The Resurrection

One of the most famous Sundays in the world occurs on what is known as Super Sunday. Two teams gather, companies pay millions of dollars to get their ads aired during the event, and the week leading up to the moment it starts is full of pomp and circumstance, betting, planning of parties, and all sorts of other things. But this Sunday is really just another Sunday. When the Super Bowl kicks off and the final whistle blows, all that has occured is the crowning of another champion that eventually will be forgotten by the next generation. The next generation won’t know the names of the guys who played unless they were to Google the roster. The very next day every other team that didn’t win begins working on their plan to win the next Super Bowl.

So it goes with these type of earthly pursuits. Sean McVay, coach of the LA Rams said, “You’re only as good as your last game, and now we’ve got to move on,” after a win over the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He had another opponent the next week.

All of that to simply point to the One event that changed all of history. The first Super Sunday took place 2,000 years ago when the Son of God rose from the grave never to die again, never to face another opponent again.

John 20 gives us 11 people who all became eye witnesses on that first Super Sunday. One woman and ten men whose story was changed forever. Though they were friends and followers of Jesus, they were not ready nor spiritually prepared for the dynamic reality of the resurrection.

John 20:1–9 CSB

1 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. 2 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!” 3 At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 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. 8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.

An Empty Tomb

What sights awaited Mary and the other women with her, or the two men who ran to the tomb?

It was radical. That word has a number of meanings, but the one I’d focus on this morning is “the extreme or substantial change in an existing system.” A radical event is an event that takes the current system and turns it upside down. The Resurrection was radical.

Paul made that claim in 1 Corinthians 15 when some in the church didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:14 1 Cor 15:17

1 Corinthians 15:14 CSB

14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

1 Corinthians 15:17 CSB

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

The Tomb is empty. As Thomas Bushnell said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely the best attested fact in ancient history.”

Matthew’s account tells that Mary Magdalene was not alone on this visit. For John, Mary Magdalene is the focus of his telling of the story. John gives us the word “saw” indicating that Mary Magdalene glanced at the tomb.

She saw that the stone had been removed. That certainly startled her. Then she runs to Simon Peter and John.

Mary assumed the body of Jesus has been stolen. At this point, she doesn’t consider the resurrection. In fact if you look at verse 2, she tells them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

“When she said, “They have taken,” she could only have referred to the crucifiers of Jesus (the Jews and/or Romans). Her second statement indicates that the early Christians had no sense that the tomb would have been empty. The contemporary thought that they could create a resurrection hoax or experience a joint encounter with some mystical Christ as some have suggested is absurd, given the defeatism that enveloped Jesus’ followers after they realized Jesus was truly dead. The only possibility that crossed Mary’s mind was that the body must have been stolen in clear violation of Jewish burial integrity and of Roman practice.” Gerald L. Borchert, John 12–21, vol. 25B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), 291–292.

So Peter and John head out for the tomb. Here we have two guys that John said ran together to the tomb. It is said that in this day that grown men would not be seen running anywhere.

John arrives first, looks into the tomb and sees the linen cloths there, but he did not go in. Now, Luke included in his account that at first, the disciples did not believe her, because it sounded like nonsense.

John seemed a bit hesitant to enter the tomb, maybe even some fear. What was there in the darkness of the tomb?

Of course, acting to character, Peter walked right in. He too sees the linen cloths lying there. No doubt Peter would remember this morning for the rest of his life…At the home of Cornelius he says:

Acts 10:39–43 CSB

39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. 40 God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Take a look at the mention of the grave clothes. Back in John 11, Lazarus came out of the tomb with his grave clothes still wrapped around him. But Jesus’s are laying there and the head wrapping is folded neatly. I think it important to remember that Lazarus would die again and needed those grave clothes one more time. But Jesus will never need His own. He will not see death again.

The fact that Jesus’s grave clothes are there points to the legitimacy of this resurrection and not grave robbers. Grave robbers would have been in a hurry and taken everything. They would not have spent time unwrapping His body.

Look at Verse 8 - John says he went into the tomb as well, saw, and believed.

So follow me here:

Three followers of Jesus went in and saw the empty tomb.

Peter entered, then John entered. This third use of “saw” here is used in a different way than the others. John uses “saw” to convey that he perceived with understanding.” Which is why the text says he “saw and believed.”

What does John believe? He believes Jesus rose from the dead. He hasn’t seen Jesus to believe that He is alive. But He believes without seeing Jesus alive. This is a theme throughout the Gospel, and one that Jesus will bring up with Thomas. He may not know all the ramifications of what He is seeing or not seeing, but the point is, John believes in the resurrection.

John, the beloved disciple, is the only person mentioned in the Gospels as reaching a point belief having seen the empty tomb.

The appearance of the angels confirms what John believes. Jesus’s missing body is not because of grave robbers but because of the mighty hand of God.

The Living Lord

John 20:10–18 CSB

10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 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.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. 15 “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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” 17 “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.” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

Peter and John return to the place where they had been staying. Now Peter will serve as the primary witness of these events. Acts 1:8 Jesus tells the disciples they will be His witness, to testify what they had seen. It’s common in the books of Acts to be reminded that they were witnesses of this moment, the crucifixion and the resurrection.

John’s Gospel turns back to the tomb and Mary. Mary stayed at the tomb. Mary was a life that was radically changed by the grace of Jesus.

The two angels appear with a fascinating conversation taking place. Mary’s grief is real as she wept over the loss of her friend. She’d been cured of demon possession, Luke 8 says 7 demons had come out of her. Her response shows she is grasping yet what has happened. “They took him and I don’t know where.” All she can think about is where his body is, not where HE is.

Then she turned around, and there was Jesus. But she didn’t recognize Him. Mary had experienced deep trauma, and here eyes were full of tears…but most important she hadn’t thought of the resurrection. She was looking for the body, not the resurrection. The “Gardner” asks her why she’s crying? Who are you looking for? What were you hoping to find here?

She asks the Gardner where he took the body…(20:15)

You remember that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Do you remember what else He said in that passage? “My sheep know my voice...” Jesus called out Mary by name. She understood Him. 20:14-16. She knew. She got it. She wanted to hold on to Him…would you reach out if a loved one or close friend suddenly appeared? Yes.

When she hears the voice of her Shepherd, calling her by name, she gets it. He says, “Don’t hold on to me. Im not leaving for good. I have not ascended to my rightful place at the Father’s side.” They will have to learn, as we know, to live without Jesus’ physical presence. They will have to “walk by faith, not by sight”. That is the standard for all of us now. They would have to know true faith that will serve a physically absent Lord.

Then Jesus tells her to go and tell the others… Jesus uses the words here, “my brothers...” There is another change. No longer are they disciples, He calls them brothers. Jesus’ death and resurrection changed everything. Now they are Ohana.

But soon He will return to the Father. So Mary witnessed the resurrection and her first act of obedience is telling the disciples.

Looking to next week, the women who believed could not convince the disciples what had happened, and even Thomas wouldn’t believe the 10 once they had all seen Jesus.

The Change that Changes Everything

There was a change in Joseph and Nicodemus from secret disciples to open followers.

Jesus suffered affliction and then affection and adoration.

The grave changed from full to empty.

John looks in, enters in, and believes in the resurrection.

Mary changed from weeping to rejoicing.

These have been described as small aftershocks of the earthquake what was the resurrection. When Jesus was crucified, the payment was made in full, the veil was torn. When Jesus rose from the dead, the graveclothes were left behind, the veil that wrapped His head was folded neatly, and death was defeated. For millions who follow Jesus, life will never be the same.

That is one major change. The power of death is changed. We know that birth and death are common experiences. Our life, Ps 39:5 says, life is like a vapor. Those clouds we see on the mountains after a rain that look like smoke rising up, that is how quick life is…there are here, then they are gone.

Mary was changed. In verse 20:2, she’s looking for His body. When she reports to the disciples, she didn’t say, “I found His body.” She says, “I have seen the LORD!”

Beloved, Hebrews 2:15 says that through His death, Jesus destroyed the one who has the power of death, the devil, and has delivered those who were held in slavery by the fear of death.

We try everything we can to stop getting old, and we will try everything we can to stop time and time is marching us to the grave, don’t we? You might exercise to stay healthy, you might color your hair to stay young, you may apply cream to get rid of wrinkles…but every day we are closer to the grave. Maybe if we just ignore death, it will ignore us. BUT THE REALITY IS Jesus overcame death, and we can live for the next life, by God’s grace, because life will NOT be over. Death, rather than the end, is really just the beginning!

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The resurrection changes our perspective just like it did for Mary, and the disciples. WE DON’T LIVE FOR THE SEEN, BUT WE LIVE FOR THE UNSEEN.

One other major change - Our Position.

I mentioned a few minutes ago that Jesus calls the disciples his brothers. He also tells Mary to tell them that He is ascending to “my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” I just want to sing… “we are family…get up everybody and sing...”

That is the change. Before this, the disciples, and Mary too, were cut off from God the Father because of their sin. They, like us, were dead in their sins and trespasses. But now, because of the cross and resurrection…they are family!

The price paid at the cross, their trust in Jesus and what He did at the cross, and the acceptance of that sacrifice by God as evidenced in the resurrection brings them into the family. As God as their Father and Jesus their brother. This why Paul writes in Romans 8:15

Romans 8:15 CSB

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

Now their position was changed when God did a work in their lives, God will do a work in your life as well. When granted the gift of faith, we also become His children.

From our perspective that means we believe on Jesus Christ to become apart of the family.

Let me share a few other promises because of Christ:

The promise of inheritance - Jesus is going to prepare a place and will come back for us. John 14. Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.

The promise of love - In Christ, you are a child of God. No matter what kind of earthly father you had or have, he pales in comparison with your Heavenly Father. He loves you and that is not based on grades, or performance, or what you give him for father’s day…

The promise of acceptance - We don’t become God’s children because of what we did or didn’t do but rather because of what Jesus accomplished.

The promise of forgiveness - 1 John 1:9

The promise of a Helper - Holy Spirit

No longer will the disciples and the women gathered with them be the sons & daughters of Adam, but now they are the sons and daughters of God.

This is why I always say that the Gospel is the change that changes everything.

Paul told the Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Without the resurrection, there is no good news. The best news…Jesus won on the very first, and only Super Sunday.