The Best News in the World

Introduction

What we have been doing

Week 5 of this series.

Looking at what it means to “Pray and Go”

Been working through gospel of John.

Week 1 - What’s Your Story

Week 2 - Eat and Live

Week 3 - Jesus is the resurrection and Life

Week 4 - Abide

This week - The Best News in the World

The Resurrection

John 20:1–31 CSB

On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!” At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself. The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her. When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Moving into the Text

Going to start not by looking at this passage, but by “visiting” Paul in 1 Cor 15:3-4 and 1 Cor 15:11

Like Paul, we don’t preach John 20 every week, but we try to make it a point every week to exalt the crucified and risen Christ.

All scripture, all of history, points either forward or back to Christ.

Hinge of history

What we have in this passage of John is his description of early Christian’s discovery of the resurrection through which we find what makes the gospel good news, in fact the best news!

Broken up into four parts

The Empty Tomb

Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Jesus and the Disciples

Jesus and Thomas

Part 1 - The Empty Tomb: Hope for the World (vv. 1-10)

“First day of the week”

not on the third day but on the first day

Something New

On the Sabbath Jesus rested in the tomb

This is why we worship on the first day of the week and not the 7th!

Some people will say, “I can’t believe in the resurrection because those sorts of things don’t happen”

Exactly!

This is a BIG DEAL!

Dawning of a new creation. Something radically new has happened.

Note in v. 2 that Mary isn’t anticipating the resurrection

Disciples aren’t either.

People might say, “These were primitive first century people. We moderns can’t believe in miracles.”

But the disciples weren’t expecting it, even though Jesus had told them about it.

No said, “Hey remember that thing he said about rising on the third day, let’s go take a look.”

Nope, Mary has to go and get them.

Bringing spices to annoit the body.

Not cheap

These were not common beliefs.

Greek and Romans didn’t beleive in this

Some Jews believed in a final ressurection

To believe in the resurrection of Jesus required great personal sacrifice

Break with family

Martyerdom

Peter and John run to the tomb

Note there are two of them

Jewish law required two witnesses

John beats Peter in speed, but not boldness

John peers into the tomb, Peter goes in.

What does he see?

Jesus’ cloths

Body wasn’t stolen

Remember Lazarus coming out in his grave clothes.

Vivid detail and isn’t the sort of thing that one would make up (none of this is!) bears the marks of eyewitness testimony.

Trying to put it all together

DOn’t understand the scriptures

Total scope of Scripture

Leave Mary

This is the Big E on the eye chart of our faith

Not a footnote

Not an intro or an appetizer, but the entree

We live in a day in which people struggle with both the fear of death and the meaninglessness of life, and the resurrection solves both problems.

Best news: answers the question of life now and life beyond the grave.

You don’t have to fear death because Christ has risen!

You can have a new life because Christ has risen!

Your life does matter because Christ has risen!

Part 2 - Jesus and Mary: Grace for the broken (vv. 11-18)

Mary becomes the first to proclaim the good news of the resurrection!

J.P. Lange

The First easter-message addressed by Christ to the apostolic circle itself was discharged by a woman, a female disciple, who, without a doubt, was formally a great sinner

recipient of 3 particular graces

1 she saw angels

2 she was the first to see the risen christ

3 the first to proclaim the risen christ

If the disciples had made up the story of the resurrection they wouldn’t have included Mary:

1) she was a woman

In the mishnah woamn’s evidence is not admissible in court

Celsus, in writing against the church, states that one of the ways he was convinced that it wasn’t true “it is based on the testimony of women … we al know women are hysterical.”

Called is “woman’s gosip”

Woemen were marginalized

2) She was previously enslaved by 7 demons

Luke 8:2

Luke 8:2 CSB

and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her);

If you are going to make up a story, you don’t make your central witness a woman and you don’t make them demon possesed!

But each gospel makes it clear, Mary was the first

only reason to include her is if she was there and it is true!

Grace for the broken and enslved

Jesus offers new life

Not self help or self improvement

maybe you have a past of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) or enslavement (addiction sinful relationship, demon bondage)

There is hope of change!

Let the saviors grace change your heart

Jesus offers you a new family

Jesus calls us family, even as he is ascending the throne

Family even though we fail him

He’s called the disciples servants, disciples, and even friends,

But no jesus calls those that abandoned him “brother”

Heb 2:12

The reason that we have so many miserable Christians is that we are trying to live out their faith alone

That wasn’t the design

Christianity is familial, not just personal

Part 3 - Jesus and the Disciples: Peace for the Fearful (vv.19-23)

Despite turning away from Jesus on the cross, Jesus appears to these disciples

Fear had ruled them

Peace be with you (v. 19)

Disciples are glad, they rejoiced

That is what grace does

What peace does

It makes you want to rejoice!

Jesus doesn’t throw them off the team for their fear and their turning away

Makes them captains of the team

Puts them in charge!

They will lead the mission!

Part 4 - Jesus and Thomas: Truth for the Skeptic (vv. 24-31)

What kind of doubt?

Moral. Some doubt is grounded in one’s moral preferences and desires.

Some don’t want belief to interfere with choices like sexual preferences, so they start doubting everything theologically – though their doubt is really driven by personal/moral desires.

Gradual. Some doubt stems from a thousand of small choices over time.

A husband begins to drift away from God slowly, gradually, and one day finds himself in the bed with another woman. He’s lonely. He’s disconnected. And he says, “Well, I never believed any of that rubbish anyway.”

It comes from a slow drift morally.

The slow drift is destructive, and Satanic.

Gullible. If one’s faith remains immature, then doubt may stem from being unable to answer opposing views.

Students go to college and aren’t prepared to answer objections, and it can lead them to doubt.

Eph 4, “tossed to and fro by the waves – by every wind of doctrine”

What about Thomas? What kind of doubt was his?

#4: Sorrowful. Thomas’ doubt was the result of massive religious disappointment.

He wasn’t a philosophical materialist – the only thing that exists really is matter.

He was a Jew. He believed in miracles.

But he was crushed because his hopes were in the tomb.

He felt as though he got snookered.

Often doubt stems from being greatly hurt in life.

Thomas’ response

Told by all his friends that he’d missed Jesus

see what happens when you miss church!

Jesus could show up!

Thomas has his own decision to make, like we all do

Thomas doesn’t say “the other ten vote yes, so I guess I will too!”

8 days later!

Can you imagine Thomas during those 8 days?!

Jesus appears, pronounces peace (again)

Get one of the great confessions of all of scripture

“My Lord and My God!

It is the confession we must make to enter into the Christian life

Daily confession of the bleiver’s life

Don’t distance yourself form the Jesus of the text

But every day bow down like Thomas and cry out “My Lord! My God!”

Jesus includes us!

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet beleive!”

The purpose of John’s book is so that we might believe

Risen Christ meets each of these people in thier condition and transforms them:

Mary: from demon enslaved to Evangelist

Disciples: From Fearful to Fearless

Thomas: from Skeptic to Devoted Missionary

He can do the same for you!