The Reason We Rejoice - John 20:1-23

Copyright November 14, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

The two most celebrated days on the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter. Both days have been wildly secularized with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny taking the main focus. We tend to be more “wowed” by the lights, gifts, and Easter baskets, than we do by the actual events of those days. And that may especially be true for the resurrection. We generally focus on it one day out of the year. And that’s why I am grateful to focus on that story on a day other than Easter.

When secular scholars look at the Resurrection of Jesus, they say “the Resurrection story is filled with inconsistencies.” There are surely differences in the accounts much like the differences between witnesses to a crime. Different people focus on different things. It is when you piece together all these testimonies that you find what is likely the truth. J. Warner Wallace, a cold case detective who sought to prove the facts of the resurrection to be unsustainable, concluded the differences in the accounts speak TO their credibility. A made-up account by the disciples would have had a suspicious consistency in the telling of the story.

Here are some of the differences in the gospel accounts.

· How many women went to the tomb? John says Mary Magdalene. Matthew says it was Mary Magdalene and Jesus’s mom. Mark says it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James (which could have been Jesus’ mom), and Salome (who many believe was the mother of the Sons of Thunder (James and John the sons of Zebedee).

· Did the angels appear to just Mary or to all the women? Matthew, Mark, and Luke say the angels appeared to “the women” when they came to the tomb. John says the angel appeared to Mary after she had told Peter and John and they had checked out the empty tomb.

· How many angels were there? Matthew and Mark report one angel, Luke and John report two.

These are valid questions that can all be answered without having to engage in foolishness.

There is one more question that has plagued many: how can we say that Jesus rose on the third day when He wasn’t in the tomb, it appears, for even 48 hours? Let’s answer this one right away. Jesus was buried between 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Friday. He was raised sometime before sunrise on Sunday. If you do the math that would be 36 hours!

We must hear this like a Jewish person. Jesus was in the tomb for a part of three days. He was buried on Friday (day one). The Sabbath began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday (day 2), Saturday at 6:00 p.m. was the end of the Sabbath and the start of Sunday (day 3). This also explains how the women were able to go shop for burial spices before they went to the tomb early on Sunday. They went on Saturday night after Sabbath had ended. In this way we see Jesus rose on the 3rd day.

The Arrival at the Tomb

It is fair to ask why these women thought they could gain access to the tomb since it had been sealed and was under Roman guard. The answer: the Jewish leaders didn’t ask for the guard and seal until the Sabbath. In other words, the women knew nothing about the guard or the seal.

As to how many women went to the tomb? The fact that Mary Magdalene is spotlighted does not mean other women did not accompany her. For example, I might say my youngest sister came by to see me. However, it was actually my sister, her husband, and possibly her daughters and sons-in-law. There is no contradiction here. I was spotlighting one person of the many. John spotlighted Mary Magdalene,

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

When they arrived at the tomb and found it standing open, the first conclusion was someone had stolen the body. They did not assume Jesus had risen. I am sure there was an attitude of “Now look what they have done to Him!”

It is reasonable to think that this upset Mary Magdalene so much that she immediately went back to Jerusalem to get Peter and John. Meanwhile the other women moved closer to the tomb and that is when they saw the angel or angels. Once again, reporting what one angel said does not mean there were not other angels present. I might say, Debbie said something to me. Someone else might correct me to say the entire family was present and Debbie said something to me. Was I lying? Nope, just a difference in how the story is told.

After the women talked with the angels they headed back to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter and John ran to the tomb.

3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

Throughout the course of the Gospel of John, John refers to Himself in the third person: “the disciple Jesus loved.” I love the fact that John thought it important to note that he beat Peter to the tomb. . . just for the record!

John stopped outside the tomb, perhaps out of reverence or concern of possible impurity. Peter did not have either problem. He went right into the tomb. What he saw is the graveclothes of Jesus (the strips that had been wrapped around him) and the cloth that had be placed around his head lying apart from the other wrappings. This makes this story different from the raising of Lazarus. When Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, the people on the outside opened the tomb and then had to unwrap Lazarus. Neither was the case with Jesus.

Some suggest, and I like the suggestion, that what Peter and John saw was the graveclothes of Jesus looking like someone had simply vanished from them. Listen to what one scholar writes,

What Peter saw in the tomb was quite remarkable. When we studied Jesus’ burial, we noted that the Jewish practice was to wrap a corpse in scented strips of linen that were bound around the body. In addition, a separate face cloth was wound around the head and chin to keep the head in position. These are the wrappings that John and Peter saw in Jesus’ tomb. Apparently when Jesus was resurrected, his glorious body passed through the linen cloths wrapped around him so that they were not cast aside. Instead, when the body was removed, the weight of the spices caused the wrappings to collapse into a neat pile. John says that the strips of cloth that had been spiced and wrapped close around Jesus’ body were “lying there” (John 20:6). The Greek word that John used for “lying there” (keimena) is used elsewhere of things that are carefully kept in order. In addition, “the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, [was] not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself” (20:7).[1]

In other words, the tomb of Jesus was not broken into and then Jesus was unwrapped and taken away. It seemed more like He must have “evaporated.” This was why when John saw this, He believed. He remembered what Jesus had said. John believed this was not a crime . . . it was the miracle of miracles! Our text tells us they were just starting to put the teaching of Scripture together.

The disciples headed toward home. I imagine they were excited, confused, and maybe numb. Meanwhile, Mary, who was deeply distraught returned to the tomb. Let’s continue with our text,

10 Then they went home.

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

There are some secular writers such as the writer of Jesus Christ Superstar and Dan Brown, the writer of the Davinci Code who suggest there was a romantic and perhaps even sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There is zero evidence . . . in other words, not a shred of evidence to make anyone think Mary was anything more than a grateful follower of Jesus. She had been tormented by demons and Jesus was the one who brought her deliverance.

Mary is distraught that this one Mary loved, respected, and admired, was stolen. When she looked into the tomb she saw two angels on either side of the slab on which Jesus had lain, and they asked her a simple question: “Why are you crying?” Mary said it was because Jesus had been taken and she just wanted to know where He was.

Before the angels could respond, Mary turned to leave and saw someone standing there. Mary was likely an emotional wreck. It is possible she was weeping. She couldn’t make out who was standing there and assumed it was the gardener. He asked why she was crying and who she was looking for. In desperation she asked if he knew where they had taken Jesus.

All Jesus had to say was “Mary.” She recognized that voice just like a mother can recognize the cry of her child in the Nursery or on the playground. She bowed to the ground and grabbed His feet. Jesus said something odd in response, “Do ot cling to me, I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. Go and tell the rest of the disciples that ‘I’m baaaaack!’”

Why did Jesus tell her not to cling to Him? I think Mary was squeezing his legs and feet as if she would never let Him get out of her sight again. I think Jesus was simply saying, “Mary, relax, I’m not heading to Heaven yet. I’m going to be here for a while so go and spread the news to the rest of the disciples”

So, here’s our timeline: The women go to the tomb. Mary runs back to tell Peter and John. Her story seems incredible, so they run towards the tomb. The other women see the angels and head home to tell the disciples. Meanwhile, Peter and John run to the tomb. They see the angels and head back home convinced Jesus had risen. Mary arrived back at the tomb and met the resurrected Christ.

Sometime on their journey back to Jerusalem Jesus appeared to the other women. They return to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what they saw. Peter and James return and report what they saw and then Mary returned to report she had actually talked with the risen Jesus.

Now I know this can all sound rather confusing. We wonder, why didn’t these people run into each other? Remember, Jerusalem is a big city. It was also filled to brim with people because of Passover. All these people were not all headed necessarily to the same destination. We don’t know how long there was in between visits.

The point is that differences are not the same as contradictions. It is important that you know that these differences can all be put together in a coherent manner.

There is more to the story, and we will pick that up next week. For now, let’s reflect on this part of the story.

Application

The apostle Paul says the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone to our faith. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is the stamp of authenticity to everything else Jesus said and did. It is the reason we can have such confidence that forgiveness and eternal life can really be ours. This is why we need to examine the facts of the resurrection story are so important. I hope you know many of the other arguments for the truthfulness of the resurrection (the empty tomb, the dramatic change in the disciples, the testimony of the soldiers (and the fact they were not killed), and the willing martyrdom of the Apostles.

Let’s draw some applications.

Frist, do not be unnerved by those who say the Bible accounts contradict each other. Anyone can say anything on a television program, a podcast or in a magazine. That’s a good thing to remember with all things. It is important to check out the “facts” from various sides. If you only listen to people who agree with each other you will conclude the evidence is “overwhelming” when it reality, you are only hearing one side that may be greatly biased. Facts are distorted all the time and I suspect it is the reason our country is as divided as it is right now.

Over the years many legal and forensic experts have looked at the evidence for the resurrection. I’ve already told you about forensic police examiner J. Warner Wallace. Let me give you a legal expert as well. The famous English jurist Sir Edward Clark, wrote,

“As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the first Easter day. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling.”7

We Must Grow in Our Understanding of the Salvation of God. As we saw in verse 9, Peter and John both believed Jesus rose from the dead, but they did not yet understand the Scriptures. It took the study of the Scriptures before things really began to make sense.

You can become a believer without having much knowledge. You cannot grow in your faith, or in the enjoyment of your faith without a diligent and consistent study of the Scriptures. You can listen to speakers and pastors, but you will not grow until you engage with the text personally! We need to know what the Bible says . . . for ourselves! When we hear others make claims about the Scriptures we need to ask, “Is that really what the Bible says?”

This is why we put so much emphasis on Sunday School and Bible Studies. All of our Bible studies and Sunday School classes usually involve opening our Bibles and going through the text verse by verse. This is because we know the Word of God is our foundation. If you are not in one of these groups, please consider joining one. You do not need previous Bible knowledge, you just need a willingness to listen to what the Word of God says. Questions are not only welcomed, they are encouraged.

The Resurrection is the Reason We Rejoice. In the midst of the frustration of our time . . . the resurrection of Jesus declares that this is not the end of the story! Yes, times are frustrating. Our lives have been continually intruded upon by Covid-19. Everywhere we go people seem to want to fight. Prices are rising, jobs are getting harder because most people are trying to do the job of 2 or 3 people. And though we try to do our job faithfully we are sometimes hampered by government regulations. People are advocating crazy things! It is frustrating.

Even in the church, it is tough to get people out of their recliners and back into the sanctuary. It is hard to get Christians to commit to worship and service of God as a top priority in their lives. In many lives, it does reach the top 10 on the list of priorities. It is tough to get people to commit not only to the church . . . but to anything! But because of the resurrection, we are not defeated, we have victory through Him who loved us! This life is just the prelude to the life that is yet to come. This is our reason for rejoicing.

If you go to Jerusalem today, you can take a tour of what some purport is the probable tomb of Jesus. And the one thing you will notice that makes it seem like it could be His burial place, is the fact that it is empty! He is not there for He has risen and now reigns in Heaven. He promises that someday soon He will come back and make all things right again.

And someday, if we put our hope in Christ, our families will be comforted as they stand at our cemetery plot. For they will be able to say with confident hope, even through tears of sadness, “They are not here. They are home with our risen Savior.” And that is the reason we rejoice even in the midst of the world’s chaos.

[1]Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 628.