John 20

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Father, we thank you for this day that you have given us for your mercy, your grace, and your blessings. Father, thank you for bringing us together to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father, I pray now as we go to your word that you will hide us behind your cross, that our minds would be safe from the distractions of the world around us. Father, let your word reach deep into our hearts today that you would be glorified. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. All right, this week marks the first of the final two chapters in the Book of John. As we study these two chapters, we mark a new milestone in the book. First, beginning in this chapter, Christ will have been resurrected from the grave. He will.

It is finished. We saw that last week. Our sin debt has been paid. But also from chapters 14 through or. Sorry.

Chapters twelve through 19 have all taken place in the span of 124 hours period. We've spent roughly three months in that same one day period. Today we break that cycle. We are now three days later, and we'll read here in verses one through ten. It says, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark.

She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, they've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they put him. At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb. First, stooping down, he saw the linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in.

Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen clothes cloths lying there. The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen clothes, but was folded up in a separate place by itself. The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.

Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.

So it's the first day. Jesus has been dead for three days. He died Friday night and was in the grave. Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday, the third day. That is how counting occurs in Judaism.

In Hebrew. It's weird to us. To me, three days is 72 hours, right? So from 08:00 Friday night to 08:00 Saturday night to 08:00 Sunday night to 08:00 Monday night is three days. That's how I count time.

But the Jews, they count time based on the day itself. So Friday he went into the grave. Day one, Saturday, the entire day he was in the grave. Day two and Sunday, at least until he resurrected, he was in the grave. Day three.

So three days that Jesus has been dead and in the tomb. It's the first day of the week, right? Sunday morning, the day on which we now worship and gather together to Sabbath to worship God. The reason we gather on Sunday is precisely because Jesus rose from the grave. So we see here, from John's point of view, that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.

It's still dark out, so it's early, early morning. 545 to 615 in the morning is what it would look like for us here. She comes to the tomb, she comes to visit Jesus, and the first thing that she sees is the stone had been moved away. Now we need to discuss the stone for a minute. The stone is estimated to have weighed roughly a ton.

This is a massive stone. We're not talking a small little boulder that a single person can roll out of the way. We are talking something that requires five, six, seven minutes to move if they were to move on their own. So the stone has been removed. And the very first thing that Mary says is, he's gone.

Notice here, it doesn't even tell us that she went into the tomb. She just sees the stone rolled away and she takes off running. Here in verse two, she goes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. Remember, that is John the beloved. And she tells them they've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and I don't know where he is.

Remember on Easter Sunday, we discussed the evidence at length of the resurrection. How do we know that Jesus rose from the grave? And while we did that, we discussed the various possibilities. Is it possible that somebody took the body and hid it? And the answer that we come to the conclusion is that it's not possible, because there's only two reasons to take the body.

The first reason is so that when the Christians say that he rose from the grave, they can bring the body of Christ and say, you know, he didn't. You lie. Or here's the body. And the second reason is to say that he rose from the grave because there's no body. But if that were the case, the body would have eventually turned up.

And even if it did not turn up, as the authorities began executing the believers of Christ, foretelling of this resurrection story, eventually somebody would have recanted and said, no, we took the body, but that never happened. So we know that no one took the body of Christ. But Mary Magdalene assumes that it has been stolen when she sees the stone rolled away. At this news, Peter and John, they head to the tomb and they are running together. But then John, remember we discussed that John is likely the youngest.

He outruns Peter. He gets to the tomb and he crouches, though, and he looks in it, and he sees the burial cloth of Christ lying there with no body. This is where does somebody store the body? Why would they unwrap it? First, if I wanted to take the body of Christ and say that he rose from the grave, why would I go through the process of unwrapping all of the linen cloth that held the spices in and kept the stench out?

That makes no sense. But what he sees when he looks and he sees the burial cloths are there, but there's no body. Jesus came out and the clothing stayed. Then Peter also comes and he says, get out of the way, John. You know, I've got to get in there.

And he. He stoops down and he runs into the tomb, and he, too, he sees the burial clothing is over here, but then the headpiece is folded up. Now, a lot, a lot of pastors, a lot of. Of Bible scholars, they see a great significance in this headcloth. I've heard many different pastors try to read into this, into this folded napkin, many, various things, from the idea that a folded napkin means I'm coming back, as in, Jesus is not done yet to other ideas.

I do not believe that there is much to read in depth into this cloth other than that Jesus got out of it and he folded it and left it in place. But at this point in time, it says that they believed. What do they believe that's interesting in verse eight, they believe that he's not there. But do they believe that he was taken right, like Mary Magdalene suggested? Or do they believe that he is rose from the grave.

Verse nine says that they had not yet understood that Jesus must raise from the grave.

So the scripture makes it very unclear right now, what is it that they believe? I believe at this point until the appearance of Jesus, that they believe that he was stolen. Now, as we read the other accounts of the gospels in Matthew, Mark and Luke, there are different perspectives of what happens to and remember. Who is the first people to actually speak to the resurrected Christ? It's the woman.

As of now, the women have not yet spoken in this account to the resurrected Christ to deliver the news to the men that he has risen.

So if I kind of piece together the chronology from the other accounts, the disciples, it says here in verse ten, they left and they went to where they were staying. So they come, they see the empty tomb. They believe, if I read this as it seems, they believe that he has been stolen, and they retreat. And then later we see the account in the other gospels of the woman back at the tomb. When Jesus appears, they mistake him for the gardener, and he appears and he talks to.

And then they take the news to the disciples to tell them of the risen Lord. And now this timeline is being pieced together by me. This is not an official timeline. This is not guaranteed to be the correct timeline because I'm piecing it together based on the different accounts, and each account will tell the story differently. In one account, you don't read of Peter and John coming to the tomb first and seeing it empty and going back.

You only read of the woman talking to the resurrected lord and then going and telling them, in some accounts there's only one person there. In some accounts, there's three people there. So I'm piecing together the timeline based on reading these different scriptures, these different accounts, and trying to place together. When did this person get here? When did that person get there?

And I believe if we go based on the fact that the disciples are here without hearing of the resurrected Lord, that they got there before he revealed himself to the woman. So they depart and they go to where they are staying. Right. They forgot that he had promised he would rise from the dead.

Let's read verses eleven through 18. But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. And as she was crying, she stopped. She stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. And they said to her, woman, why are you crying?

Because they've taken away my lord. She told them, I don't know where they put him. Having said this, she turned around.

Having said that, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but did not know it was Jesus woman. Jesus said to her, why are you crying? Who is it that you're seeking? Supposing he was the gardener? She replied, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will take him away.

Jesus said to her, Mary, turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, rabboni, meaning, teacher, don't cling to me. Jesus told her. Her, since I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Magnanim went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And she told them what he had said to her.

So Mary is weeping at the tomb, and for some reason looks in and sees two angels in white sitting there where Jesus had lied laid.

And they begin asking her, why are you crying? Jesus spent his ministry teaching people that he would raise from the grave. He says, destroy this temple, referring to his body, and in three days I will again raise it up. He said he had prophesied time and again that he would raise, that he would come back right before he died. He said, soon I will no longer be with you.

And then in a little while yet I will be with you again. We read that a few chapters again. So they're like, why are you crying? We told you that he would die, and we told you he would come back to life, so why are you so upset? And she says, they've taken away my lord, and I don't know where he is.

They have totally, in their distress, in their emotional turmoil, have totally forgotten that Jesus promised to return.

After this. She turns around and sees Jesus standing there, but does not know that it's him. Why doesn't she know that it's Jesus? Doesn't she, you know, she's followed him for three years. Surely she knows what he looks like, so why doesn't she recognize him?

If you remember, in Book of Matthew, there is the transfiguration that takes place. Jesus is up on the mount, and there are three disciples with him. And there they see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. And if you remember, in that account, it describes that Jesus, his figure totally changed, right? He was bright like the sun.

He was glorious. Everything about his figure changed. And I believe that in the resurrection, Jesus looked like he did in the transfiguration. He was glorified again. He had overcome sin and death.

He is in the fullness of his glory that he once had had. And he is unrecognizable until he opens their eyes. He opens her eyes with one simple word. Jesus said to her, mary. There's something about the way that he said her name, either in his voice, because he had already talked to her.

He asked her, why are you crying? Who are you seeking? But then when he says her name, there's something in the tone or the softness or the expression that Mary recognizes the voice of her lord.

And she turns around. And when you read this, it says in it, she said in Aramaic, Rabboni. But the way it's said, it's an excited tone, right? She turned around with joy, with great enthusiasm. She says, rabboni.

Right? Which means, teacher, it's you. You're here.

Jesus says in verse 17, do not cling to me. I have not yet ascended to the father. And he instructs her to go and tell the others. But I want to focus on this. Don't cling to me.

He does not want to be touched. He has resurrected from the ground. He's not yet gone to see the father. Right. Before seeing the Father, I would think that I would go to the Father first and foremost.

Right? See, remember that Jesus has been with God for eternity past until he came to earth. I would think I'd go back to that companionship. But first he comes to reveal himself to Maryland.

Now we know later that Jesus will allow the disciples to poke and prod at him, to feel his wounds in his hands, in his feet and his rib, particularly doubting Thomas. But so what happens between verse 17 and then I believe, right. Jesus tells Mary to tell them in verse 17 that I'm ascending to my father and to your father, to my God and to your God. It is my belief that once Jesus announces his resurrection, that he then ascends into heaven, sees the Father and comes back down to visit the disciples. He appears to the twelve, he appears to the 500.

He appears on the shore. I believe that he ascended first and came back. I believe that first because that gets rid of some contradictions. If Jesus did not ascend and did not want to be touched because he had not yet ascended, then he could not allow the others to poke him, products him. But also he doesn't.

Tell her, tell them I'll meet them later. He says, tell them that I'm ascending to my father. So it is my belief in the timeline of the resurrection that he reveals himself to Mary, ascends into heaven, sees the Father and comes back down to earth to finish up his final. Finish up his stuff here on earth before he ascends to heaven permanently.

Mary Magdalene then goes and announces to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And she told him what he said to her.

Could you imagine at this point in time there's still an emotional turmoil. In fact, by now the disciples have all heard that he's stolen. He's gone. Where is he? I would doubt that Peter and John went back and did not tell the other disciples his body was gone.

I would not have kept that to myself. So by now the news has spread. His body's gone. He's stolen. And then here comes Mary Magdalene.

Guys, I've seen him. I talked with the Lord. This is what he told me.

I would love to have been there, to see their faces, because that's me. I would love to have looked at them when they heard this news. To see the expression, to be there both with that emotion, but with that joy of the announcement. However, and we don't see it here in this gospel, there's also a degree to which I imagine that they said, mary, you're crazy.

He died three days ago. He's gone. But then in verse 19 through 31, it says that when it's evening on the first day of the week, the disciples are gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

And the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. After saying this, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.

If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. But Thomas called twins. One of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, we've seen the Lord. And he said to them, if I don't see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the mark of the nails, put my hand into his side, I will never believe.

A week later, his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them even though the doors are locked. Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believe.

Thomas responded to him, my lord and my God. Jesus said, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Jesus performed many other signs and in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the messiah, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

What an excellent portion of scripture. Later this day, it's evening, and look what it says. They are gathered together with the doors locked because they fear the Jews. The disciples fear for their life. They've hunted down Jesus.

They executed him, an innocent man, and now they want to take and capture anyone who follows him.

And then Jesus appears, just like that, right? They're in a locked room, and all of a sudden, boom, there he is in the midst of them. And it just says, peace be with you. I don't know if they were scared or relieved in this moment.

I could imagine that to some, the sudden teleportation of another guy in the midst of you might be a code brown situation.

And I can assume that to others, it was a great deal of relief. And he appears, and he says, peace. Jesus desires for his followers, particularly then, but even now, to have peace. He says they needed peace with everything they've endured the last three days. The heartache, the emotional turmoil, the fear.

They needed that peace of God. And then he shows them his hands and his side. He proves to them, look at the marks. Look at my side where they stuck the spear, and they pierced me. And they rejoice when they see the Lord.

At this point, with the exception of Thomas, the disciples are rejoicing. They're celebrating. This is a glorious reunion. Jesus did, in fact, raise from the grave. Jesus is with his disciples.

He is alive. And it is a glorious and joyful day for those who believe. He then says again, peace be with you. He's reminding them, I'm giving you my peace. I'm taking the fear and the turmoil and everything else.

But then he says, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. Remember that the Father had sent jesus into the world on a mission. He sent jesus here to be the light of the world and to die for the world. World. And jesus says, now I'm sending you.

We need to be aware that when he told the disciples he was sending them, that it did not only apply to them. As the disciples of the day of Christ were sent out, so too are you and I. Jesus is sending each of us who bear his name, who bear the seal of God's Holy Spirit, to be light bearers to the world to share the good news of the gospel to bring a message of peace and forgiveness.

And then he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. Then there's a bit of scripture here that becomes interesting. Says if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them, and if you retain the sins of any, they are forgiven. This is a very interesting, interesting passage of scripture. A lot of churches think like the Catholic Church, have used this scripture to empower their priests and their bishops and everything else.

You've heard of confessionals, right, where you go and you talk to a priest and you confess your sins behind closed doors. And then he says that your sins have been forgiven thee. Churches have taken this scripture and they have twisted it, they have misaligned it to their own purposes, right? Men are not and have not and will not be given the power and authority to forgive sins.

That is Christ alone. But we do have the power to show people how to find forgiveness.

We need to make that clear. And there is a degree, there is a degree to which here that this seems to appear to give us that ability to forgive. But that is not at all what Christ gives us. Christ gives us the ability to give the gospel, to share the light, to share the way to forgiveness. This here is a verse that will require more time to talk about than we have for tonight.

It's a verse that we may come back and visit in. That next week's chapter is short and we may come back and visit this verse again next week to explore the depths of what it actually means. But then Thomas was not with them. Thomas is not there and the other disciples are telling him, Thomas, we've seen him. He's risen.

He came and he sat with us and he talked with us. He showed us his marks. He indeed rose from the grave. And he says, unless I see them and touch them, I will never believe.

Thomas is lucky. He lived 2000 years ago and not today, because we cannot see and touch and feel the marks of Christ. So Tom, he has, he had a little bit of luck on his side. He lived at a time when Christ was still here. But look at, he's firm in this.

I will never believe.

This goes into a discussion about faith and what is faith. If you ask the world, the atheists, the doubters, the deniers of Christianity, what faith is, they'll tell us. They'll say that faith is blind, that faith is belief in something only because a book said so, or only because a parent taught you, or only because your church said, but that is not at all what faith is. Faith is the substance of things. Hoped for by the evidence of things not seen.

So the substance of things hoped for, we have a hope. And that hope is that Jesus did, in fact, raise from the grave and that his death, burial, and resurrection is enough to forgive us of our sins, and that we, too, will be raised on the last day in glorious bodies with Jesus Christ. That's our hope. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. That's the hope.

It's based on evidence of things not seen, evidence. So faith is not blind. We do not believe just because our parents told us to. We do not believe just because the book said to, but we believe because there is evidence. And it works out to Thomas's favor that he lived when he did, because he is part of that evidence, that he got to fill the marks of Christ, that he got to see him and thrust his hand into his side and then testify not only for people then, but for people today that it really did happen.

So a week later, this is where it happens. A week later. How long has Jesus been here? So now it's a week since his resurrection. And by some accounts, he has been here for 50 to 51 days.

Some people believe, and I believe it was that 50 to 51 days. And that is based on the book of acts. The day of Pentecost. Pentecost. Jesus talks to them one final time.

They're all gathered together, and then he raises up to heaven, and everyone's stuck looking at him, looking to the heaven like this. And an angel has to appear and say, why are you staring into the heavens? Get to work. Right? And then the spirit of goddess flows into them, and they all have the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That was 50 to 51 days after the resurrection. So now this is seven days later, where we are in verse 26. A week later, they're indoors. And now Thomas is with them. And even though the doors are locked, Jesus appeared among them and said, peace be with you.

Then he says to Thomas, he says, put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach and put your fingers into my side and don't be faithless, but believe.

And Thomas, he says, my lord and my God. Two things I want to point out here. Thomas, obviously, he went from saying, I will never believe to believe it. So Thomas obviously saw the resurrected Christ, obviously touched his hands and told people, but I want you to look at what he says, my lord and my God. How many people have seen Jesus?

Correct him? I see no rebuke, no correction. If Jesus were not God, as many would. Would say, if Jesus were not God, there would be a rebuke to Thomas. Don't call me that.

But there is no rebuke. Thomas recognizes the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, recognizes that he is fully God and worships him as so. As a result, we too recognize not only that Jesus claimed to be God, but that he is God in the flesh, that Jesus is fully God, the creator God, maker of the heavens and the earth. And then Jesus says, because you have seen me, you have believed. Thomas believed because he has seen.

But blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. That's you and I. We have never seen the risen Lord, and yet we believe. And why do we believe? We believe because there is a preponderance of evidence.

For anyone who missed Easter Sunday and wants to know what that evidence is, you can go to our website and go to standalone sermons and look for Easter 2024. The video is online. It's on our website. And I spent an hour discussing the evidence of Jesus resurrection. We talked about the empty grave.

We talked about all of the different myths, all of the different possibilities, and showed how and why we can come to the conclusion that Jesus rose from the grave. So blessed are those who have not seen, but believe because of the evidence of things not seen. We don't just believe because we're delusional, but we believe because it's logical. If you look at it from a truly logical position, there is no other explanation of the empty grave other than the fact that Jesus rose out of it.

He then performs many other signs. It says, signs, miracles, we don't know what they are. John says they are not written in the book. But the things that he did write, he wrote for the purpose that you would believe Jesus as the messiah, the son of God, and that by believing, you would have life. So he wrote that we would believe.

Jesus is God. He is the messiah. He came. Everything we have read from the birth of Jesus to right now, the miracles, the trials, the crucification, the resurrection, it was written for the purpose that you would believe. It was written for evidence to give us hope, to give us a reason to look at Jesus Christ as the messiah, and that if we would believe, we would have life.

Next week, when we come back, we will finish the book of John, the final chapter. But as we get to a point where we are going to look at the final acts of Jesus Christ, the final recordings of his life and ministry, I want to say to those of you listening tonight who have not yet received the gospel, that you can receive it tonight. Many of you may have been listening to this entire series, right? All the way from the beginning. These things were written so that you would believe and so that you would have life.

This is not a fairy tale. It is not a fantasy. It's not make believe, but it is logical. It did happen. And the things that Jesus said would happen in the future are going to happen.

But if you would believe that, if you would admit first that you're a sinner, something has messed up with us. We were wicked and believed that Jesus Christ really did create all of this and come here and live and die for you, and that he rose again. And if you would confess him as your Lord and savior, Lord and savior, then you would have everlasting life, and you could have that today in our closing prayer, if you're ready to do those things, I'll help you verbalize it to our God on Wednesday night at 630. We'll be back here to continue our study in the book of one Thessalonians. And immediately after our closing prayer, we'll partake of the Lord's supper, the communion.

So for anyone who would like to partake, I invite you to stick around for a moment longer as we partake of that sacred communion. For those who want to acknowledge and verbalize to God their belief, please repeat this prayer with me. Father, I thank you for your love for us, for Jesus Christ, and admit that I'm a sinner. I admit that my ways are screwed up and are not your ways, and that I'm a depraved man. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the creator God, maker of the heavens and the earth, that he stepped down here into his creation, lived a perfect life and died on the cross.

And I believe that he rose just as the scriptures say. And I confess you, Lord Jesus, as my God and king. I will take my crown off of my head and submit to yours. And I ask you, Lord Jesus, to give me this free and precious gift, and thank you for it. Father, I pray that you will help us share your word.

Word. Share the good news that you would be glorified on earth as you are in heaven. And we thank you for these things. In Jesus holy name. Amen.