Sermon Tone Analysis

*JOHN 20:1-10  *

In each of the resurrection narratives we will discover a pattern with the following features:

§         The beneficiaries of the appearance are engulfed in a human emotion – Mary in grief; the disciples in fear; Thomas in doubt.

§         The risen Christ appears to them in the midst of their condition.

§         As a result, their condition is transformed – Mary to mission; the disciples to gladness; Thomas to faith.

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*THE TOMB *

*1.        **The Tomb *

The setting: “/comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre/…” [20:1].

§         μνημεῖον - “/sepulchre/” [20:1], ‘grave, tomb’; ‘tomb built as a memorial’;

*a.        **The Occupant *

The “sepulchre” marks the place of Jesus’ burial:

§         Jesus death: “/Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost/” [Mat.27:50].

§         Joseph of Arimathea: “/went to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus/” [Mat.27:57].

§         The burial: “/laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre/” [Mat.27:60];

“/he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock/…” [Mar.15:46].

*b.        **Mary Magdalene *

*i.        **The Person *

The person: “/comes Mary Magdalene early/…” [20:1].

§         Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ - “/Mary Magdalene/” [20:1],

§         She was possessed by demons: “/And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils/” [Luk.8:2].

§         She had been miraculously healed: “/out of whom he had cast out devils/” [Mar.16:9].

*ii.

**The Continuity *

The person of Mary Magdalene provides the link which identifies this “sepulchre” as the place in which Jesus was buried.

She is the keen observer:  

§         At the cross: “/There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome/” [Mar.15:40].

§         At the burial: “/And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid/” [Mar.15:47].

*Application*

 

*2.

**The Significance of the Tomb  *

*a.        **The Old Age  *

The fall of man: “/as by one man sin entered into the world/…” [Rom.5:12].

§         Death: “/as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin/…” [Rom.5:12].

§         Universal: “/so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned/” [Rom.5:12].

*b.        **The Penalty of Sin  *

Death is the penalty of sin: “/the wages of sin is death/…” [Rom.6:23].

§         The covenant with Adam: “/the day that you eat of it you shall surely die/…” [Gen.2:17].

§         The broken covenant: “/she took of the fruit thereof…and gave also to her husband/” [Gen.3:6].

§         The eternal separation: “/God drove out the man/…” [Gen.3:24].

*c.        **The Condition *

The conditions of the old age and the old covenant:

§         Power of sin: “/you were the servants of sin/…” [Rom.6:17];

“

§         Power of Satan: “/the prince of this world/…” [John.12:30];

“/him that had the power of death, that is, the devil/…” [Heb.2:14].

§         Power of death: “/death has (no more) dominion/…” [Rom.6:9];

“/who through fear of death were their entire lifetime subject to bondage/” [Heb.2:15].

§         Power of the grave: “/O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory/?”

[1Cor.15:55].

*3.        **The Door *

The “/sepulchre/” [20:1] is the hinge point of Christianity:

*a.        **The Death of Christ *

The substitutionary death: “/the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep/” [10:11].

§         The sufferings: “/God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son/…” [3:16].

§         The death: “/It is finished; and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost/” [19:30].

§         The burial: “/there they laid Jesus/…” [19:42].

§         The closed door: “/and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre/” [Mar.15:46].

§         The Garden gate: “/God placed at the east of the garden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life/” [Gen.3:24].

*Application*

The “closed sepulchre” sums up the old creation and the destiny of mankind because of sin.

§          

 

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*EMPTY TOMB *

*1.        **Judaism & Resurrection *

In the world of second temple Judaism, belief in the resurrection was related to the end of the world:

§         Martha at the death of Lazarus: “/I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day/” [11:24].

§         Significantly, were we to ask the early Christians themselves what had occasioned their belief resurrection belief, their answers home in on two things: stories about Jesus’ tomb being empty, and stories about Jesus appearing to people, alive again.

§         Neither the empty tomb by itself, nor the appearances by themselves, could have generated the early Christian belief.

*2.        **The Empty Tomb   *

*a.        **Mary Magdalene  *

The first person at the tomb: “/the first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early/…” [20:1].

§         Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ - “/Mary Magdalene/” [20:1],

§         She was possessed by demons: “/And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils/” [Luk.8:2].

§         She had been miraculously healed: “/out of whom he had cast out devils/” [Mar.16:9].

*b.

**The Tomb *

*i.        **The Early Arrival *

The first person at the tomb: “/came early, when it was still dark/…” [20:1].

§         πρωῒ - “/early/” [20:1], ‘before’; ‘early in the morning’;

§         σκοτίας - “/dark/” [20:1], ‘absence of light’;

§         μνημεῖον - “/sepulchre/” [20:1], ‘grave, tomb’; ‘tomb built as a memorial’;

§         A woman would scarcely have ventured outside the city at such an hour with Jerusalem crowded with visitors for the feast.

*ii.

**The Open Tomb  *

The discovery: “/sees the stone taken away/…” [20:1].

§         λίθον - “/stone/” [20:1], ‘stone, boulder’;

§         ἠρμένον - “/taken/ /away/” [20:1], perfect passive participle, ‘to take up, lift up’; ‘to carry’;

§         The women had been concerned about the stone: “/And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?/”

[Mar.16:3].

*Application*

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the open grave, but in Jewish eyes the testimony of women was unacceptable.

*3.

**The Valid Witnesses  *

*a.        **A Valid Testimony *

The detailed manner in which they went to the tomb is described and designed in order to stress the reliability of their testimony.

§         That two men should verify the evidence was important since they could fulfil the Jewish requirement of valid testimony: “/at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established/” [Deu.19:15].

*b.        **The Encounter *

Mary hurries to meet with the disciples: “/she runs and comes to Simon Peter/…” [20:2].

§         τρέχει - “/runs/” [20:2], implying ‘speed or haste’;

§         ἔρχεται - “/comes/” [20:2], ‘move toward or up to’;

*c.        **The News *

*i.        **The Invasion   *

Mary Magdalene concludes that the body has been stolen: “/they have taken away the Lord/…” [20:2].

§         ἦραν - “/taken/ away” [20:2], aorist active third person plural, ‘to take up, to carry’;