MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
ILL. Shohoiya Yokowai spent 28 years of his life in prison. It was not a prison of bars & locks & wardens, but a self-imposed prison of fear. He was a Japanese soldier on the island of Guam during WW2. And when the American forces landed, he fled into the jungle & found a cave in which he hid for 28 years because he was afraid of being captured by the Americans.
He learned that the war was over by reading one of the thousands of pamphlets dropped into the jungle. But he was afraid. So for 28 years he lived in the cave, coming out only at night to look for roaches & rats & frogs & mangoes on which he survived.
Finally some natives found him & convinced him that it would be all right for him to come out of his jungle prison.
A. We think, "What a waste! Imagine, spending 28 years living as a a prisoner of fear." Yet, there are a lot of people who are prisoners of fear.
Listen to these words found in Hebrews 2:14-15, "Since the children have flesh & blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - & free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
APPL. Now that is the message of Easter - through Jesus there is freedom from death & the gift of eternal life through the resurrection of Christ our Lord.
B. So please turn with me this morning to the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John, where John tells about the resurrection of Jesus in a slightly different way than do Matthew, Mark, & Luke in their gospel accounts.
Matthew, Mark, & Luke give us the events, while John focuses on a few of the people who are involved, & tells how they reacted when they first heard the news that Jesus was risen.
C. In this chapter John mentions 4 people. Of course, the apostles are mentioned as a group, but only 4 people are mentioned specifically by name.
1. The first one is Mary Magdalene. She is mentioned in vs’s 1 & 2, & then again in more detail in vs’s 11-18. Vs’s 1-2 say,
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb & saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter & the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, & said, `They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, & we don’t know where they have put Him!’"
2. As you noticed, the next 2 people mentioned are Peter & John. Of course, John never mentions his own name. He usually calls himself "the other disciple." So remember, the "other disciple" is the apostle John.
Now follow along with me as I read vs’s 3-8. "So Peter & the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter & reached the tomb first. He bent over & looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
"Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived & 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. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw & believed."
3. Then, in the last part of the chapter Thomas, whom we often call "Doubting Thomas," is mentioned.
SUM. Now those are the 4 that John mentions by name in his Gospel account of the resurrection, & I want us to look at them a bit more carefully this morning. But I’m going to talk about them in a little different order if I may.
PROP. To help us remember these 4 & their reactions that day, I want to use 4 descriptive words, applying one to each of them.
I. JOHN, THE "THINKER"
A. The first word is "thinker." The Apostle John was a thinker. I suppose it is only natural for us to assume that since he was a Gallilean fisherman he probably was poorly educated.
But that is not the case. Study the writings of John & you’ll realize that John was a learned man, a man who understood the classics, a man who watched & listened & thought a lot. When Jesus called him John followed & listened intently to everything that Jesus had to say.
And as he evaluated the message, he grew in his understanding & love until soon he is counted as one of the apostles closest to Jesus. In fact, he is called, "that apostle whom Jesus loved." At the Last Supper, in the upper room, John was the one who sat at the right hand of Jesus.
B. We also find that when the soldiers arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, John is more perceptive & braver than the others. And while Peter is out in the courtyard denying that he even knew Jesus, John is actually inside the courtroom with Jesus, witnessing the illegal trials.
John also stood on Calvary’s hill beside His mother as Jesus suffered the agony of the cross. It was John who saw Him take His last breath. It was John who watched them take His dead body from the cross & place it in the tomb. And it was John who came rushing with Peter to the tomb on Easter morn.
John reached the tomb first & looked in, but impulsive Peter passed him by & went right into the tomb. Then John went in too. They both saw that the tomb was empty, but it was observant & thoughtful John who began to realize what really had happened. If someone had removed Jesus’ body - if tomb-robbers had been at work - why did they leave the grave clothes?
C. Then something else struck John - the grave clothes were not wadded up or tossed aside. They were lying there still in their folds - just as they had been when wrapped around the body of Jesus. That is exactly what the Greek word means there. They were lying just as they had been, when they had encircled the body & the head of Jesus.
The whole point of John’s record is that the grave clothes did not look as if they had been unwrapped or taken off; they were lying in regular folds as if the body of Jesus had simply evaporated out of them & left them there.
Suddenly John realized what had happened, & in his gospel account he says that he saw & he believed. He is risen! Jesus Christ is alive!
APPL. The part that love plays in this account is extraordinary, isn’t it? It was Mary, who loved Jesus so much, who was first at the tomb. It was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, & who loved Jesus, who was first to believe in the resurrection.
That must always be John’s great glory. He was the first man to think it through, to understand, & to believe.
II. THOMAS, THE "CHECKER"
A. The word "checker" fits Thomas, doesn’t it? Thomas is the CPA of the apostolic faith. Thomas wants to make sure everything adds up. Everything has to be exactly right.
Thomas is always saying, "But why? How did you come up with that?" He was always there, but not the one time he really needed to be there. Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to all the rest of the apostles that night.
So when they saw him the apostles said, "Thomas, we have seen the Lord!" Thomas said, "I don’t believe it." "But Thomas, we did see Him. He appeared to us. We saw Him with our own eyes."
"I don’t believe it," said Thomas. "And unless I see the nail marks in His hands & put my finger where the nails were, & put my hand into His side, I will not believe it" [Vs. 25].
B. A week later, Jesus appears to the apostles again, & this time Thomas is present. Jesus turns to Thomas & says, "Thomas, put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand & put it into my side. Stop doubting & believe." "Thomas said to Him, `My Lord & My God!’" [Vs’s 27-28].
APPL. One of the most wonderful things about Christianity is that it invites you to check it out. We are never asked to base our faith on stupidity or ignorance. The Bible always invites us to come & see. Look! Investigate! Examine! Check it out! And when we have, then we’ll come to the same conclusion that Thomas reached, "My Lord & my God."
III. PETER, THE "TALKER"
A. Now whenever we think of Peter, we think of Peter as a "talker." Sometimes he talked at the wrong times. Sometimes he talked when he didn’t know what he was talking about. Sometimes he should have kept his mouth shut. But there were other times when he said marvelous things, & God used him in a wonderful way.
On the Day of Pentecost, following the resurrection & ascension of Jesus, Peter begins to talk. What does he talk about? He talks about the resurrection. In fact, in the 2nd chapter of the Book of Acts you will find his great sermon in which he tells the people. "God has raised this Jesus to life, & we are all witnesses of the fact" [Acts 2:32].
He went on to declare, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord & Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart & said to Peter & the other apostles, `Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, `Repent & be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’" [Acts 2:36-39].
SUM. In fact, read any of the sermons preached by Peter & Paul & all the others & you’ll find that the theme is always the same. It is always a sharing & proclamation of the good news of the resurrected Jesus.
B. In the New Testament there is the often repeated picture of the church coming together to talk about Jesus in praise & worship - to talk to each other, encouraging & building each other up as Christians. Then the church goes out to tell others about what has happened in their lives.
ILL. Frankly, most marriages fail not just because of sexual problems or financial difficulties, but because two people live together in the same house & just don’t talk to each other any more.
ILL. Smoldering disputes have burst into wars because politicians became disenchanted with diplomacy & stopped talking to each other.
But Peter talked, & the apostles talked, & those who heard talked, & the church kept on talking until multitudes came to know & accept Jesus as Lord & Savior of their lives. And we as His church must do the same today.
SUM. Tomorrow is a Monday just like any other Monday. But hopefully, we as His church will be different because once again we have seen the empty tomb & felt the glory of His resurrection.
IV. MARY MAGDALENE, THE "SEEKER"
A. Finally, let’s look at Mary Magdalene, the "seeker." Luke says that she had been possessed by 7 demons who controlled her life until Jesus cast them out. What had they done to her? What had her life been like? We don’t know.
But one day Mary came seeking, & Jesus reached out & cleansed her, & now you will not find a more faithful follower than Mary Magdalene. Mary was there when Jesus hung on the cross. Mary was there as He suffered & bled & died.
And John tells us that on that morning it was Mary who first made her way to the tomb wondering, "Who will roll the stone away?"
When she saw that the stone was already moved, she was bewildered. She glanced inside & then quickly turned & ran to tell Peter & John. That is when Peter & John ran to the tomb, leaving Mary behind.
B. But John tells us that Mary came back to the tomb, still not knowing what had happened, & she was weeping. Listen as I read John 21:11-16.
"But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb & saw 2 angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head & the other at the foot. They asked her, `Woman, why are you crying?’
"`They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, `& I don’t know where they have put Him.’ At this she turned around & saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. `Woman,’ He said, `why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’
"Thinking He was the gardener, she said, `Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, & I will get Him.’ Jesus said to her, `Mary.’ She turned toward Him & cried out in Aramaic, `Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher]." The moment she heard her name she knew that it was Jesus.
C. The Bible says, "Seek & ye shall find. Knock & it shall be opened unto you." And I’m convinced that what you’re seeking is what you’ll find.
CONCL. I come to Easter Sunday with great concern because I know there are people who are shopping around, looking & seeking. I’m never really sure what they’re seeking.
Maybe you’re seeking an annual spiritual boost that will last you for the next twelve months. If that is what you’re seeking, that is what you’ll find.
Maybe you have come this morning to be entertained by spiritual performers who will do their parts, recite their pieces, sing their songs - somehow to entertain you. If that is what you came for, that is all you’ll find.
But if you have come looking for the risen Lord, you can know that He is here too. You can find Him just as Mary, who came with her heart on her sleeve, found Him so long ago. Maybe some of you have come also with a hurting heart that needs to be healed.
Maybe some of you have come like John with his searching, inquiring mind. You have come needing to be taught & to know more about Jesus.
Maybe some have come like Thomas with his stubborn will, having a hard time making up your mind about Jesus & what He wants you to do.
Maybe some of you have come like Peter with a yielded tongue that is ready to tell others about Jesus & what His resurrection means to you.
SUM. No matter how different you may be from your neighbor or from me or anyone else, Jesus can meet your needs. The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed, & we have voices to proclaim it. Will you proclaim it with us also?
You are invited by the Lord Himself as we stand & sing.
