John 20 At the Empty Tomb

 

Introduction

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

So said C.S. Lewis over half a century ago. But which is it?

The answer depends not just on a set of theological statements but on historical facts- and especially the events that took place on Easter week 2,000 years ago. Jesus, the Son of God, was crucified; dead and buried; and was then resurrected- proving that He really was the Saviour-King.

Like C.S. Lewis, the Apostle Paul knew that everything depended upon the empty tomb; indeed, he declared in 1 Corinthians 15:

 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… …we are of all people most to be pitied.

If the resurrection really happened, then Jesus is everything. If it didn’t, then Paul and every Believer has wasted their lives following Him.

This Easter Sunday we gather to remember and celebrate the reality of the resurrection and to pause and ponder its meaning for us today. We do this by turning to John 20 where we see:

The Empty Tomb Discovered…

…Mary meets Jesus outside the tomb..

…Jesus’ Appearances After the Tomb

In John 20 we learn that the resurrection was a real, historical event that shows us that Jesus is the Saviour-King. He calls us to hear and believe so that we might enjoy resurrection life ourselves and share it with others.

Let’s see this truth firstly in… The Empty Tomb Discovered

Our passage begins with a little bit of symbolic scene-setting in verse 1:

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark…

The darkness suggests our passage begins just before dawn; it is also symbolic of the circumstances. Jesus dead and His Followers are at a loss. Then we read:

…Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 

It is interesting that it is ‘Mary Magdalene’ who is the first witness. All four Gospels agree on this: Mary Magdalene is the primary witness of the resurrection. The significance of this should not be lost.

In first-century Judea women had no legal standing as witnesses. So, for God to determine that a woman should be the resurrection’s first witness gives a credibility to the resurrection story- no one, in those days, would make up a story that depended on the witness of a woman (especially a woman with Mary’s background).

In verse 2 we read of Mary’s response to what she had just seen at the tomb. In distress she ran to report the news to two of the most prominent disciples- Simon Peter, the unacknowledged leader of the disciples, and ‘the other disciple’, who is almost certainly John.

 

Mary’s response is understandable. At this point Mary has no thought of resurrection. She doesn’t understand what has happened and so she says: ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’. She must be thinking: Can they not even let my Jesus be now that he is dead?

Mary did not know what had happened to Jesus. She was still in the dark as to why the tomb was empty.

Next, we learn of Peter and John’s response to Mary’s news- they ran to the tomb. And while John, the younger man, ran faster, they both ran hard. Peter and John had just heard life-changing news: that the tomb was empty. They couldn’t be indifferent or detached to this news; they had to see for themselves. Isn’t this a great example to us: the Good News of the resurrection should call from us immediate response and action.

John got to the tomb first, but according to verse 5, he stopped short of going inside. Instead, John looked in and saw the grave clothes of Jesus still in the tomb. John clearly saw this, but he was not quite sure what to make of it.

While John was pondering the strips of linen and lack of a corpse, Peter arrived and went straight into the tomb. In verses 6 and 7 we see Peter impulsive while John is pensive. John wanted to stop and think, but Peter went right in and took a long, careful look.

What strikes them both at this stage is that the body has gone, but the grave clothes remain- orderly and neat. The orderly, undisturbed arrangement of the linen cloths showed that something unique had happened in that now-empty tomb.

 

Think about it: if grave robbers had been to the tomb they would have left a mess- not neatly folded cloths. And if the cloths had been removed by the person wrapped in them it is doubtful they would have left them undisturbed.

Instead, these folded grave clothes are proof that Jesus has been resurrected by The Father. Jesus’ body, that had been placed in that tomb three days earlier, dead and disfigured, was now risen and glorified: no longer trapped by the tomb of death but resurrected by the power of God.

This is THE fact of our faith- a fact witnessed and testified to by multiple witnesses. And we mustn’t think that they witnesses were not stupid or gullible or their testimony is wishful thinking or hallucination. The disciples and the women arrived at the tomb expecting to find Jesus’ body and instead they witnessed an empty tomb- empty except for the undisturbed grave clothes, minus a corpse.

The Christian faith is grounded on the fact of the resurrection- a fact established by eyewitness accounts and rooted in historical fact. And it is a fact which John perceived before anyone else.

Notice, in verse 8 that John: ‘…saw and believed…’. Seeing the empty tomb and the neatly arranged cloths, John believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. John believed that Jesus was who He said He was: the Son of God.

John was the first in all the world to believe that Christ was alive again. But why, then, the final sentence of verse 9?

They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Well, simply, John, at this point, was persuaded purely because of what his eyes saw.

Peter and John come to the tomb assuming that Jesus is dead- not with preconceived notions of what was predicted in the Old Testament. This is further proof that that the disciples did not fabricate the resurrection story.

Rather, they were confronted with certain facts, which they were initially unable to relate to Scripture. Only later, aided by the Spirit’s insight, were they able to do so.

So, at this point Peter and John were persuaded of the fact of the resurrection; they believed. Yet, they were still to understand the meaning of the resurrection.

Knowing the fact of the resurrection is an important start, but not enough. We need to let the Bible tell us the meaning and the importance of Jesus’ resurrection.

For example, Romans 8 tells us that Christ is ‘…firstborn among many brothers and sisters…’; and 1 Corinthians 15 tells is that His resurrection is the ‘…firstfruits…’ meaning that when He returns, ‘…those who belong to him…’ will also be raised from the dead.

That Christ is risen changes everything. A living Christ is an all-powerful Christ-a Christ who gives us life now! A living Christ is a Christ who gives us victory and life in eternity. These magnificent truths, and many more, are declared at the empty tomb.

We go a little further and see… Mary meets Jesus outside the tomb

Having rooted the story in fact, John now shows us the feeling.

Peter and John examined the empty tomb, and John was persuaded that Jesus rose from the dead. In verse 11 Mary did not yet have the confidence that Jesus was resurrected, so she wept.

Mary was mourning. Her heart was in indescribable anguish. The one she had so loved was dead, and she had no idea what is now going on. She wonders where the body is and if there some extra cruelty still to come. Still weeping, she bends over and investigates the tomb.

In verse 12 she sees two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot- emphasising the empty space in between where they are sitting. In verse 13 the angels asked Mary the question that she needs to be asked: ‘…why are you crying?’; and hear Mary’s anguished answer.

While John believed, Mary clearly had not. Mary needed more persuasion, and the Lord graciously would provide it for her.

In verse 14, Mary turns around and sees Jesus- but she does not recognise Him. Remember, these first witnesses at the tomb assume that Jesus is dead. They had to be persuaded, at some length, that He was alive.

Perhaps that explains Jesus’ interaction with Mary in verses 15 and 16. Jesus did not immediately reveal Himself to Mary. It wasn’t to play some trick on her; it was to break through her unbelief and help her believe the truth.

Jesus had only to say one word, and all was explained. Her eyes failed her, but her ears could not mistake that voice saying her name. Mary hears Jesus speak and she responds in faith- instantly calling Him ‘Rabboni’.

This may be John’s way of emphasising the importance of hearing and believing. This, after all, is Jesus’ conclusion in verse 29- ‘…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed…’, as well as John’s purpose in writing his Gospel.

The eyewitness experience of seeing the empty tomb would have been amazing. However, today we can have God’s Word preached to us and benefit from the Spirit’s work through that Word. So, in reality, it is more ‘blessed’ to be reading the Bible than sitting outside the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday. Remember, the initial reaction of those who saw the empty tomb was confusion and despair- we listen and know truth.

In verse 17 we read seemingly strange words:

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

We may ask, why shouldn’t Mary cling to Jesus- the One whom she so loves, and who, she has just realised, has come back from the dead?!

The point is that Mary, while acting appropriately in adoring Jesus, now in this time after the resurrection has a task to do. The attitude that Jesus is encouraging in the disciples, including the women, is not one of passive amazement but of active mission. They are not to cling onto Him but to share Him.

Mary’s task is to tell others not only that the resurrection has happened, but why it is significant: the work of Jesus on the Cross has now opened up the way to have an intimate relationship with the Father God through faith in the Son of God.

Mary obediently goes to the disciples with the news in verse 18. As Believers, we too must witness to the reality and relevance of the resurrection. Through God’s Word we have experienced the resurrection power of Jesus, and it is our task too to go and tell others about what Jesus has done for us.

We have spent some time at the tomb, more briefly we conclude by considering… Jesus’ Appearances After the Tomb

The resurrection is not only factual; it is transformative. We see this as Jesus meets with His disciples in the days following the resurrection- recorded for us in verses 19 to 29

In verses 19 to 22 we learn of Jesus’ encounter with the fearful, guilt-ridden disciples. So much has occurred already and now the disciples ‘…were together…’. This is, and has always been, characteristic of true disciples of Christ. They love to be together: to worship together, encourage each other, serve together.

And so, we have here a model of what should happen every time we gather in Jesus’ name to worship God. Jesus comes into our midst and speaks to us by His Word- words of grace and peace and truth- and then commissions us to go forth as servants of the Gospel.

In verse 21, Jesus tells His Followers that as God sent Jesus to save them, so Jesus sends them with the message that there is a Savior. Christians are people sent into the world to bear spiritual fruit.

In verse 22 we are reminded that we cannot do this without the Holy Spirit. It is He who empowers the preaching of God’s Word; it is He who convicts of sin; it is He who opens hearts to receive the gospel; it is He who gives gifts to build the Kingdom. If we wish to do a great work for God, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit.

Then is verse 23 this truth is confirmed. The forgiving of people’s sins is connected to the proclamation of the Gospel. Believers, empowered by the Spirit, must proclaim the Gospel, and in doing so declare the forgiveness of sin. If someone comes to believe in Christ, we can declare that their sins are forgiven; it is in that sense that we forgive their sins and their sins are forgiven.

 

What a day. Without a doubt, it was the most dramatic day in the history of the world. But one disciple had missed the whole thing.

And so, we come to the famous story of Thomas in verses 24 to 29. Thomas is usually known as ‘Doubting Thomas’, though this is a little unfair to him. Thomas was only asking for the same evidence that the other disciples had had when they were gathered in verse 24.

Thomas wants evidence. And a week later, Jesus appears and gives Thomas the evidence that he demands. Jesus then gives Thomas a rebuke in verse 27: ‘Stop doubting and believe.’. It is a rebuke that some of us need to hear on occasion. So often our faith is theoretical.

The old illustration of a chair may help here. You may think that a chair can hold your weight, but real belief involves sitting down on it! Thomas is here being told to trust Jesus: to actually believe, to trust Christ with His past, present and future.

In verse 28 doubting Thomas becomes worshiping Thomas:

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Here is the purpose and desire of the whole of John’s Gospel: to bring us to worship Jesus, as Thomas did, and to declare Him as our Lord and our God.

In verse 29, Jesus notes that it is because Thomas has seen that he has believed; and then Jesus looks to people like you and me, who will need to believe not by seeing but by hearing and says: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’. Belief is a precious thing- a gracious gift- if we have it, we are indeed blessed!

 

Conclusion

 

Our passage concludes in verses 30 and 31:

 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In other words, John, guided by the Spirit, carefully wrote his account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection so that we might know Jesus fully and enjoy the fullness of life that can only be found in Him.

In the Risen Christ we can know fullness of life forevermore. We can have peace, knowing that we are right with God. We can face the future with confidence, knowing King Jesus is on the throne. And we can have hope in the face of death, because His resurrection secures our own. So, let us be a people who enjoy fullness of life in Christ and share it with others.