Christianity’s most fundamental and certain event

Job 19:25-27 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;  (26)  And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,  (27)  Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain.  (3)  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

1. Lord Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures
2. that Jesus was buried,
3. Jesus rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Three days and three nights (Mt 12:24): The sign of the Prophet Jonah: Resurrection before sundown Saturday.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The Resurrection 

John 20:1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

Sunday before sunrise, still dark, Mary found the stone moved and entrance open.

John 20:2 Then 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.”

Notice, she thought someone took the body of Jesus and had to tell Peter and John.  She jumped to the wrong conclusion. She Forgot Jesus said He was going to be resurrected.

John 20:3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.

They left immediately to see with their own eyes what was done

John 20:4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

The stone was rolled away to let the people in, not to let the Lord out!

John was younger than Peter, and outrun Peter, competitive enough to tell us this that he outran Peter.  Both ran hard.

John 20:5 And he {John}, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.

With linen cloth there, they realize no one stole the body

Did not go in or dared not go in, why: Jewish instinct: ceremonial defilement.

John 20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,

Peter went into the tomb to get a good look. He carefully examined the place where Jesus’ body had been.  John wanted to stop and think about it but Peter went right in, his impulsiveness characteristic.

John 20:7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

The handkerchief around Christ’s head had not been thrown aside, as might have been done by a thief. It had been folded and laid aside. Perhaps the implication is that Christ did not rush out of the tomb, but left His grave clothes neatly folded.

The body was not embalmed. Jewish custom prohibited handling blood,

Buried quickly; wrapped with linen cloths and anointed with a sweet, gumlike ointment of spices and wrapped like a cocoon. The body was “mummified” up to the head; a napkin was placed over the skull. They saw the empty linen cloths.

John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.

John went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, the grave clothes and believed that Christ had been raised from the dead.  The distinctive arrangement of the burial wrappings convinced John.

John 20:9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

They did not understand the meaning of the resurrection.

What scripture: was quoted by Peter in Acts 2:27, in his sermon.

Psalms 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

The resurrection means that Jesus was 

Romans 1:4  and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

The resurrection means that we have assurance of our own resurrection

1 Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 

To me, the next 2 readings are one of the most important Scriptures, in the Bible that Jesus said in the upper room, Sunday evening.

Luke 24:44-45 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”  (45)  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Do you really want to understand the Scriptures, Jesus just explained to us how to do it.   All the things written about Jesus must be fulfilled.

To understand what Jesus is saying and showing them how to read their Bibles this way. Put Jesus right into the middle of the Scriptures and related it to him.

Luke 24:46-47 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,  (47)  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

John 20:10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Did they leave to let Jesus’ mother know His body was not there, there were 2 witnesses, John and Peter to tell her {Deut 17:6}

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

John 20:11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

Mary did not yet have the confidence that Jesus was resurrected, so she wept and because the body of Jesus was taken away.

John 20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.  Why?

Why 2.  This is the only place in Scripture where angels are “sitting.”  “So were the cherubim placed at each end of the mercy-seat: Interesting,  

Exodus 25:18-19 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.  (19)  Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat.

John 20:13 Then 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.“

Notice, they said woman, all she wanted to know where they put the body of Jesus.

John 20:14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

She perceived, either by the looks and gesture of one of the angels, or by hearing a noise, that somebody was behind her. 

John 20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Notice Mary did not recognize Jesus, and asked, where is the body.

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

Mary turned herself: She had looked back at the tomb.  The sound of Jesus voice, Mary recognized the voice of Jesus. Jesus shows himself first to Mary, a woman as the first witness of His resurrection and not to one of the disciples, the men.

Isaiah 50:6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Her eyes failed her, but her ears could not mistake that voice.  Watching a movie, do not recognized any actor {make up}, until they speak, then I think I know that voice and spend the 10 min trying to figure out who it is. 

The name, Rabboni, never applied to a man; reserved exclusively for God.

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ “

Jesus has not ascended to His Father and Our Father, brethren {first time to call brethren, usually disciples or friends}.

Mary being ready and willing to obey the command of Jesus – she did.

This also shows that the resurrection body of Jesus was different, yet similar to His pre-resurrection body. It was definitely real and tangible, and shows Jesus was not a ghost. 

John 20:18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  {doors were secured and locked}

Time wise: Evening: 6:00 – 9:00 PM Roman time, this was the evening of Jesus ascending to Our Father, right after Mary talk.  Same day that the tomb was found empty and Mary met the resurrected Jesus.

Jesus brought a word of peace, an assurance that there is no cause to fear.

John 20:20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus just proved that He was Jesus. The same body in which He died and was buried, and not subject to the same limitations as our present bodies.  This gives us some hint of the nature of our future body in the resurrection.

Women were there also during when Jesus came.

Luke 24:33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.“

Jesus just told and commanded the disciples commission to carry on Jesus’s work, not to begin a new one, including every believer into the world

John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.     {Became Saints}

Lord Jesus breathed on them and received the Holy Spirit and are now a new creation.  Same thing happen when Lord Jesus breathed on the first man and received the spirit in man.  Received power at Pentecost.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

{Became spirit in man}

John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Apostles were given this authority, not people today.  Only God can forgive sins: 

Mark 2:7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Matthew 18:18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

This does not apply to Christians to-day, except in the sense that we retain or remit sins as we give sinners the Gospel. There is no instance in the New Testament of any apostle forgiving sins.

Peter (Acts 10:43) and Paul (Acts 13:38) both spoke on the authority of Christ. There is no question that the Apostles had special privileges, but these rights are not ours today, except preaching Jesus forgiveness of sins.

Jesus and Thomas

John 20:24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.   {Thomas was not criticized for his absence}

His Hebrew name, Thomas, and his Greek one, Didymus, which both signify a twin; and perhaps he was one.  Paul verse Saul. 

John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the closed room.  No doubt they told Thomas about it; hence his request.

John 20:26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”

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

John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas not only believed that Christ was risen from the dead, but he also saw that the Resurrection proved His deity.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.“

Those who have not seen includes all who have believed in Christ since His ascension to the Father.  Jesus told Thomas to stop his unbelief and believe

1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

The Purpose of This Book, Why John wrote it for us to believe

John 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;

John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

John states the purpose of his book. His purpose was to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah who fulfilled God’s promises to Israel, then to the Church and to His Body. Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh. By believing these things, a person obtains eternal life