The second thing Paul makes a big deal about is that according to the Scriptures He was crucified, raised and appeared to over five hundred people

Transcription

1 Holy Week in Biblical Perspective Resurrection Sabbath The Resurrection Appearances: Who? When? Why? John 20:1 18 Dr. Harry Reeder March 31, 2013 Morning Sermon John 20:1 18 says [1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. [2] So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple (John), the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. [3] So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. [4] Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5] And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, [7] and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. [8] Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; [9] for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. [10] Then the disciples went back to their homes. [11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. [12] And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. [14] Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. [15] 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 carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. [16] Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni! (which means Teacher). (My sheep know My voice and they follow Me.) [17] Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. [18] Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. The grass withers, the flower fades, God s Word abides forever and may His Word be preached for you. I would like for you to keep your Bibles open because I m going to read a few extra passages in this study. In I Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul makes a big deal of three things. The first thing is the essential importance and the foundational nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said, I delivered to you of first importance, the Gospel. What is he saying? He is saying that everything else in the Bible is important but first importance is the Gospel. If you get that wrong, you get everything else wrong. You have to get that right. Paul says I delivered to you day after day what was of first importance, the Gospel. It is essential. When you get it right and you know Christ, now you re on the journey of growing in a relationship by the grace and knowledge of Christ.

2 The second thing Paul makes a big deal about is that according to the Scriptures He was crucified, raised and appeared to over five hundred people after His resurrection. He appeared to Peter, James, other Apostles and Paul also. Paul makes a big deal out of the fact that the Gospel is foundational and essential to the Gospel is the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. In fact, he ll go onto say that if Christ isn t raised, then we are fools and what we are preaching is in vain. The third thing Paul makes a big deal about is that the Gospel and Christ s work on our behalf to set us free from our sins is according to the Scriptures. It is Biblical and it is historical because we have witnesses. When you go through your Bible there are fifteen accounts of the witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. There are thirteen appearances in those fifteen accounts. Paul says some are alive now so go check with them. Most are still living when Paul writes I Corinthians 15. He is making a big deal that what Christ did had been prophesied, predicted and declared through 39 books of the Old Testament and what Christ did was a historical fact on the cross. Also the resurrection was an historical fact and was verified by appearances. I m not going to go through all thirteen appearances but I am going to go through five of them that all happened on the first day, on what we call the Lord s Day of celebrating the resurrected Christ Sunday after Sunday since His resurrection. On that day there were five appearances. As we go through these five I will answer three questions. One is who saw it? Two is when did they see Him? Thirdly, is I want you to see why it is important that is was affirmed by historicity of appearance, verifiable witnesses that could be checked. So we will look at who, when and why. We have been going through Holy Week. The first day (sixth day of Holy Week) they put Him in the grave before anybody put Him out. The second day is the Sabbath and He rests in the grave. The third day He comes forward and can you imagine what all is going on around Him particularly of that evening of the Sabbath day. We see the bewilderment of Pilot what is going on? We see the frantic frenzied efforts of the religious leaders He said He was going to die, He also said He d be raised on the third day, tomorrow is the third day, get a guard! There were actually two sets of guards. They were frantic and frenzied as religious leaders. Sin never brings peace. It always brings frenzy and frantic. We see scattered disciples on that day. They were fearful, fleeing and by speculation there is probably a lot of self-incrimination going on with the disciples because they had fled. Praise the Lord for the women. They were the last at the tomb and first at the tomb. They were not bewildered or confused at the moment. They didn t finish the job and wanted to get it done on that Sabbath evening. So what begins the next day? Early the next day they rise, before daylight and they head to the tomb. Now who will see Jesus? There will be five appearances. Before we look at these I want to read the texts that tell us about these five appearances. First, we ll start with Matthew 28:1 10 which says [1] Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (not the mother of Jesus) went to see the tomb. [2] And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. [3] His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. [4] And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. [5] But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. [6] He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. [7] Then go quickly and

3 tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you. [8] So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. [9] And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings! And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. [10] Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. Mark 16:1 8 says [1] When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. [2] And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. [3] And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? (I love these roughhewn, honest, non- subsequently edited for smoothness narratives inspired by the Holy Spirit and in it you get to see the honesty and realness of these people.) [4] And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back it was very large. [5] And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. [6] And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. [8] And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. All that we have just read in Matthew and Mark is recounted is Luke 24:1 12 so I will start with another appearance that starts in Luke 24:13. Luke 24:13 49 says [13] That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, [14] and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. [15] While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. [16] But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. [17] And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. [18] Then one of them, named Cleopas (the other Mary s husband), answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? [19] And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, [20] and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. [21] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. [22] Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, [23] and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. [24] Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. [25] And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. [28] So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, [29] but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is

4 toward evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them. [30] When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. [31] And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. [32] They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? [33] And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, [34] saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! [35] Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. [36] As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them (in the Upper Room), and said to them, Peace to you! [37] But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. [38] And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? [39] See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (His transformed body was displayed to them which we will see in glory.) [40] And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. [41] And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat? [42] They gave him a piece of broiled fish, [43] and he took it and ate before them. [44] Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. [45] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, [46] and said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, [47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [48] You are witnesses of these things. [49] And behold, I am sending the promise (the Holy Spirit) of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Keep your Bibles open to John 20 and we ll finish there in just a moment. We have gone through the narratives. Who did Jesus appear to? There were five appearances. The first one to see Jesus is Mary Magdalene on her second trip back to the tomb. The second appearance is to the other women who had come to the tomb. The angels had instructed them and they were on their way to find the disciples. Now they had fled probably back to Bethany to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, but that is speculation. They had fled the city in fear just as Jesus said they would do when He was delivered up. So they were very likely on their way to Bethany and all of a sudden Jesus on the way meets them. With fear and great joy they took great delight yet they were overwhelmed and when they meet the disciples they tell them that not only the tomb was empty but the Savior had appeared to them. Who were these women? One was the other Mary whose husband s name was Cleopas. She has two sons, James the less and Joseph. James the less (or James the younger) is one of Jesus disciples. The other woman is Salome. Salome s husband is named Zebedee. She has two sons who are also disciples John and James. She is also the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus which make John and James, biologically the cousins of Jesus. There is also Mary Magdalene, who has now been separated from them. There is also Joanna whose husband is the CEO of Herod s palace in Jerusalem and his name is Chusa. Then there is a woman of means with them whose name is

5 Susanna. So you have these women who are on their way to fulfill their angelic mission and Jesus appears to them and they continue on with fear and great joy. The third appearance Jesus makes on this first day is to Peter. The Bible doesn t give us a lot of information about this appearance and I have often wondered why. Luke and the disciples on the road to Emmaus affirm that on this day Jesus appeared to Peter. I Corinthians 15 also says that He appeared to Peter before the other disciples. I don t know where Jesus appeared to Peter but it probably happened somewhere around Jerusalem. My guess is that after Peter had gone to the tomb and he and John had left bewildered that Peter probably went back to their retreat at Gethsemane. There was Jesus third appearance which was to Peter, the first of the disciples. The Bible doesn t give much information on this but I ll give you some speculation. That had to be a bittersweet moment for Peter, who had just hours before denied Him three times, but now Jesus made it an appoint to come to him personally. The fourth appearance Jesus made on that first day was to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus Cleopas and an unnamed disciple. This is speculation on my part, but I actually think the unnamed disciple is Luke. I think Luke was in the company of the 70 but again that is just my opinion. Here are these two disciples and they are slow of heart. The women have said something to them, they don t understand and they re trying to work their way through and Jesus comes along side of them and opens their minds. He opens the Scriptures, He opens their hearts and He opens their eyes. You can open the Scriptures but you can t open hearts, minds and eyes but Jesus did that and a slow heart became a burning heart. They went back to that Upper Room where the disciples had now gathered from Bethany and they knocked on the door. They are not sure of all that is happening here. Is this a ploy to get them all in one place so they can be killed like Jesus? They have the door locked in that Upper Room. These two disciples come and say We ve seen Him on the road to Emmaus and Peter has seen Him too! The women were right. The tomb is empty. He is risen and in fact that is true! In the midst of the discussion without the door opening Jesus appears for a fifth time that first day to the ten disciples. Judas is dead for he hung himself. Thomas, well, it was a Sunday evening service and he didn t make it that night, but Jesus was there. The ten were there and Jesus appeared to them. I want to take a moment to weave this together as it happened that day, as these narratives allow us. The first thing we see is the women get up early and on their way to the tomb there is an earthquake. The angels descend. The stone is rolled away, not to let Jesus out but to let them in. Jesus is risen. The guards go into a stupor, like they re dead because of all that has happened. They are overwhelmed. Mary Magdalene, exuberant, goes ahead of the women, sees the whole tomb empty and there is no angelic instruction to her. Her first inclination is that the body has been stolen so she has to go get Peter and John. The other disciples fled but Peter and John are still in town. As Mary Magdalene is on the way to do that the other women arrive at the tomb and the two angels begin to minister to them. The angels say You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, He is not here, He has risen just as He said! They haven t seen Jesus yet and the angels say Go tell His disciples that He will meet them in Galilee just as He said He would do. They turn and head to find the disciples. While they are do that Mary gets Peter and John and as soon as they hear the news they get up and run to the tomb. John runs faster but in respect to Peter he waits so

6 Peter goes in first and they see everything. Clearly this isn t a grave robbery. What grave robber would fold the linen cloth? They are still bewildered. John says I m starting to get it. As they see what is going on they now turn with no angelic direction and they leave somewhat bewildered. In the meantime, Mary Magdalene who has missed the other women and Peter and John, gets back to the tomb and the two angels are there for her. Her question is Where have you taken His body? They say to her He is not here, He has risen! In the darkness of those early hours Jesus speaks to her and she turns yet hasn t yet recognized Him. Jesus says to her Who are you seeking? She says I m seeking Jesus and thinking that He is the gardener says If you have taken Him please tell me where you have laid Him so I can retrieve Him and bring Him back. Jesus says Mary, what a moment! She recognizes His voice and says Rabboni, Teacher! and Mary is the first to see Jesus. Jesus, in this resurrected body, goes to intercept the women on their way to tell the disciples at Bethany and He appears to them. Having seen Him they go on to give the message to the disciples. Then somewhere in Jerusalem Jesus meets Simon Peter. Oh what that moment must have been like as the traitor is restored by the grace of God! Even as has many of us have been restored who have faltered so many times, so is Peter. Then Jesus appears to Cleopas and an unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus. After He makes Himself known to them they immediately go to the Upper Room where now the disciples have gathered and they tell them He is risen! We have seen Him and Peter has seen Him! They are overflowing with joy but the other ten are not sure yet. Then Jesus appears in their midst on the close of this resurrection Lord s Day. Why these appearances? I want to conclude by looking again at John 20. John 20:19 23 says [19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Why did He appear with historically affirmed witnesses? It was to make an announcement. The announcement almost feels anti-climactic, doesn t it? I don t want to trivialize or be irreverent here. I want to tell you what we think He ought to be doing in our culture. He ought to pull off His robe, beat His chest, show His jersey number, stare someone down, or do a little bit of trash talking. No, victors don t need that, only the insecure. This is the Savior. This is the Lord. He has won the victory. Now comes His announcement. Peace be with you. You who were at enmity with My Father, now in Me, peace. You had all wrong, now you re forgiven and clothed in My righteousness and all is right between you and My Father. You re no longer enemies. Peace! You re more than friends. You re in His Family. He is your Father. The Eldest Son has won the victory and has brought many sons to glory and set them at peace with the Father. He makes this glorious announcement but think their mind must have gone back to that moment in John 3 where Jesus stood in front of them and said Peace I leave with you, not as the world gives, My peace I give to you. In the world you will have tribulation but in Me you have peace. Take courage I have overcome the world. When

7 He has won this sin defeating, Satan defeating, grave defeating, hell defeating victory, at the moment of His victory, now in Me you have peace. You will either leave this study in the world apart from Christ or in the world in Christ. Every one of us are in the world. It is a broken world with sin. We have a lot of world in us but if you will come to Christ, the Victor, affirmed in appearance after appearance and for the next forty days over five hundred people will see Him. In this world you will have tribulation but in Him, as you re in this world, you will have peace with God, the peace of God, no fear in death, no guilt in life, you re forgiven, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, you re not just pardoned and you re accepted in the beloved. You have peace in Him. If you don t come to Him there is no peace. There is a hell to lose, a heaven gain, when to Christ you flee and you put your trust in Him alone. Here is witness after witness after witness to so proclaim He has won this victory. It is the validation of every prophesy and every narrative in the Old Testament. He says I had to suffer. I had to die. I had to rise that Moses the prophet and the psalms all pointed to this. His resurrection is affirmed historically with appearance after appearance. It affirms and validates everything in the Old Testament. It validates His own prophesies you ll tear down this temple and I ll raise it up on the third day. It validates they ll deliver Me over, I ll die on the cross, I ll set you free from your sins and that s not word game that s truth and the resurrection declares it. He was delivered up because of our transgressions. He was raised because of our justification. He validates everything in Scripture. He validates everything He says. He vindicates His people with His death, burial and resurrection. He sets us with peace with God. He pours forth His Spirit within us so that we have the peace of God. Then He gives us a visualization. Do you know what the future is going to look like? You will be like Him. No grave will hold you back. Jesus came forth just like Jonah did out of the fish, out of the great fish that God had prepared. Can you imagine that fish trying to hold Jonah in there, wanting nourishment and yet all he was getting was poison and he just regurgitated him. No grave could hold Jesus back either but no grave regurgitated Him. Jesus destroyed the grave. He defeated it and now He says I live, you live. By that Man came death, by Christ comes the resurrection of the dead. He validates everything that has been said. He vindicates His people. He brings us a visualization and at this moment something that was a shadow of prophesy, something that was beating in heart after heart, He inaugurates a New Kingdom and while we re still in this death spiral, this death culture where the wages of sin is death and the brokenness of everything in that world, with His resurrection He inaugurates the Kingdom of life and liberty and glory for all that are in Him. Now a new day has dawned. Now a new Kingdom has come. Now here is the Kingdom of life and it belongs to all who know the King. You might be thinking, What do I have to do? Come to Him and surrender. The King who has risen will bring you to glory. You might have already done this. Then He has inaugurated a new Kingdom, now go and tell others that He has risen. A day that begins with confusion, ends in celebration. A day that begins with perplexity, ends with clarity. He has risen just as He said. Let s pray. Prayer:

8 Father, I m so grateful that we have this astounding message to give. Thank You Father for I m so grateful that I don t have to stand here and talk people into ritual and religion that somehow they might think it somehow they will end up in eternity, but we are able to proclaim a Savior who came for us. It is a glorious message that when we were helpless and hopeless our Helper and our Hope came. When there was no way, You through Your Son made a way and that way is Christ who is The Way, The Truth and The Life, no man can come to the Father but through Him but everyone who comes to Him, I will in no wise cast out, says He and He does what He says. Father, perhaps some who are reading this today are seeking and they have heard. This church loves you but this church can t save you. This church loves baptism and the Lord s Supper but they can t save you. Ritual can t save you but good news! There is a Savior who has paid your debt, the debt of sinners, who drank the cup of judgment to give you a cup of Life. Now come to Him and drink for there is no bottom to it. It s forever. There is no guilt of condemnation in life, no fear of death in Him. You are our Redeemer! The Scripture said it, the witnesses affirm it and we believe You, in Jesus Name, Amen.