THE NEWS THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING: HE LIVES! - John 20:1-18
Introduction: One of my great-grandmothers was a Ukrainian immigrant. They came over early in the 20th century. She died around 1970. One thing I remember about her, is the beautiful eggs she decorated at Easter time. It was traditional. Not just colored eggs, but carefully, artistically designed patterns. Some of those eggs would be eaten, others had the egg carefully removed from the shell before it was dyed so that they could be displayed longer. A strange thing, so beautiful on the outside, it looked like an egg, but a hollow shell, empty. Paul said a similar thing would be true of Christianity if it were not for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus…
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor 15:17-20).
The death and resurrection of Jesus together were the pivotal moment in the history of redemption. In the beginning of the Letter to the Romans, Paul said that Jesus was “…declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead…” (Romans 1:4). Peter wrote in his first letter,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:3-5).
So, the resurrection both vindicates the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, and it gives us a sure hope because He has defeated death. Empowered by the resurrection of the Redeemer, we look ahead, in faith, to the resurrection of the redeemed. We started a series in the Gospel of John over 4 months ago, and last week we jumped ahead to chapter 12 and the story of the Triumphal Entry. On Good Friday our focus was on the Cross, which in many respects, is the climax of the story from John’s perspective. Jesus willingly went to the cross and gave His life as a ransom for many. In John 12:27-28a,
“Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name…”
That is the “lifting up of the Son” which the entire Gospel had been anticipating. But John won’t neglect to report “part 2” of the glorification of the Son – His resurrection from the dead. Today we’ll go to John 20 and read the Apostle’s account of the first witnesses to the resurrection. This is an essential element of the “Good News,” and it changes everything! Recall Paul’s summary of the gospel, the “Good News,” at the beginning of I Corinthians 15:3-4, “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried. He was raised again the third day according to the Scriptures…” That is the foundation of our faith and the heart of our hope.
It is that part of the gospel story, as related by the beloved disciple, an eyewitness, one of the first to arrive at the empty tomb, that we come to today. At the heart of the Gospel message, the power that works in us and gives assurance, is the truth that Christ “…rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…” Every other human biography eventually terminates with the death of the person who is the subject of the book. There is an indispensable addendum to this story: Jesus is alive! We serve a risen Savior!
The Big Idea: Our Hope is sure because the tomb was empty and Jesus is alive. That Good News changes everything! The truth is profound, our outline is simple: 1) The tomb was empty (1-10); 2) Jesus is alive (11-16); 3) That Good News changes everything!
I. The Tomb really was empty (20:1-10). Seemingly, it was the last thing that any of them had expected. Are we surprised that they were so slow to catch on? After all, Jesus had repeatedly told them that it was necessary for him to be betrayed, crucified, and raised from the dead on the third day. They didn’t yet have ears to hear or eyes to see. They had some framework for the possibility of someone rising from the dead. Lazarus was recently raised by Jesus after four days in the tomb. But now Jesus himself was dead, how could they hope that He would walk alive out of the tomb on his own?
First, as the passage opens, we see the Struggle of Faith (20:1,2)…
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
John tells us that somehow, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb before the other women and is the first to see the stone rolled away from the entrance. According to the other gospels, at some point she met the other women, and apparently at least looked into the tomb to see that the body was not there. Her immediate conclusion: someone must have stolen his body and removed it from the tomb. It wasn’t bad enough that the rulers had rejected Him and that Pilate had gone along with an unjust execution, but now He is denied the decency of having his body left in peace in the grave!
Notice a small detail here: Mary came to the tomb while it was still dark. Besides giving us the obvious time reference, night and day in John repeatedly also has a spiritual significance. Remember that Nicodemus had come to Jesus “at night” and we see that he was still in the dark spiritually as well. He couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying when He talked about being born again. “How can these things be?” Jesus asked him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? (Jn 3:10). Nicodemus was still in the dark. It was early morning, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb, saw the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, but she too was still in the dark, she didn’t (yet!) understand what had happened and what it meant. She concluded that someone must have stolen the body! So, she ran to Peter and John with the news.
The prophet Habbakuk said “the just shall live by faith” and that became one of the key themes in Paul’s letters. Though at one level faith is “believing God, taking Him at His word…” it also means trusting Him as His story unfolds in history and in our lives. Many times, as we are passing through this life we will struggle, as Mary did, and pray, like the Father who brought his demon possessed son to Jesus in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief…” So, we see the very real human struggle of faith…
As the story continues, we see the Growth of Faith (20:3-6).
3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Peter and John raced to the tomb, John gets there first and stops at the entrance and looks in, Peter catches up and runs right past him into the tomb. It’s not too surprising at this point to see Peter go rushing in! No doubt their heads were spinning as they tried to make sense out of what they had heard, what was happening, and what this meant. Peter first sees the grave clothes lying empty. Then,
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
John, upon entering the tomb, sees and believes. In this context, after the resurrection, it seems like this must mean that he came to a fuller, correct understanding of who Jesus is and that He was alive again. Soon they would meet the risen Lord. Ultimately, the transformation in these men is a powerful testimony to the historicity of what happened. How else can you explain men who ran in fear, and who denied they knew Him, later, as we read in Acts, fearlessly proclaiming the Gospel at the risk of their own lives? The tomb was and is empty! That is a fact of history. Has the significance of that truth come home to your heart? It is not only the revelation of that fact historically, but the interpretation of it verbally that God uses to speak to our hearts.
Notice the experience of the disciples, we read in verse 9, “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” As they “go home” in v.10 they are still trying to make sense of what had happened. Elsewhere Paul reminds us that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Rom 10:13). By the Spirit, God’s Word is “activated” in us. Later in this chapter Jesus tells Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe!” John tells us “…these are written that you might believe…” We need to take God at His Word, receiving the Word which is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” It is through the Word that we know that Jesus defeated death and that He is who He claimed to be. He is worthy of our worship and our obedience. You see, 1) the tomb really is empty because; 2)…
II. Jesus really is alive (20:11-16)! The empty tomb is intriguing, but it needs to be explained. What happened? Where was the body? What does it mean? Let’s read the testimony of the first witnesses. The two disciples had gone home…
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
We have an eyewitness to testify to that first Easter morning. Soon, she would see Him, and then the disciples as well. We know He appeared to them over a period of forty days, until His ascension (Acts 1:3). Paul said that He appeared to over five hundred of the brethren at once (I Cor 15:6). Still, the early opponents of Christianity attempted to circulate “explanations” to deal with the problem of the empty tomb (even if they had to make them up!). We read, for example, in Matthew 28:11-15…
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
Evidently when Matthew wrote his gospel there was an ongoing attempt by the Jewish leaders to “explain away” the empty tomb. Their attempts to do so confirm that the tomb was indeed empty. A made-up story is meaningless. The only thing that matters is what really happened. At first even the disciples weren’t sure.
Back in John 20, when we look at Mary Magdalene it is clear that what we don’t know about the big story, what God is doing in the world, can bring grief (11-13). Jesus told His disciples before the Cross, “You will sorrow, but your sorrow will be turned to joy!” (Jn 16:20b). Mary returns to the tomb, heartbroken and confused. She didn’t understand, but she didn’t stop seeking. She bent down and looked into the tomb. The implication is that she wanted to understand, to make sense out of this story that was unfolding before her eyes.
She was seeking the truth. So, she looks in… and sees two angels! It seems as though she did not realize that they were angels, even as they spoke with her. It was early morning, but Mary, for the moment, was still in the dark. “Why are you weeping?” they ask. She replies, “…They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him…” The tomb is empty, but Mary still hasn’t understood what had happened. Then the Light of the World shines on her.
In the midst of our pain Jesus calls us by name (14-16). That one word, the Master calling her name, opened her understanding, illumined her faith: “Mary!” Two things stand out here: 1) He knows us intimately, personally. Have you had a time of darkness when you were struggling to understand, to make sense of a difficult moment in your life? God is there, He is in control. He has a plan. And we can be assured that somehow, He is working for our good, and for His glory.
2) Mary, confused and in tears, hears Jesus speak her name, recognizes His voice, and replies immediately, “Teacher!” Earlier in John, Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice…” It’s rarely an audible voice, but just as surely the Master speaks to us today. He certainly speaks through Scripture, or through the love of Christ that flows through a brother or sister around us, or maybe a song that brings sound theology to our heart and moves us closer to Him… He knows us, and He wants us to trust Him, to believe Him. That is the Big Idea: Our Hope is sure because 1) the tomb was empty, and 2) Jesus is alive. And…
III. THAT is Good News that changes everything! Mary was sent as a “witness” (17-18). Jesus told her to go to the others and tell what she saw and heard from Him…
"Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" 18 Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (John 20:17-18).
Jesus said, “Go and tell.” So, Mary, obediently, joyfully, “went and told!” After all, she had met with Jesus, and out of despair sprang hope. Her task now was to bring hope to others around her who also were hurting, by being a witness to the Truth: He lives! And just a few verses down in this chapter, He appears to the disciples and says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you” (Jn 20:22). Shalom!
This is really Good News, it is the best news ever! And it changes everything.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Our hope is sure because the tomb is really empty, and Jesus is really alive. That is really Good News, and it changes everything!
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Because Jesus defeated death, we know He is who He claimed to be. The work is done. He is worthy of our worship. Do you believe? Will you trust Him even in the times of darkness?
1) Have you believed the Gospel message? It means admitting that we are a sinner and acknowledging that our sin separates us from God (Rom 3:23). Then, we have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins on the cross (John 3:16). And then we have to trust Him as our personal Lord and Savior: He died for you, personally, and rose again (Rom 10:9,10).
2) Will you determine to live by faith, remembering His presence, even when the trials of life in this sin cursed world try to eclipse the Light? Remember, we know the One who is the Light of the World, and He knows us. We have seen His glory! He is the God of all Creation, and He is bigger than anything we might be facing.
3) If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, know that He has placed you exactly where He wants you. The people in your sphere of influence desperately need to know Him. Pray, and be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you! Christ is risen! AMEN.
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