Resurrection Sunday The Third Day
Resurrection Sunday, The Third Day
Taught by: Carolyn Sissom
Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008
John 20: 1-23
John 20:1 “Early in the morning on the first day of the week”. Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark. Upon seeing the stone taken away from the entrance of the tomb, she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid Him!”
The “first-day has since been called the Lord’s day.” Not only because He rose that day, but because the New Creation based on His redemption work also began on Sunday. Seven Sunday’s later (Pentecost) Jesus returned in the Spirit to begin the work of building His church. Our Sunday worship is an extension of that first Pentecostal Sunday. This is not merely a day of physical rest (per the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday), but a day of Spiritual work for Christ—the true rest. The Christian’s Sabbath (Sunday) provides spiritual rest for souls. It is for those belonging to the new creation, those alive in the Spirit. Christians are delivered from the bondage of days. (Romans 14:5) “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mine. He, who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.”
John 20: 3-7: “Peter and the other disciple set out at once for the tomb. The two of them running together, for a time they ran side by side, but then the other disciple ran ahead of Peter to reach the tomb first. Stooping down so that he could look inside, he saw the line wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. close behind came Simon Pieter who went directly into the tomb, where he beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face cloth which had been about his not lying with the other wrappings, but folded in a place by itself.”
There is no way to remove a body from the Jewish method of winding a corpse without disturbing the folds. The face-cloth lying intact and folded is overwhelming evidence. Indeed it was Jewish custom to fold a napkin at the dinner table indicating the person would return.
John: 8-10: “Then the disciple who reached the tomb first also went in, and When he saw the evidence, he believed, for at this point they had not yet understood the Scripture which said he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went home.
Three different Greek verbs are used in this incident to show how the two disciples reacted to the evidence.
- John looked and he “saw” the linens by casual inspection.
- When Peter “saw” the linens, he beheld them critically and carefully but he didn’t understand.
- John entered the tomb “saw” and understood what had happened.
He believed the Lord had risen from the dead as he said He would. John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
John 20: 11 & 12: “Now Mary remained outside the tomb weeping. In the process of pouring out her grief, she bent down and looked into the tomb. There she beheld two angels in white, sitting one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
There are still ministers of the Gospel who refuse to recognize the ministry of angels to the Body of Christ. The ministry of angels is as natural in the Kingdom of God as the ministry of the saints. “These angels were messengers from heaven, sent on purpose: to honor the Son. Now that the Son of God was again to be brought into the world, the angels have a charge to attend him, as they did at his birth. They are sent to comfort the saints, and by giving them notice that the Lord was risen, to prepare them for the sight of Him. Their number: two, not a multitude of the heavenly host, to sing praise, only two to bear witness. They were in white, denoting their purity and holiness. Glorified saints shall walk with Christ in white. These angels sat at Christ’s grave. These angels went into the grave to teach us to not be afraid of it. Their sitting to face one another, one at his bed’s head, the other at his bed’s feet, may also remind us of two cherubim, not with flaming swords to keep us from the Garden, but welcome messengers to welcome us to the way of life.” (M.H.)
John 20: 13-18: “Woman why are you weeping?” They asked, “Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him,” she answered. As soon as she said this, she turned away, And then she saw Jesus standing there without realizing it was He. Then Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said, “Sir if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned to move toward Him and as she did, she exclaimed in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” which means my teacher. Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.” So Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” then she gave them the message. Late that same Sunday evening, when the disciples had met together behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them. “Peace be with you,” He said. Then He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were overjoyed.
Three days earlier the disciples had forsaken Jesus, scattering each to his own business. What then brings them to this room? The town is alive with reports of His resurrection. Different ones, including Peter have seen him (Luke 24:24) “Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.” Those who walked with the Lord expected Him to do the unusual. They had seen him forgive a woman who had five husbands, honor a pint-size thief disguised as a tax collector, and love a streetwalker whose reputation would have brought blushes to the faces of Bonnie and Clyde. They’d seen him scare the devil out of some demoniacs and put the fear of God in some churchgoers. Traditions had tumbled, lepers had leaped, sinners had sung, Pharisees had fumed, multitudes had been moved. You just don’t pack up the bags and go home after three years like that. (Max Lucado) Suddenly—He is in their midst, miraculously, His first greeting calms their frightened spirits. “Peace be with you.” They relax as their fears subside. A repentant heart is all he demands. Come out of the shadows! Be done with your hiding! Come out of the shadows. A repentant heart is enough to summon the Son of God himself to walk through our walls of guilt and shame. He who forgave his followers stands ready to forgive the rest of us. All we have to do is come back.” (Max Lucado) It was God’s plan for Jesus to appear in the same body after the resurrection. It was the one sign promised an “evil generation” (Matt. 12: 39-41) Jesus answered, “a wicked and adulterous generations asks for a miraculous sing! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a hugh fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nenevah will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.”
John 20: 21-22: Then Jesus repeated His salutation saying, “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, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He bears no grudge for their desertion. He advised the disciples the commission He received from His Father did not end at the cross. Their desertion of Him had not cost them their status as apostles. The breath of God is a regular metaphor in the scriptures for the Holy Spirit. The first effusion of the breath of God made man a living being. Here the breath of the risen Christ make the disciples into new men. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the Holy Spirit was not fully imparted at this moment. Luke 24:33 suggests that others beside the ten disciples were present here.
John20:23: If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven, if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. This scripture has been quickened to me all day. I prayed most of the day on Saturday about this one verse. Some of the commentaries say this is not really what Jesus meant and they will rephrase it to say what they think he meant to say based on his life long ministry of forgiveness. His words on the cross were, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He forgave those who persecuted Him. He taught that we must forgive in order to be forgiven.
Matthew Henry teaches it is an Apostolic authority. “If they had not had an extraordinary spirit of discerning, they would not have been trusted with such an authority. It must be understood as a general charter to the church and her ministers encouraging the faithful stewards of the mysteries of God to stand to the gospel they were sent to preach, for that God Himself will stand to it. Those whom the gospel acquits shall be acquitted, and those whom the gospel condemns shall be condemned. This puts immense honor upon the ministry and should put immense courage into ministers.
By sound doctrine. They are commissioned to tell the world that salvation is to be had upon gospel terms, and no other.” (Matthew Henry)
David J. Ellis: “these words properly understood, refer to the disciples as the first nucleus of the Spirit-filled society. Its ministry in the gospel will be effectual. Some will be forgiven; others will reject its message and be hardened. When the church functions as the true Body of Christ, she can pronounce on sin with the same assurance as Jesus when He gave this command.”
After all the temple was destroyed as Jesus prophesied it would be. Judgment did fall on those who did not receive Him. This is an apostolic authority given to the Apostles. Jesus’ death on the Cross bore all of our sin, grief and sorrow, but it is conditional. We have to receive Him as our Savior. If we will not, His death and resurrection condemns us. “Christ had nothing but stinging words of rebuke for those who dwell in the tunnel of religion. “Hypocrites,” he called them. Godless actors. Fence builders. Inflexible judges, Unauthorized hedge trimmers, Hair splitters, Blind guides. White-washed tombs, Snakes, Vipers, Bang! Bang! Bang! Jesus had no room for those who specialized in making religion a warlord, and faith a footrace. No room at all.
Joseph and Nicodemus were tired of it too. They had seen it for themselves. They had seen the list of rules and regulations. They had watched the people tremble under unbearable burdens. They had heard the hours of senseless wrangling over legalistic details. They had worn the robes and sat at the places of honor and seen the word of God be made void. They had seen religion become the crutch that cripples.” (Max Lucado)
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
“The Bible is one story after another of God using man’s best and overcoming man’s worst. The reassuring lesson is clear. God used (and uses!) people to change the world, People! Not saints or superhumans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps, lovers and liars—he uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, god make sup for in love.”(M.L.)
John 20:24, 25: Thomas the Twin, who was one of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. When the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord,” Thomas replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and can put my fingers into the very nail holes themselves, and shove my hand into His side, you’ll never get me to believe it.
Honest, intellectual, truth-loving skeptic that he is, Thomas stands his ground. He states the terms under which he will believe Jesus has risen. Since the Lord has already said, ‘None is lost except the son of perdition.” We can expect him to rescue Thomas from his despair and doubting condition. “He knew He had a winner in Thomas. Legend has him hopping a freighter to India where they had to kill him to get him to quit talking about his home prepared in the world to come and his friend who came back from the dead.”(M.L.)
You can’t go to the cross with just your head and not your heart. It doesn’t work that way. Calvary is not a mental trip. It’s not an intellectual exercise. It’s not a divine calculation or a cold theological principle. It’s a heart-splitting hour of emotion. Don’t walk away from it dry-eyed and unstirred. Don’t just straighten your tie and clear your throat. Don’t allow yourself to descend Calvary cool and collected.
Please…pause Look again.
Those are nails in those hands.
That’s God on that cross.
It’s us who put him there.
Peter knew it. John knew it. Mary knew it. Thomas knew it. They knew a great price was being paid. They knew who really pierced his side. They also somehow knew that history was being remade.” They would soon be launched into history to never be the same again.
This Sunday evening we will have Praise and Worship with the Eastgate Musicians and Singers. I will read from the scriptures in John 21.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Quotes from C. S. Lovett, Matthew Henry, Max Lucado and David J. Ellis