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I'd like to speak to you on the empty tomb and the risen Lord. The empty tomb and the risen Lord. Please bow with me in prayer. Our Father and our God, Lord, we are eternally grateful for your unspeakable gift.
Oh Lord, we depend upon you and your blessed Holy Spirit to help us within this hour to glorify you as you are worthy. No one else is worthy, only you, the Holy One, the Righteous One. Father, your only beloved Son in whom you are well pleased in.
Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ is risen today. He's risen from the dead and that you have highly exalted Him above all rulers, above all principalities, above all powers. And today, Father, He's at your right hand in majesty and power and glory, forever making intercession for the saints.
So Father, as the great hymn writer said years ago, pinned it down, this is our prayer. Let me, like Mary, through the gloom, come with the gift of thee. Show to me the empty tomb, lead me to Calvary.
Lord, we will be careful to give you all the praise and all the glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen and Amen. About three years ago I preached from this text and I went through it again and come up with the same message.
It doesn't change. It's the same glorious message and it never will change. You cannot add to it and you cannot subtract from it. So I'm using my same two points and I redid the whole sermon. So I wanted to get something out of this for my own soul.
So I'm going to pass it to you today. I'm speaking on the 20th chapter of John's gospel, chapter 20 of John, to the end of the book. And it's all about the risen Lord Jesus Christ. And it's so important and critical for us to understand the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It's just not another feature in Christianity. But it is the main event in Christianity. It is the most important. I believe John Calvin, the great reformer, said without the resurrection of Jesus Christ it is the most important.
He said without it we don't have eternal life. Eternal life will be extinguished. It is the most important miracle of all. It is the greatest miracle that God did. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith.
And I like to put it like this, the incarnation, the crucifixion with necessary preludes, which is crucial and important. The incarnation speaks of His sinlessness, His perfection, that He entered into the world without the Adamic nature.
He was unique. And He lived a perfect life. And all the way to the cross He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even to the point of death, the death of a cross. And here and then the crucifixion was what is called the heart of Christianity.
Where He took our sins and became sin. And God poured out His wrath on Him. The incarnation, the crucifixion are necessary preludes. But the resurrection is the keystone of Jesus' ministry. You think of it, without the resurrection, all and everything that He did would have been in vain.
But Jesus is raised from the dead. So the resurrection of Jesus is no doubt the greatest event, the greatest miracle in redemptive history. And as far as I'm concerned, it's in all of history. Nothing could compare to it.
Nothing.
This is the purpose of salvation.
Think of this.
The purpose of our salvation in Jesus Christ is so that God will have a resurrected people to glorify Him forever.
Isn't that wonderful?
That's why He purchased us. That's why we belong to Him. That's why we're holy. So that He will have a people to love Him and to glorify Him and to praise Him forever throughout eternity. Because Jesus lives, we can live also.
Praise God. So in chapter 20 and 21, let me just give you an overview very quickly of what we're going to be looking at. Of John's gospel, Jesus makes the following appearances to His disciples in Judea.
First, He appears to Mary Magdalene, which we will see today, in verses 11 through 17. The second is He appears to His disciples. At that point, all except Thomas in verses 19 through 23. Then again, He appears to the disciples, including Thomas, in verses 24 through 29.
Then in chapter 21 in John, Jesus makes those appearances in Galilee. He goes to Galilee to Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, and to two unnamed disciples. We know one named Cleopas, but the other one we don't know.
In John chapter 21, verses 1 through 14. Then again to Peter, John chapter 21, verses 15 through 19, and to the beloved disciples. Again, He comes in John 21 through 20 through 25, where He restores Peter back to the fold.
Now, seeing the risen Lord Jesus Christ, transformed this little band of believers, didn't it? They came out of the closet. They came out from locked doors to face danger in Jesus' name, and literally turned the world upside down with the gospel.
Why? Because of the resurrected Christ. Because, and if you go through the book of Acts, you see this preached constantly. Yes, the cross was preached, Jesus was preached. Oh, Jesus was vainly, He is everything.
They preached Jesus. But the resurrection was the message that stirred their hearts more than anything. So there's no other explanation for their bold persistence,.
Their courage,.
Than that they have seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ. So as we look at John chapter 20 today, verses 1 through 18, you can turn with me there please, if you're not already there. There's just two major points, and I like to keep this very simple, and it's got a lot to cover.
But the two points I'd like for us to cover is, set before us is, first of all, the first great event is the great discovery of the empty tomb. The great discovery of the empty tomb, that will be found in verses 1 through 10.
Verses 1 through 10. And second, our second point, the second event is the great recognition, the great recognition, that Jesus appears personally to Mary Magdalene in verses 11 through 18. Verses 11 through 18.
Then in conclusion, and we'll look at some application for our own personal life. So let's begin as we look at the Scriptures, for it is according to the Scriptures, as the Apostle Paul says. I love that, don't you?
From chapter 5, verse 15, Paul met Jesus personally on the road to Damascus, but he never said, I'm going to give you my personal experience. He says, it's always according to the Scripture. He repeats himself constantly.
Jesus himself even goes to the Scriptures. So it's according to the Scriptures, according to the prophecies, according to the prophets, according to everything that is said, that God has ordained the Scriptures.
Not what the Lord has told me, but Scripture, Scripture alone. And this is what we always look to. So we're going to look according to the Scriptures, and we see the Son of God's triumph over death, hell, and the grave.
Event one, the great discovery. The great discovery. And what is that great discovery? The empty tomb. The tomb is empty. That tomb is still empty to today. It was only borrowed just for three days. Just borrowed.
Three days. From a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea, who came out of the closet as well, as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene's unquestioning discovery was the empty tomb. And it was unsealed.
It was empty.
And this is found in verse 1 and 2 of John chapter 20. Notice with me. The Word of God says, Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark, 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. Beloved, there are several important facts we need to look at here.
The first fact is this. That Jesus arose on the first day of the week, called Sunday. I was thinking, here we are in an ironic when the seventh day at Venice Church. I wish they could hear this sermon this morning.
Because I'm here to tell you, the first day of the week is Sunday. And we're going to look at where the Bible itself, I've got nothing to prove. The Bible itself proves it. And I want you to see this.
Sunday is the first day of the week because it is the Lord's day. And there's a reason why we call it the Lord's day. It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is His day.
Verse 1, the text says, Now on the first day of the week. The first day of the week. Now notice, Matthew actually, in Matthew 28 .1 says the end of the Sabbath. The end of the Sabbath. Meaning, that is between 3 a .m. to 6 a .m.
Mark's gospel says it was very early. The sun had risen. Luke's account says it is early dawn. Matthew again says it began to dawn. And while John here says it was still dark. So here we see the pure honesty and integrity of Scripture.
I love this. It needs no editing. It needs no editor to say, well this is a little bit different here from this account and that account so that we might want to harmonize this all together. No, I don't think so.
The integrity of Holy Scripture is maintained in the honesty of those statements. Clearly, all of the gospel writers place the arrival at the same time. Notice that. It's daybreak. When it's daybreak, it's very early.
When it's daybreak, as Mark says, the sun has risen. And Luke says it is early dawn. And Matthew says it began to dawn. And John says it's still a dusky darkness. Such beautiful simplicity. Beautiful credibility.
Simple credibility that's untampered with. Pure, clear perspectives that is given to us from the Word of God and from each four writers of the gospel. Isn't that wonderful? So John tells us it was still dark.
When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, and let me ask the question, why is this fact so important to us?
Why?
Well, because as the text says, Mary Magdalene was the first one to arrive at the empty tomb. Now, I want you to notice this. Dawn happens rapidly. But when she came to the tomb, being the first one there, and she had others with her, we'll see that in a minute.
But it was still in the dark side of dawn, as you well know. Now, according to Matthew's account, Mary Magdalene didn't start out alone. And it actually says in chapter 27 of Matthew, Mary Magdalene, it was her, and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, who was with her.
So there was really three women. Three women that was coming along to the tomb. So she wasn't alone. And they were there actually coming, as we'll see in a minute as well. Their intention was to anoint the Lord's body with more spices.
They did not expect Him to rise again from the dead. So, but we know that she got there first. Mary Magdalene was the first one to arrive there. So important to note here that these women at the foot of the cross, it was the same women at the foot of the cross.
That tells us something. They had a great devotion for the Lord Jesus Christ. And these same women were at the foot of the cross and they were there on Friday when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who were actually burying the body of Jesus.
And you see this in John chapter 19. I want you to go with me there. John chapter 19 and verse 38 to 42. 19, 40, I'm sorry, 38 to 42. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for the fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.
And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices.
And as the burial custom of the Jews, and now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden.
And in the garden, a new tomb.
In which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, speaking of the Sabbath there, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. So we see this account. Now Luke 23, 55 says this.
Now the women who had come with him out of Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. See how that goes hand in glove. So when they returned and prepared the spices and the perfumes, and on the Sabbath, they rested.
They rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. According to this text, they had to have Jesus' body placed in the tomb before sunset. This is critical. And I'm going to tell you why. Because when the Sabbath began, they were not able to finish preparing the body.
They had to rest. Now look at what the Scriptures gives us here. According to Mark 16, 1, it says this. They purchased more spices when the Sabbath was over. When the Sabbath was over. So after sundown, Saturday, basically, according to the calendar that we have.
Then they returned Sunday morning with the spices. So Luke 24, 1 says,. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. Verse 2. And they found the stone rolled from the tomb.
Verse 3.
But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. He wasn't there. What happened to them? Now in their minds, and you read this in the text as we go through John, the word they. They kept saying they, they, they.
We don't know exactly who they is. They might have been thinking Roman soldiers. They might have been saying whoever they is in their mind, they are assuming that the body of Jesus was stolen. This was exactly in their mind.
They thought that someone has taken them away.
Mary says this.
So according to the fact here that is recorded, we see the Sabbath is over. That is critical. That gives us another very important fact recorded in Scripture. And what would that be? The reason that Jesus arose from the dead before dawn.
Before dawn, before the sun broke. It was sometime very early on Sunday morning, on the Lord's day, the first day of the week. So before the sun arose on Sunday morning. And this is why this is important.
Because the early believers broke away from this. You see this in the New Testament. Especially in the book of Acts. They broke away from the common division of the week which began with the Sabbath or the Saturday.
And actually if these folks knew I was preaching this, they'd probably think I'm a heretic for preaching this about the first day of the week.
They take this very serious.
That's why they call it the seventh day of Venice. They come together on the Saturday. That is the Jewish old economy of day of worship. But this all changed, folks, when Jesus rose again on the first day of the week, on the Sunday.
The Scripture proves it. So they began to count their days. Beginning with Sunday. The day of the resurrection of the Lord. And that, beloved, is why it's called the Lord's Day. You see that in Revelation when John the Apostle was on the Isle of Patmos.
On Patmos, that was a remote place where waste and dump went there. Isn't it amazing that God appeared to him right in the midst of a dump? And on that place where he was alone, he says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
On the Lord's Day. We could say, actually, that was a Sunday. So these women here actually awakened on the morning of the first day of the week, which is Sunday. And the first thing that they were thinking about was getting back to the tomb.
That's what they were thinking. So the Sabbath is over. They have their mind to go back and pour more spices on the body of Jesus. Now, that's the scene in which we come to in verse 1 in chapter 20 of John.
So the important fact is that Jesus arose on the first day of the week, on that Sunday. This means that he had been in the tomb and just as he said, for three days and that's it. Then he arose, just like he said.
So his arising from the dead was a triumph. It was a conquest over death. And death has lost its sting. The grave has no victory. Praise God. Praise God. So another important fact about the resurrection of Jesus is as he arose the first day of the week, Sunday morning, he was in the grave on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath being over. So what does that tell us? The fact tells us that they could not observe the laws governing the great season of the Passover and the Sabbath. Now, what does that tell us? Well, that tells us something tremendous.
Tremendously important to us as believers. That now, since Jesus Christ has completely fulfilled the law in His life, and in His death, and in His resurrection, we identify with Him. We identify with Him.
We identify with Him as believers because we've become dead to the law's observance. We're no longer under the ceremonial laws. Those laws. Jesus fulfilled it. He fulfilled it. Scripture has a lot to say about this.
I chose a couple here. Romans 8, verses 1 and 2. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And listen to what He says in verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that He's risen from the dead, has set you free.
From what? From the law of sin and of death. Romans 7, verse 4. He even says more about this. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. Through the body of Christ.
Isn't that glorious? That you may be married to another. He who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit unto God. So there you have the Scriptures. Because Jesus fulfills the law, we identify right with Him.
We're with Him. He fulfilled every bit of it. Every jot and tittle of it. That's why He came. He came to fulfill the law. In other words, our response is by faith alone in the Lord Jesus and who He is, and what He's done.
We trust in His works.
His works.
Not ours. God makes us the believing sinner forever dead to the condemnation and the penalty of the law. Hallelujah. We can stand before God and Christ now justified through His blood by faith alone. And when God looks at us, He doesn't look at us,.
He looks at His Son.
For what He has done. I'm telling you, that's glorious. But I'm telling you, the resurrection has sealed all of this. The resurrection is the one that actually capstoned it.
It's glorious.
Hallelujah. Now, in this very first and powerful evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, the empty tomb, the empty tomb, is a great reality, isn't it? That the stone wasn't just rolled away to let Jesus out.
This is what I like about it. It was rolled away to let the witnesses in. Jesus didn't need that stone to let Him out. God, the Father, the scripture actually says the Father raised Him from the dead, He raised Himself from the dead, and the Spirit raised Him.
Well, the Trinity had all a part in that. And all you had to do was speak the Word, right? How did He do that from the dead? Hey, Jesus is Jesus. He's the God in the flesh. I don't know exactly the mechanics and the details, but He's risen from the dead.
You can guarantee that. But a resurrected Jesus doesn't need the stone to be removed, does He? Mary Magdalene arrives. She's one of the first eyewitnesses. So she sees the stone taken away from the tomb.
This is very strong evidence. Very strong evidence for the resurrection of Jesus because the stone wasn't just rolled back to let Christ out, but to let the witnesses in. And we're going to see one witness after another looking inside that empty sepulcher.
He's not there.
But they do find some evidence there. Verse 2 says, we see that Mary runs to Peter. Very quickly, she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved. That's John. And said to them, this is what she says, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb.
See, she's thinking someone stole the body. And we do not know where they have laid Him. Again, we have the day. In their mind, they don't know exactly who did this. So that's why you have the day. It's kind of unknown to them.
So now in verses 3 through 5, the eyewitnesses come to the tomb, the empty tomb, and they see the truth. There's evidence there, but the body of Jesus isn't there.
Verse 3,.
So Peter and the other disciple, John, went forth, and when they were going to the tomb, verse 4, they were running together. Kind of like you see them all, they first were running right side by side, almost like a race, and going as fast as they can.
And the other disciple, the scripture says, ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. Now, stooping in, and stooping and looking in, they saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
Now it's interesting to note here something in the interplay between Peter and the beloved disciple John. In verse 4, they were running together. It's kind of almost laughable a little bit, you know, because you see, Peter's a little bit older, and you got John much younger.
And I believe that's the reason a lot of commentators, I've looked at different commentators, they speculate and assume this, but if you really look at it, age can have a great difference on how fast you run.
I'm not as fast as I used to be, that's for sure. And the young John apostle, Apostle John, outran Peter. Peter's a little older, might have been a little bit bigger, I don't know. But in verse 4, they were running together, and John, the younger, outruns Peter.
Verse 5, notice, stooping and looking in. Now this speaks of the other disciple John. It's very likely that the empty tomb was low. Some people feel, if you look at the dimensions, it kind of is kind of on the low side, so you kind of have to stoop in.
And it was still somewhat dark, so we don't know, there might have been torches there, we don't know exactly about that, or light was just starting to shine where they could see somewhat in the tomb. But John saw the linen clothes lying there, that's what the text says.
And then in verse 6 it says, and so Simon Peter also came, following him and entered the tomb, and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. Verse 7, and the face cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but was rolled up in a place by itself.
Now isn't this interesting?
There's three,.
This story actually tells us of three important functions that the grave clothes serve us. The first one would be this, the most obvious, that they provide to us the visual evidence of Jesus' resurrection.
His body is gone, but the grave clothes remind us that Jesus' body was once there. They remind him, he's not there, but he was once there. Now the second important function is this, they provide evidence that Jesus' body was not stolen.
You have a lot of people today that say this to us Christians, oh, well the body was stolen.
Stolen?
Well, grave robbers would not leave behind a valuable linen cloth, and neither grave robbers nor Jewish authorities, whoever it would take the time to remove the clothing from the body and delaying their escape route and increasing the risk of getting caught.
They wouldn't do that. The third important function is this, they serve a theological function, and I like this one the most. Example, for example, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, found in John 11, 38 -44, that when he raised him from the dead, Lazarus emerges forth from the tomb.
He's still wrapped up in his burial clothes, and Jesus says,.
Loose him and let him go.
That's what he says to the bystanders. Jesus had to command them to do this and to free him so that Lazarus could not be bound. That's like a lot of Christians today, they're risen with Christ, but they're still bound up.
They need to have those linen clothes loosened,.
Amen,.
And to free him so Lazarus might resume his normal earthly life. So we read this great miracle in John 11. So however, when Jesus emerged from the tomb, when he rose again from the dead, he did so unencumbered.
Unencumbered.
Verse 8 says this, so then the other disciple who came first to the tomb, he's speaking about himself, John, also entered and he saw and believed. Right then and there he believed. Now John the apostle entered the tomb and saw the orderly arrangement of the linen.
It was all arranged neatly, folded all together. God's a God of order. When he does everything, he does everything orderly. This means more than just physical sight too. It means that John comprehended, he understood right then what the Scripture said.
God opened his eyes. Before him were the evidences of Jesus' resurrection, they showed him what had happened. He believed right there. Verse 9, for as yet they did not understand the Scripture that he must rise again from the dead.
John himself recorded that by the Holy Spirit breathing upon him. Up until now, this disciple did not understand. He did not comprehend. God opened up his understanding. Now we're going to look more about this at the end in the application, but God has to open up the understanding.
No, we cannot see who Jesus really is and believing unless God supernaturally takes the scales and removes them from our eyes. It's glorious, isn't it? The Old Testament Scriptures even spoke about this which stated that the Messiah must rise again from the dead.
The prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus did exactly what he said. The Lord himself even told his disciples time and time again, I must suffer under wicked men, the sinners, and I must be delivered unto them, but the third day I'm rising again.
They even talked to him, come give us a sign, give us a sign. He said, no sign is going to be given to you but the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the sea monster or the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and then he will rise again.
And that's exactly what he did. Everything that he said, he did it exactly and lived up to his promise. Hallelujah. What a Savior we serve. But according to verse 8, John the Apostle was the first one to believe, right?
Then we go to verse 10. The disciples went away again to their home, to their own homes. That's basically all it says. Now that text really doesn't need much commentary because what does it say? Basically this verse tells us that they returned to their own homes, speaks of their own uncertainty that they did not know exactly what to do next.
They didn't know what to do. The body was gone. They were thinking that someone stole it. They didn't know what to do. So Peter and John goes back home. Now, we come to our second point. It's found in verse 11 through 18.
This is glorious. The great recognition. The great recognition. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene first. Verse 11. But Mary, but Mary, don't you love that? Was standing outside the tomb weeping and so she wept.
She stooped and looked into the tomb. Verse 12. She saw the two angels in white sitting.
Sitting!
One at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. Now, the first two words I love. But Mary.
Oh, but Mary. This woman loved the Lord. I'm telling you.
The other two disciples, Peter and John, the apostles, these great men of God at that time, they didn't know what to do. Oh, Mary didn't go home. She didn't go home. Mary, here again, we have her deep love and affection and devotion.
How she loved the Lord. She had been forgiven much, therefore she loved much. But Mary was standing outside of the tomb and she was weeping, the Bible says. Literally sobbing.
Weeping.
The idea of weeping here is not a tear or two. But this is an unconstrained, continued, sobbing. Like I said, it's just not a tear. She is literally sobbing her heart out. It's constant. It's unrestrained.
And she gives full course of her pain and her sorrow that she feels toward her Lord that cannot be found. And it's almost like she's helpless. It's helpless affection. It reminds me of like Hagar in the wilderness in Genesis.
She had a well of water by her side but she couldn't have eyes to see it. She expects the worst but because she doesn't expect the resurrection she thinks someone has stolen the body away. J .C. Ryle points this out in his commentary.
He says this. Two-thirds of things we fear in life never happen. Two-thirds of the tears we shed are thrown away in vain. Her tears are for the tears of a broken heart forlorn. Frustrated, lonely, not understanding.
Anything that has happened having lost the object of her pure love. So she looks in 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.
End quote.
Now, after Mary stopped and looked into the tomb she sees two angels. Two angels in white sitting. Matthew 16 says that the angels. One of the angels was a young man. Luke 24 .4 says there were two young men.
It speaks of like young men. So these angels who are spirits literally took on a form of a man.
A young man.
Mary is weeping. She's weeping uncontrollably. Her eyes are blurred. And I think her vision is blurred somewhat. And it's early in the morning as well and the darkness of the tomb, the inside of it would make things hard to see.
So she sees what are angels before her in human form. She doesn't know who they are actually. John mentions these angels also for a reason to demonstrate that no grave robbers.
Took the body of Jesus.
That's another evidence there, right? So all this was a result of the mighty power of God that Jesus had risen from the dead. Now notice this. Two angels. Two angels in white sitting. One at the head, one at the feet where the body of Jesus was lying.
I'm going to give you a great truth here. This carries us back to Exodus 25. Exodus 25 where the Lord gave instructions to build the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. You can check this out.
This is beautiful.
He identified a place called the mercy seat. This mercy seat, beloved, was the place where God met men in His compassion and His mercy. That's the place where the high priest would go on the Day of Atonement.
That's the place where He would sprinkle this blood and satisfy a holy God. It was the mercy seat and it was made of pure gold. It was inside, inside the Holy of Holies.
Don't you get this?
At each end of it, of the mercy seat, He said, make two cherubs of gold. One at each end, two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. God says, I will meet you there.
I will meet you. I will meet with you. There I will meet you between the two cherubim. I will speak to you and I will meet with you.
This is glorious.
Mary looks in and there's two angels. At the head and one at the feet. What's the analogy? This is the analogy. God says, I will meet you in the empty tomb. I'm going to meet you at the empty tomb. I, here, I will meet you.
Here I will speak with you. Once God met men in a tent. Once God met men in a tabernacle. Once God met in a building in a temple and on a golden mercy seat with two angels. Now God meets men at the empty tomb.
Hallelujah. This is glorious because verse 13, and she said to her, they said to her, I'm sorry, the angels, woman,.
Why are you weeping? Why are you weeping?
And they're basically trying to get to something.
You should be rejoicing.
But she was so broken hearted. She didn't know where the Lord was. They thought He was stolen away. She said, and then she said to them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.
They've taken Him away. And she didn't want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay. I'm going to find Him. Angels address Mary with dignity. I notice the angels do not call her by name. They just say woman.
That's dignity. Verse 14, when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Now let me give you a quote from Matthew Henry right here. I think this is wonderful.
Matthew Henry says this, the angels asked her, why weepest thou? I have caused enough to weep, she says, for they have taken away my Lord, and like Micah, what have I more? What have I more? Do you ask why I weep?
My beloved has withdrawn himself and has gone. Note, none know but those who have experienced it, the sorrow of a deserted soul, a deserted soul that has had comfortable evidences of the love of God in Christ and hopes of heaven, but now has lost them and walks there.
Now listen to this.
Walks in darkness,.
Such a wounded spirit can bear. Now, Christ is appearing to her while she was talking with the angels and telling them her case and before they had given her any answer, Jesus Christ Himself steps in to satisfy her inquiries.
For God now speaketh to us by His Son. None but Himself can direct us to Himself.
Let me say that again.
None but Himself can direct us to Himself. Mary would fain know where her Lord is, and behold, He is at her right hand. Those that will be content with nothing short of a sight of Christ shall be put off with nothing less.
He never said to the soul, the soul that sought Him, seek in vain.
It is Christ,.
Is it Christ that thou wouldest have? It is Christ that thou shalt have. Oh, that's glorious, isn't it? That's Matthew, Henry. Even though Mary thought Jesus still to be dead, she calls Him, My Lord, My Lord.
She's saying, Lord. And here we see a nobody. And the Scriptures even said, whom Jesus cast out seven demons. She lingers. She doesn't recognize Jesus at the time. And she's yet one of the very first eyewitnesses to come to the tomb and notice that the tomb was empty and here Jesus is standing right there.
Right there.
Not recognizing. She thought it was the gardener. No, she doesn't recognize that Jesus... Her tears again is blinding her. Her doubts are blinding her. No doubt. And she has no reason to believe in a resurrection, right?
Not yet. At least in her mind. Her vision is clouded. And possibly, and I think this is probably one of the greatest possibilities, God Himself prevented her from recognizing the Lord.
Until the proper time.
That's the Spirit of God, folks. God Himself is in control of taking the scales away from people's eyes.
Our eyes.
And only God can open our understanding to Himself. Verse 15, Jesus said to her, notice. He basically asked the same question the angels ask. Woman, why are you weeping?
Why are you weeping?
And the Scripture says, 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. You know, think of this. Jesus repeats the question that the angels said.
In her devotion to Jesus, Mary seeks to learn where she might find Jesus' body so that she might take Him away. She was going to do everything possible in her power to find the Lord's body. And even if she had to, a task that would be very difficult, emotionally and physically for a woman, if she found Him, I was going to cling to Him.
And we're going to see this in a minute. Beloved, there is something lovely and beautiful about Jesus here making His first resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene. Now, if it had been us, we would probably have thought, well, you would grant this honor to maybe the inner circle, maybe James and Peter.
No.
Maybe to the mother that bore Him.
The God's way is not our ways. And His thoughts are not our thoughts. He chooses whom He pleases, folks. And that's His business, right? The God's way is not ours. Personally, none of us would have picked Mary Magdalene to be the first.
I don't think I would. Honestly, I wouldn't have picked Mary Magdalene for this honor. And would we have picked a deceiver like Jacob to carry on the promise of a great nation? No, we wouldn't have picked Jacob either.
I would think, oh, Esau, he's a manly man over here.
He's got it.
Boy, not this weak mama's boy.
Or a rooty, dirty, little, lowly shepherd boy like David to slay the giant Goliath. Would we pick a terrorist, a persecutor of the church of God, like Brother Ben read this morning from 1 Corinthians 15, like Saul to be a missionary to the Gentiles?
No, we wouldn't have picked Saul either. You see, God chooses the weak things of the world to confound the wise.
So that He may get all the glory. That's everything. And in the end, it's going to be God's glory and nothing else. When the smoke has settled, God calls whom He calls. In verse 16, Jesus said to her, and this is key, He says, Mary.
Mary.
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, Rabboni. Rabboni, that means great teacher. Great teacher. Mary, like the disciples of Emmaus, not recognizing Jesus until a specific point, a specific act. The veil is lifted from her eyes.
She now sees Jesus. This is the great recognition. And He calls her by name. Don't you love that? Mary. Well, we know about that, don't we? John 10, 3 and 4. He calls His own sheep by name. His own sheep by name.
And leads them out. And wherever He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them and the sheep follows Him because they know His voice. This is exactly what He goes. Jesus went before her. Then He calls her by name.
Verse 17. Jesus said to her,.
Stop clinging to Me. Stop clinging to Me. This is not an easy verse. A lot of different theologians have had different ideas on this. I'm going to do my best as a Bible student to give you what I think is going on here.
For I have not yet, Jesus says, I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God. Now, I want you to listen to this.
Mary had known Jesus personally as a man. She had seen miracle after miracle as a man full of the Holy Ghost. When He was bodily present. Now, this is critical right here. That Jesus could only be at one place at one time.
So she concluded that in her mind that if He was not with her in a visible way, then she could have no hope of the blessing. She was like clinging to Him like those limpets, Brother Keith, to a rock. Jesus knew it.
But Jesus had to correct her thinking here. Now, we cling to Jesus, absolutely. But here, He's physically present. You see this. He's in a glorified body. And Jesus is telling her, do not cling to me.
And He corrects her. Don't cling to me.
I've not yet ascended to the Father.
So she was clinging to Jesus for dear life thinking that she would lose Him again. Here, she just finds Him and she clings to Him. And Jesus, don't cling to me. I've got to ascend to the Father. So Jesus tells her this.
And why? Well, that's an excellent question, actually. But the reference to His ascension to heaven, to the Father, answers this because He would only be with them physically, temporarily, for a short time.
He taught this in John 13, 14, 15, 16 in that wonderful teaching that we read there. And most of that, and most of those chapters, He's teaching them about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Now, we went through this R .C. Sproul, didn't we? In Foundations. And isn't it wonderful to know this?
Jesus is the Paraclete.
He is the Comforter. He is the Standby. He is the Teacher of all truth. But there's another one, and that's the Spirit of God. Another Helper. Another Comforter. That's the Holy Spirit. And this is what Jesus is saying.
I've got to ascend to the Father. And I've got to send down the Spirit of God. The promise of the Father. And you see that happening and fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. Then in Acts chapter 1, they're waiting.
And what are they doing?
They're praying. They're praying. And they're doing exactly what Jesus commands. And that tells us everything. That shows you that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And the Holy Spirit comes down upon them like tongues of fire upon their head.
Fire.
Symbol of God.
Burning.
And they were full of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus is saying here, May to Mary. I have not yet ascended to my Father. He's lovingly correcting her way of thinking. Jesus is saying, in effect, I will return to Heaven.
I'm going back to the Father. And the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, is going to come. And He's going to be sent down. And when He does come, He will teach you all truth. He will reveal Myself to you.
He will glorify Me. He will teach you all things concerning Me. And I will never be more dear to you than possible during my life here. In other words,.
The Spirit of God is everywhere.
Isn't that glorious?
Well, that's what Christ is saying to her in effect. Jesus teaches about this again in John 13, 14, 15, 16. It goes on. So He says this to Mary. I must go. I must ascend to my Father. And then He says to her this wonderful thing.
This wonderful truth.
But,.
I go to my brethren. But go to my brethren. He's telling her this. Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God,.
To your God.
Right here is the first time, beloved, the first time in the Gospel of John that God's people are called brothers. Brothers. And how did we become brothers in Jesus? The cross. The cross of Jesus made us brothers.
The cross of Jesus made it possible for us to become children of the living God. Listen to Hebrews 2, 9. Jesus suffered death. Listen to that. Suffered death. So that He could bring His own to glory because He's not ashamed to call them brothers.
Mary Magdalene, verse 18, came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her. Oh beloved, that is really what it means to be born again.
Right here.
Your God is Christ as God. Your Father is Christ as Father. Because you are in Jesus Christ, one with Him,.
One with Him in union,.
Unbroken fellowship. And Romans 8, 16 says, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, indeed if we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Galatians 3, 26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
One scripture.
Let me conclude. Mary Magdalene comes announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her. Now can you imagine this? I've seen the Lord.
I have seen the Lord.
But they didn't believe her.
These apostles did not believe her. They thought it was like wives tales.
A myth.
She obeyed her commission and one commentator said she was called the apostle to the apostles.
Can we dare doubt that this is a great privilege to Mary and that this was also given to her as a reward? What I personally believe because of her deep devotion to Jesus Christ. Jesus rewarded her. This reminds me of the woman at Samaritan.
She saw the Lord.
John 4, verse 39 -42. From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him. Believed in Him. Because of the word of the woman who testified. Now I want you to listen to this. First of all she was evangelizing.
She went back to the city and told everybody she knew about Jesus. Now, so when the Samaritans came to Jesus they were asking Him to stay with them and He stayed there two days. Verse 41. Now listen to this.
I love this. Many more believed because of not her word, His word. He came and spoke. Verse 42. And they were saying to the woman, they came up to her. And isn't this what you would want somebody as you evangelize and tell people about Jesus?
Say, it's no longer because of what you said.
That we believe.
For we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is indeed the Savior of the world. It's because of what He says. The revelation there. That it is God's word that penetrates in people's hearts. In those old hard hearts.
Evangelism. Tell the world about Him. Tell the world about Jesus Christ. Tell them about His works, His life, His birth, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His teaching, His miracles. Everything about Him.
His ascension, His coming back again. We need to tell this world. Time is short. Eternity is long. We only have a window, beloved. Just a small window to tell people. Because as the grass, we're going to all fade away as well.
The main thing is, we need to make sure that our soul is right with God and our calling and election is sure. So make sure of that, beloved. I've seen the Lord, she said. I've seen the Lord.
Now very quickly.
Go with me to Luke 24. Brother Keith spoke about this last Lord's Day. And I really love this and it really encouraged my heart. But I want you to see something here. I don't know if I've got time to go through all these scriptures, but if you notice, Christ appears on the road of Emmaus.
This is another appearance. Verse 13 of chapter 24. Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about these things which had taken place.
While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. Now they didn't recognize it was Jesus. Again, they thought He was a stranger. Verse 16. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
It's interesting, isn't it? Their eyes were prevented. Who prevented their eyes? God did. Now God's got reason. We don't understand. The secret things do belong to the Lord, right? And He said to them, What are these words you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?
Jesus, always asking questions. Soul-searching questions. And they stood still looking sad. One of them named Cleopas answered and said to Him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of these things which have happened here in these days?
And He said to them, What things? Oh, He knew all things. And He says, What things? See, He's drawing it out of them. See this? And they said to Him, The things about Jesus of Nazareth. The Nazarene. Who was a prophet.
Who was a prophet. Money and deed and word and the sight of God and all the people. And how the chief priests and the rulers and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
Indeed, besides all this, that this is the third day since these things have happened. But, also some women also amazed us.
Listen to this.
This is the account in which we looked at when they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find His body. They came saying that they have also seen a vision of the angels and who said that He was alive.
They didn't believe her. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the woman has said. But Him, they did not see.
And then He says this. Loving rebuke.
Loving rebuke, but it was piercing.
Effective.
And He said to them, Oh, foolish men. Slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained.
He expounded on the basically exposition to them the things concerning Himself.
And all the scriptures.
Could you imagine? And they approached the village as they were going and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him saying, Stay with us. They didn't know who the stranger was. Stay with us for it is getting toward evening and the day is now nearly over.
So He went to stay with them and when they had reclined at the table with Him, He took the bread and blessed it and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
Then their eyes were opened.
And they recognized Him and He vanished from their sight. It was in the communion. The communion. The bread and the wine, the fruit of the vine. And they said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road?
While He was explaining the scriptures to us? And they got up the very hour and hour and returned to Jerusalem and found together the eleven and those who were with them saying the Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.
They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Now here's what I like to say in our application. Even though Mary and the other women went back and told the apostles and they did not believe, their turn was coming.
Jesus will open their eyes. They were prevented from seeing it at that moment. But God is the one that prevents them from seeing and God is the one that removes the scales. Now what does this teach me?
What does this teach you? It teaches that God is sovereign and that God is in control of people's salvation. And even the apostles, those who follow, there's a lot of times even our brothers and sisters in Christ we want them to see a great truth and you want to say, Don't you see this great truth about Jesus?
And they say, I don't see this. Beloved, be patient with them. The Holy Spirit will open up their eyes. God knows how to remove the scales. God knows exactly what He's doing. Very quickly, Revelation 1.
My time's almost gone. Revelation 1. I close with this.
It is Jesus.
The glorified, resurrected Son of God. John the apostle, the same apostle. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. This was on the Lord's Day. And having turned, I saw seven golden lambstacks and in the middle of the lambstands, I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe, reaching to the feet, girded across His chest with a golden sash.
And His head and His hair were white like wool, like snow. And His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze. And when He had been made to glow in the furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
And in His right hand, He held seven stars out. Out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. And His face was like the sun shining. And it's all of His strength. And then I saw Him.
I saw Him.
And I fell at His feet like a dead man.
This is John the apostle.
Where does that place us? Now, it does it in there. He falls in reverence, in fear and tremor. But Jesus placed His right hand on Him. He said, Do not be afraid. I am the first, I am the last. I am the living one, and I was dead.
And behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. This is the Son of the living God. He's risen, He's glorified, He's at the right hand of the Father. This is the way He appears.
He's not this weak, hippie-looking figure that people post on Facebook and says this is Jesus. That's not Jesus. That's an idol. That's a false image. It's sand. We pray for people that cannot see who He really is.
Only the Holy Spirit. It does not mean we should give up. Think about how frustrated Mary and those women must have been. Not even the apostles believed them. But God knew exactly how to orchestrate everything for them to see Christ.
And who He really is.
Let us continue to pray. May we first see Christ,.
Who He really is.
And we go tell the world about Him. And then we pray, even for those that are lost in our family, that they would see this Jesus. Beloved, it's everything, isn't it? They must see Jesus. They must see Jesus.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank You. We thank You for Your Word.
Your Word is holy. It sanctifies us. It's so rich. It's so powerful. It's so glorious. Thank You for this Lord's Day that You've given to us, in which we do every Lord's Day. We thank You for the breath in our body to celebrate the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Our hearts burn, Lord, like those on the road of Emmaus, as we hear Your holy Word and it sanctifies us because that Word is truth. And Lord, it overflows with thanksgiving and praise of all that You have granted to us in the glory of Scripture.
Eternal life. All that You reveal is right here in the Word of the living God in the Bible. So we thank You for this pearl of great price, the Lord Jesus Christ, Your unspeakable gift. So we thank You.
That He is risen.
From the dead.
And He's not here.
He lives forevermore.
The tomb is empty.
And He's coming back one day to take us home. So Father, maybe we'd be watching and ready as we read about there's five foolish virgins and there's five wise virgins. And may we be like the five wise virgins with our wicks trimmed and our oil filled.
Help us, Lord, to be ready. Help us to be ready. And help us not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it's the power of God unto salvation. Give us boldness. Give us boldness, O God, to tell this lost, dying world about the Lord Jesus Christ.
For this we ask for Your praise and Your glory.
In Jesus' name,.
Amen and Amen.