STUDY THEME: ONE SOLITARY LIFE: THE LIFE OF JESUS 7-15-01

UNIT 7: JESUS IS ALIVE! “RECOGNIZING THE RISEN LORD.”

JOHN 20: 1-9, 10-16, 17-18

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 20.

Last Sunday we read John’s account of the crucifixion. The disciples had scattered when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. John was present at the crucifixion scene, and seen the head of Christ fall forward as He concluded the prayer, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” The King was dead. As Good Friday came to a close we left Jesus in Joseph of Arimathaea’s tomb. Nicodemus had supplied the spices and assisted in the preparation of Jesus body. The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee looked on from a distance. From 6 P.M. Friday to 6 P.M. Saturday during the Sabbath the women rested.

Time and again Jesus had told the disciples He was to be crucified, but that the third day He would rise again. They never seemed to grasp what He was, saying. They were not looking for Him to rise again. Their hopes were dashed to pieces and all His Messianic claims were dissipated. The enemies of Jesus wee interested in His burial. They made sure that the dead body would remain in the tomb. Pilate’s royal seal and the posted guard would see to that.

Today we begin Unit 7, the last unit of our study of the life of Jesus. This unit contains five lessons that focus on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the resurrected Jesus. These five lessons present the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as the foundation for our Christian hope and living. Each lesson, however, has a distinctive emphasis that applies to us today.

1.PLEASE READ JOHN 20: 1-9.

It was early Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene , Mary the Mother of James and Salome came to the tomb to look at the tomb and to anoint the body of Jesus. The Gospel narrative tells us that the tomb was situated in a garden close to Calvary. Arriving at the tomb they found the great stone had been removed from the entrance to the tomb. The guards had fallen to the ground from fear and lay as dead men.

Matt. 28:2 says “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended form heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” The Gospels do not say the stone had to be removed in order for Jesus to come out. But the stone had to be removed so the women and disciples could see that the tomb was empty and report what they had seen to the other disciples. The angel sitting on the great stone spoke to the women, “Fear not ye” he said, assuring them that no friend of Jesus need be alarmed. Then he declared the fact of the empty tomb and the risen Jesus and invited them to “see the place where the Lord lay." Mary ran to tell Peter and John.

In passing, notice where Simon Peter was. He was with John, and consequently in company with John and the mother of our Lord. The last picture we had of him in last Sunday’s lesson he was a man with a broken heart, going out, having denied his Lord. John had taken him in. I’m sure he and Mary must have comforted Peter.

Combing the four narratives from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the order of events on Sunday, the resurrection morning would seem to be as follows: In the early morning, the women went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body, even though they didn’t know how they could get into the tomb. They found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.

Why did John mention only Mary while the other Gospels tell of more women who went to the tomb? One reason may be that Mary was the spokesperson of the group. Another reason may have been that John intended to give in greater and more personal detail than the other three Gospels an account of Jesus appearance to Mary.

When Mary reached Peter and John she had to catch her breath before she exclaimed “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him.” She assumed the body had been stolen. Why didn’t Mary see beyond the body being gone to the miracle of the resurrection? Mary was not looking for a miracle; to see the stone rolled away, and the entrance unguarded. Mary became an apostle to the apostles when Jesus gave her a mission.

The body of Jesus was removed from the tomb either by natural or supernatural means, If by natural means, it was removed either by friends or foes. If by friends, what of the guard? If by foes, these could have produced the body and silenced the testimony to arisen Jesus. The conclusion then is that the body left the tomb by spiritual means.

Meanwhile, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and then the other women arrived at the tomb, entered and saw angels who assured them Jesus had arisen. They ran from the tomb in fear and joy to inform the other disciples. Matt. 28: 9 says “behold, Jesus met them saying, Rejoice.” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him.

Peter and John started for the tomb in a run. John out ran Peter but when he reached the tomb he looked in but did not enter. By contrast, when Peter arrived he went directly into the tomb. He saw the grave clothes as they had been wound about the body of Jesus, with all the spices in the windings, untouched, except that those around the body had fallen flat. They were not unwound. The napkin was lying by itself separately; and was still in folds as it had been about the head of Jesus. The grave clothes had not been disturbed. They were just as they were when Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus left them. Jesus was able to pass through the grave clothes much in the same way that He later appeared in the locked room without opening the door.

When Peter looked, he saw the grave clothes undisturbed, but that fact had no particular significance for him, except it did prove Jesus body was not there. John entered the tomb and saw the very same thing as Peter. They both viewed the very same burial clothes. But John saw something that the others had missed. John was able to put the pieces together, even though he did not understand that the resurrection was prophesied in the O.T. John saw and believed. His Lord was not there. He was risen! This is the center and the heart of Christianity. Deny it and we have no Christianity.

The empty tomb is important. Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:14, 17, “If Jesus’ tomb was not empty, then our faith is in vain.” But the empty tomb of itself did not create faith in the resurrection. John is the only one of Jesus followers who, in some measure, believed as a result of the empty tomb. And even his believing may have been based more on the orderly arrangement of the burial clothes than on the empty tomb.

Jesus’ appearances wee what brought the others to this faith. After Jesus’ appearances, the empty tomb had significance. For one thing, it was one line of evidence that Jesus’ resurrection was more than His spirit going to God the Father. Jesus’ body was raised from the dead. Jesus’ enemies claimed the disciples stole His body, but they were never able to find a body because it had been raised form the dead. In light of the appearances of the risen Lord, the empty tomb bears testimony that Jesus is alive.

2 PLEASE READ JOHN 10: 10-16.

Someone has called this story the greatest recognition scene in all literature. To Mary belongs the glory of being the first person to see the Risen Lord. John did not tell what Mary had been doing while Peter and John were at the tomb. Likely she followed them back. At any rate, the disciples went away again unto their own home and Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. The word “weeping” denotes not a quiet, restrained shedding of tears, but the noisy lamentation typical of Easterners. She was convulsed with her weeping. Mary Magalene’s heart was broken. She was in despair because she believed that the last thing she could have of Jesus—His dead body—was gone forever.

Standing there, she leaned over to the tomb, evidently to look in. She wanted to see for herself what Peter and John had seen. I can see her there, Mary of Magdala, out of whom Jesus had case seven demons. She had lost her Lord. She saw them put Him on His Cross. She had tarried longer than anyone else. One of the Gospels reveals the fact that she stayed all through the first night after they had placed Him in the tomb. She was back again the first day after the Jewish Sabbath. She saw something Peter and John had not reported; two angels in white. Mary did not recognize them as angels for the angels looked like men; they did not have halos or wings. Mary did not notice anything unusual. Others, when confronted by angels, felt fear, but Mary answered the angels as if they were two human inquirers. They asked why she was crying. You can hear the edge in her voice when she, likely still sobbing, blurted out; “They have taken my Lord away----and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

Mary evidently heard movement behind her, for she turned around. She saw Jesus standing there but did not know that it was Jesus. He asked the same question the angels had asked then followed with the question, “Who are you looking for?” Mary expected no one to be near the burial place so early in the morning. Only a gardener was there, she thought, who was working to make things beautiful for all the visitors at Passover time.

Since he was the only person Mary saw, the logical conclusion Mary came to was that the gardener had removed Jesus’ body from the tomb. So Mary, with tears still streaming down her cheeks, said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will get Him.”

This failure to recognize the risen Jesus immediately isn’t surprising. The appearance of Jesus to Mary was totally unexpected. Jesus hadn’t been resuscitated but had passed through death and is now a part of a new order of resurrected life with an imperishable body. Mary was searching for a corpse instead of a victorious Lord. She had forgotten that Jesus had predicted that He would rise again on the third day. We ask,” how could she have possibly forgotten that amazing statement.” But would we have acted differently?

That a woman would be the first to see the risen Lord is evidence of Jesus’ electing power as well as a mark of the narrative’s historicity. No Jewish author in the ancient world would have invented a story with a woman as the first witness to this most important event. Furthermore, Jesus may have introduced Himself to Mary first because she had so earnestly sought Him. She was at the cross when he was dying and she went to His tomb early on Sunday morning.

Jesus had told His disciples in John 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” It’s something we can be sure of. The method of recognition may vary with each of us, but the principle holds good. It required only one word, “Mary,” One word that remade her world and transformed her life forever after, and the word was her own name! This is a memorable confirmation of the personal nature of our Lord’s dealings with His people. We aren’t merely numbers to God; we’re individually known and loved. Jesus had assured his disciples, “The Good Shepherd knows His own and they recognize His voice.” No gardener would know Mary’s name but Jesus did.

That moment of recognition was the moment when Mary believed. She expressed it in one word, “Rabboni”—“My own dear teacher.” Prior to that moment when she heard Jesus call her name, what do you think Mary felt? She probably felt panic, fear, grief, and despair. These emotions changed to hope and joy when she realized that Jesus was not dead but living. Her despair was typical of all the followers of Jesus prior to His resurrection appearances. The two disciples on the Emmaus road in next Sunday’s lesson, who saw Jesus later that day, according to Luke 24:21, “had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” After they recognized Jesus they were filled with joy. The disciples met that night behind doors because of their fear. Then they wee glad when they saw Jesus alive.

In Ephesians 2:12 Paul described people without Christ as “without hope and without God.” This does not mean that non-Christians have no hopes, for most people have hopes and dreams. But those who do not know Christ have no real basis for confident hope in this life or in the life to come. Many people are cynical about hope. They see hope as deceitful, luring people on with false promises. An old English proverb says ‘Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.’ Another proverb is ‘He who lives on hope will die fasting.’ Still another proverb is ‘He who lives in hope dances without music.’ Abraham Crowley wrote, ‘Hope is the most hopeless thing of all.’

Notice what difference faith in the crucified, risen Lord makes in our lives by restating in positive terms the list o what we would lose. Because we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, we believe that the message of the good news is true. The faith of believers is real, our testimony is true; our sins are forgiven, our hope is built on solid ground, the dead in Christ are with the Lord and we, according to 1 Corinthians 15, shall experience victory over death.

3. PLEASE READ JOHN 20;: 17-18.

In these verses we see Mary of Magdala in three relationships. First alone in Vs. 11: secondly, with the angels in Vs. 12-13 and now in Vs. 14-17 with her Lord. There is one very real difficulty in this passage. When the recognition scene is complete, at first sight, at all events, Jesus said to Mary, “touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Just a few verses later in John 20: 27 we find Him inviting Thomas to touch Him. In Luke24:39 we read of Him inviting the terrified disciples: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle Me and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”

In Matt. 28:9 we read that “they came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.” The NIV indicates Mary was clinging to Jesus. Mary had grabbed Jesus and apparently “would not let go.” When the Lord told Mary “to stop clinging to Me,” He was teaching Mary that now she must not seek to hold Him to the earth, but, rather, become His messenger of JOY. Having accomplished the sacrifice, He was on His way to present the sacred blood in heaven; and He merely meant; “do not detain Me now; I have not yet ascended,” you will see me again; run rather to My brothers. So Mary Magdalene was not only the first person to see the Lord after His resurrection but also the first commanded to tell the good news to others.

When the other women told the apostles of Jesus resurrection, Luke 24:11 says “and their words sounded to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.” That is when Peter and John ran to the tombs.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead turned what seemed a defeat into a victory. When Jesus died, His followers felt defeated: however, after His resurrection, they saw both death and resurrection as God’s greatest victory.

When Napoleon returned from exile and led forth the armies of France, the former enemies of France braced themselves to fight the powerful French army once again. Wellington led the English forces that met Napoleon at Waterloo. Everything seemed to hinge on the outcome of this battle. The people in England waited nervously for, news of the battle’s outcome. Tradition says that a ship was to send a message by signal flags to lookouts in the tower of the Cathedral of Winchester. When the anxious lookouts saw a message being sent, the message said, WELLINGTON DEFEATED. Then fog obscured the message. When this message was sent to the nation, the English felt that all was lost. Finally the fog lifted and the lookouts saw that the full message was WELLINGTON DEFEATED NAPOLEON. The nation rejoiced when they heard this news, Their gloom was turned to joy.

After the crucifixion, the followers of Jesus thought the message was JESUS DEFEATED, but after He was raised from the dead, they saw a different message: JESUS DEFEATED SIN AND DEATH. As a result of this event we can now sing:

Because He lives I can face tomorrow;

Because He lives all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future;

And life is worth the living just because He lives.

The Easter Message is the very heart of our Christian faith; for it transforms the tragedy of the cross into Gospel. Paul said it well in 1 Cor. 15: 1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The resurrection must never be viewed as a mere epilogue to Calvary. In our Lord’s teaching His resurrection is never divorced from His crucifixion. The atoning cross and the empty tomb form a redemptive complex. The Pauline Gospel is based upon a Risen Savior. By nature of His resurrection our Savior entered upon His ministry as High Priest, performing the functions of intercession and benediction. Jesus was dead but God raised Him up again, releasing Him from the pangs of death; it was impossible that death should have the mastery over Him.

You will note that Jesus did not appear to unbelievers after His resurrection because the evidence of His resurrection would not have convinced them even as the miracles had not. The god of this world had blinded them and prevented their belief. Rather, Jesus appeared exclusively to His own in order to confirm their faith in the living Christ. Such appearances were so profound that they transformed the disciples from cowardly men hiding in fear to bold witness for Jesus.

A sentence sermon to remember: “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”

NEXT SUNDAY, IN LUKE 24, ON THE DAY OF HIS RESURRECTION, JESUS WALKS ALONG WITH TWO HOPELESS DISCIPLES FROM EMMAUS AND EXPLAINS HIS PRESENCE FROM GENESIS TO MALACHI. A.V. DAUGHERTY 7-15-01

THE HEAVY STONE

By Linda Wilson

We came with hearts so heavy,

To the sepulcher that day;

And as we came we pondered thus,

Who’ll roll the stone away?

We’ve come with spices sweet

To worship and anoint our own;

To show our love for Him now dead,

But who’ll roll away the stone?

Then suddenly the earth did quake

As we came unto the tomb.

God’s angel smiled as he sat down there

Upon that heavy stone.

Don’t worry dear ones, be not afraid…

The one you seek is gone---

This grave could never hold Him back,

He rolled away the stone.

Mark 16:1-6

When things you face seem very large

The task impossible to meet…

Don’t say who’ll roll the stone away?”

By faith expect the earth to quake,

Then bow at Jesus’ feet.

Matthew 21: 21 & 22.

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