Scripture: John 20:11-29
Introduction
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. Matthew 28:1-2
- Why did the angel roll the stone away from the tomb? Was it to let Jesus out? NO
- Jesus got up and walked out under His own power while the door was still in place.
- This stone probably weighed between one and two tons and was continuously guarded.
- It was moved to allow access for people to prepare the body for burial.
- Remember they had to wait until the first day of the week after Passover and the Sabbath.
- The soldiers would have opened it for them, but God moved it with the angel.
- There are so many ways to celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
- But today, I want to focus on the body of Christ – which is now missing.
- Sadly, we can’t celebrate today without embracing Friday and the cross.
- The world threw everything it had against Jesus to defeat Him and He overcame it all.
- The shock and surprise of finding an empty tomb would give rise to a lot of speculation.
- We know from Matthew 28:12-15 that a story was fabricated to explain what happened:
When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
- This story probably saved the soldiers’ lives because they would have been punished.
- I want us to understand today, the significance of a physical, bodily resurrection.
- There are three events I want us to think about:
- Jesus Appears to Mary
- Jesus Appears to Disciples
- Jesus Appears to Thomas
1. Jesus Appears to Mary
- Who was the first disciple that Jesus appeared to? Mary
- She was the only one identified in Mark and John’s Gospels to see Him alone.
- Jesus chose to appear first to Mary.
- All four Gospels place Mary and the other women at the tomb and hearing the angel
- Of course, the men didn’t believe them and ran to see for themselves.
- Our Scripture today picks up with the scene of Mary at the tomb by herself.
- Mary is crying and upset because not only did she see her dear friend executed, but now His body is gone, and she can’t even do what she came to do as one last tribute to Him.
- When the angels ask her why she is crying, she says it is because someone has taken the body.
- We can all relate to her pain and grief – we’ve all lost friends or family.
- But none of us have experienced the additional grief of a missing body.
- Are you beginning to see how much emphasis the Gospels place on the body of Christ?
- This is all for a very good reason that is important to us.
- You see, there is so much more to the story of eternal life than just a spiritual resurrection
- Jesus took His body with Him and Mary is about to find Him.
- His body has been modified to no longer conform to the laws of physics of our planet.
- Since He created everything, He can certainly adapt it to serve His purposes.
- He can walk through walls or just appear anywhere He wants to.
- He can even control whether someone recognizes Him or not.
- He is standing right behind Mary, yet she doesn’t recognize Him at first.
- As a matter of fact, she assumes He is one of the gardeners.
- It isn’t until Jesus says her name in verse 16 that she recognizes
- And when she recognized it was Him, she did what we all would do: she hugged Him.
- The reason we know she hugged Him is what He told her in verse 17:
Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
- Based on this description can you see that Jesus had substance and was huggable?
- And so, it will be with all of us after we die – we will have substance and be huggable.
- This is what He taught Mary, and this is what He teaches us today:
He is ALIVE and He is real and he is still huggable.
2. Jesus Appears to Disciples
- On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
- It’s Sunday night and the disciples are still hiding out as they have been since Thursday.
- And then POOF Jesus is suddenly standing there.
- Again, He has substance and His substance is not affected by solid walls or locked doors.
- Not only did He have substance, but He still had the holes in His hands and sides from His time on the cross.
- So, His appearance was still very familiar to the disciples, but still bore His suffering.
- His presence with the disciples gave them the strength and confidence they needed.
- Don’t we have times like this where life gets us down and we are scared?
- I know sometimes I have days where I just want to crawl under my desk.
- All we need to hear is Jesus saying, “Peace be with you.”
- There is so much power in those four little words. “Peace be with you.” Say it with me.
- Those are four words we need to keep in our head and say to each other as well.
- Does anybody in your life need to hear those words? How about you? Peace be with you
- The power of Jesus’ presence didn’t stop there though …
- Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
- Jesus is telling them they are empowered to take up where He left off.
- And, my friends, this applies to us as well: the baton has been passed to them and now us.
- The text says: “he breathed on them” – again the emphasis on his physicality.
- He tells them to: “Receive the Holy Spirit,” but we know the Spirit really kicks in 50 days from now at Pentecost.
- Finally, He tells them: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
- That is important advice that rings true today for us because forgiveness comes from you.
- Forgiveness does not magically absolve the person being forgiven it absolves the forgiver.
- Forgiveness unburdens you from carrying the grudge or the pain caused by the person forgiven.
- And with that, it’s the last we hear about Jesus’ first visit back with the disciples.
3. Jesus Appears to Thomas
- Well, here’s the thing: Thomas wasn’t around when Jesus popped in that Easter evening.
- We don’t know where Thomas was, but the point is he wasn’t there when Jesus came.
- So, when he got there, the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
- Old DOUBTING Thomas didn’t believe them and smugly declared:
Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
- A week later the disciples were in the house again and this time, Thomas was with them.
- Again, the doors were locked, but Jesus appeared and stood among them.
- Again, He started out by saying, “Peace be with you!”
- He anticipated Thomas and immediately told him, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
- Jesus still had substance and physicality and yet still bore the holes from his suffering.
- Thomas did as He said and quickly confessed his belief with: “My Lord and my God!”
- Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- This is our message for today: Jesus is alive!! He is physically and substantially ALIVE.
- First, He demonstrated how alive He was one on one with Mary.
- Next, He demonstrated how alive He was with His disciples – except for Thomas.
- Then, He demonstrated how alive He was just for Thomas.
- This is our model for spreading the Gospel. Helping people to RECOGNIZE
- First, meet people where they are one at a time – demonstrate how alive Jesus is in our lives.
- Next, demonstrate to the world that Jesus is alive by demonstrate how alive Jesus is in our lives.
- Finally, just as Jesus did with Thomas, accept that there will be doubters and take the time to continuously demonstrate for others how alive Jesus is in our lives.
- Jesus stayed with the disciples for the next 40 days eating, talking, teaching, laughing.
- Jesus is ALIVE! And He has demonstrated that, after physical death, there is physical life.