16. 1 John 3:2: The Empty Tomb

1 John 3:2 and the Assurance of Resurrection Hope

First John chapter 3 verse 2. Hear now the inspired word of God. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.

Let's pray. Father once again as we look into your word and especially on this day where the whole church focuses its attention on the resurrection and it's the resurrection that has made us children of God.

And so we ask that you would be pleased that as the word goes forth that just as you promised it would not return void but it would accomplish every purpose for which you send it. And we pray that that purpose would be ultimately to give you glory, to exalt the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, to build up your church, to edify the saints, and that sinners would be converted to Jesus Christ.

It's in his name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. Well one thing we can be sure of in our nation is that we will always be stunned at the new revelations of political correctness. A couple of years ago the superintendent of a Rhode Island school district banned the Easter Bunny from a school event.

He believed that the presence of the Easter Bunny might offend some people who are not Christians. So he proposed that the bunny be called Peter Rabbit instead. But then there was opposition to it being called Peter Rabbit because as some people noted in the story of Peter Rabbit he was a cabbage thief and therefore that would be a poor role model for the children of the school.

A local politician got involved and introduced legislation. The legislation was called the Easter Bunny Act which would allow the bunny to participate. It would be very funny if it weren't so sad a commentary on our society.

The enemies of Christ would go so far as to ban a symbol of Easter that most Christians would reject as a symbol of Easter. But this type of thinking is extremely dangerous. We've already seen this numerous times that this type of thinking leads to revisionist history.

Textbooks are being written that exclude any Christian reference. The pilgrims had Thanksgiving to thank the Indians not to thank God. Puritans didn't come over here for religious freedom did you? Did you know that?

If you read some new textbooks you'll find that out. But the greatest attack of Christianity is almost always focused on the resurrection because the resurrection is at the heart of the Christian message.

It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that sets Christianity apart from any other religion or any other philosophy of man. And addressing this very issue the Apostle Paul defending the resurrection said this in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 starting in verse 14.

He said if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is vain. Your faith also is vain. Moreover if we are found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. And Paul a few verses later says we then of all people are the most to be pitied.

In our study we're in the midst of our exposition of 1st John. We've come to chapter 3 verse 2. John remember began encouraging the church to be assured of the reality of their faith. That is the whole focus of the epistle of 1st John.

And last week as I mentioned we moved to chapter 3 verse 2. And let me read it one more time because this is such an important verse. Beloved now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.

We know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. Now we learned several important facts from this verse regarding the assurance of faith. First we are now children of God.

If you're a believer in Jesus Christ you've been saved as you sit here this morning. You are in children of the child of God. You don't have to wait it's not something future. You are a child of God. Second if that fits your description you are destined for glory and nothing and I mean absolutely nothing can stop you from reaching that state of glorification.

Third when Christ returns and he will return we will be like him. We will be glorified and all these promises were guaranteed when Christ was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. So that's providentially we come to verse 2 of chapter 3 which tells us what the promises are on Resurrection Sunday where we pause and reflect on the importance of the resurrection.

The Birth of Jesus and the Resurrection as Parallel Announcements

So let's go to the Word of God and the events surrounding the resurrection on that Sunday morning over 2 ,000 years ago and it's interesting it's interesting to note that there are similarities in the announcement of the resurrection and the birth of Jesus.

So let's just take a brief look back at the announcement of the birth of Jesus in Luke chapter 2 verse 8 and following. And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flocks by night and an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened.

And the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. That was a glorious event the proclamation of the birth of the Savior. Now let's look at the angelic messenger who comes and announces the resurrection.

We read Matthew 28 earlier starting in verse 1. Now after the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave and behold a severe earthquake had occurred for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it and his appearance was like lightning and his garment was white as snow.

The similarities are striking. Both events are glorious events things that had never happened before and will never happen again. And in the birth of Christ God took upon himself flesh, human flesh, came down from heaven and took upon himself a human body.

He became one of us. What a blessed event for mankind. That is something we must remember and the significance is no less than earth-changing and earth-shattering and is proclaimed by an angel. And now at the resurrection we see again the appearance of the angel of the Lord with an equally profound and important message.

Look at verses 5 to 7 of Matthew 28. And the angel answered and said to the woman do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here for he has risen just as he said.

Come see the place where he was lying and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and behold he is going before you unto Galilee. Then you will see him. Behold I have told you.

Look at this message from the angel and it's really an important message and and just rife with meaning. First do not be afraid. Well what did they have to be afraid of? I don't know about you but I'd be afraid of that angel with that glorious appearance of the being.

He had an awesomest spectacular presence and we'll see that later on even the Roman guards were afraid of the angel. But then what else did they have? The stone was rolled away from the tomb and there are implications to that.

Perhaps they feared the wrath of the chief priests and the rulers. The point is there are many things they could have been afraid of and so the first words to the women do not be afraid. Do you know that that is the number one command of Scripture to the believer?

Far and away especially from Jesus. Jesus used that phrase do not be afraid or fear not little children. So let me ask you what is it that you're afraid of? If you're a believer in Jesus Christ what is it that you fear?

This command of the angel do not be afraid is so appropriate at the time of the resurrection because it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that removes the necessity of fear. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Christian never has a reason to be afraid again because he promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us.

And so the words to these women are the same words to us. Fear not. Do not be afraid. And then the angel gives them reasons that they should not be afraid. The angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid for I know you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

I believe that that statement is deeper than just a description of where they were looking physically. I believe that the angel is describing the condition of their hearts. What do we know about these women?

Well we know that they stayed with Christ through his darkest hour. Even when the disciples desert him we find the women watching the crucifixion from a distance. These women were devoted to Jesus Christ.

There can be no question that these women are among those for whom Christ died. They were in fact his children, his sheep. And so the angel says to them do not be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus.

I want to emphasize this point again. The command of Scripture, fear not, is not for everyone. That command is only for those who belong to Christ. If you're here this morning and you're not a child of God, the command is not for you.

In fact there's another command, be afraid. For if you're not in Christ you have every reason to be afraid. What awaits you is the certain judgment of God. And apart from Jesus Christ the wrath of God will come upon you without mercy.

We even alluded to this last week in the message when we read from Hebrews 10 31. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So if you're not one of Christ's children and you are not afraid, that is the height of foolishness.

Come to Christ. But the angel continues in verse 6. He's not here for he has risen just as he said. Come see the place where he was lying. Now the angel makes it clear that these women as devoted as they were to Christ, they were looking for him in the wrong place.

And this too is important. They did not yet understand his words about being raised again. They didn't have 2 ,000 years of history as we do. But that was also true of the disciples. For in John 20 verse 9, John comments, for as they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise again from the dead.

Too many people today search for Christ in all the wrong places. They consider him to be a good man, a great prophet. Oh yes, I'll hold to the moral teaching of Christ. Some will even use the Ten Commandments as a guide for their lives.

They will quote Scripture and have religious plaques hanging on their walls. But they don't look for the risen Christ. They still search for him among the dead. They read him as they would read Plato or Socrates or Aristotle.

So let me have pause and ask the question. Where are you looking for Christ? It's only one place to find Christ today. That is in the pages of Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture and only the Scripture that presents Jesus as the risen Savior of mankind.

And that's just what the angel said. He is not here for he has risen. I can't emphasize enough the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the gospel message.

You can't talk about the gospel without talking about the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ because that's the very definition of it. And it sets Jesus apart from everyone else who ever lived.

Many people have claimed that they were coming back from the dead. They all have one thing in common. They're still dead. Not mostly dead. You know how to sneak that one in. But Jesus is set apart from anyone else who ever lived.

And then the angel says two very important things concerning the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead. Just as he said. Jesus had boldly made the claim that he would in fact rise from the grave. Remember that was one of the things that bothered the chief priests and the Pharisees more than anything.

They remembered that he said that he would rise again after the third day. So they posted guards. But no power on heaven or earth could have prevented Jesus from rising on that day just as he said. These few words by the angel are just so so important.

Now everything that Jesus says is true. We know that. Men can let you down. Even your best friend or your spouse will let you down from time to time. If your focus is on men and men holding to the words, you're going to be disappointed at some point.

But if you listen to the words of Christ, they will always be true and you will never be disappointed. And that's another reason you must study the Word of God. You need to know all the precious and those magnificent promises of God.

This is how you will learn to trust him. It's essential for spiritual growth and maturity. And his faithfulness is demonstrated right here at the tomb when the angel says, he is not here for he has risen just as he said.

But the angel isn't even finished. Look at how he finishes out. Come see the place where he was lying. The angel offers proofs for the words of Christ. Jesus has risen. He's not here. Just as he said, now come and look.

Look at the place where he was lying. It's vacant. It's empty. The grave clothes are there. There's nobody there. I want to say something very clearly. There's a place for proof in Christian apologetics.

Now for the most part, those of us who hold to Reformed Baptist theology, we would be called presuppositional in our apologetic method. Fancy words. All that really means is we start with the fact that God is who he says he is and he has communicated that to us in his word.

And that the Bible is the only authoritative source of truth. But that doesn't mean that evidence has no place in our faith. The Bible is full of evidence and God has put forth evidence to show us his wisdom and the wisdom to believe in him.

And here's one such example. The angel brings the two Marys to the tomb. Shows them the evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead. And says, look, see, he's not here. What a great and gracious God we have.

He didn't have to do that. But he's always condescending to us in our weakness that we would know. And he knows that we're but dust. And so he offers us the proof. He knows that we lack faith. So he gives us the evidence.

And that is what we see as the angel of the Lord directs the two Marys into the tomb. See for yourself. But even that is not the end of the message. The angel gives them a directive. Look at verse 7. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.

And behold, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. The angel says, now that you've seen for yourself. You know now he's risen from the grave. Go. Tell the disciples.

The women were given a job to do. They were given some pertinent information. And now that they've seen, they now must tell what they have seen. And they're told, do it quickly. Don't delay. There's a lesson there for us.

Obedience to the Word of God is always to be immediate. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Far too often we procrastinate on the clear instructions from God's Word. And their instructions were clear as well.

Tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead. These women, what blessed women. When you go through the scriptures and you read about these women, I'm always amazed. They're given an important task.

And they do it. And they do it quickly. And they do it with enthusiasm. That very message that they're entrusted with is exactly what Jesus told the disciples on the night he was betrayed. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 31.

Speaking to his disciples, then Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.

And that's the message there to give to the disciples. And the message of the angel is emphatic. Go quickly. And then he says, behold I have told you. Remember that word behold in scripture always indicates surprise or imperative.

Behold I have told you. And how did the women respond to this news? Verse 8, they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples. These women were loyal. They were dedicated.

And they were obedient followers of Christ. They hear the word. They receive the command. And they respond in exactly the manner they were told. They departed quickly. And what was their attitude in going?

Fear and great joy. This is not the fear of man. This is the fear of God that they leave in. They had seen the angel of the Lord. They had seen the empty tomb. They had seen the power of God manifested in this world.

And they responded with a godly fear. And that will always promote great joy. These women went to the tomb grieving. They left happy. Their grief had been turned to joy. Jesus, their beloved Savior and Lord, was alive.

Once he was dead, but now he lived. Let's just go back for a moment and look at some of the signs that accompany this great event in history. In verse 2, we're told a severe earthquake had occurred. Now, we've seen earthquakes as signs many times.

God often uses natural calamities and events to signify times that he's working in this world. Of course, the most recent one, we don't have to look too far back, was the crucifixion. Remember, when he was crucified, there were earthquakes.

That's the essence of what the Apostle says here, that God used these signs. In Hebrews chapter 1, we read this. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, God used those type of events to signify some great work of God in this world.

The next sign was that the stone was rolled away from the tomb. Now, remember that this stone was sealed by the chief priests, and it was large enough to concern the women who wanted to get into the tomb.

Mark tells us that as they were on the way, they said, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance? It was a big stone to cover the whole entrance to the tomb. Now, why is this important? Well, let me tell you why I believe it's very important.

The rock wasn't rolled away to let Jesus out. It was rolled away to let the witnesses in. Jesus, in his resurrection body, didn't need to go out through the door of the tomb. Remember, he appeared in a closed room to the apostles.

We don't know exactly what, how, I don't know, but he didn't need it. So, the stone is rolled back by the angel of the Lord to give access to the witnesses of the resurrection. Think about this for a minute.

If God did not intervene in this way, and the seal remained on the tube, all the Jews would have pointed to the sealed tomb and boasted or claimed, Jesus didn't rise, he's still in there, it's still sealed.

Nobody came in or out. They have to make the claim that the resurrection didn't happen or they would have had to believe. And they couldn't bring themselves to do that. So, God makes it very difficult for them to concoct the story, which we'll see.

So, the angel rolls the stone back for all to see. And the first of these women, he was raised from the dead, just as he said he would. And that, of course, the empty tomb, that's evidence in and of itself.

But John gives more details about what was in the tomb. John 20, verse 5, and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Simon Peter, therefore, also came following him, entered the tomb, and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there.

And the face cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. All the evidence points to the resurrection of Jesus. And this evidence should increase your faith as well.

Because look what John says. So, the other disciple, who had first come to the tomb, entered then also. He saw and believed. You know who John's talking about there? He's talking about himself. He was the other disciple.

And when he saw, it increased his faith. He believed. Now, there's one other aspect we want to look at this morning before we close. And that's the earthquake, the guards, or the, I'm sorry, the plot.

The Guards, the Bribe, and the Attempt to Suppress the Resurrection

The plot to subvert the truth of the resurrection. In verses 2 to 4 again, we see, remember, there was an earthquake. And when the angel appears to the guards, we start in verse 3 again. And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow.

And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. There's a play on words there. Because in the Greek, the words are similar. The earthquake, and so did the guards. That's the way it reads.

The guards, upon feeling the earthquake, seeing the angel of the Lord in all his glory, shook with fear, and fainted dead away. And I don't think we can blame the guards. I think that's very understandable.

Especially with the appearance that's described. The appearance was like lightning. What is the appearance of lightning? Wow. You ever been out in a thunder lightning storm? When that lightning hits the ground and cracks, you just stand and go, oh wow, that was beautiful.

You head for cover. And here we have soldiers becoming like dead men at the appearance. So much for the security of the tomb. They may have been expecting grave robbers, but they didn't expect this. They fainted dead away, and then they fled.

Now some of them made their way to the city and came to the chief priest. And now these men were in a dilemma. How are they going to explain these things to Pilate? So they first seek the chief priest for help, and from their perspective, they did the right thing.

They found sympathetic ears for their story. And what's the solution? Pay off the soldiers. Pay them off. They're not concerned. The chief priests are not concerned for the soldiers. They're concerned for themselves.

If this gets out, they will lose all credibility with the people. They will lose their standing with the Romans. They will lose everything. So let's pay the soldiers off. And verse 12 tells us, and when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers.

And here's their instructions to the soldiers. You are to say his disciples came by night, stole him away while you were asleep. And that's exactly what they say to convince Pilate to post the guards, if you remember.

And then they continue, if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. But they tell the guards, don't worry, we'll take care of it. Does this sound like some of the conspiracies that we've seen in their own country?

Don't worry, take care of it. Nice little tidy sum of money. And verse 15 says, and they took the money and did as they had been instructed. And this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day.

They took the bribe. What choice did they have? And so the story of the disciples stealing the body of Christ widely circulated. And even that is one of the proofs of the resurrection. This was told in advance.

The enemies of Christ will go to great lengths to attempt to discredit the resurrection. The empty tomb is hard for all of them to explain. But the enemies of Christ have no option but to circulate the same story the elders of Israel did.

It must have been those disciples that came and stole his body. But all the credible evidence points to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, including he was seen by over 400 people at one time.

And John, being a witness to all of these events, writes to the church in 1st John chapter 3 verse 2. Based upon everything that he's seen, he says, Beloved, now we are children of God. Has not yet appeared what we shall be.

In other words, John says, I don't know it all. But we know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. These women, the two Marys, were told to proclaim the resurrection to the disciples.

And the disciples were told to proclaim it to the world. And that responsibility now resides in his church. That command is still for us to go and make disciples of all the nations. And we must do it accurately and do it without delay.

The message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is good news for the world. And so Christian, what are you doing with that message? If you're not a Christian, I want you to think about this for a moment.

Jesus either rose from the dead or he didn't. The fact of the resurrection is supported by all the credible evidence. What are you doing with the evidence? You either believe it and respond to the call to repent of your sin.

Or you engage in the foolishness of the elders of Israel and try to concoct a story to get you off the hook. Do not harden your heart as they did and incur the wrath of God. Come to Christ. Enjoy the fellowship of Almighty God in him.

Become a child of God, destined for.

Glory.