Running into Faith

If God’s people would please
take your Bibles and turn to John chapter 20. We’re turning
the corner, aren’t we? Rounding the corner for the end
of John’s gospel. And this is a rapid fire chapter
dealing with the resurrection of Christ and his resurrection
appearances. John’s gospel is profound. It’s very different from the
synoptics as we have found. And John, rather than trying
to put together a precisely chronological event, instead puts forth grand
theological themes embedded within a greater outline. We know that
between chapter 19 and chapter 20, Essentially 36 hours has passed. The time when Jesus is in the
grave from Friday evening until early Sunday morning and thus
according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, three days. Since part of a day was considered
a day, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If you would, let’s begin
in verse one as we begin to consider this incredible chapter, chapter
20, regarding the resurrection ministry of our Lord Jesus. 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. 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 where they have laid him. So Peter and the other disciple
went forth and they were going to the tomb and the two were
running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than
Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in He
saw the linen wrappings lying there but he did not go in. And
so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb and
he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the face cloth which
had been on his head not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had
first come to the tomb then also entered and he saw and believed
for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise
again from the dead so the disciples went away again to their own
homes but Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping and so as she
wept she stooped and looked in into the tomb 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 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. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said
to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing
him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have taken
him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him
away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him again
in Hebrew, which means teacher. 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 to your father and
my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came announcing
to the disciples I have seen the Lord that he had said these
things to her. So when it was evening on that
day the first day of the week and when the doors were shut
where the disciples were for fear of the Jews Jesus came and
stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he
showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again,
peace be with you. As the father has sent me, I
also send you. And when he had said this, He
breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins
of any, they have been retained. But Thomas, one of the 12 called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples
were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. He said to them, unless
I see his hands, The imprint of the nails and put my finger
into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side. I
will not believe. After eight days, his disciples
were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the
doors having been shut and stood in their midst and said, peace
be with you. 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. Thomas answered and said to him
my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him because you
have seen me you have believed. Blessed are they who did not
see and yet believed. Therefore many other signs Jesus
also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not
written in this book but these have been written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you may have life in his name. What an astounding
turn of events. Even for Christ’s most faithful
disciples, to go from an upper room meal, even as solemn as
it was, even as shocking as it was to have Judas defect, even
as encouraging as it was to see what Christ did in his service
and to hear his words, and then to go out from there and to see
Christ immediately arrested, brought before multiple courts
and tried, condemned and crucified and then buried. What a turn of events. What a
remarkable scene. And so as we enter into it, we
have to enter into it with their eyes. We have to contemplate
these things as they might have contemplated them. Jesus’ apostles,
Jesus’ faithful followers, Jesus’ friends, including these godly women. I’ve entitled the message this
morning, Running into Faith. I’ll explain that as we go, but
it’s fascinating as you back away to see that in this remarkable
passage, all three primary individuals in this passage are found running. Mary Magdalene ran. ran to tell
the disciples what she had seen. Peter and John ran and ultimately
they begin the process of running into faith. I want to look at
three responses to this empty tomb this morning. Three different
responses by three different people. The first one that we
see is Mary Magdalene, and the only way that I could describe
her response is what I would call a devoted alarm. This is
a devoted woman. This is a godly, worshipful woman. This is a woman very unique in
her calling to Christ, who literally was prepared to give anything
and everything to Him and for Him. Matthew’s gospel introduces
us to this particular scene by informing us that at least two
ladies, Mary Magdalene and another Mary, Mary the mother of James
as Mark tells us. Matthew tells us that at least
two women purpose to come to the tomb. Mark also adds that
Salome came along, that makes three. Luke expands the list
to include Joanna and other women. And so this is much the same
group of women who were present at the crucifixion. They likely
were there on that Friday afternoon as Jesus was crucified. They took it in in full. They
were part of the burial team initially and now just 36 hours
later they are there essentially to finish the job of anointing
this body. While Matthew tells us that these
women came to look at the tomb, Mark tells us of their intentions. They had purchased burial spices
probably even on Friday afternoon immediately after Christ was
killed because they wouldn’t have been able to purchase them
at all on Saturday, the Sabbath. No vendor would have been available
to sell them that early in the morning on Sunday. And so Friday
is the likely time when these supplies would have been purchased.
And having purchased these aromatic spices, fragrances, They were
coming to the tomb to anoint the Lord’s body. That probably
tells us that the burial process, even though there was 100 pounds
of spices that Nicodemus had brought, the burial process was
rather hasty. Remember, they had to get Jesus
buried before sundown according to Jewish law. I’m not trying
to be overly simplistic here. These godly women went back worshipfully
to prepare Christ’s embalming. While the Jewish elite who had
promoted the crucifixion of Christ were sleeping in on the day following
the Sabbath, these devoted followers of Christ were preparing Him
the most basic final service, the anointing of a body. This, all this to observe and
show and remind that women can and do and should minister. In our day and age, and it seems
to be this recurring thing this discussion about women in ministry
and people get fearful in fact even to use the words women’s
ministry is sometimes to to garner quite an uncomfortable conversation
and we certainly believe that there are biblical parameters
put in place but women do minister women can and should minister
they should serve God in their giftings Sometimes it includes little
children’s Sunday school but it isn’t limited to that. Shouldn’t
be. Women play many vital role roles
in the life of a local church and even in the worship of Christ
itself. Not the least of which is their
own personal worship done in a corporate setting. And that’s
exactly what’s taking place in this particular setting. This
kind of worship is something which we should be preparing
beforehand. We should have come into this
place this morning already with hearts prepared for worship.
Beyond adornment, as Peter points out in his epistle, the hidden
person of the heart is the truest form of worship, isn’t it? It’s
the heart preparation, and these women had done heart preparation,
and now they are coming to engage in ministry. You can call it
women’s ministry if you wish, but this is true and heartfelt
ministry. And it isn’t surprising that
such a delicate, such a solemn ministry as the anointing of
the body of their beloved Savior should be taken up by these godly
women. But John zeroes in on one. He zeroes in on only one woman,
Mary Magdalene. I told you the list gets expanded
by Mark, even further by Luke. John only focuses on one woman,
Mary Magdalene, and he doesn’t stipulate that she came alone,
but he only names her and he only focuses upon her actions. We meet up with Mary Magdalene
the very first time in the Gospel of Luke, and since we have a
few minutes this morning, if you would turn to Luke chapter
eight, I’ll tell you an interesting story. When I preached this passage,
I came to Luke chapter eight and I wondered, what on earth
am I going to do with this? It just seemed like a transitional
passage. One of those many passages in
scripture that on the face of it seems to have not such great
significance. And yet, as we get into this
passage, we see the value of this passage and we see the value
of the people within it. If you’re in Luke chapter 8,
look at verse 1. Soon afterwards, he began going
around from one city and village to another. This is Christ proclaiming
and preaching the kingdom of God. This is ministry. The twelve
were with him and that part of it almost catches us by no surprise
at all. We expect them to be with him.
They are in training. He is essentially lighting their
torches to pass on the ministry of preaching and proclaiming
Christ. We would expect to find the apostles here. The 12 were with him, look at
verse two, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits
and diseases. I think in our first inclination
we think of these as hangers-on. We’d call them in circles today
groupies. They have been affected by Christ’s
ministry and they just begin lingering. Nothing impure about
that suggestion at all, but it just seems to indicate that they
were just following along. And then Luke begins to name
some of those particular women who were following along. Mary, who was called Magdalene,
from whom seven demons had gone out. We’ll come back to that
thought in a moment. Joanna, the wife of Cusa, Herod’s
steward. And so now we have an insider,
someone whose servant was inside the palace of Herod. His very
wife was part of this group of ladies that had been affected.
And then Susanna, about whom we know next to nothing. We might even be tempted to call
her a nobody, just a name. And then it says, and many others,
and watch this, who were contributing to their support out of their
private means. It was their privilege to come
along. Perhaps they had tasks, perhaps
they had things that they did for the men, cooking and cleaning
and carrying and sewing and all the rest, but they were part
of the ministry team. And I take it to mean, I took
it then to mean that this ministry, this ministry would not have
flourished without their assistance, without their participation.
Mary Magdalene is at the top of that list. Seven Demons points
to a passage in Luke’s gospel In Luke chapter 11, when the
unclean spirit goes out of a man, Jesus says, it passes through
the waterless places, seeking rest, not finding any, it says,
I will return to my house from which I came, and when it comes,
it finds it swept and put in order. He isn’t talking about
a cottage. He’s talking about a human soul. The demon has been cast out,
it comes back, it finds the place all cleaned up, He comes in and
brings havoc. And when it comes, it finds it
swept and put in order, then it goes and takes along seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live
there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the
first. Now, the sad thing is that we’ve
had all kinds of people throughout the centuries conjecture and
draw conclusions and make suggestions and even accusations against
Mary Magdalene of what her sins were and how she got to the place
that she was. We don’t know any of it. All
we have is this general reference that Luke makes here in verse
2 that she was one from whom seven demons had gone out. Jesus Christ had had a role in
her life. He had come and cast out demons
from her life, and she was indebted to him. Mary Magdalene is a very
prominent figure throughout the Gospels. As we already pointed
out, she was there at the crucifixion. Matthew’s Gospel indicates, as
we saw in one verse in John, She was there and saw where Christ’s
body was laid in the tomb, as we’ll see in a moment. She went
to anoint Christ’s body that Sunday, as we are in the process
of observing, and she was the first one to see the risen Christ,
as we’ll see next Lord’s Day. And so we just see this Mary,
Mary Magdalene, who we spend too little time observing, She
is a godly woman. She is a woman who has been touched
and saved by Christ, had these demons cast out of
a wretched life, now turned around by God’s grace. It’s not surprising,
is it, that we see Mary rising early to come and do homage to
her Lord, to come and render Him the most basic service of
all, anointing His dead body. we can draw the conclusion that
Mary, who was part of a larger group of ladies, as you recall,
Mary must have run ahead. Maybe she hurried ahead, maybe
the others were slower of pace, but Mary was ahead of the others,
and she came to the tomb first. If you would, look at verse one.
Now on the first day of the week, that would be our Sunday. Mary
Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark, and
the stone already taken away from the tomb. All of the gospel writers put
this at dawn. Some describe it differently,
the sun just cresting. It was dawn, it was still dark. This is John’s first mention
of the stone at all, unlike the other gospels. Mark goes, the
other gospels all detail the tomb’s ceiling, rather. John just leaves it alone and
merely mentions this stone. He’s building on the story, the
knowledge, rather, of his reader’s awareness of the other gospels.
And so Mary comes and she is the first one to come to the
tomb in this condition. And when she gets there first,
she’s obvious the first one to look and discover it opened.
The rock covering the opening has moved or been moved. And Mary Magdalene is the very
first one to conclude that the open tomb is an indication that
something was not right. This is a courageous woman, a
zealous woman, a woman who was eager to honor her Lord. even
before dark, even at dawn, even at cost to her own self to come
and to worship the Lord in this way. What a courageous woman. And though the other gospel writers
elevate all the women to the same plane, John, John takes
it upon himself to elevate Mary Magdalene even above them in
her faith, in her love for Christ, in her courage to go out even
at dark. No one is held in such high esteem
as Mary Magdalene in John’s eyes. And perhaps it’s because of one
simple little figure that J.C. Ryle pointed out. We talked about
women’s ministry a second ago. But note J.C. Ryle’s challenge. How is it that many who profess
and call themselves Christians do so little for the Savior whose
name they bear? Let me repeat that. How is it
that many who profess and call themselves Christians do so little
for the Savior whose name they bear. How is it that many work
so little, say so little, take so little pains to promote Christ’s
cause and bring glory to Christ in the world? Where sin is not
felt at all, nothing is done. And where sin is felt little,
little is done. The one who is deeply conscious
of his own guilt and corruption and deeply convinced that without
the blood and intercession of Christ, he would sink deservedly
into the lowest hell. This is the one who will spend
and be spent for Jesus and think that he could never do enough
to show forth his praise. I don’t know what that does to
provoke, usually I save those quotes for the end of a sermon.
I don’t know what that does in the examination of your own heart,
but what it tells me is that Mary was one that knew that she
had been forgiven much. Mary was one that knew that without
Christ, had Christ not come into her life, had Christ not cast
out these demons, had Christ not forgiven her sin, She would have gone to hell. But because Christ had come,
because Christ had cast out these demons, because Christ had forgiven
her wretched sin, because Christ had poured His love and grace
into her life, she could not but minister to Him. She had to serve Christ, even
at dawn. even in the dark, even at her
own expense, even alone, if necessary. Look again at verse one. 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. Mary doesn’t realize the significance
of the scene yet. She will, but that will take
some time, hours, Solitude, angels, but for the moment, it’s a bewildering
scene. We know that Mary is one who
helped with the burial and saw the grave. She saw it sealed. We know that from the synoptics.
Matthew 27 says that Mary Magdalene was there and the other Mary
sitting opposite the grave. I take it to paint the scene
that they were just sitting there, perhaps on a rock, observing,
mourning. They were reduced to just sitting
there at the master’s tomb. Mark though, Mark says that Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were looking on to
see where he was laid. They were taking in the details.
They sat and they stared at this grave. Then Luke says that he notes
particulars that they not only noted about his body where it
was placed but the particulars about his grave they sat and
they observed and they took it in they recognized some things
and so Mary had been there Mary Magdalene had been there when
Jesus was laid on the tomb and now just some 36 hours later
she’s coming to do honor to the body of the Lord there’s only
one problem of all the people who had known Jesus and of the
very few who had actually seen him placed into his earthly grave
and seen that tomb sealed. As soon as she came upon the
scene she noticed a glaring problem. The stone had been rolled away. Now we know, we have the privilege
of looking back to the other Gospels and we have the fullness
of the story all woven together like a beautiful tapestry. Matthew’s
Gospel paints the picture. You’ve heard it Matthew 28 verse
2, a severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled the stone and sat upon it. His
appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as
snow. The guards shook for fear because of him and became like
dead men. Now that’s quite a scene. The
only problem is Mary wasn’t privy to that information. Perhaps
Mary felt the earthquake. But she didn’t know anything
about the rest of this. She didn’t know anything about the resurrection
of Christ, which occurred in that moment. She didn’t know
anything about an angel. She didn’t know anything about
the rolling of the stone. She may have felt the earthquake.
After all, it was a severe earthquake. The dazzling angel sitting on
the rock was evidently gone by the time she arrived. She makes
no mention of that. Nor does she see all these soldiers
lying around struck near dead with fear. Perhaps they were
gone as well. All she notices is that our master’s tomb has
been disturbed. This rock, this huge stone covering
the opening is rolled away. The tomb is exposed. It’s wide
open. And the only way that we can
account for her actions in what follows is that she employed
a very simple equation. And we have to bear with her.
This has been an absolutely traumatic 48 hours. The tomb is open, Jesus’
body is gone, someone must have taken it. It’s a very simple
equation. The thought of Jesus being raised
from the dead doesn’t even occur to her. She doesn’t allege that some
enemy has done this. She just says that Jesus’ body
is gone. And her immediate conclusion
is, open tomb, body gone, run. Not out of fear. And from what verse two tells
us, she dropped what she was doing. Perhaps even her measure
of the spices that she had brought for anointing, she took off running. It isn’t conceivable that she
races back down the path from the grave, passing the rest of
her friends that were also on the way, plodding up the hill
at their own pace. Mary, the mother of James, Salome,
Joanna, all the rest of the women of that company, Mary Magdalene
is now on a completely different mission. But I want you to notice the
genuineness of this transition. If Mary did pass them, in a dead
sprint, she may have said something to her friends. The stone is
rolled away. The tomb is open. The body’s
gone. Jesus is missing. But if so, they didn’t grasp
it. Turn to the gospel of Mark, just a couple of verses. Mark
chapter 16. Because Mark’s gospel picks up
on the rest of the crowd heading to the tomb to anoint the body
of Jesus. Mark chapter 16, look at verse
three. They, that is these godly women,
were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for
us from the entrance of the tomb? That’s a major problem. They
would not have been able to do it. Looking up, they saw that
the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
They were absolutely clueless about the condition of the tomb.
They’re pondering the obvious question. If we’re going to anoint
this body, how are we going to get into the tomb? And they come
and they find the stone already rolled away, and Mary is running
for the city. Back, if you would, to John’s
gospel. Verse two. So she ran and came to Simon
Peter and said to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and we know
that that’s John, and said to them, they have taken away the
Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid
him. So Mary, upon the shadowy glance
at the open tomb in the gray dawn light, runs to the most
logical place, the place where the two most prominent apostles,
and yes, perhaps even Jesus’ mother, were staying. Remember,
Jesus had just entrusted John to his mother and his mother
to John, and it’s likely that this arrangement began immediately
This is possibly even her home that these two apostles are staying
at. It’s important to acknowledge
that her first thought is Peter. Not even in his tragic fall,
not even in his denial, his threefold denial of Christ could change
his standing in Mary’s mind. She knew deep down that Peter
loved his Lord, She knew that he was still an apostle, at least
in her eyes. And John’s gospel, remember,
closes with this beautiful scene. Remember where Jesus restores
Peter to ministry? Peter, do you love me? Peter,
do you love me? Feed my sheep. But for Mary Magdalene,
Peter’s restoration starts right now. And it’s good to pause and note
that there is another who stood by Peter throughout this whole
ordeal, the Apostle John. One commentator said of him,
the love and tender charity of John’s character come out beautifully
in his affection for Peter, even after his denial of Christ. How many modern churches would
have excommunicated Peter and put him in a low place for months?
John clings to him. and has him under his own roof. But now Mary comes bursting in. It’s not even breakfast time.
And her urgent announcement probably went something like this, because
after all, remember, she had just run some distance, shocked
by what she saw, and came barging into their home just after dawn. They have taken away the Lord
out of the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve laid
him. Now Mary, calm down, slower. What did you say? They, who? They have taken, where? They’ve
taken the Lord out of the tomb, what? And we do not know where
they’ve laid him. Truth be told, Mary has no idea
or where, who, anything else. The tomb is open, the body’s
gone. That’s her conclusion. And with that, Peter and John
take off in hot pursuit. And we’re left with Mary in this
condition. I’m so thankful that the scriptures
take her further in her faith, in her path of faith. She’s running
into faith as well. But for now, we can only characterize
her as devoted alarm. And I would say that’s where
much of humanity resides. They hear about the gospel. And
they become very religious. They become devoted. They’re
dutiful in what they do. But they’re really just alarmed.
They’re frightened. They don’t know exactly what
to do with the information that they’ve got. Devoted alarm. But there’s another reaction.
And it’s the reaction of Peter. And I would call his response
to the empty tomb enthusiastic Bewilderment. Doesn’t that sound
like Peter? Look at verse 3. So Peter and the other disciple
went forth. They were going to the tomb. And you can imagine
what’s going through their mind as they’re going to the tomb,
running. This kind of unbelief that’s
transforming, morphing into who knows what. They’re eager. They’re
enthusiastic. They’re running. They’re timid. They’re fearful. The two were
running together, verse four says, and the other disciple
ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. The traditional
argument here is that John wins the foot race because he was
younger. But we don’t know exactly. We do know that John outlived
the rest of the apostles by many years. It’s certainly possible
that he is younger than Peter. Maybe Peter had extra groceries
to carry around. Maybe he wasn’t as fast. Who
knows? John wins the foot race. So be
it. Verse 5, stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings
lying there, but he did not go in. It’s almost as if he bends
and peers into the cave, but does not go in. It’s very clear.
He was hesitant. Was he just satisfied merely
to look in the cave? Was he fearful of entering in
for fear of what he might find? Was it some kind of scrupulous
observance of God’s law regarding dead bodies? Was it out of reverence
for his friend and Lord? After all, this is a place of
honor. Was he merely politely waiting for Peter? We don’t know.
What we do know is that he gives this scrutinizing, investigative
look. into the tomb, perhaps even squinting
for lack of light. The word is used a couple of
different times in the New Testament. You’ve heard these. 1 Peter 1.12,
things into which angels long to look. James 1.25, one who
looks intently at the perfect law. And that’s John, kind of
bending, peering, squinting, scrutinizing what it is that
he sees. When along comes his friend,
verse six, Simon Peter also came following him, perhaps huffing
and puffing, and he entered the tomb, and he saw the linen wrappings
lying there, and the face cloth which had been on his head, not
lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. John is outside the cave, stunned
by what he sees. But Peter, with all the impulsiveness
that we see everywhere else, the same guy with the same impulsiveness
who throws himself into the sea, same guy that stepped out of
the boat to walk to the Lord, the same guy that wanted to build
a tent. Peter. bolts into the cave Can’t
fault Peter but instead of these linen wrappings You know torn
off in shreds were piled up in a heap on the floor That the
picture that’s presented was that they were lying in exactly
the same place just flattened for lack of a body It wasn’t
one of a scene of confusion. It wasn’t a scene of disarray.
It wasn’t a scene that grave robbers would have left behind.
Grave robbers would have hardly stolen a body. And if they stole
the body, they certainly wouldn’t strip the body of its grave clothes.
And if they stripped the body of its grave clothes, they certainly
wouldn’t left them neatly in a pile. One prominent explanation is
that the grave clothes were exactly as they had been, as if they’d
been placed around a body. Jesus’ body rose through the
grave clothes without disturbing them. We have no information
because we weren’t there. It was a miraculous resurrection. We know now. How? We know not. And so in addition
to devoted alarm, I think the second most prominent response to the gospel is an enthusiastic bewilderment.
People are zealous just like that seed that falls among the
rocky soil. It sprouts and enthusiastically
it’s there and it makes a grand profession of faith about Christ
but it really is bewildered about the deep things of God. It really
is bewildered about the rest of the truth. It really is bewildered
about the significance of Christ, the meaning of Christ. So you
have here devoted alarm and enthusiastic bewilderment which really discusses
the way most people respond to the gospel. And thankfully we
know that Peter too comes to faith. He’s running to faith
as well. Mary Magdalene and Peter will
both truly and finally come to faith but there’s a third. There’s
a third response and we see it here in this passage it’s the
response of John. And I would just call his response
a dawning faith it’s not like he had all the answers to everything
any question that would ever come up but he he did have a
burgeoning faith and it starts here it grows here. Look at verse
8, so the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then
also entered and he saw and believed for as yet they did not understand
the scripture. As soon as John saw the empty
tomb and the grave closed in their condition, John basically
comes to the conclusion that something supernatural has happened. His faith swelled. we can’t possibly believe that
John becomes a Christian here on this first Easter morning. Nor does it, could it mean that
John just really believed that the body was missing just like
Mary Magdalene had said. When it says that he believed,
I believe that His faith grew. He really and truly came to a
belief and understanding that something miraculous had happened,
that Jesus Christ had truly risen. It’s the fact that Jesus was
raised that John now believed. He believed that Jesus Christ
had been resurrected from the dead. And we have that proof in verse
nine, for as yet they did not understand the scripture that
he must rise again from the dead. John’s belief in the resurrection,
he doesn’t hearken back to all the Old Testament teaching. In
fact, he doesn’t even hearken back to Jesus’ own words while
he walked with him for three years. But what he sees is encouraging
to him that he knows the God that created the universe and
he knows that resurrection is possible. He doesn’t know exactly
where Jesus is or in what form he is or how long he’ll be with
him or when he’ll see him or if. But he believed that something
miraculous had taken place. He believed in a resurrection. Jesus had on numerous occasions
declared the idea of the resurrection John chapter 2 remember John
chapter 2 Jesus said destroy this temple and in three days
I will raise it up and the Jews were aghast Remember they were
convinced that he was talking about the actual temple, but
he was speaking of the temple of his body and get this Verse
22 of John 2 when he was raised from the dead His disciples remembered
that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the
word which Jesus had spoken. John is in process, as all of
his friends and apostles are, even as Mary and Peter are. John is in process. He doesn’t
have the fullness of the resurrection ready to be explained. But Jesus
had told them on numerous occasions, Matthew 20, another one, on the
third day he will be raised up. But what particular scripture
could he possibly be looking to? What possible scripture could
he be referring to? Jesus had told them that too.
The Jews were clamoring for a sign. Matthew’s gospel says there will
be no sign given to you, but the sign of Jonah the prophet
Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea
monster. So will the Son of Man be Three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth what John is telling us here is they
hadn’t put that together yet But John is standing at the tomb
and he knows something has happened something dramatic has happened
Something miraculous has happened. That Jesus was raised from the
dead. For as yet, verse 9, they did
not understand the scripture that He must rise from the dead. They hadn’t even put together
yet how necessary the resurrection was. Luke 9.22, Jesus had told them
the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the
elders and the chief priests and be killed and raised up on
the third day. That must happen. This wasn’t an accident. This
wasn’t a contingency plan on God’s part. This was God’s sovereign
design. This was God’s plan of redemption.
The doctrine of resurrection is not an unimportant doctrine. Paul said it this way. He was
delivered over for our transgressions. He paid our penalty. He was raised
because of our justification. Our standing in Christ is made
possible and only possible because God accepted Christ’s payment
by raising Him from the dead. One pastor said, concerning the
importance of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, it would be hard
to speak too strongly. It is the grand proof that He
was the promised Messiah. The one great sign which He named
to the Jews. It was the completion of the
work of redemption. It proved that the ransom was
accepted. And so I ask, what kind of faith
is your faith? What kind of response do you
have to the message of the gospel because some never get out of
the swirl, the vortex of devoted alarm. The gospel is alarming. The news of the gospel, the fact
that there’s a sacrificial system, blood, sacrifice, atonement,
those are shocking things. Some people never transition
out of alarm. They’re devoted, they’re dutiful,
they’re religious. Some never make it past Enthusiastic
bewilderment. They’re zealous. They’re eager.
They’re happy. They’re always there. They’re
always talking about these things. They can’t explain them. They’re
utterly bewildered. They have no idea what the significance
of the gospel message is, including the resurrection. But thankfully,
there is that third, and I think that third represents most of
you, there is a dawning faith, a faith that takes the basic
testimony of the matter at hand, the gospel, the news of the resurrection,
and it begins to build on that by God’s grace. It takes it at
face value. John didn’t understand fully,
but he knew enough to begin to grow in his faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Would you examine your own heart
this morning as to the status of your heart before Almighty
God? Our merciful King, what an astounding scene. What an
amazing 24 hours this has been. The arrest, trial, crucifixion,
burial of Christ. And now these simple people.
Come to the tomb. And begin to process the data
of what they see. Lord, such is the state of many
of us. We begin to process the data.
We don’t even know what to do with it, we’re fearful. And so
we. We take to religiosity. Sometimes
we become enthusiastic. We really do believe, we think,
but we really don’t understand. Father, thankfully there are
those. You’ve begun a work. You’ve opened
their eyes, eyes of faith. They take what they’ve seen at
face value. They take what they see as a
miracle of God. They begin to build on that faith.
Grow that faith. To the glory of God. Lord God,
may that be true of us. May any who need. The Lord Jesus
Christ as Savior, who know for sure they do not own him. No,
for sure they have not placed their faith in him. Do your work
in their heart even this day. We plead with you in Jesus name.
Amen.