve taken away the body of the Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.
:
The source of her weeping is the thought and the fear that Jesus’ dead body is somewhere where she will not be able to get to him. Its not even on her radar that Jesus would be alive.
But then…
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
He stood before Pilate. He stood before Herod. He stood before the Jews. He hung on a cross and they laid him dead in a tomb.
Now he stands. He stand in front of the place that once held his dead body.
The Lamb that was slain is standing.
She doesn’t recognize its Jesus. The most obvious explanation for this is its dark and Jesus is supposed to be dead. Whoever this is is upright. She doesn’t recognize him.
He asked her the same thing.
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.”
Why are you weeping? There’s no reason to weep.
Whom are you seeking? There’s no reason to seek any longer.
She begins to beg for help.
If you have him, tell me… She’s begging.
And then comes my second favorite part of the passage.
And what Jesus does reveals to us so much about how he deals with his children.
He knows when and why we are weeping. He reveals himself to us.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
This is amazing to me.
Mary recognizes her Lord’s voice, when he calls her by name.
Jesus told them about this before.
“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Those who are his. Those who are chosen of his flock. He calls them by name.
(Belle and Lauren- When we first got married, she wouldn’t go to her. )
The Lord calls his own by name.
Do you remember when he called you by name?
I was 18. God in His grace showed me my sin, showed me my need for Christ and called me to himself.
For a believer, The LORD calls us by name for we are the sheep of his pasture.
Mary immediately recognizes who it is that is speaking to her.
She is elated She calls him Rabboni which means highest teacher and apparently in her excitement and thrill, she clings to him.
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.’ ”
Jesus isn’t being mean to her here.
He is just telling her. I’m not leaving just yet. We are told in the book of Acts that he will stay 40 days on the earth.
Essentially, he is saying. Calm down, you have a job to do.
And he sends her to the disciples.
Listen to what he says.
“Go to my brethren.”
This is the first time ever that Jesus has referred to the disciples as brethren.
Something new has come.
The disciples were friends. Now they are brothers.
The disciples were servants of the Master, now they are brothers.
Jesus, through his cross, has made possible our adoption as sons.
This was his purpose from the get go. To adopt us as sons. To make us co heirs with Christ.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
He has accomplished the plan to adopt the disciples and to adopt us as sons and daughter. This is why he is not ashamed to call us brethren.
For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
This is what he means by what he is having Mary tell them.
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.’ ”
He has accomplished the plan.
To give us all that is His in the Father.
To give us all that is His in the Father.
To bring us back into a right relationship with God, so that we can call on God freely, but even better, we can call our God Father.
Have you trusted in Christ?
If so, Why do you still weep? The resurrected Lord stands victorious outside of the tomb.
