INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• We are here today to celebrate!
• What are we celebrating? Easter eggs, the Easter bunny? Candy? Or some religious experience?
• No, folks today we are here to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! CAN I GET AN AMEN!
• Why is the resurrection a cause for celebration? Did it happen, and what does it mean?
• What are the implications of this event in history?
• Did Jesus literally rise from the dead or was this RESURRECTION metaphorical, or spiritual? Did He defeat death?
• When it comes to believing that Jesus was literally and physically resurrected after his death, Americans differ in opinion.
o “Two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) say the biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are entirely accurate.
o A quarter (23 percent) disagree.
o Thirteen percent are not sure.
o Almost all of those with evangelical beliefs (98 percent) agree, as do more than half of Americans who do not hold evangelical beliefs (56 percent)” (Bob Smietana, “Americans Love God and the Bible, Are Fuzzy on the Details,” September 27, 2016, LifeWay Research, http://lifewayresearch.com/2016/09/27/americans-love-god-and-the-bible-are-fuzzy-on-the-details/).
• The Gospels provide a clear account that Jesus was raised from the dead—not just metaphorically or spiritually, but by a resurrection of his physical body. We can believe this by faith according to the Bible’s testimony.
• Some people might claim that Jesus’s resurrection was merely metaphorical: his teachings and way of life lived on through his disciples after he died.
• Others might claim that Jesus’s resurrection was purely spiritual: Jesus returned and appeared to his followers on earth but only as a spirit, not in a real body.
• John’s testimony in our passage today we will see that both of those assertions are not based on the evidence.
• The bodily resurrection of Jesus has profound implications for your life and for your eternal life.
• SLIDE #2
• 1 Corinthians 15:12–19 (CSB) — 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
• As you can see, a lot is riding on whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. Christianity rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus.
• By the way, there have been skeptics throughout the ages who have sought to disprove the resurrection of Jesus so they could put the nail in the coffin of Christianity, people such a Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel, who after research ultimately gave their lives to Jesus!
• Today, on Resurrection Sunday, we will see that Jesus conquered death through his physical death and physical resurrection.
• In our text today, we are going to look at two people and a group of people (the disciples) who would encounter the resurrected Jesus.
• By the way, one common thread you will notice in all three instances we will examine is that in all three cases, the folks were not expecting ever to see Jesus alive again, they were sort of skeptics.
• Let’s look at John 20:11-18
• SLIDE #3
• John 20:11–18 (CSB) — 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.
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. Flesh and bone: He appeared to Mary.
• The scene is that Mary Magdelene had gone to the tomb on Sunday morning to preserve the body of Jesus more adequately.
• Mary was a part of two groups of women who were going to work on the dead body of Jesus.
• Mary gets to the tomb first to see that the stone had been rolled away, so she ran to Peter and the other disciples to tell them, not that HE HAD RISEN, but rather that someone had taken the body of Jesus out of the tomb and that she did not know where they put Him. John 20:2
• So here we have a follower of Jesus, along with other followers of Jesus, who did not come to the tomb expecting a resurrection.
• These folks were not fringe followers; they were some of His core followers.
• When Peter and John heard the news from Mary, they too ran to the tomb only to find it empty.
• They did not say, wow HE IS RISEN. We are told they found the burial cloths lying where Jesus had been, and curiously, the cloths that covered His head were folded and were in a separate place. John 20:7
• We are told the this in verses 8-10
• SLIDE #5
• John 20:8–10 (CSB) — 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. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.
• Verse 9 is telling. It points to the fact that at this stage neither Peter, nor John, nor anyone else understood the empty tomb as pointing to a resurrected Jesus.
• Before the event, no one but Jesus knew that he would die and, within a few hours, life would return to his body so that he could encounter his disciples physically. Bryant, B. H., & Krause, M. S. (1998). John (Jn 20:8–9). Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.
• John saw the empty tomb and the condition of the tomb and believed. However, it was not until later that they fully understood with happened.
• So back to Mary.
• She goes back to the tomb, sees a couple of Angels at the tomb, then they ask her why she is crying. VERSE 13
• 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.”
• She still thinks the body was stolen.
• Then there is a person there who speaks to her.
• 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.”
• She sees Jesus, and to show is He is not a mental manifestation or a ghost, look at verse 17.
• 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.”
• Jesus told her to let go of Him, she was clinging to Him. The word CLING means to touch, to grasp firmly.
• Now Mary leaves the tomb with a new mission!
• 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.
• Let’s turn to verses 19-25
• SLIDE #6
• John 20:19–23 (CSB) — 19 When it was evening of 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.” 20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
• SLIDE #7
II. Flesh and bone: He appeared to the disciples.
• Now we get to the disciples. Now it is Sunday evening, earlier in the day Mary and two groups of women, along with Peter and John saw an empty tomb.
• Mary after encountering Jesus delivered a message to the disciples. John 20:17-18
• What do we find the disciples doing? They were gathered together behind locked doors because they were afraid the Jews would find them.
• Then Jesus appears.
• Now John makes everything look calm and peaceful.
• Luke, in his parallel account, tells us that a couple of other people on the road to Emmaus encountered Jesus, and while they were with the eleven (minus Thomas), Jesus appears!
• What was the response of all in the room? They were all startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost! Luke 24:36-38.
• Then Jesus invites them to examine Him, look at His hands and feet.
• SLIDE #8
• Luke 24:38–39 (CSB) — 38 “Why are you troubled?” he asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
• Then in verse 41, Jesus asks for something to eat. Ghosts do not eat.
• So these men were scared skeptics, yet they finally understood!
• Jesus stood before them flesh and bone!
• Let’s look at verses 24-29
• SLIDE #9
• John 20:24–29 (CSB) — 24 But Thomas (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.” 26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
• SLIDE #10
III. Flesh and bone: He appeared to Thomas.
• Thomas. Poor guy gets a bad rap. I wonder if when he walked the streets or when he gathered with the early church if people called him doubting?
• Or HEY D! What’s up!
• Thomas upon hearing the others tell him that Jesus appeared to the said, RIGHT!
• What were you all smoking?
• 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.”
• I wonder how often the other ten tried to convince him that Jesus came to them?
• A week later.
• 26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”
• Thomas saw and he believed.
• Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
CONCLUSION
• In verse 31, John discloses to his readers his whole purpose for sharing these accounts: that we “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in his name.”
• New Testament scholar N.T. Wright writes, “Some people would say well, you just have to have faith, and either you got it, or you don't. And in a sense that's right, and we must be aware of making Thomas' mistake, thinking that we will only believe if we are given solid evidence.
• But there is something else going on here as well because the resurrection is one of those uncomfortable things that comes out of the realm of faith and insists on being treated as part of the realm of history.
• You can say all you like that while history can't deal with resurrections because there is no analogy or no supporting documentation to support such a kind thing, but something has happened in the world of the first century.
• As a result of which, the world turned out to be a different place” (N. T. Wright excerpt from "The Resurrection of the Son of God" (course), N. T. Wright Online, accessed November 8, 2017, http://ntwrightonline.org/jesus-resurrection-change-anything/).
• These men who were hiding behind locked doors after the crucifixion all boldly proclaimed the gospel in the streets of Jerusalem, most of them died as martyrs for Jesus.
• We can step into the hope of eternity starting today by believing in what Jesus accomplished for us personally through his death and resurrection.
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 tells us that because Jesus was raised from the dead, so shall we one day!
• When we trust in Jesus's bodily death and resurrection, we can have hope that we will rise again physically after our death
