TSJ and TSL 22-07-2018
A touch from the Risen Lord
If John’s Gospel had finished with Chapter 19, it would not be something special.
All biographies generally end with the death of the person who is the subject of the book.
Imagine if it had been with the Gospels. The chances are we would probably not have bothered much with them. Merrill Tenney put the matter like this:
“The picture of Jesus would have been of a man with exceptional character, who made extraordinary claims and whose sincerity could not be reasonably doubted. Nevertheless the main narrative would have been closed with a sense of frustration. His claims would have been negated, his aspirations would have been unrealised and his teaching would have been too lofty to be true.
The major difference between the life and teachings of Jesus and any other of the great religious leaders lies in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and the others did not, however persistent their influence may be”
(NIV Bible Commentary p.366 Barker and Kohlenberger)
Or put more simply, the key to understanding the Christina faith lies not simply in understanding Jesus teaching but in knowing that Jesus rose from the dead.
This is not a blind faith, it is one that has sound reasoning behind it.
There is a very good book called “ Who moved the stone” by Frank Morison, if you would like to root around more to see the evidence of the Resurrection.
The author states at the beginning that he was an atheist when he started to write the book.
Frank Morison had hoped that the book would be the final nail in the coffin of reasoned Christianity.
But when he looked into the historical data his mind was changed and he wrote one of the best apologetics book in 20th Century.
When I first became a Christian, some people said that we needed to have blind faith to become a Christian
You simply had to believe what was written in the Bible
And while that may apply when you first become a Christian, Peter tells us to
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
Or put another way, we have a faith that is reasonable.
I have now been a Christian since 1972. (46 years now).
And before I was a Vicar I was a patent lawyer.
So I am keen on evidence.
And the more I think about it, the most reasonable explanation for my Christian faith is that Jesus died and rose from the dead.
A former English judge, Lord Darling said speaking about the resurrection fo Jesus Chrsit said this
” In its favour as living truth, there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true “ p. 40 of Nicky Gumbel’s Questions of Life
Most Sundays many of us profess our faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead when we say the words of the Creed:
“ I believe ..….in Jesus Christ,
his only Son our Lord who was
Conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead and buried
He descended into Hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead”
(The Apostles Prayer - BCP)
But do we know why we believe it
I believe it because of the impact the Christian Church has had in the world.
When Jesus was crucified on the Cross, his band of followers were scattered.
After all, Galilee was a hotbed of unrest and false Messiahs sprang up everywhere.
And once they were killed, their movements died with them.
Gamaliel the famous Jewish rabbi once said this about such leaders:
“Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”(Acts 5:34-39)
Professor Charlie Moule, the famous NT theologian once said:
"the birth and rapid rise of the Christian Church ... remains an unsolved enigma for any historian who refuses to take seriously the only explanation offered by the church itself - the resurrection." (C.F.D. Moule, The Phenomenon of the New Testament).
The Resurrection is a major pillar of our faith
St. Paul put it like this:
“..if Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is futile” (I Cor. 15: 17)
St. Paul, a first Century witness, records the importance of the Easter story.
He wrote this in 1 Corinthians
”For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
i) that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
ii) that he was buried,
iii) that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and
iv) that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor. 15:3-8).
Paul records 513 (five hundred and thirteen) men as having seen the risen Lord.
If that is so, and the Resurrection is so important have you ever therefore wondered why John mentions only four post Resurrection appearances of the Risen Jesus.
In John 20 we read of three of these.
He appeared
i) to Mary Magdalene
ii) to all the disciples except Thomas and finally
iii) to Thomas (and the other disciples)
And in the following Chapter, John 21 we read of Jesus appearing to seven disciples including Peter, James and John, Thomas, Nathaniel and two unnamed disciples and his having breakfast with them. And it was when Jesus spoke with Peter at that breakfast that Jesus forgave Peter for denying him three times.
I think the reason John doesn’t record more post Resurrection encounters is because it didn’t fit in with the aim of his book.
What do I mean ?
John summed up the aim of his Gospel as follows:
"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name."
In other words, John is not writing a history book as we know history books but a book to awaken faith.
And so the three post resurrection stories of John 20 have been recorded to awake faith in us.
For John, I believe, is saying: “You are either going to believe or you are not going to believe – and I have given you enough evidence to believe.
So why did John incorporate as one of his four resurrections stories the story of Jesus revealing Himself to Mary Magdalene.
After all Jewish society was patriarchal.
Women were very low down the pecking order.
For example a woman could not be a witness in a Court of Law.
Orthodox Jewish men still pray this prayer
"Blessed are you, Hashem, King of the Universe, for not having made me a Gentile."
"Blessed are you, Hashem, King of the Universe, for not having made me a slave."
Blessed are you, Hashem, King of the Universe, for not having made me a woman."
“Hashem” is a roundabout way of referring to God because the name of God is too holy for pious Jews to use.
Back to the Gospel reading.
I believe that by appearing to Mary first, Jesus
dispels the myth
i) that men are more important to God than women and
ii) that God is only interested in certain important religious people.
One is a disciple of Christ it doesn’t matter if you are male or female. He loves you unconditionally just as you are.
And Paul put the matter well when he said in Gal 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
As today is the Feast of Mary Magdalene, I would like simply to look at the narrative as it relates to Mary
Who was Mary Magdalene.
Wikapedia gives this helpful discussion about Mary Magdalene:
Saint Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, travelled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles.
Mary's epithet Magdalene most likely means that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The Gospel of Luke 8:2-3 lists Mary as one of the women who travelled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably relatively wealthy.
The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, a statement which is repeated in the longer ending of Mark.
In all four canonical gospels, she is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels, she is also present at his burial.
All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women, as the first witness to the empty tomb, and the first to testify to Jesus's resurrection.
For these reasons, she is known in many Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles".
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene)
John Chapter 20 opens with Mary Magdalene making her way to the tomb in which Jesus has been laid.
Try to put yourself in Mary’s shoes.
Jesus was a very, very dear friend.
Her leader and great friend, the Rabbi Jesus she had followed had been crucified three days earlier.
Her whole world had come crashing down around her.
And I believe Mary Magdalene was a very sensitive person.
So when Jesus first meets Mary after his resurrection, she couldn’t see Jesus for her grief.
That is what grief can do to people.
So far as she was concerned, Jesus was dead and she had come to anoint his body for burial such was her love for him
It was only when she heard him call her name that she realises that He was risen.
Jesus spoke her name – and by speaking released her from her grief.
There are going to be times when we suffer from grief.
We may grieve for the loss of loved ones.
And it is at times like this that we need to listen for Jesus’ voice calling us.
Jesus deals with each person’s needs differently.
He treats us as individuals.
Looking at the four post Resurrections stories about Jesus we see that each person hearing Jesus speak to them personally
1. Mary simply needed to hear Jesus’ voice and her grief was healed.
2. The disciples behind locked doors needed to hear Jesus speak peace to them to release them from their fear.
3. Thomas said he needed to touch Jesus physically before he would believe, but it is when Jesus speaks to Thomas he says “my Lord and my God”.
And that was no small thing for a religious Jew like Thomas
4. And finally Peter needed was to hear words of forgiveness and reinstatement from Jesus to overcome his grief in denying Jesus.
Each in their own way needed to hear Jesus speaking to them.
And Jesus still speaks to us today, if we will listen for that small still voice in the bustle of noise around us.
As he comforted his disciples then so he can comfort us too today. There is no one for whom Jesus has NO time.
Often it is us who are caught up with too many other things that we miss hearing his voice.
