Sunday Morning Service

John 20:1-18

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“She Came, She Saw, She Heard She Went!” • 3.31.13 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Resurrection Sunday Service

Intro.

- Some days I stand before you knowing that I have a difficult passage that may tax your minds and stretch your thinking because that's what it has done for me! Today is not that day!

- Today the message can not be any more clear: Jesus Christ, the One who claimed to be the Messiah, having died vicariously for His people, has risen and is risen from the dead eternally!

- Because of that, every word that He ever spoke is true and every thing that He has ever promised, He is able to deliver! I say that confidently and without shame to you this day!

- But, on that day, things were not as definitive. There were more questions than answers, more darkness than light, more confusion than clarity.

- In fact, I might say because God chooses to use people, that if left to these people, we might not have as confident a message today! Thank God He never fails! Our passage will progress thusly:

I. What They Saw (v.1-10)

II. What She Heard (v.11-17)

III. What She Did (v.18)

Text

I. What They Saw (v.1-10)

• John 20:1 : "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb." : For the Jewish people, Sunday is the first day of the week. Their days are counted from sunset to sunset. This was the original zero dark thirty!

- Historically, this is why the orthodox church meets on Sunday. Every Sunday is the Lord's Day, the celebration of the day of His resurrection!

- Mary Magdalene was first to the scene, perhaps just ahead of the other ladies, about a half dozen according to the other accounts.

- These women were coming to finish their duties towards the Lord's body. Because of the approaching high Sabbath day, they had been unable to completely care for Him as they wanted.

- This would have been somewhere between 4AM and 5AM, the darkest point before dawn.

- They would not have had the benefit of streetlights ambient light from nearby buildings. This was a garden tomb tucked away.

- Mary Magdalene was a woman that Jesus touched in a special way. Jesus delivered her from 7 demons! He freed her from a life of incessant insanity and turned her over to a sane mind.

- Having come to the tomb, she saw that the stone that had been rolled to the entrance, had now been taken away, leaving the tomb exposed to the elements.

- Matthew tells us that there had been a Roman guard set there and they had experienced an earthquake at their location. They have gone their way and now it's just the tomb and Mary.

• John 20:2  : "Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.'" : John does not mention her examining the tomb, though she must have at least looked in!

- As the sun was still rising over the horizon, she ran to get the two disciples that might know the most about what had happened with Jesus.

- Understand that part of John's gospel is written to cause his audience to know that the resurrection was an event that even the disciples did not fully comprehend.

- Had they been clued in, the disciples would have brought popcorn and hung out at the tomb!

- As it happened, Mary had to go and gather them from their deep slumber and her concern is that they had taken the body of the Lord and her group was left out of the loop!

- Her running was not out of a desire to share a miracle, but out of panic at the lack of knowledge regarding the Lord's wherabouts!

• John 20:3-7 : "Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." : These two flew out of the coop, running to the place of the tomb. It's John's gospel so naturally he outran Peter and yelled "FIRST!" when he got there!

- John was the youngest of the disciples, maybe even still a late teenager when this story took place. At the time that he wrote his gospel, he was at least an octogenarion! "I used to run..."

- John stooped down to look. Years of training had told him not to go further, as a good Jewish boy would not want to be defiled. He looked, just getting a scan of the scene at hand.

- He could see the linen cloths lying there at the back of the tomb. He had been there. Those were the clothes He was laid in. Not long after, Peter comes lumbering up behind him.

- He came up completely winded, saying something about "cardio being inferior to lifting" as he cast John aside, going straight into the tomb. This is a great picture of these two men.

- One carefully looking in, the other impetuously diving into the scene. John was the youngest of the disciples, while Peter was likely the eldest.

- Forget tradition and cleanliness and uncleanlieness! Peter was going to inspect that tomb thoroughly! The last time he saw Jesus, he was betraying Him. Peter wants another chance!

- Peter came in and found arrangement. The linen clothes that covered His body were still in place, but the handkerchief was misplaced.

- It was folded together in a place by itself! Jesus did not leave clothes just lying around!

- This tells us that the Shroud of Turin must have been another crucified victim, as John reports that there were two separate cloths, not one continuous cloth!

• John 20:8-10 : "Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes." : After Peter walked out, John stepped in. He saw and believed.

- Now, earlier, Peter saw, "thereo," and was wondering about things, coming to a point of theorizing. Some are theorizing today as well. What does this mean and what does it mean to me?

- Let me tell you today that if you are still a skeptic, I'm glad that you are here looking again at the empty tomb. God welcomes you and invites your theorizing.

- However, don't be misled. He calls you to look the way John did eventually. John came in and saw, "eido," came to a conclusion and believed!

- Jesus had told the disciples that this was going to happen, but they could not really grasp the truth about it. At this point they did not know the scripture that said He must rise from the dead!

- What scripture are they talking about? John is referring to Psalm 16:8ff. David, inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote that God would not allow His Holy One to see decay.

- Most Jewish theologians of this time believed that this prophecy necessarily spoke of King David, a belief that the disciples might have even shared.

- But their experiences on this day taught them to look at this verse with different eyes. Listen to Peter explain this on the day of Pentecost.

• Acts 2:29-36 : "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.' Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.'" : Psalm 16:8ff as well as Peter's quotation of Psalm 110:1. Both the Resurrection, as well as the Ascension were attested to in the Old Testament!

- But when they walked away from the tomb, they both walked home puzzled. Let this be a reminder to us all.

- There will be days that you walk away from events or even scriptures and be unable to see an answer. The answer will always be found In scripture! Keep reading your Bibles and you will see!

II. What She Heard (v.11-17)

• John 20:11 : "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb." : After the two men went away, Mary was left where she started, standing near an open tomb weeping, wailing in pain.

- The word speaks of uncontrollable lamenting that just went on and on, intensifying with each passing moment.

- She has no answers, but the answer that Jesus could be risen has obviously not entered her heart! As tears flooded her eyes, she looked again into the tomb. Had she missed something? 

- You have to see a moment of sovereign grace here. She is heart broken and devastated and perhaps about to walk away, but something prods her to look again.

- Maybe there was a clue that the sun would reveal to her. Maybe she had missed something. Whatever prompted this moment, you can be sure that it was God behind the scenes!

- She and the world are now merely seconds from the greatest news ever! This is the way that it often is. We are in our greatest moments of pain just before God brings us to our greatest joys!

- Psalm 30:5 tells us that weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning!

• John 20:12,13 : "And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.'" : As she peered in, two angels found their way to their seats! Their placement is no accident.

- When the ark of the covenant was constructed, Moses was instructed to have two angels sitting on opposite sides on the top peering over onto the mercy seat.

- The mercy seat was where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled from the High Priest! The Angels were sitting over the place where the blood of the Savior had pooled!

- In an incredulous moment, they asked her, "Why are you weeping?" At some level, one has to understand that human tragedy will always be worthy of tears.

- It was not wrong for Mary to cry, but the Angels question her regarding this moment. This was not the time for tears, especially those of sorrow.

- Mary's answer shows us again that John's point is that they did not believe! At this moment, all she wanted was Jesus' physical body. She just wanted Him as she remembered Him!

• John 20:14,15 : "Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, 'Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.'" : This is just classic. The Angels have talked to her and she just turns around to begin another conversation!

- In the rest of scripture, when people encountered an angel, they generally come close to losing all of that is left in their digestive tracts! Not Mary Magdalene.

- Then, Jesus is right in front of her and she thinks that He's the gardener! This, as well as the rest of the post-resurrection accounts, prove that Jesus looked different after being resurrected.

- Somehow, she thinks He's responsible for removing the Lord from His place and will take on the responsibility if He just let's her know where He is! And technically, she's right! He did move Him!

- Mary's love for Jesus was outstanding. In her mind, she was prepared to pick up a dead body, wrapped heavily in cloth and a hundred pounds of burial treatments.

- She's just going to drag Him wherever once she finds Him! She's ready for duty and it won't be a problem because of her love for Him.

• John 20:16,17 : "Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him,  'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher). 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.’" : It wasn't until Jesus spoke her name, that she realized it was Him. She heard Him call her name!

- She heard the intonation, the way that His voice sounded when He called her name specifically. That was the moment of revelation.

- You can look all that you want and attempt to put the pieces together, but until you hear the Spirit of God calling your name, you can never respond!

- How does faith come? Romans 10 tells us by hearing and that, by the Word of God! Jesus said that His sheep would hear His voice! Have you heard Him speak to you? He calls even now!

- In one flail swoop, she cried out Rabboni, or teacher and attached herself to Jesus' body! "You got away from me once, you're not getting away from me again!"

- I can almost hear Jesus laughing and saying this to her. "Don't cling to me Mary!" Why? Because He had not yet ascended to His Father.

- Jesus is not telling her to stop clinging to Him because He's got business elsewhere! He is telling her two things. First, He's going to be ascending to the Father, but it's not now.

- She will see Him many more times over the next 40 days. He will be appearing to and teaching His followers some very valuable lessons before He ascends.

- However, the second thing is more meaningful to her and to us. What had Mary Magdalene come to find at the tomb? What was she obsessed over? His physical body!

- Jesus is telling her, "Don't get tied to my physical body! You are not going to relate to me this way any longer. My presence through my Holy Spirit will be with you always!"

- We don't need a physical presence now. We have His Holy Spirit who never leaves us!

- We have the capability of having a deeper walk with the Lord simply because we can never be parted from Him! His resurrection brings us into intimate contact with Him hourly!

- It's telling how little we take advantage of His presence with us! Mary obsessed over His physical body. How much do we desire His presence?

- He commissions her to be the first Apostle to the Apostles! Go and tell them this message. Jesus would be ascending to His Father and their Father.

- He was going to ascend to His God and their God! We are so closely united to Christ, that we are brought into the very Family of God through Him!

- When you die and are resurrected, you are welcomed into heaven because Jesus Christ rose from the grave and clothed you with His righteousness when you believed!

III. What She Did (v.18)

• John 20:18 : "Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her." : God gives the greatest news in the world to a woman who had been possessed by 7 demons!

- At His first coming, God gave first dibs to a bunch of shepherds in a field!

- The Rabbis of this time believed that the law should be burned before entrusting it to a woman! How about that Ladies!?

- The Resurrection turns everything around! God says to all the thinking of this world, "I call you foolishness!" Mary could not wait to give the news of what she had seen.

- Our best blessing is to tell the world around us what it is that we have seen Jesus do in our lives. "I used to be, but now I'm." I've seen Him change my attitude and my desires.

- I've seen Him touch and change lives that could not have been changed otherwise!

- She had seen the Lord and now she was sent with a Word from Him! She spoke what He had spoken to her! This is the essence of evangelism and the essence of exposition.

- You and I do not make up a message. He has given us a message. He gives us a testimony and He gives us a duty to tell the World these things.

- What a joy it is to reach out of the well of your own heart and experience and tell the World why it is that you are the way that you are! It's all because Jesus is alive in me!

Conclusion
- You have had a chance to see an open tomb, empty of it's previous inhabitant. What do you see? Are you taking in the scene, trying to figure it out, or have you come to believe?

- You have had a chance to hear from the Savior that death could not stop. He called Mary's name and He is calling your name right now! He loves you and beckons you to hear the message!

- You have had the chance to see and hear. What will you do about it? What will you tell your friends and family? What message will they get from you? Your opinions? Your desires?

- Let it be that you simply deliver His message: He is risen and has gone to His Father and will come again to bring us with Him, that where He is there we may also be!