Audio Link
Encountering the Risen Jesus
John 20:1-18, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 07-12-2020
Introduction
We opened last week with verses 3 and 4 of 1 Corinthians 15. In that chapter, Apostle Paul makes a compelling case that Christianity is a belief system and a way of life based entirely upon historical realities, the most important of which are these: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). He continues in verse 19 of the same chapter, If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
That last sentence is important. In our day it is very common for people to say or think something along these lines: I don’t care what you think, in fact I don’t really even care if Jesus did or didn’t rise from the dead. You believe what you want, you do you, whatever gives you peace and helps you sleep is good for you. You live with your truth, I’ll live by mine. But Paul won’t let us stay there. He says that if Christianity is based on anything other than historical reality, then it is bunk, and Christians should be the laughingstock of the world. But if it is true, eternity hangs in the balance. And here’s where our text this morning comes in, as we read John’s account of those early morning hours on Resurrection Morning. We will frame the text with four basic questions as we examine John 20:1-18, 1) What do you assume? 2) Why are you weeping? 3) Whom are you seeking? and 4) Who will you tell?
What Do You Assume?
V1, Mary Magdalene. Magdalene, simply means “of Magdala” a fishing town on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, about 3 miles NW of Tiberius, the Roman capital of the region of Galilee.
Was she involved with Jesus romantically? Da Vinci code vs. history;
Confusion regarding biblical identity: probably not the unnamed woman of Luke 7 and definitely not Mary of Bethany in John 12
So, what do we know?
She’s a woman in the 1st century. Witness in court, instruction in the law, etc
We also know that Jesus cast 7 demons from her (Luke 8:2)
Demon possession manifested itself in various ways, we don’t know hers.
We also know she became a close follower and supporter of Christ
Luke 8:2, John 19:25
Jesus came in and turned Mary’s life upside down, he made all the difference in the world.
So while it’s still dark, on the first day of the week, she approaches to finish 19:40-42
As she approaches (not alone, cf v2 we, Mk 16:1) she sees the stone taken away
What would this grave have looked like?
What does Mary assume when she sees the stone rolled away? V2, they have taken the Lord
The story cuts away from Mary after she tells Peter and the other disciple (John)
The go look for themselves, v3-4
The hurry forward, John reaching there first either due to age or simply being faster
But he isn’t more bold, v5-6, Peter gets there and goes in
What does Peter find? Evidence of the resurrection
Had there been robbers, what condition would the place have been in?
This is a perplexing set of circumstances for the first witnesses to the grave. Mary assumes that an open grave means a robbery. Peter and John, though seeing the evidence, as yet did not understand from the Scriptures (v9)
Mary had wrong and uninformed assumptions, and it led her down the path of worry and fear
But note that John, though his understanding is dim (not grasping Scripture), does believe (v8)
What does he believe? I think he believes that Jesus rose (10:18, 2:18-22)
Does he understand fully? No. But instead of looking around distraught, he realizes that this is in fact what Jesus had said-even if he still doesn’t grasp why it had to happen
To what Scriptures does John refer in v9? Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 53:10
There is a sub-point here: though the Scriptures are clear for all to read and understand, our eyes are dim and veiled until God illumines us to grasp hold of their meaning: and the piece that must come first is belief in the resurrection
Why Are You Weeping?
The disciples head back to where they had been in v10, and now Mary has apparently returned. If we insert from the other gospels, what she missed when she ran back to Peter and John was the encounter which the other women had with the angels in the tomb. But as she comes back she’ll have her own set of encounters which will change her life forever.
V11, we find Mary standing there and weeping. Is this wrong or weak?
On one level, of course not. 11:35
But on another level, we must realize that while our emotions are real, they can very well be flawed
Mary pokes her head into the tomb, and you might imagine her surprise: there are two living occupants!
These angels, dressed in white, apparently don’t make as much of an impression on Mary as you’d expect, though: she shows no signs of fear
They ask her a simple question: Woman, why are you weeping?
Why is Mary weeping? V13, they have taken...I do not know where
Note the lack of any doubt in Mary’s answer. Her assumptions become her reality.
Mary is weeping because she just knows that Jesus’ body has been taken away. She just knows that she can’t find his body, and thus will not find the closure she so desperately needs. She just knows. This is why she weeps.
There’s a quote I love from John Piper, “We should all fortify ourselves against the dark hours of depression by cultivating a deep distrust of the certainties of despair. Despair is relentless in the certainties of its pessimism. But we have seen again and again, from our own experience and others’, that absolute statements of hopelessness that we make in the dark are notoriously unreliable. Our dark certainties are not sureties. While we have the light, let us cultivate distrust of the certainties of despair.” When we are low, we often do not see things clearly, in fact, we might miss the glaringly obvious. Like when Jesus shows up.
Whom Are You Seeking?
A man appears behind Mary in v15, and she turns around to see who it is.
But she misses it. Partly explained by the tears, maybe hair across her face if she’s ugly crying. But Jesus is also somehow the same and changed (cf Luke 24:16)
What does Jesus do? He starts asking questions.
The first question repeats the question of the angels, and implied there seems to be a gentle rebuke. She’s crying in part because of the empty tomb: which ought to be the very source of her hope!
Mary replies just how we expect, probing him for whatever information she can
Maybe he is the gardener and knows what happened
But did you notice that Jesus asked a second question, beyond that of the angels?
Whom are you seeking?
That’s the question Jesus asks each of us this morning: whom are you seeking?
Mary’s problem is that she’s looking for the wrong Jesus
She’s looking for a corpse, a body, a dead Savior
What Jesus are you looking for this morning? The one who gives an easier life, fulfills an emotional need, the one who is custom tailored to your whims and fancies, the Jesus who looks and thinks suspiciously like me?
You don’t need the Jesus of your imagination: you need the real Jesus. The risen Jesus who stands here speaking to Mary.
What changes for Mary? How does she move from looking at the risen Christ and assuming he must be a gardener to realizing that this is Jesus? Verse 16 tells us, Jesus said to her, “Mary.” One word. That’s all it took. John 10:3, 4, 27, The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them...and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice...My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Jesus speaks her name, and in that moment opens her eyes to see him for who he is. And her reaction at that point is understandable, she clings to him and cries out Rabboni! (which means Teacher). Again, we see the deep love she has for Jesus, as she is moved from overwhelming sorrow to a profound sense of joy.
But we need to ask another question: what does she see in Jesus? Jesus’ response to Mary here seems strange: Do not cling to me, he says. Isn’t clinging to Jesus a good thing? Yes. And no.
You see, it might be very natural for Mary at this point to assume that her relationship to Jesus as his follower would largely go back to what it was before, where a group of them supported him financially, followed him around, witnessed his miracles, listened to his teaching, etc. Yet he says here that she is not to cling to him, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Jesus’ relationship with his followers undergoes a fundamental change after he was crucified and resurrected, and especially once he ascended back to his Father’s right hand. No longer would he walk visibly with his followers, and this must have been very hard for them to grasp. John 16:4-7. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus was very soon to cease walking physically with his disciples, but he was to send them something better: the presence of God himself within them. God the Holy Spirit would come to indwell all true followers of Jesus. The apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 1, refers to the giving of the Holy Spirit as God putting his seal on us, or giving us a guarantee of our standing with him. Which would explain Jesus’ other words here to Mary: go and tell my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
Do you see what Jesus did there? He first calls his followers “brothers”, then he identifies himself with them: my Father and your Father, my God and your God. Jesus is welcoming his followers in as those who have been made children of God, or again as Paul writes, this time to the Romans (8:17), we are fellow heirs with Christ. John 1:12 says to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
What should we see when we behold the risen Christ? Not simply the miracle worker, or a great Rabbi or teacher. We ought to see our risen Savior, through whom our sin is paid for, in whose perfect life, shed blood, and victorious resurrection I can now stand as a beloved child of God, because he bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
Who Will You Tell?
Notice how Mary responds to her Lord’s command in verse 18. She obeys. She goes, and she announced to the disciples “I have seen the Lord”---and that he had said these things to her.
Have you sensed the movement of Mary through this narrative? Early on in the gospels we meet her simply as one of the many for whom Jesus had done a miraculous work of healing, then we see her as a devoted follower. We come to John 19 and see her standing at the foot of the cross. By the beginning of chapter 20 she is a confused, despairing, weepy mess. And yet by verse 18, we see that she is not only a believer in Jesus, but a proclaimer of his resurrection. In John 16:20 Jesus tells his followers, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. Mary has experienced this turning. This is what comes of meeting the risen Christ.
Brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest news in all the world. It means that death has been conquered, sin has been paid for, life eternal, and approval with God right now, are available to any and all who trust in Christ alone for their salvation. But this is only good news for people if they hear it.
Certain news stories exist for more than information, in fact demanding a response from us. The good news of Jesus demands this response first: repent of your sins, and trust in the risen Christ. But the next response flows naturally from that: share that good news with someone. I was so encouraged on Wednesday night to hear Gloria sharing with us about a conversation with a friend who doesn’t know the Lord, and she was asking him if he knew about Jesus and what he did on the cross, paying for our sins. This is exactly what the Good News should be compelling us to do! Jesus rescues us from the power and penalty of sin, and sends us out on mission, he makes us ministers of reconciliation, heralds of the Good News. So as we close, I’ll challenge you, and myself with this question: who will you tell?