03 March 31, 2013, John 20;1-18, Easter Sunday

EASTER SUNDAY
John 20:1-18

March 31, 2013
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
USA

MARCH MEMORY
VERSE: Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all
your heart, and do not
rely on your own
understanding; think
about Him in all your

ways, and He will guide
you on the right paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

PRAY FOR OUR PASTOR
SEARCH COMMITTEE:
Sam Peeples, Chairman,
Brad Antici,
Paul Calhoun,
Larry Johnson,
Jackie Meck,

Beverly Shelton,
Ann Southerland,
Marla Speed and
Thomas Wiley.

VBS at DOWNTOWN
CAMPUS
June 3-7, 2013
9:00 AM to 12:10 Noon
for children entering 5K in
August 2013 - completion
of 6th grade

Open Doors publishes a
list of the top 50 countries
where persecution of
Christians for religious
reasons is the worst.

The 2013 list has the
following countries as it's
top 4 offenders:
1) North Korea
2) Saudi Arabia
3) Afghanistan
4) Iraq

Next week:

Exodus 19

Called to Holiness

"In the Old Testament, the
sheep gave their life for
the shepherd.
In the New Testament, the
Shepherd gave His life for
the sheep."
Dr. Michael Catt

John 20:9 NASB

9 “For as yet they (Mary,
Peter and John) did not
understand the
Scripture, that He must
rise again from the dead.”

QUESTION???

If they did not yet
understand the
resurrection, what were
these three so excited
about?

Acts 1:3 NASB

3 “To these He also
presented Himself alive
after His suffering, by
many convincing proofs,
appearing to them over a

period of forty days and
speaking of the things
concerning the kingdom
of God.”

Acts 1:3 NASB

6 “So when they had
come together, they were
asking Him, saying,
“Lord, is it at
this time You are
restoring the kingdom to
Israel?” Acts 1:6 NASB

7 “But 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.” John 16:7 NASB

Abraham, Moses, King
David, and Isaiah may all
want to sit down with you
in Heaven and ask, “What
was it like to live on earth
and have God’s Holy Spirit
living inside of you?”

*That is what they were so
excited about, that Jesus
was still there!

*And He is still here
today!

Here is the complete
record:

Buddha's tomb –
occupied since 484 B.C.
Confucius' tomb –
occupied since 479 B.C.

Jesus' tomb –
empty since A.D. 29!

Mohammed's tomb –
occupied since A.D. 632
Joseph Smith’s tomb –

Harry Houdini’s tomb –
JFK’s tomb -
Elvis Presley’s tomb -

What Difference Does it
Make?
Author: Ray C. Stedman
April 22, 1973
www.RayStedman.org
Copyright © 2010 by
Ray Stedman Ministries

Barclay's Daily Study
Bible (NT)

J. Vernon McGee's Thru
The Bible

Wiersbe's Expository
Outlines on the New
Testament. Copyright ©
1992 by Chariot Victor
Publishing, an imprint of
Cook Communication
Ministries.

The Empty Tomb
John 20:1-18 NASB

1 “Now on the first day of
the week (Sunday) Mary
Magdalene came early to
the tomb, while it was still

dark, and saw the stone
already taken away from
the tomb.

2 So 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

3 So Peter and the other
disciple went forth, and
they were going to the
tomb.

by Eugène
Burnand

4 The two were running
together; and the other
disciple (John) ran ahead
faster than Peter and came
to the tomb first;

5 and stooping and
looking in, he (John) saw
the linen wrappings lying
there; but he did not go in.

6 And so Simon Peter also
came, following him, and
entered the tomb; and he
saw the linen wrappings
lying there,

7 and the face-cloth which
had been on His head, not
lying with the linen
wrappings, but rolled up
in a place by itself.

8 So the other disciple
(John) who had first come
to the tomb then also
entered, and he saw and
believed. (He believed
that Mary was right about
the tomb and the body.)

9 For as yet they did not
understand the
rise again from the dead.
10 So the disciples went
away again to their own
homes.

11 But Mary was standing
outside the tomb
weeping; and so, as she
wept, she stooped and
looked into the tomb;

12 and she saw two angels
in white sitting, one at the
head and one at the feet,
where the body of Jesus
had been lying.

13 And 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.”

14 When she had said
this, she turned around
and saw Jesus standing
there, and did not know
that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her,
weeping? Whom are you
seeking?” Supposing Him
to be the gardener, she
said to Him, “Sir, if you
have carried Him away,

tell me where you have
laid Him, and I will take
Him away.”

“Mary!” She turned and
said to Him in Hebrew,
“Rabboni!” (which means,
Teacher).

“Stop clinging to Me, for I
have not yet ascended to
the Father; but go to My
brethren and say to them,
‘I ascend to My Father
and your Father, and My
God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene
came, announcing to the
disciples, “I have seen the
Lord,” and that He had
said these things to her.”

John 20:1-18 NASB

The Empty Tomb
John 20:1 NASB

the week (Sunday) Mary
the tomb,”

*From that time on,
believers have been
gathering together on the
first day of the week.

*The Sabbath Day belongs
to the old creation.

*After God had created
everything, He rested on
the Sabbath Day.

*Now we have come to
the new creation in Christ
Jesus.

the week Mary
the tomb,”

*No one ever loved Jesus
so much as Mary
Magdalene.
*He had done something
for her that no one else
could ever do, and she
could never forget.

Luke 8:1b-2 NASB
1b “The twelve were with
Him,
2 and also some women
who had been healed of
evil spirits and
sicknesses:

Mary who was called
Magdalene, from whom
seven demons had gone
out,”

In Mark, Matthew, and
John, Mary Magdalene is
first human to witness to
the resurrection.

Among the women who
are specifically named in
the New Testament, Mary
Magdalene’s name is one
of the most frequently
found.

In Matthew 27:56, the
author names three
women in sequence:
“Mary Magdalene, and
Mary the mother of James
and Joses, and the mother
of Zebedee's children.”

In the Gospel of Mark, he
lists a group of women
three times, and each
time, Mary Magdalene’s
name appears first.

Finally, in the Gospel of
Luke, the author
enumerates the women
who reported the tomb
visit, writing that, “It was
Mary Magdalene, Joanna,
Mary the mother of James,

and the other women
with them,” which once
again places Mary
Magdalene at the head of
the list.

Mary Magdalene must
have held a very central
position among the
followers of Jesus.

John 20:2
2 “So she ran and came to
‘They have taken away
the Lord out of the tomb,

and we do not know
where they have laid
Him.’”

John 20:2

*We find Simon Peter and
John together.
*Apparently John has
taken Peter in.
*What a wonderful thing
that is.

Thank God, John took
him in at a time when
Peter desperately needed
someone to befriend him.
John, the son of thunder,
has become the apostle of
love.

John 20:7
7 “and the face-cloth
which had been on His
head, not lying with the
linen wrappings, but
rolled up in a place by
itself.”

It was not the scene of a
grave robbery, for no
robbers could have gotten
the body out of the
graveclothes without
tearing the cloth and
disarranging things.

Jesus had returned to life
in power and glory and
had passed through the
graveclothes and the tomb
itself!

John 20:12 NASB

12 “and she saw two
angels in white sitting,
one at the head and one at
the feet, where the body
of Jesus had been lying.”

The judgment seat has
become the mercy seat!

John 20:14

14 “When she had said
this, she turned around
and saw Jesus standing
there, and did not know
that it was Jesus.”

She could not recognize
Jesus because she insisted
on facing in the wrong
direction. She could not
take her eyes off the tomb
and so had her back to
Him. Again it is often so

with us. At such a time
our eyes are upon the cold
earth of the grave; but we
must wrench our eyes
away from that. That is
not where our loved ones
are; their worn-out bodies

may be there; but the real
person is in the heavenly
places in the fellowship of
Jesus face to face, and in
the glory of God.

John 20:16
“Mary (Marium)!”
She turned and said to
Him in Hebrew
(Aramaic), “Rabboni!”
(which means, Teacher).

When He called her by
name, she recognized the
voice as only He could
speak.

*When Jesus spoke her
name, she recognized
Him.
*He calls His own by
name (John 10:3-4), and
they know His voice.
See Isaiah 43:1

Isaiah 43:1

“I have called you by
name; you are Mine!”

17“Stop clinging to Me, for
I have not yet ascended to
‘I ascend to My Father and
your Father, and My God
and your God.’” John 20:17

The KJV says:
17 “Jesus saith unto her,
‘Touch me not’;”
But the modern
translations seem to be
more accurate:
“Stop clinging to Me”…

27 Then He said to
Thomas, “Reach here with
your finger, and see My
hands; and reach here
your hand and put it into
My side; and do not be
unbelieving, but believing.
John 20:27

Mary had lost Jesus once
before (at His crucifixion)
and it was natural to fear
the loss of His physical
presence again.

Jesus said, in effect,
This (the physical contact)
is not My real presence for
the church.
A new relationship will
begin with My Ascension
and the gift of the Holy

Spirit to the church.
Jesus then explained the
fact of the new relatives.
He called His disciples
His brothers.
Earlier He had said they
were friends:

"I no longer call you
servants . . . instead, I
have called you friends"
(John 15:15).
Believers in Jesus become
a part of Jesus’ family
with God as our Father.

Every human is created
by God but not every
human is a child of God.
We are not “all God’s
children”.
You have to be adopted
into the family of God.

Galatians 3:26 NASB

26 “For you are all sons
of God through faith
in Christ Jesus.”

Galatians 4:4-7 NASB

4 “But when the fullness
of the time came, God
sent forth His Son, born of
a woman, born under the
Law,

5 so that He might redeem
those who were under the
Law, that we might
receive the adoption
as sons.

6 Because you are sons,
God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying, “Abba!
Father!” (Daddy!)

7 Therefore you are no
longer a slave, but a son;
and if a son, then an
heir through God.”

Galatians 4:4-7 NASB

So there wasn't anything
wrong with actually
touching Jesus before He
had ascended to His
Father.

The command is better
understood not to 'hold
onto' Him or prevent Him
from leaving again.

John 20:17 NASB

“I ascend to My Father
God and your God.”

As to when He went back
to the Father, that is given
in the Acts 1 passage.

Christ ascended by His
own act. "I ascend."

Is there not exquisite
beauty in the fact that
"Father" comes before
"God"?

John 20:17

The tenderer relation
comes first.

You will notice He was
specific in calling God
"my Father, and your
Father; and to my God,
and your God."

His relationship to the
Father is different from
our relationship to Him.
We become the sons of
God through faith in Jesus
Christ, while Christ is a
member of the Trinity,

the eternal Son of God.

*He made this distinction
here.

His is a unique Son-ship,
though doubtless at the
same time there is an
emphasising of the truth
that His God and Father is
also ours.

Matthew 11:28-30 NASB

28 “Come to Me, all who
are weary and heavy-
laden (or who work to
exhaustion), and I will
give you rest.

29 Take My yoke upon
you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your
souls.

30 For My yoke is easy (or
comfortable, or pleasant)
and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 NASB

When we come to God
through Jesus Christ, we
are adopted into His
family and He gives us
rest.

*As we yoke up with Him
throughout life and learn
from Him, we find a rest
that is as precious to us as
the “salvation rest” that
He bestows on us.
*That is Good News!

Some may ask:

“What difference does it
make if Jesus did rise
from the dead or if He did
not rise?”

They may say:
“If He did, it's not going
to make any difference to
me -- or if He didn't.
I'm going to go to work
tomorrow just as I always
have.

I'm going to do the things
I usually do.
It's not going to make any
difference to my family or
to me, or to my attitudes
or my daily life, whether
Jesus did or didn't rise.”

*The resurrection is not a
legend, it isn't a myth.
*It isn't merely a nice idea
that Christians have, but it
is a well documented
event which actually
occurred in history.

*It is a historical fact, and
it produces a dramatic,
global change.

*In fact, everyone in the
world is affected by the
resurrection of Jesus.

Nobody can live
unchanged by that great
fact.

*If it didn't happen, your
life is going to be changed
tremendously.

*And if it did happen,
your life is going to be
changed tremendously.

It is, as the Bible makes
clear, the central fact of
history.
Nothing is more
important!
And everything is
different, depending upon

whether this did or didn't
happen.

*There is a great deal of
evidence that our Lord
did indeed rise from the
dead.
*We are not believers
simply because it is a nice
thought, because it gives

us a little something to
hang onto when we are
about to die.

*We are not believers
because this has only
been traditionally taught.

We are believers because
we have examined
carefully the tremendous
evidence which exists,
evidence which again and
again throughout history
has been examined by

thoughtful, careful, logical
minds, and which again
and again has convinced
even those who set about
to destroy the idea or to
show how weak and
illogical it was.

C. S. Lewis,
Josh McDowell, and
Lee Strobel
were all non-believers
who set out to disprove
Christianity and the
resurrection specifically.

There is substantial
evidence in the
documents which exist
from the 1st century and
which say that this
happened.

There is great evidence
also in the witnesses who
were there and who
persisted long after the
event in bearing
unceasing testimony to
the fact that they saw

Jesus after He had risen.
*It wasn't an illusion, and
it wasn't an hallucination.
*There is tremendous
evidence in the changes
which occurred and
which can't be explained

in any other way except
that this dramatic event
did take place.

“What if it didn't
happen?”
*We aren't the first ones to
face that question.
*The Apostle Paul, among
others, faced that question
in the 1st century.

This is such a fantastic
claim that you are making
-- that one could actually
rise from the dead, break
the bonds of death by
Himself and come back
again!

Paul took up that question
in one of his great
chapters.
In First Corinthians 15, he
says that if Jesus did not
rise from the dead, then to
all practical effect,

Christianity is a waste of
time, that your time here
this morning, and mine as
well, is just a big waste;
that if Jesus did not rise
from the dead, though
Christianity says some

very brave and noble
things, and puts them in
rather beautiful language
at times, nevertheless, it is
really all a pipe dream
with no basis in fact, it is
just the wishful thinking

of people who are tired
with all the grief and
heartache of life and want
something beautiful to
cling to, but it really is not
worth anybody's time;
and that the New

Testament is the account
of a deluded dreamer
who thought he had
powers he didn't have,
who thought he was
somebody he really
wasn't, and who kidded

himself, and a group of
other people, into
thinking he was someone
else.

*He is either Lord, liar or
lunatic.

He does not fit into the
category of just being a
great Teacher.

A great teacher would not
claim to be God nor the
Son of God.

If He didn’t rise, then all
wonderful writings which
many people have
appreciated in the Bible
must be thrown aside.

All of the prophecies and
promises of the Old
Testament concerning the
Anointed One Who
would come to save us
from our sins and all of
the glorious accounts in

the New Testament about
the One Who promised
that He would never leave
us nor forsake us would
be worthless and empty.

*Everything hangs on the
fact that Jesus was Who
He said He was and could
do what He said He could
do and would do.
*If He didn't rise from the
dead, then forget all of it.

And if Jesus didn't rise
from the dead, then, of
course, we really don't
have any hope beyond
this life.
We really don't.
The grave is the end.

This brief life is all that we
have.
Paul says so:
"We are of all men most
miserable,"
(1 Corinthians 15:19).

1 Corinthians 15:17-19

17 “and if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is
worthless; you are still in
your sins.
18 Then those also who

have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in
Christ in this life only, we
are of all men most to be
pitied.”

We don't have any hope
beyond the grave; we are
just kidding ourselves if
we think there is anything
else.

*Furthermore, we don't
have any release from
guilt and fear.
*Forgiveness of sin is a
meaningless expression.
*If Jesus didn't rise from
the dead, then we are

locked inescapably into
our past, and we can't
change it or do anything
about it today.
*No power can deliver us
from the fatal tendency
within each of us to do

what we don't want to do,
and to fail again and
again to achieve what we
want to achieve.
*We all do that, don't we?
*If Jesus didn't rise from
the dead, there is no way

we can change it.
*We are locked into our
sinful humanity, and there
is no way out.
*We are doomed endlessly
to repeat again and again
the sad story of history.

*And then, of course, you
can't believe that God is
love.
*That phrase has no more
meaning than a bumper
stickers which says, “Our
company loves you!”

Or the assurance we are
given by a local savings
and loan association:
“We care about you!”

What difference does it
make?

*If Jesus did not rise from
the dead, there is no
reason to take those
words seriously at all.
*So you can't merely go
on unaffected and
unchanged.

If the resurrection didn't
happen, then this whole
business of Christianity is
a joke, a big fraud, and we
ought to forget it and get
on with trying to get to
the top of the heap in the

best way we can.
But, what if He did rise?
If Jesus rose from the
dead, as the Bible says,
and there is One Who has
come back and told us
what lies beyond, if Jesus

did break the bonds of
death and come out of the
tomb on that first
resurrection morning, and
if all the simple story
which is so wonderfully
told in the Scriptures is

true, if it really happened,
then what does that
mean?
*Well, the first and most
obvious thing is that it
means that Jesus is still
alive.

In the early part of the last
century, a group of
lawyers met in England to
discuss the Biblical
accounts of Jesus’
resurrection.

They wanted to see if
sufficient information was
available to make a case
that would hold up in an
English court of law.

When their study was
completed, they
published the results of
their investigation.

They concluded that
Christ's resurrection was
one of the most well
established facts of
history!

In his little book,
Countdown, G. B. Hardy
has given us some
thought-provoking
questions about the
resurrection.

There are but two
essential requirements:

1. Has anyone cheated
death and proved it?
2. Is it available to me?

Harry Houdini’s tomb –
JFK’s tomb-
Elvis Presley’s tomb-

The Incredible Hope

Audio sermon by
Ray Stedman

*Christianity is not a
philosophy, it is about a
Person – Jesus Christ.
*All the other religions
center upon the teaching
and ideas but not
Christianity.

*Christianity centers on the
Person of Jesus Christ.
*One solitary life!
*The first news of the first
Easter was not good news,
it was shocking, terrible
news brought by Mary

Magdalene to Peter and to
John.
*The body of Jesus had
disappeared!
*The body of Abraham
Lincoln was stolen and
held for ransom.

The ransom was paid and
then his body was buried
under tons of cement in
Springfield, Illinois.
*The 1,000 pound stone
that sealed Jesus’ tomb
had been rolled away!

When John entered the
tomb and “believed” it
did not mean he believed
in the resurrection
because the next verse
says they did not yet
understand.

*What he believed was
that Mary was right, she
had the right tomb and
the body was missing!

*All they could do was to
go home.

*They had forgotten Jesus’
promises that He would
rise on the third day.
*Remember that on those
days when everything is
falling in around you and
you have forgotten all of

His promises and you
begin to complain and feel
sorry for yourself and
troubled and anxious and
nothing good can come
out of this.
*We so quickly forget the

promises of God.
*”Don’t cling to Me” – a
new relationship has
come into being.
*I am no longer to
continue here on earth in
a physical relationship.

“Touching Me gives you
comfort but it will no
longer be that way”.
*Just like in the death of
one of our loved ones.
*”When the Spirit comes,
My nearness to you will

be total and complete so
go tell my brothers that
you will have Me as you
have never had Me
before.” (John 17)
*That is the Good News of
Easter!

The fact that they would
live again after their
deaths was not what gave
them comfort.
No! What turned their
hearts into delirious
gladness was the Good

News that Jesus was back
again!

*He is still with us
(Emmanuel) and He will
always be with us and we
will never lose Him again!

Jesus can enter your life
(Revelation 3:20) and go
with you through the
roughest parts of life and
not just be someone who
shows up at your death to
give you hope but

SomeOne – a long trusted
Friend – not only as a
Companion but as Lord,
in charge of life, able to
work through all of the
difficulties you are going
through.

No one wants to face the
tough things in life alone
and it helps to have
SomeOne with you Who
has the power to solve
your problems –
what a comfort!

His promise of Easter is
that His presence is His
reward!

*He promises to never
leave you nor to forsake
you.

What do you face this
week?
Anxieties
Loneliness
Emptiness
Sorrows
Disappointments

Heartaches?
*The Good News of Easter
is that you do not have to
face it alone.
*In one brief word He
turned Mary’s sad heart
into delirious joy!

*He can do the same
today with anyone who
trusts Him to be their
Savior and their Lord.
*You don’t have to just
hang on until this life is
over.

John 10:10 NIV

10 “The thief comes only
to steal and kill and
destroy; I have come that
they may have life, and
have it to the full.”

*The Good News of Easter
is that He is still with us!

*The abundant life is
within your reach
regardless of your
situation.

*He lived the abundant
life once, He can do it
again – through you.
*Your job is to allow Him
to live through you.
*John 16:33 – Be of good
cheer!

Jesus is still around, still
available -- this beautiful
Man Who lived in such a
way that He captivated
the people of His day, and
shook them to the core by
the way He lived and

things He said and did, by
the compassion of His
heart and the honesty of
His life which would strip
a religious hypocrite
naked right before the
eyes of a crowd, Who

could not abide falsehood
and untruth but was
always tender and loving
and compassionate
toward those bound up
with their own guilt and
problems, their own evil.

If Jesus rose from the
dead, He is still around,
still available.
He still can meet us in the
same way.
The promises He uttered
are still valid promises:

Jesus said that it would be
better for His disciples
(and for us) if He went
away.

"Come unto Me all who
are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you
rest," (Matthew 11:28).
"He who follows me shall
not walk in darkness but
shall have the light of

life," (John 8:12b RSV).

"I am the door; if anyone
enters by Me, he will be
saved, and will go in and
out and find pasture,"
(John 10:9 RSV).

"Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you; not
as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your
hearts be troubled, neither
let them be afraid,"
(John 14:27 RSV).

"Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world,"
(John 16:33b).

This means that freedom
from guilt, and power to
conquer our failures and
our weaknesses are still
available to men.

And that has been the
Good News for over
twenty centuries -- that in
coming to Jesus Christ,
men and women find
ability to rise above this
locked-in evil within us.

And though we don't do
it perfectly, and at times
fall back into evil -- for
nobody yet has presented
a perfect pattern in doing
this except Jesus --
nevertheless, the healing

begins to take place.

Changes occur, and life is
different.

“Proclaim liberty to the
captives. Give sight to the
blind. Set at liberty them
that are bruised. Go out to
all the world and tell men
who are bound mentally,
spiritually, and physically,

‘The Liberator has come!’"
*That is what the
resurrection of Jesus
means.
*It means that the grave is
not the end of the road;
death does not have the

last word.
*As Paul put it, "To depart
and to be with Christ is
far better," (Philippians
1:23b).
*That isn't just a faint and
glimmering hope for

Christians.

*That isn't merely
something nice we say
when we get close to
death, in order to steady
us so that we'll die well.

No, that is a robust,
positive certainty in
thousands and thousands
of Christians' hearts as
they come to the end of
life.

They look forward to it,
they anticipate it with
welcome joy.

That is why Christians
have something to hope
for, to hold onto, to be
confident of, as we face
the last issue of life.
It also means we don’t
have to wait to have it.

Then, of course, if Jesus
rose from the dead, it
means that the value of
your life and mine will be
determined by our
relationship to that
resurrection.

In the book of Acts we are
told that the Apostle Paul
came into the city of
Athens, the great
university center of his
day, the city of Pericles, of
Demosthenes, of Socrates,

Plato, and Aristotle -- the
great minds of that day
and this.
*And there, in this center
of learning, in the midst of
all the monuments to
beauty and art and truth

which still are found in
that city, the apostle stood
and said to them that all
of this represented
nothing more nor less
than the strugglings of
men to try to find truth in

the midst of life, and yet
their search was
ineffectual, it hadn't
brought them anywhere,
it hadn't solved any
ultimate problems.

He said to them,
"The times of ignorance
God overlooked, but now
He commands all men
everywhere to repent,
because He has fixed a
day on which he will

judge the world in
righteousness by a Man
Whom He has appointed,
and of this He has given
assurance to all men by
raising Him from the
dead." (Acts 17:30-31 RSV)

*This means that every
life here this morning,
every one here, ultimately
will stand before the risen
Lord Jesus.
*He is the Lord of the
world.

*Jesus is Lord, whether
men know it or not.
*We live in His universe,
we must abide by His
rules.
*We must live life on His
terms.

*There is no way out of
that.
*And ultimately our life
will be judged, examined,
on those terms.
*If you link your life with
the world and its ways,

live for its pleasures, and
its praise, and its values,
you will ultimately find
yourself joined to what
the cross of Christ
brought to a jolting halt.

And, as someone has said,
"Hell is nothing less than
truth known too late."
John says, "If any one
loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in
him," (1 John 2:15b).

But if we begin to live in
the power of Jesus'
resurrection, in the fact of
it, which God has set as
the basis of life, we will
learn to live in the world,
right in the midst of it,

right up to the hilt -- not
withdrawn, not isolated,
not in a monastic Bible-
City experience -- right in
the midst of it, but on a
different basis:

Drawing upon His
forgiveness every day to
recover from our failure
and to stand again
accepted in His presence;
drawing upon His
strength by which to meet

the demands which life
throws at us, so that we
are never suddenly
caught short without
adequate resources with
which to respond;
drawing upon His love,

the grace of a risen Lord
Who knows us,
understands us, and has
made provision for our
weakness and failure and
Who picks us up again
and carries us through --

not away from the
situation but right
through the midst of it!

When we do this we
discover that "the world
passes away and the lusts
thereof; but he who does
the will of God abides
forever," (1 John 2:17).

*There is no joy like a
Christian's joy.
*It is so different! It can
well up in the midst of
tears.
*There is no peace like the
peace of God, which

defies circumstances and
passes understanding, so
that when you have no
business being peaceful,
you are.

There is no love like the
love of Christ, which
forgives and heals and
restores.

Savonarola, of Florence,
Italy, hundreds of years
ago said, "They may kill
me, but they can never,
never, never tear the
living Christ out of my
heart!"

*That is what we would
like to say to you today.
*We don't live perfectly.
*The church is always a
kind of clinic where
people are being healed.

*We are in all stages of the
process of healing.
*There is a deep and
deadly sickness loose in
humanity which tears
people up, eats out their
hearts, destroys them

from the inside -- even
though everything looks
great on the outside.
*But that sickness is what
Jesus came to heal.
*And here we are, being
healed.

*But we are in all stages.
*Some are just barely
beginning, and the
evidence of disease is all
over among us.
*So don't look for perfect
people here.

*But we have found the
One Who has the answer,
and He is working it out.

*It isn't an instantaneous
process -- one touch and
it's done.

It is something which is
happening day after day,
week after week, hour by
hour.

*God has fulfilled His
word; the promises are
true.
*We offer them to you.
*All we can say to you is
that we hope you find
Jesus Christ our Lord.

*He Himself says,
"Behold, I stand at your
door and knock; if anyone
hear My voice and open
the door, I will come in to
him, I will come into him
-- and live with him, and

he with Me,"
(Revelation 3:20).

*And we would just like
to say, "That is true!
Jesus lives, and so do we."
And we thank Him for it.

3 “For I delivered to
you as of first importance
what I also received, that
Christ died for our sins
according to the
Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried,
and that He was raised on
the third day according to
the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared
to Cephas, then to the
twelve.

6 After that He appeared
to more than five hundred
brethren at one time, most
of whom remain until
now, but some have fallen
asleep;

7 then He appeared to
James, then to all the
apostles;
8 and last of all, as to one
untimely born, He
appeared to me also.”

12 “Now if Christ is
preached, that He has
been raised from the
dead, how do some
among you say that
there is no resurrection of

the dead?
13 But if there is no
resurrection of the dead,
not even Christ has been
raised;
14 and if Christ has not
been raised, then our

preaching is vain, your
faith also is vain.
15 Moreover we are even
found to be false witnesses
of God, because we
testified against God that
He raised Christ, Whom

He did not raise, if in fact
the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not
raised, not even Christ has
been raised;
17 and if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is

worthless; you are still in
your sins.
18 Then those also who
have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in
Christ in this life only, we

are of all men most to be
pitied.
20 But now Christ has been
raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those
who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came

death, by a man also
came the resurrection of
the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ all will be
made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:32b

32 “If the dead are not
raised, let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we
die.”

What Difference Does it Make?
Author: Ray C. Stedman
April 22, 1973
www.RayStedman.org
Copyright © 2010 by
Ray Stedman Ministries
Please direct any questions you
may have to:
webmaster@RayStedman.org

J. Vernon McGee's Thru
The Bible

Barclay's Daily Study
Bible (NT)

John 20:1 NASB
1 Now on the first day of
the week Mary Magdalene
came early to the tomb,
while it was still dark, and
saw the stone already
taken away from the tomb.

"The first day of the
week," that is, Sunday,
Mary Magdalene came to
the tomb.
*When was the Sabbath
Day changed from
Saturday to Sunday?

*It was changed when
Jesus Christ arose from
the dead. He was dead on
Saturday (the old Sabbath
Day);
*He became alive on
Sunday.

Pentecost occurred on
Sunday, the first day of
the week.

It is interesting that John,
the last of the Gospel
writers, emphasizes that it
was the first day of the
week, the Lord’s Day,
when Jesus rose from the
dead.

Tradition has always had
it that Mary was a scarlet
sinner, whom Jesus
reclaimed and forgave
and purified.

Mary had sinned much
and she loved much; and
love was all she had to
bring.

It was the custom in
Palestine to visit the tomb
of a loved one for three
days after the body had
been laid to rest.

It was believed that for
three days the spirit of the
dead person hovered round
the tomb; but then it
departed because the body
had become unrecognizable
through decay.

Psalm 16:10
New Living Translation

10 “For You will not leave
My soul among the dead
or allow Your Holy One to
rot in the grave.”

Jesus' friends could not
come to the tomb on the
Sabbath, because to make
the journey then would
have been to break the
law.

*Sabbath is, of course, our
Saturday, so it was on
Sunday morning that
Mary came to the tomb.

*She came very early.

The word used for early is
“proi” which was the
technical word for the last
of the four watches into
which the night was
divided, that which ran
from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.

*It was still grey dark
when Mary came, because
she could no longer stay
away.
*When she arrived at the
tomb she was amazed and
shocked.

Tombs in ancient times
were not commonly
closed by doors.

In front of the opening
was a groove in the
ground; and in the groove
ran a stone, circular like a
cartwheel; and the stone
was wheeled into position
to close the opening.

Further Matthew tells us
that the authorities had
actually sealed the stone
to make sure that no one
would move it
(Matthew 27:66).

*Mary was astonished to
find it removed.

*Two things may have
entered her mind.

She may have thought
that the Jews had taken
away Jesus' body; that,
not satisfied with killing
Him on a cross, they were
inflicting further
indignities on Him.

But there were ghoulish
creatures who made it
their business to rob
tombs; and Mary may
have thought that this had
happened here.

Christ had cast seven
demons out of Mary
Magdalene (Luke 8:2),
and she dearly loved Him.

Luke 8:1-2 NASB
1 “Soon afterwards, He
began going around from
one city and village to
another, proclaiming and
preaching the kingdom of
God.

The twelve were with
Him,
2 and also some women
who had been healed of
evil spirits and
sicknesses: Mary who was
called Magdalene, from

whom seven demons had
gone out,”

Luke 8:1-2 NASB

Mary Magdalene was the
one from whom the Lord
had cast seven demons.
Some Bible students think
she was the sinful woman
who wiped the feet of
Jesus with her hair.

This is an assumption
which cannot be proved.

I take it that she was a
person of very high
caliber.

She was eternally grateful
to the Lord for healing
her.

When she saw the body
was not here, she
immediately ran to tell
John and Peter.

In her confusion and
disappointment, Mary
jumped to conclusions
and thought someone had
stolen Christ's body.

She ran to tell Peter and
John, who in turn visited
the tomb.

The disciple "whom Jesus
loved" is John.

He always refers to
himself in this way rather
than by name.

Any of the disciples,
except Judas, could have
used this title for himself.

You can use it for
yourself.

Jude 1:21 says,
"Keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking for
the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal
life."

Keep yourself in the love
of God, because you know
that He loves you.
You can't keep Him from
loving you!
It is wonderful to take that
position for yourself as

John did: "the other
disciple, whom Jesus
loved."
We find Simon Peter and
John together.
Apparently John has
taken him in.

I wonder if some of the
other disciples, when they
heard of Peter's denial,
had pushed him to the
outside.

What a wonderful thing
that is.
Mary Magdalene was not
expecting the
Resurrection.
Her thought was that
someone had stolen away

the Lord's body.
Isn't it interesting that the
religious rulers would
later accuse the disciples
of stealing the Lord's
body, and that Mary's first
thought was that the

religious rulers had stolen
the Lord's body? (The
religious rulers would
have given everything in
the world if they could
have produced the body
on that first Sunday!)

It was a situation Mary
felt that she could not face
herself; so she returned to
the city to seek out Peter
and John.

Mary is the supreme
instance of one who went
on loving and believing
even when she could not
understand; and that is the
love and the belief which
in the end finds glory.

John 20:3

3 “So Peter and the other
tomb.”

Simon Peter and John
were not expecting the
Resurrection.

They probably thought
that Mary didn't really see
well in the dark.

She saw the stone rolled
away, became frightened,
and ran.
Or maybe she went to the
wrong tomb.
So they rush to the
cemetery.

You don't go into a
cemetery to look for the
living.
They were not expecting
to look for the living.
They were not expecting
to find Jesus alive when

they rushed to the tomb.
They were expecting to
find the Lord's body.

John 20:4

4 “The two were running
together; and the other
disciple ran ahead faster
than Peter and came to
the tomb first;”

John was younger and
could outrun Simon Peter.

John was probably the
youngest of the disciples.

These men represented
quite an age span.

John may have been in his
late teens.

Why did John outrun
Peter?
Yes, there was a physical
reason but there is also a
spiritual lesson here:
Peter had not yet
reaffirmed his devotion to

Christ, and therefore his
"spiritual energy" was
low.
Isa 40:31 says that those
who wait on the Lord
"shall run and not be
weary," but Peter had

rushed ahead of the Lord
and disobeyed Him.
Peter's sin affected:
his feet (John 20:4),
his eyes (John 21:7),
his lips (He denied the
Lord),

even his body
temperature (John 18:18;
and see Luke 24:32).

John 20:5

5 “and stooping and
looking in, he saw the
linen wrappings lying
there; but he did not go
in.”

What John saw convinced
him that Jesus had risen
from the dead.
He got there first, but
because he had a certain
amount of reticence and
reverence, he didn't go in.

He stooped down to look
in through the very small
entrance that was hewn
out of the stone.

He saw the evidence that
convinced him.

It is amazing how God
uses little things like this
to bring conviction to the
hearts of men.
Someone has said,
"Great doors swing on
little hinges."

John saw the linen cloth
lying there, but the body
had gone out of it.

There are three different
Greek words used in this
passage, and they are all
translated as "seeing."

This is unfortunate.

Here in verse 5, when
John stooped down,
looked in and saw, the
word means to perceive
and understand.
It involves inspection and
perceiving.

John 20:6

6 “And so Simon Peter
also came, following him,
and entered the tomb; and
he saw the linen
wrappings lying there,”

Here in verse 6, when
Peter went in and saw, the
word used is theaomai
from which we get our
word theater.

He viewed it.

Then here comes Simon
Peter puffing and
blowing.

I tell you, it was hard on
him to run.

Reticence is not one of his
qualities; so he goes right
into the sepulchre.

He, too, sees the linen
clothes and the wrapping
that was around His head.

Remember that Joseph and
Nicodemus had wrapped
our Lord's body in the
linen and had sealed it
with the myrrh and aloes,
which made a sort of glue
to seal in the body.

How could the body get
out of such an encasement
without unwinding all
that linen?

Jesus Christ came up out
of that tomb just like a
seed comes out of the soil.
Remember He had said
that a grain of corn falls to
the ground and remains
alone unless it dies.

Then new corn will grow
out of it.
But the old shell of the
seed is still in the ground.
That is what was left in
the tomb -- just the old
shell that He had been in.

He was no longer in that
shell.
He was alive.
Do you remember that
when the Lord Jesus
raised Lazarus, he came
forth from the grave all

wrapped in the grave
clothes and the Lord had
to tell them to loose
Lazarus?
Lazarus came out in his
old body wrapped in the
old grave clothes.

The body of Lazarus
would have to die again.
However, Jesus Christ
came forth in a glorified
body which will never see
death.
This is the Resurrection!

God carefully records
through John another
small but important
detail.
The napkin that was
wrapped around His head
lay there intact, separate

from the linen wound
around His body.
It was in the shape of the
head, lying just as it had
been folded around the
head.

Question: Is there anything symbolic about Jesus folding the “napkin” which was over
his face in the tomb?

Here is the story as it floats around the internet. The response is below.

THE EMAIL:

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His
resurrection? I never noticed this....

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which
was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the
grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin
was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from
the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's
body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The
other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and
looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go
in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed
the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered
Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded
napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The
folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy
knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he
made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant
would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating,
and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master
was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the
table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad
up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in
those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'.

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his
napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch
the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!'

He is Coming Back!

ANSWER

The problems with this reconstruction are multiple. First, note that no ancient text is
cited in support of this interpretation. It is hard to prove a negative (that no such text
exists), but I have never read any ancient material that even remotely resembles the
details given in the historical reconstruction suggested. Second, napkins were not
common in the ancient world, and as late as the middle ages, people were still wiping
their hands and mouths with leftover BREAD. Third, the Greek verb of the original
means “rolled up,” not “folded up,” which would not communicate the same
information that a folded napkin does on modern tables. Fourth, there were no “tables”
or (insinuated) chairs such as exist today that were used to eat meals in Jesus’ day. The
Greek gospels are perfectly clear in their choice of verbs to describe meals. The
participants RECLINED—they ate in a semi-prone posture with their heads pointed
toward a very short (approximately one foot high), long, “u”-shaped food tray called a
triklinium. These are mentioned in many places in ancient literature and have been
discovered by archeologists in places like Masada, Israel. Fifth, neither Jesus, nor His
closest followers, nor most of His other contemporaries were wealthy enough to afford
household servants who could wait upon them hand and foot as though they were
royalty. Therefore, to dip into the life of aristocracy for symbolism to communicate to
commoners is not typical of Jesus and perhaps would even be seen as a slap in the face
(note, for example, the nature of the preponderance of images evoked in Jesus’ parables
—they are almost exclusively snapshots from the lives of average citizens).

Sixth, it was not common for the average villager to keep “Jewish boys” as
servants/slaves. This is not only because of the burdensome expense, but also because
the Law of Moses required that slaves be manumitted (released from servitude) every
seven years (Exod. 21:2; Lev. 25:39-41; Deut. 15:12). Seventh and perhaps most
detrimental to the historical reconstruction suggested is the unlikelihood that symbols
would be shared between burial contexts and dining contexts. This is because ritual
IMPURITY exuded from the former, whereas ritual purity is required of the latter. We
would accuse the user of “mixing metaphors” in poor taste if this was tried today.

Rather than an accurate portrayal of ancient near eastern realities, the reconstruction
described below sounds more like an act in a medieval passion play reenactment in
western Europe. Therefore, what appears to be a meaning-filled and exciting
interpretation has actually distorted reality and created anachronisms that in turn
generate more problems than they solve. All kinds of interpretative and applicational
problems arise when we attempt to interpret ancient texts in light of more recent
practices, customs, and word usage. The present case is no exception. The solution is to
let ancient texts speak from their own perspective rather than superimposing our world,
culture, and language upon them. This indeed is the only way to consistently arrive at
the intended meaning of the biblical authors, and THEY are the ones operating under
infallible divine inspiration, not US.

The real meaning of the details in John is unclear. It is possible that John was not
attaching ANY symbolic meaning to his description, but was simply accurately
reporting the details as he as an eyewitness had observed them. However, this in itself
is quite valuable, and should not be quickly passed over. The details are not given in
the other three gospels, and we can conclude that such vivid details validate the claim
that the gospel writer was indeed an eyewitness. This, in turn, provides a strong
argument for the historical reliability and authority of the entire book of John.

It is also possible to observe that the details simply make sense in the physical world in
which we live. That the grave clothes were separate and not as orderly would make
perfect sense if Jesus’ hands and arms were tightly bound and had to be removed with
some difficulty (remember that Lazarus needed help removing his grave-clothes, John
11:44). However, once the hands and arms were free, He could remove His own face-
cloth with greater ease and control.

Finally, it is possible that the condition of the face-cloth is intended by John to
demonstrate the God-controlled and orderly nature of a resurrection that occurred in
normal stages. As He acted at creation and at the resurrection, so He will act toward us,
and this we can count on. That God works in orderly, consistent, and usually
predictable ways is an encouragement to those who look to Him to be “the same,
yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebs. 13:8). Further, the consistency and orderliness of
God also serves as a challenge to those of us to seek to serve Him because He has called
us to imitate and reflect these and other aspects of His nature to those within our sphere
of influence in order that they might observe His power that has changed us, see His
true nature, and ultimately be drawn to Him to receive forgiveness, cleansing, new life,
and a restoration of relationship with Him.

W. E. Nunnally, Ph.D.
Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins
Evangel University

My sense is that most
commentators and
students of the Bible
understand this folded
cloth to indicate that the
scene in the empty tomb
was evidence of a very

calm and orderly process,
rather than that of a
burglarized tomb, from
which the body of Jesus
was hastily stolen -- from
a sealed tomb, guarded by
soldiers.

The real meaning of the
details in John is unclear.
It is possible that John
was not attaching ANY
symbolic meaning to his
description, but was
simply accurately

reporting the details as he
as an eyewitness had
observed them.
However, this in itself is
quite valuable, and
should not be quickly
passed over.

The details are not given
in the other three gospels,
and we can conclude that
such vivid details validate
the claim that the gospel
writer was indeed an
eyewitness.

This, in turn, provides a
strong argument for the
historical reliability and
authority of the entire
book of John.

W.E. Nunnally, Ph.D.
Professor of Early
Judaism and Christian
Origins
Evangel University

John wrote:
"And the napkin, that was
about his head, not lying
with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together in a
place by itself" (John 20:7).

The word "wrapped"
("wrapped together") comes
from the Greek word
"entulissō"; meaning to
entwine, roll or coil round
and round.

The napkin
(“soudarion”/“sudarium”)
was placed over the face of
Jesus and then wrapped
around His head.

The New Testament Greek
word "entulissō" is used also
in two other places only.
"And when Joseph had taken
the body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth,"(Matt.27:59).

"And he took it down,
and wrapped it in linen, and
laid it in a sepulchre that
was hewn in stone, wherein
never man before was
laid" (Luke 23:53).

These two verses tell us, that
like the head of Jesus which
was wrapped by a napkin or
kerchief (“soudarion”/“sudariu
m”), the body of Jesus was
also wrapped around
(swathed) by a linen cloth.

On the day of Christ’s
resurrection, we read in John
20:12 that Mary
Magdalene "saw two angels in
white sitting, one at the head
and the other at the feet, where
the body of Jesus had lain".

Their sitting positions
indicate to us that the area
between them contains
the evidence to prove that
Jesus Christ has
resurrected.

In that spot was where
the shroud and kerchief (“so
udarion”/“sudarium”) still
lie –wrapped
up ("entulissō").

Peter and John had seen
the grave clothes before
Mary Magdalene.

John was the first to reach
the sepulchre. He stooped
and looked in, and he saw
the linen clothes. But what
made him stop short of
going into the sepulchre
for a closer look?

I believe that John was
momentarily shaken in
what he saw. He probably
could not believe his eyes.
By then Peter had arrived
and entered into the
sepulchre.

He saw where the linen
clothes (shroud) lay and
also the
napkin (“soudarion”/“suda
rium”) for Christ's head)
lying by itself and not
with the shroud.

And the grave clothes were
both still in a wrapped state.
This is what caught the eyes
of the Apostle John. And
when he went into the
sepulchre right after Peter,
once again he saw, and then
he believed.

John had witnessed the
evidence that Jesus had
resurrected, that His body
was not stolen by friends or
foes. Had Jesus' body been
stolen, the thieves would not
have had the time to unwrap
Him.

The evidence of the intact and not
unwrapped grave clothes, both the
shroud and the "sudarium" prove that
Jesus Christ rose up, from His sleeping
position, right though the wrappings,
and then passed through the wall of the
sepulchre in His resurrected glorified
body! Amen. He was unlike Lazarus
who need to be loosed from his
wrappings after He raised him from the
dead (John 11:44).

John 20:8

8 “So the other disciple
who had first come to the
tomb then also entered,
and he saw and believed.”

There are three different
Greek words used in this
passage, and they are all
translated as "seeing."

This is unfortunate.
In verse 5, when John
stooped down, looked in
and saw, the word means
to perceive and
understand. It involves
inspection and perceiving.

In verse 6, when Peter
went in and saw, the
word used is theaomai
from which we get our
word theater.

He viewed it.

In verse 8, when John
went into the sepulchre
and saw, it means to
know.
He knew and he believed
before he ever saw the
risen Christ.

What did the men see in
the tomb?

They saw the burial
wrappings lying in the
shape of the body, but the
body was gone!

The graveclothes lay like
an empty cocoon.

The napkin (for the face)
was carefully folded,
lying by itself.

Verse 8 tells us that the
men believed in His
resurrection because of
the evidence that they
saw.

Later they met Christ
personally and also came
to believe on the
testimony of Scripture.
There are, then, three
types of proof that you
can rest upon when it

comes to spiritual matters:
(1) the evidence God gives
in His world,
(2) the Word of God, and
(3) personal experience.

How can a man know that
Christ is real? He can see
the evidence in the lives of
others; he can read the
Word; and if he trusts
Christ, he will experience
it personally.

John 20:9

9 “For as yet they did not
understand the
rise again from the dead.”

John tells us something
strange.
These men had not
understood even though
Jesus had told them
repeatedly that He would
rise from the dead,

and even though the Old
Testament spoke of this.
Even today we need the
New Testament as sort of
a flashlight to go back and
interpret the Old
Testament.

One of the reasons the
Old Testament is not
popular is because we do
not sufficiently use the
New Testament to
interpret it.

In the same way, we
cannot interpret every
thing that happens here
on earth without viewing
it through the eyes of
eternity.

There are a great many of
us today who read the
Bible but still do not know
certain Scriptures.

There are two reasons for
this:

One is that we may read a
passage many times and
each time see things in the
passage that we have never
seen before. (Mrs. Sugg
used to tell Judge that “they
just put that in there”.)

The Holy Spirit gives us
further light as we study
and read the passages
over and over again.

Also I believe that we
must experience some of
the Scriptures to
understand their
meaning.

The trials and sufferings
and experiences of life
explain their meaning to
us.
For example, when David
wrote that the Lord was
his Shepherd, he knew

from experience the
shepherd-care of God.

John 20:10

10 “So the disciples went
homes.”

Note that in v. 10 they go
back home without
proclaiming the message
of the risen Christ.
Mere intellectual evidence
alone will not change
people.

We must meet Christ
personally.

John 20:11

11 “But Mary was
standing outside the tomb
weeping; and so, as she
wept, she stooped and
looked into the tomb;”

Apparently Mary is the
first one to whom the
Lord appeared.
There are eleven
appearances before His
ascension and three after
His ascension.

There are others which
were not described.
A proverb can be found
for all situations.
For those who ask why
Jesus appeared first to
Mary Magdalene,

Proverbs 8:17 says:
"I love them that love Me;
and those that seek Me
early shall find Me."

She sought Him and she
sought Him early.

John 20:12

12 “and she saw two
angels in white sitting,
one at the head and one at
the feet, where the body
of Jesus had been lying.”

weeping?” She said to
them, “Because they have
taken away my Lord, and
I do not know where they
have laid Him.” John 20:13

This story is the greatest
recognition scene in all
literature.

To Mary belongs the glory
of being the first person to
see the Risen Christ.

The whole story is
scattered with indications
of her love.
She had come back to the
tomb; she had taken her
message to Peter and
John, and then must have

been left behind in their
race to the tomb so that by
the time she got there,
they were gone.

So she stood there
weeping.

There is no need to seek
for elaborate reasons why
Mary did not know Jesus.
The simple and the
poignant fact is that she
could not see him through
her tears.

So we see there were two
very simple and yet very
profound reasons why
Mary did not recognize
Jesus.
1. She could not recognize
him because of her tears.

They blinded her eyes so
that she could not see.
When we lose a dear one,
there is always sorrow in
our hearts and tears shed
or unshed in our eyes.

It is of our loneliness, our
loss, our desolation, that
we are thinking.

We cannot be weeping for
one who has gone to be
the guest of God;

it is for ourselves we weep
because of the temporary
separation. That is natural
and inevitable. At the same
time, we must never allow
our tears to blind us to the
glory of Heaven.

Tears there must be, but
through the tears we
should glimpse the glory.

2. She could not recognize
Jesus because she insisted
on facing in the wrong
direction. She could not
take her eyes off the tomb
and so had her back to
Him. Again it is often so

John 20:15

15 “Jesus said to her,
‘Woman, why are you
seeking?’ Supposing Him
to be the gardener, she

said to Him, ‘Sir, if you
have carried Him away,
tell me where you have
laid Him, and I will take
Him away.’”

John 20:15

Again we are interested in
the fact that she does not
know Him.
Do you know why?
She does not believe that
He is back from the dead.

Unbelief is blind and
unbelief is dumb, as in the
case of Zacharias.

She loves Him, yes, but
love must be coupled with
faith.

She is weeping because
she loves Him but also
because she does not
believe.

How much is the glorified
body changed?

I don't know, but I don't
think the change is so
great that this accounts for
her lack of recognition of
Jesus.

I believe that Mary is
absolutely single-minded
in her grief.
Although she sees two
angels, this doesn't seem
to draw her attention in
any particular way.

They ask a question, not
because they don't know
the answer, but because
they are trying to arouse
some evidence of faith in
Mary.

She is single-minded in
her answer.

He is still dead, and the
probable answer is that
the body has been stolen,
as Mary reasons it out.

She does not expect to see
Christ alive; and, in her
unbelief, she does not
recognize Him.

Her whole conversation
with the person she
thought to be the
gardener shows her love.

"If you are the man who
has removed Him, tell me
where you have laid
Him."

She never mentioned the
name of Jesus; she
thought everyone must
know of Whom she was
thinking; her mind was so
full of Him that there was
not anyone else for her in

all the world.
"I will take Him away."
How was her woman's
strength to do that?
Where was she going to
take Him?

She had not even thought
of these problems. Her
one desire was to weep
her love over Jesus' dead
body.

When He called her by
name, she recognized the
voice as only He could
speak.
If the Lord should tarry
and all of us go through
the doorway of death, our

bodies will be raised
when He calls us by name
someday, just as He called
by name those whom He
raised from the dead over
nineteen hundred years
ago.

As soon as she had
answered the person she
took to be the gardener,
she must have turned
again to the tomb and so
turned her back on Jesus.

Then came his single
word, "Mary!" and her
single answer, "Master!"
(Rabbouni) is simply an
Aramaic form of Rabbi;
there is no difference
between the words.

When sorrow comes, we
must never let tears blind
our eyes to glory; and we
must never fasten our
eyes upon the grave and
forget the heavens.

Alan Walker in
Everybody's Calvary tells
of officiating at a funeral
for people to whom the
service "Was only a form,
and who had neither
Christian faith nor

Christian connection.
"When the service was
over a young woman
looked into the grave, and
said brokenly:
'Goodbye, father.'

It is the end for those who
have no Christian hope."
But for us at such a time,
it is literally "Adieu!" "To
God!" and it is literally
"Until we meet again."

When Jesus spoke her
name, she recognized
Him.
He calls His own by name
(John 10:3-4), and they
know His voice.
See Isa 43:1.

Mary lingered and met
Christ.

How many times it pays
to wait! (See Proverbs
8:17.)

Proverbs 8:17 NASB

17 “I love those who
love me;
And those who
diligently seek me
will find me.

She saw two angels in the
tomb (Luke 24:4 calls
them "two men") but was
too taken up with her
grief to let them comfort
her.

The description of the
angels in v. 12 reminds us
of the mercy seat in the
holy of holies (Exodus
25:17-19); the risen Christ
is now our Mercy Seat in
Heaven.

Mary turned from the
angels, for she was
seeking Christ; she would
have rather had the body
of Christ than the sight of
angels!

The person she then saw
was really Christ, but her
eyes were clouded so that
she could not recognize
Him.

The one word
"supposing" in v. 15
explains all her sorrow.
Many Christians today
are miserable because
they "suppose" something
that is not at all true.

John 20:17

“Stop clinging to Me, for I
have not yet ascended to


John 20:17

Verse 17 suggests that,
early that Easter morning,
Christ ascended to heaven
to present His finished
work to the Father.

That secret ascension
fulfilled the type of
sacrifice discussed in Lev
23:1-14, the waving of the
"first fruits sheaf' the next
day after the Sabbath (see
1 Cor 15:23).

Mary's meeting with
Christ made her a
missionary!

The Lord told Mary not to
touch Him.
The word touch is
haptomai, meaning "to
hold on."
Later, He told the
disciples to touch Him.

Why this difference?
He says to her, "for I am
not yet ascended to my
Father."
This is the reason she
should not hold on to
Him.

So apparently He did
ascend to His Father
before the appearance to
the disciples in the house.

I believe that the Lord
Jesus presented His blood
at the throne of God and
that His blood turned the
judgment seat into the
mercy seat which it is
today.

That blood was shed for
your sin and for my sin.
I think the blood will be
there throughout all
eternity as an eternal
testimony of the price He
paid for us.

the eternal Son of God. He
made this distinction here.

John 20:18

18 “Mary Magdalene
came, announcing to the
disciples, ‘I have seen the
Lord,’ and that He had
said these things to her.”

"In the Old Testament, the
sheep gave their life for
the shepherd. In the New
Testament, the Shepherd
gave His life for the
sheep." Michael Catt. I am
one of those sheep!

New Testament scholar
Frank Stagg points out
that Mary's role as a
witness is unusual
because women at that
time were not considered
credible witnesses in legal

proceedings.
Because of this, and
because of extra-biblical
traditions about her
subsequent missionary
activity in spreading
the Gospel, she is known

by the title, "Equal of the
Apostles“.

John 20:1-18
1 Now on the first day of the
week Mary Magdalene came
early to the tomb, while it
was still dark, and saw the
stone already taken away
from the tomb.

2 So she ran and came to
“They have taken away the
Lord out of the tomb, and we
do not know

3 So Peter and the other
tomb.

8 So the other disciple
(John) who had first come
to the tomb then also
entered, and he saw and
believed.

9 For as yet they did not
understand the
Scripture, that He must rise
again from the dead.
10 So the disciples went
homes.

weeping?” She said to them,
“Because they have taken
away my Lord, and I do not
know where they have laid
Him.”

seeking?” Supposing Him to
be the gardener, she said to
Him, “Sir, if you have carried
Him away,

17 Jesus said to her, “Stop
clinging to Me, for I have not
yet ascended to the Father;
but go to My brethren and
say to them, ‘I ascend to My
Father and your Father, and
My God and your God.’”

Mary’s new responsibility
was to testify to His risen
presence.
She was the recipient of
four special graces:
(1) to see angels;
(2) to see Jesus risen;

(3) to be the first to see
Him alive; and
(4) to be a proclaimer of
the Good News.

Christians today are also
the recipients of special
grace;
we too are given this new
responsibility to witness
to the world
(Matthew 28:16-20).

03 March 31, 2013, John 20;1-18, Easter Sunday

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03 March 31, 2013, John 20;1-18, Easter Sunday