[If you would like to receive free weekly sermons by email, please contact jonrmcleod@yahoo.com]
THE DAWNING OF A NEW DAY
If the Gospel of John had been an ordinary biography, there would be no CHAPTER 20.
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) (John 20:1-9)
Jesus had been crucified on Friday (or Thursday, as some believe). His body was in the tomb until the resurrection, which certainly took place before dawn on Sunday morning. The Gospels tell us that a group of women walked to the tomb from Jerusalem bearing spices to anoint the body of Jesus. There were at least four women and maybe more. Matthew says that the group included Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James. Mark adds that Salome was present. And Luke says that Joanna was among them. These women started out while it was still dark and arrived at the tomb very early in the morning.
When they reached the tomb, they were astonished to find the stone removed from the entrance. We can imagine them standing there, afraid to go too close and wondering what had happened. Who moved the stone? Had the body of Jesus been stolen? What should they do? Finally, they decided that the disciples must be told, and Mary Magdalene was dispatched to find them. Not one of them imagined that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
After awhile it began to grow lighter and the women grew bolder. They decided to look into the tomb. Then they saw the angels. The women were frightened. But one of the angels said, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen” (Matthew 28:5-6).
Meanwhile, Mary found the two chief disciples, Peter and John. Perhaps they were at John’s house where the beloved disciple had taken Jesus’ mother on the day of the crucifixion (John 19:27). The two disciples started for the tomb, running and leaving Mary far behind. Outrunning Peter, John arrived at the tomb first. He stooped to look through the narrow opening, and saw the grave clothes. Then Peter arrived, out of breath and in a hurry; he brushed John aside and plunged into the tomb. The Bible says that Peter “went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen” (John 20:6-7). Afterward, John entered, saw what Peter had seen and believed in Jesus’ resurrection (v. 8).
After this the appearances of the Lord began. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene who arrived back at the tomb after John and Peter had returned to the city. Next He appeared to the women, then to Peter alone, then to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then, later that night, to the disciples (minus Thomas) as they were gathered in the upper room. All those who saw the risen Lord believed. But John believed first, and he did so before he actually saw Jesus. What made him believe? What did he see that convinced him of Jesus’ resurrection? John believed because he saw the undisturbed condition of the grave clothes. He understood that Jesus’ body had passed through the grave clothes. He was risen! (adapted from James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, pp. 1564-1565)
After Peter and John witnessed the empty tomb, “they still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to [must] rise from the dead” (John 20:9). The resurrection was something that had to happen because the OT predicted it. (Paul also tells us that Jesus was raised “on the third day according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:4.) But what passage does John have in mind? We can’t know for sure, but there are a few possibilities.
· “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay” (Psalm 16:10; cf. Acts 13:35).
· “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offering and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11).
· Jesus used the story of Jonah to illustrate His own death, burial, and resurrection: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40; cf. Jonah 1:17).
· Paul saw in the Feast of Firstfruits a picture of the resurrection: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:9-14; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
EXPLAINING THE EMPTY TOMB
Was the tomb really empty?
· If the enemies of Jesus had taken the body, they could have easily DISPROVED the resurrection.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse that the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard (Matthew 27:62-66).
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day (Matthew 28:11-15).
· If the friends of Jesus had taken the body, they would not have RISKED THEIR LIVES to proclaim the resurrection.
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:22-24).
· If grave robbers had stolen the body, the grave clothes would not have been NEATLY left behind.
[Simon Peter] saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen (John 20:6-7).
· YES! Jesus is ALIVE!
DOES IT MATTER?
Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important?
1. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, His REPUTATION would be destroyed.
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:17-19).
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:5-6; cf. Luke 24:5-8).
2. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the GOSPEL would be destroyed.
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Romans 4:25).
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).
3. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, our HOPE would be destroyed.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile [worthless, mere delusion]; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
If the tomb had not been empty, life would be EMPTY. [Break hollow egg]
OUR FAITH IS NOT WORTHLESS
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
When the perishable has been clothed with imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:54-58).
RESOURCES USED
James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, vol. 5
Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John, vol. 2
Leon Morris, The Gospel according to John (NICNT)
Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology
Merrill C. Tenney, John (EBC)
Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Transformed
