John 20: 1,2

Early on 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. 2 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 we don’t know where they have put him!”

Mary had participated in both of the Sabbath’s (another day of the feast of unleavened bread and the regular weekly Sabbath) since Jesus’ death on the cross and now she is coming to finish the burial preparation that Joseph and Nicodemus had begun. We don’t know how Mary was thinking she would get past the guards or roll the stone away but according to Matthew 27 the leaders of the Chief priests and Pharisees asked for the tomb to be guarded and sealed. Pilate gave them permission to “seal it as good as they could!” 

Mary found the stone rolled away not so that Jesus could get out (later we will see him walk through a locked door) but instead so that Mary and the disciples could get in!

Mary finds Peter and John together. Even though Peter was crushed because of his denial of the Lord, time had started to heal his wound and John’s love and acceptance of him, despite his denial, began to heal him. Sometimes all people need is someone to be there, listening and loving them to begin their healing. They need to take certain steps, as we will see with Peter and Jesus’ conversation.

John 20:3-10

Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.

John was probably younger and outran Peter but for a good Jewish boy it was ceremonially unclean to be in a tomb, Peter didn’t care, he wanted to see. The linen burial cloth and head cloth were expensive pieces of material if the body had been stolen (as was not unusual in Israel) they would have also stolen these expensive pieces of material. That is part of the reason we are told they were still in the tomb to encourage the readers to understand.

Jesus had spoken very plainly to his disciples about his death and resurrection, John recorded for us the conversation with Nicodemus so we would know Jesus was specifically going to the cross. Even before that, in John 2:19 he plainly spoke about his death and resurrection. Jesus’ enemies understood it, the women knew it (Mary prepared him for burial when she washed his feet) The disciples got so caught up in what they wanted and what they thought would happen that they missed the great thing and the greater understanding of what Jesus was going to do until…..John saw the grave cloths and then it triggered in his memory what Jesus had actually said to them…..This was now the most incredible day of John’s life; Jesus overcame death…..He is alive!

John 20:11-13

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

Mary’s grief is so overwhelming….have you ever been stuck on one train of thought and totally missed what was going on around you? That is what was happening to Mary, she came to prepare a body for burial and is so caught up on the body missing that she ignores the fact that two angels are talking with her. They are even trying to get her to see that Jesus is not here because he is alive that is why they say to her, “Why are you crying?” for them, this is a day of great rejoicing for mankind, the devil, sin, and death have been defeated. The Holy Spirit is soon to be released, men, women, and children worldwide for all generations will now be able to walk in freedom. This is a day of celebration, of rejoicing, not crying! 

Grief can do funny things to us….but notice also the ownership she takes, “They have taken away MY lord!” That is the intimacy of relationship the Lord wants us to have with Him, always

John 20:14-16

She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

Mary turned and Jesus is standing there, she was one of his most intimate friends, with him from almost the beginning, supporting him from the very beginning but she doesn’t recognize him. The disciples on the road to Emmaus, for 7 miles didn’t recognize him, the disciples fishing in Galilee didn’t recognize him. Until Jesus calls Mary’s name…He had said “my sheep know my voice” (John 10:27).

I’d like to give a possible explanation as to why he was not recognized. It could be he simply didn’t want to be recognized until an exact time, as it seems it could have been with the disciples on the road to Emmaus and possibly Mary. I think it is more practical than that, scripture tells us His beard was plucked out (Isaiah 50:6, Matthew 26, 27 talks about slapping and beating, which would have included ripping out his beard) If you have only known someone to have a long beard then all of a sudden they have none it is easy to think that you would not recognize them.

John 20: 17,18

“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Mary was excited, she thought Jesus was dead, she was coming to prepare the body for burial and then to find he is alive must have blown her away! Think of the story of the prodigal’s son, how the Father ran and grabbed him. I can imagine Mary throwing her arms around Jesus and almost having a death grip on him. He loved Mary so his response to her is not one of anger but a couple of things are happening here. Jesus had to present himself to the Father as the lamb that was slain for the sin of mankind and also his relationship with The disciples was changing, he was going to be the one ever interceding for mankind at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34) the Holy Spirit is the one he wants them clinging to!

John 20:18

Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

This is profound to tell this story, women were basically second-class citizens in this society. Proclaiming that a woman witnessed the risen Lord was not the way to influence the culture. John makes this a statement of fact which should alone have convinced people they would not have made it up. If they would have they should have said a man saw Him first if they really wanted to influence people.

John 20:19-23

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

There were two doors, barred shut. Jesus in a fully fleshly (He ate and could be touched) but glorified body could walk through walls and closed doors or was translated out of thin air. They received the Holy Spirit here as their saving faith knowing Jesus as their savior and Lord because of the cross. Later they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit for power to be His witnesses. As they listened to the Holy Spirit as Jesus was led by the spirit to forgive sins so they could do the same.

John 20:24,25

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Thomas gets a bad rap for this but I don’t believe he should. He was a truth seeker bold in his proclamation in John 11 he encouraged the disciples to get ready to go die for Jesus. When Jesus was talking about leaving them and going to the Father, he wanted further clarification and explanation. I believe his desire here, was not as much doubt as broken-heartedness

John 20:26-29

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Eight days later (would have included the day of Thomas’ statement) Sunday, Jesus shows up having walked through the wall again. Jesus heard Thomas 8 days earlier, He knew exactly what Thomas said even though He wasn’t in the room. He knows and hears all that we say and do. He has no problem with that, and as our intercessor to the Father he knows all we are going through always and knows our hearts as well as our words.

Again Jesus proclaims peace, unity of heart, purpose and wholeness. Thomas proclaims Jesus as Lord and God, concluding John’s purpose for this Gospel is that all will believe that Jesus is God!

I want to talk about wounds for a minute. All of us have scars from the wounds we have felt in life but like the nail prints in Jesus’ hands, I want you to see your scars as badges of honor, showing the things God has brought you through that you see them not as something ugly but as an object of beauty of God’s faithfulness to you.

John 20:30,31

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

John is telling us that as we have read and studied this book, we now have the understanding to believe in Him, in who he was and who he is still today. He lives and because he lives he expects us to have… the word John uses here for life is “zoe” which is life full of zest, abundance, and joy by the power of his name. 

Believe today and allow that life to pour through you. This life can be even more real to you as you allow the Holy Spirit to pour in and through you in power!

Next week the Epilogue or appendix John gives us, the last chapter of his Gospel!