The Gospel of John: The Empty Tomb

First Baptist Church Leominster

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cars now, three cars, they're going to Ohio to put everybody in and they'll be back, they'll be gone next

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Lord's Day. Galatians 5, Paul of course is concluding this letter to churches, having corrected them about their false understanding of the gospel, they believe salvation was through faith in Christ but also in addition to faith it was good works coupled with faith and between the two of them, faith and works, people are saved from their sin and Paul of course told them that was terrible error, that we are justified before God through faith alone,

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Galatians clearly teaches that. But it would be a wrong conclusion to say therefore works are unnecessary, absolutely works are essential, they're not saving but they are certainly evidence of salvation and Paul here in Galatians 5 talks about the importance, you sow to the

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Spirit, you live for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, you'll live. On the other hand, if you live according to the flesh, you live in sin, you're going to die, you're going to die in your sin and so truly a life of righteousness is characteristic of those with true faith,

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Galatians 5. Galatians 5, for freedom

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Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

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Look, I Paul say to you that if you accept circumcision,

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Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

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You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace for through the

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Spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love.

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You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

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A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty whoever he is.

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But if I brothers still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?

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In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves.

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For you who were called to freedom, for you were called to freedom brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another.

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For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

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But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

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For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.

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For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the

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Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

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I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.

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Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

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If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

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Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the gift of the

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Holy Spirit. We thank you for his role in our salvation. We thank you that he is the convictor, that he is our resident truth teacher.

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We thank you for the gifts that the Spirit gives to us. And we pray, Lord, that we would walk in the

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Spirit, that we would walk in humility, and love, and patience, and gentleness.

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We pray, Lord, that our lives would exhibit all of these things. And Lord, we recognize that there is always a battle, and that battle is the flesh going against the

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Spirit, and the Spirit going against the flesh. And Lord, oftentimes we succumb to the flesh.

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But we recognize, Lord, that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

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So help us, Lord, to walk in the Spirit. Help us now, Lord, as we listen to Lars' sermon.

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We pray, Lord, that we would listen to these words, that we would hear them. We pray that the Spirit would teach us what they mean, and how to apply them in our lives.

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And then in the Spirit's power, we ask, Lord, that we would carry these things out. Help us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called, to your praise, and glory, and honor.

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Help us, Lord. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles, please, to John chapter 20. You know, every Sunday morning,

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I religiously send out my sermon notes, usually about quarter to eight or so a .m.

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I didn't realize till I got here at church this morning, I neglected to send them out this morning. And so there are people that have probably been looking for them, and particularly some that are watching us via the internet.

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And you folks, excuse me a little bit, but Pastor Andrew, Sister Rose in Kenya, I believe you're probably watching, probably wondering where the notes are.

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Well, they'll be forthcoming this afternoon when I get home. It was just an oversight on my part. Doesn't happen very often, but it does.

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Well, today we want to begin to consider the resurrection appearances of our Lord Jesus. And of course, with the opening of John chapter 20, that is what is before us.

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John's recording these words, and of course, John was an eyewitness. John never identified himself by name in his gospel.

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He always referred to himself as either the disciple that Jesus loved or the other disciple.

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And we're going to see his self -reference here in this passage also. As we look over this chapter,

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John chapter 20, we'll first read of the discovery of the empty tomb in verses 1 through 10.

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And then verses 11 through 18, we read that Jesus first appeared in his resurrected body to Mary Magdalene, of which she then related her eyewitness to the disciples.

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Verses 19 through 23 record Jesus appearing to the gathered apostles that first Sunday night,

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Lord's Day evening. That is, 10 of the remaining 12 apostles were present.

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Judas had hung himself, the betrayer, and then Thomas was not present that first Sunday night.

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And then lastly in verses 24 through 29 of John 20,

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Jesus showed himself again the following Lord's Day, a week later, in the evening, but this time

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Thomas was with them on this occasion. And we have that account, of course, of doubting

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Thomas. And then chapter 20 ends with John reporting in verses 30 and 31 that Jesus performed many other signs to his apostles that John had not recorded in this gospel, but that the ones that are recorded here were with the intention, the design, that people would believe on Jesus Christ and thereby receive life that is eternal life in his name.

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Let's read the first 10 verses of this chapter. Again, this is an account of the empty tomb discovered on the morning of our

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Lord's resurrection. Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

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And she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken away the

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Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb.

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And so they both ran together and the other disciple, again John's talking about himself here, the other disciple outran

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Peter and came to the tomb first. And he stooping down, looking in, saw the linen claws lying there, yet he did not go in.

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Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb.

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Peter is rather aggressive and brash and he charged right in there apparently. And he saw the linen claws lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head not lying with the linen claws but folded together in a place by itself.

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And then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed.

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For as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

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And then the disciples went away again to their own homes. As again

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John 20 verses 1 through 10. We should understand these first 10 verses of John 20 as a single narrative unit, an episode, sometimes called a pericope.

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And the main subject of this narrative unit, this pericope, is of course that the tomb of Jesus was discovered to be open and empty.

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This pericope has a basic story form. We're talking about the way John recorded it and told this account.

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And that it contains an introduction, verses 1 and 2, which introduces the characters and the location of the event.

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And then there is a second stage, what's commonly referred to as a conflict stage.

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And here the conflict, we put that in quotation marks of course, is a foot race between Peter and John to the tomb.

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And then the third part of this short story form is the resolution of the conflict.

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And the narrator explains to be the other disciples, that is

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John, that should be apostrophe S, the other disciple, I should sing singular, having faith in the truth that Jesus had risen from the dead.

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That kind of resolves the tension there, the conflict. And then this episode concludes with a brief conclusion or interpretation in which the disciples returned to their homes.

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No doubt puzzled, wondering what was going to come of all of this.

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Now as we attempt to forge an outline for these 10 verses, we follow the division above, but we've used the following headings.

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First we have Mary's witness of the empty tomb, verses 1 and 2. The two disciples raised to the tomb, verses 3 through 7.

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Thirdly, John, that is the other disciple, believed in Jesus's resurrection. And then fourth, the disciples went to their home, to wrap up this little account.

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And so let's first consider Mary's witness of the empty tomb, verses 1 and 2.

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And so the first witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ at this fourth gospel includes is that of Mary Magdalene, not

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Madeline, Magdalene. Therefore she at first only witnessed the empty tomb, she didn't see the risen

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Jesus yet. Later John will record her as the first witness of having seen the risen

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Lord, and that's found in verses 11 and following. There she met with Jesus in the garden where the tomb was located.

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So let's read again of Mary's discovery of the empty tomb. Now the first day of the week

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Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

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Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the

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Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. We read in John 19, the previous chapter, that the physical life of Jesus ended with his cross when he declared it is finished, and then bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

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And then of course after the detail of the burial of his body, John concluded the account of the death of Jesus, but then opened the account immediately with this account of the empty tomb on the first day of the week.

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It was one movement, however, now it's divided by chapter divisions in our

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English translations, but it was one movement from the cross through the grave, the resurrection, of course the ascension to the

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Father. And although Jesus finished his sufferings upon his cross, it is finished, his resurrection immediately followed, just as it had been declared that it would throughout the entire record of the fourth gospel.

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And of course later we read they didn't understand the scriptures that he would be resurrected, but Jesus had told them and taught them, but apparently they didn't recall that for, of course, purposes that in the purpose of God they did not recall it.

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And so the resurrection of Jesus completes and continues the lifting up of Jesus to his heavenly throne, and this lifting up of Jesus began on the cross, he was lifted up at the cross, and now he's lifted, still being lifted up out of the grave to rejoin his father with the glory that they had shared from eternity.

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And so Jesus had stated this in a prayer to his father back in John 17, where he prayed,

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I have glorified you father on the earth, I have finished the work which you have given me to do, and now, oh father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which

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I had with you before the world was. And again for John, that glorification was being lifted up on the cross through death and even onto the very throne of God.

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And so there's a connection between the cross of Christ and the resurrection of Christ, a connection that should never be severed.

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And here's a description of this inseparable connection between Jesus's death on his cross and his rising from the dead, as testified by the empty tomb on the first day of the week.

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For John, nothing could be more disastrous than to consider the cross in isolation from the resurrection.

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For nothing is more certain in his mind that the cross was the root Jesus took to return to his father, that the ultimate glorification of the son with the father is accomplished through the paradoxical glorification on the cross.

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His cross and his resurrection is one movement onto glory on the part of the son.

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And so we of course affirm that belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential teaching of biblical

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Christianity. You cannot believe, you cannot be a true Christian unless you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Now there are some who speak of the cross of Jesus Christ and the love that God showed in giving his son, but they seem to stop short of declaring the fact and the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as his glorification as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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And that's of course who he is right now. Jesus is in control of history as the risen

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God -man sitting on the throne of God in heaven. Oh yeah, they might emphasize

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Jesus hanging on his cross or perhaps a baby Jesus in the arms of his mother, but the declaration of Jesus on his throne is sadly neglected.

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Paul stated in 1st Corinthians 15 that failure to believe and we would say failure to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to declare a message void of hope.

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If it ends on the cross and ends in the tomb, there's no basis of hope whatsoever.

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It's in the resurrection. And so Paul reasoned, there were some there at the church at Corinth that didn't understand about the bodily resurrection and so he reasoned with them, if Christ has preached that he's been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

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If you don't proclaim the resurrection of Christ, he's living right now and he's enthroned right now in heaven, your faith is empty.

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It means nothing. If you're only focusing on the cross of Christ, the suffering of Christ, the death of Christ, he was raised and he's enthroned.

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Yes, and we are found false witnesses. Paul says, I'm a false witness if I don't proclaim the resurrection of Christ because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise.

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For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile.

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You are still in your sins. And then also those who have fallen asleep, that those who have died in Christ, those who have died as Christians have perished.

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If in this life only, we have hope in Christ. In other words, if you have a

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Christianity that's void of a sense of a future resurrection and a failure to believe and proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the implications of that as King, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

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And so the resurrection is essential. Who is Mary Magdalene?

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Mary is one of the most common names of for women in the first century in Palestine. And there's a number of Marys found in the scriptures.

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This Mary is mentioned 12 times in the Gospels, which is really more times than most of the apostles, and certainly more than any other woman, except for maybe

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Mary, the mother of Jesus. This Mary was called Magdalene, probably because she was from the town of Magdala, which was a small fishing town on the shore of the

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Sea of Galilee. She probably became a disciple of Jesus early on in our Lord's ministry three years before, and she continued to be our

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Lord's faithful follower, a disciple, during his crucifixion and after his resurrection.

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She was there at the foot of the cross, and she was the first one to the empty tomb early in the morning, even while it was dark,

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John says. She, along with other women, traveled extensively with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry, and in fact they were the ones who probably financially supported

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Jesus and his apostles. We read of that in Luke 8 verses 1 through 3.

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Now it came to pass afterward, he, Jesus, went through every city and village, preaching, bringing the glad tidings, the good news of the kingdom of God, the gospel involves the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.

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Mary called Magdalene, notice she's listed first, she's always listed first when she's listed with other women, out of whom had come seven demons.

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This was a woman in bondage, a miserable woman, and Jesus had delivered her, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for him from their substance, and so her support of Jesus and his disciples may indicate she was a woman of some wealth, she and the others.

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Luke also described her as the woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons. This woman,

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Mary, is commonly said to have been a converted prostitute, but actually that assertion was not made until Pope Gregory the first did so in the 6th century

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A .D. when he gave a series of sermons on Easter, and what happened is he illegitimately identified

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Mary Magdalene as the sinful woman that's recorded as being at Jesus's feet in John chapter 7.

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They're not the same woman. Frankly, there's been a tremendous amount of traditional accounts and fanciful and fictional stories that have developed over the centuries regarding this

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Mary, it's idolatrous. She was canonized as a saint by Rome, which is also recognized in Eastern Orthodoxy, and so there are statues of her that are venerated, she's prayed to, she's celebrated in festivals.

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This regard for her and actions of course respecting her has no biblical support, it's idolatry. The Bible commands us not to do such things.

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The gospel simply and honestly portrays Mary as a devout woman whom Jesus had delivered from the power of the devil having cast out seven demons from her.

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So the result of her deliverance by Jesus was for her to become a faithful disciple of Jesus who was with him and his followers throughout much of his earthly ministry, perhaps the entire earthly ministry in Galilee.

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And the last direct mention of Mary Magdalene is in her witness of our resurrected

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Lord, which we are going to find here in some detail next week in John 20 verse 11 and following.

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In these introductory verses of 1 and 2, John provides the time setting of Mary's first witness of the resurrection, actually her discovery of the empty tomb.

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And the details of time suggest meaning here that are very subtle that we may not pick up, maybe we can with the help of a commentator or two.

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John recorded that Mary Magdalene, I don't know why I put Madeline, that must have been my spell checker,

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Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early on Sunday morning which was the first day of the week.

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There are subtleties conveyed in this fourth gospel that are significant even though they may not be easily or immediately recognized.

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A careful reader however, perhaps with the help of a more careful commentator can see truths that are quite remarkable though they may not be quite so overt to us.

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And there is one suggested in these words that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on the first day of the week.

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Here are the words of Edward Klink who had some really good insights in his contemporary commentary by Zondervan publishers.

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The gospel is so clearly applied a Genesis lends to the story, that is

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John's gospel. Remember Genesis 1 -1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

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John 1 -1, in the beginning was the word. There's a parallel with Genesis, the creation story, the creation of Adam in the garden of Eden and then the presentation of Jesus as the word become flesh in John chapter 1.

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There's a Genesis theme found in John's gospel that parallels with the creation account in Genesis.

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And so we have this opening phrase on the first day of the week in the light of the gospel's creation motif, the anonymous garden.

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Again Genesis opens with the garden of Eden, John has Jesus buried in the garden tomb and next week we'll see that Mary mistook

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Jesus for the gardener, there's the Genesis theme again. Direct the reader to hear with these words the announcement of the first week of the new creation.

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First creation Genesis, the new creation here in John chapter 20, the first day of the week.

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The entire gospel has been crafted within a creation week structure. The creation of man was literally renewed at the incarnation, verse 14 of chapter 1, the word was made flesh.

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The focus of the majority of John was on the sixth day, the creation of the God -man, Jesus, awaiting the seventh day, the day of rest to arrive.

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But the seventh day has now come and gone, his body rested in the grave as it were.

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Jesus the man, remember behold the man Pilate announcing him,

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John 19, has completed his work ceasing from all his activities.

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The biblical irony is stark, the son of God rested from his creative work in a new tomb located in a garden.

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In this one statement the entire biblical story summarized for all of creation has been reborn from this garden tomb life, eternal life was recreated and thus the son rose on this new day and so did the unique son for whom this day would henceforth be named the

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Lord's day. Whole new creation opening up with the resurrection of Christ.

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And notice further in John's time reference that when Mary went to the tomb it was early while it was still dark.

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John only contains that detail I believe of the four gospels. This may also have a significant subtle meaning as we consider the impending sunrise of our

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Lord's resurrection. Again words of Edward Klink, thus early in the morning with the dark still present but fading Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb of Jesus.

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The pervasively negative use of darkness and light in the gospel, you go back in John's gospel darkness and light are contrasted with one another.

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She comes to the tomb now and it's still dark and the sun is about to rise of course.

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This makes its use in this context potent, in other words we should see meaning here in that it was dark just before the sunrise.

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The darkness it had for so long overcome back in chapter one verse five, the darkness overcame the world.

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The world and had tried to do the same to the son of man was here taking its last breath, darkness, before the sun the light of the world arose to claim this victory on the third day.

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Again the whole idea of a new creation. There is subtle but very significant teachings that the

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Holy Spirit has given us within the inspired word of God that it's a shame that we don't see it more clearly.

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Well we next read of what Mary discovered upon her arrival to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb and this was of course no little feat for the stone was very large heavy and secure.

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Gospel of Matthew tells us that Pilate had officially sealed the tomb, that is he put a wax and his official seal stamped that.

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You can't mess with that seal under great penalty of the law. Pilate had officially sealed the tomb and commanded that a guard be placed to assure that it was undisturbed by the followers of Jesus.

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Matthew tells us these details on the next day, that's following the day of preparation, the crucifixion.

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The chief priest and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate saying sir remember while he was still alive how that deceiver said referring to Jesus after three days

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I will rise. Interestingly the Pharisees knew he was claiming to be to be resurrected on the third day but the apostles themselves didn't remember the scriptures.

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Sarcasm there irony. Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day lest his disciples come by night steal him away and say to the people he's risen from the dead so the last deception will be worse than the first.

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Pilate said to them you have a guard probably referring to the temple Jewish temple guard go your way make it as secure as you know how.

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So they went and made the tomb secure sealing the stone and that's a formal Roman seal of Pilate no doubt setting the guard.

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And here at John's account we read that Mary Magdalene discovered the tomb to have been open. Now she immediately read to tell what she had seen to Peter and the other disciple that one that Jesus loved in a special way.

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Now notice it does not say specifically that she looked into the tomb or went into the tomb. We don't have time to refer to the other gospels that give it a little bit more detail but here she just seems to look into the tomb and she sees it's empty.

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She didn't yet believe in the resurrection herself she assumed that somebody came and stole the body of Jesus.

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And so she assumed she saw the stone rolled away the body wasn't there somebody stole the body.

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Now John's gospel focused on Mary Magdalene as though she were the first but lone witness to the empty tomb but the other gospels provide additional details and I thought

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I would include these. And so in John's gospel it's only Mary Magdalene but now look at Matthew.

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After the sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn notice there's no word of darkness here

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Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and that's not

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Mary the mother Jesus came to see the tomb. And behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the

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Lord descended from heaven came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning his clothing as white as snow and the guard shook for fear for him and became like dead men no doubt they fled.

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Now verse 2 explains what happened I don't know that these women necessarily saw that happen but this is how the stone was opened.

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But the angel answered said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified he's not here for he's risen as he said come see the place where the

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Lord lay go quickly tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead and indeed he's going before you into Galilee there you will see him behold

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I've told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear great joy ran to bring his disciples word and as they went to tell his disciples behold

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Jesus met them saying rejoice so they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him and then

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Jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me.

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A lot of details there in Matthew's account that we don't have in John's gospel about the number of women present what they saw what they experienced.

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Gospel of Mark related these details top of page 5. Now when the sabbath was passed

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Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Salome bought bought spices that they might come and anoint him.

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So here there are three women very early in the morning on the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the sun had risen and they said among themselves who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us but when they looked up they saw that the stone had been rolled away for it was very large and entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed he was an angel but he said to them do not be alarmed you seek

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Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified he's risen he's not here see the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee there you will see him as he said to you so they went out quickly fled from the tomb for they trembled and were amazed and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.

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And then more details in Luke's gospel now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they prepared but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb then they went in and did not find the body of the

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Lord Jesus it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this that behold two men there was one in Mark's account two here stood by them in shining garments then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth they said to them why do you seek the living among the dead he is not here but has risen remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men be crucified and the third day rise again and they remembered his words then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest again

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John's gospel says that you know that Jesus appeared to ten and then to the eleven a week later they remembered his words then they returned from the tomb told all these things to the eleven to all the rest it was and then and then

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Luke identifies and Mary Magdalene notice she's listed first again Joanna Mary the mother

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James and other women with them who knows how many who told these things to the apostles and their words seemed to them like idle tales

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Luke 24 says the apostles didn't believe the women they should have but they didn't believe the women they did not believe them but Peter arose and ran to the tomb stooping down he saw the linen claws lying by themselves he departed marveling to himself at what had happened and so we have details that differ from gospel accounts and it would appear at first glance that there are discrepancies and of course bible critics who want to deny the authority and inerrancy of scripture will point these out and call them discrepancies and conflicting accounts but it's quite common in the parallel gospel accounts the four gospels where one gospel writer will mention one person another gospel writer will include another or others in fact we had this in John's gospel just recently remember we were talking about who took the body of Jesus down from the cross in one account it mentions

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Joseph of Arimathea and only Joseph in another account and mentioned Joseph of Arimathea plus Nicodemus and so accounts differ from one another that doesn't mean they're in conflict we would say they complement one another they fill out details for us in verse 2

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Mary's back in John chapter 20 Mary's report to Peter and John she ran came to Simon Peter to the other disciple whom

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Jesus loved said to them they've taken away the Lord of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him now

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John only mentions Mary Magdalene but now Mary says to the disciples we plural so John makes allowance that there are other women with with her right we not

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I didn't say I do not know where they've laid him we there are other women with her and so Mary included another or others to have been with her at the tomb of Jesus here's the description of Mary Magdalene by FF Bruce I really appreciate this man this biblical scholar he took on the liberals the skeptics throughout his ministry did a wonderful job

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I think that his commentary on Hebrews in English is the best one available to us for lay people

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FF Bruce hear words to Peter and John we do not know where they have put him indicate that she was not unaccompanied when she went to the tomb but she so obviously took the lead that John does not even say in so many words that there were other women with her let alone mention their names as the other evangelists

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Matthew Mark and Luke do but when the others mentioned her companions names they agree putting hers first this may reflect the early church's remembrance that she was the first witness of the risen

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Christ preceding even Peter in this regard if her witness nevertheless was not stressed as Peter's witness was stressed in the primitive preaching this was probably because a woman's testimony was of little public account salsas an anti -christian polemicist in the later second century dismisses the resurrection narrative as based on the hallucination of a historic hysterical woman that's how he viewed

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Mary Magdalene but of course the holy scripture sent forth

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Mary Magdalene as a testimony to the effectual mercy grace of God who had transformed a broken and bound woman forming her fashioning her into a faithful and fruitful disciple of Jesus Christ God chose

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Mary to be the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and she was the first one to arrive at the tomb early on the on the

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Lord's day and she stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus died earlier here's one explanation of the varied accounts of the four gospels some of the alleged discrepancies are at the trivial level

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John is criticized for having Mary come to the tomb alone even though she says we plural don't know where they have put him alternatively he is criticized

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John is criticized for mentioning only Mary of Magdala Mary Magdalene when

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Mark adds Mary the mother James and Salome while Matthew says it was Mary Magdalene and the other

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Mary and Luke specifies Mary Magdalene Mary the mother James Joanna and others who were with them but there are more than a score of passages in the gospels where one evangelist reports so and so many people and in a parallel report adds one or two more or mentions only one person we have just found this to be the case with respect to the burial of Jesus and the mention of Nicodemus only the assumption scholars make about the nature of the descent of tradition coupled with peculiarly modern and western notions of precise reportage that's very important could discern any difficulty in such variables these different you know accounts of the gospels have stood by side by side by 2 ,000 years and they were not viewed as contradictory or conflicting until the so -called modern higher critics and it was really their own bias and their own wrong conception of history that they wrongly imposed upon the gospels that resulted in their wrong conclusions nevertheless has had impact on so many

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Mary was afraid they had stolen away the body of Jesus that they from her perspective was probably the

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Jews however the activity of grave robbers was not that unusual in that day why people would want to rob graves

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I don't know but it wasn't unusual as one reported Mary's report suggests that the fear that either enemies or robbers had taken the body of Jesus the robbing of tombs was sufficiently common for official action to be taken against it a decree of the emperor

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Claudius a copy of which was found at Nazareth ordered capital punishment for those destroying tombs removing bodies or displacing the ceiling say the wax seal or other stones the

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Jewish allegation and that's what the Jews unbelieving Jews charge of course that the body of Jesus was removed by his disciples mentioned in Matthew is not hinted at in this account but the theme of robbery continues in the narrative that's what

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Mary thought Mary Magdalene and that's probably what the disciples thought too

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Peter and John well now we come to the second division and we have the two disciples racing to the tomb

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Mary Magdalene met related to Peter the other disciple what she and others had seen what they had thought this caused the two men to investigate for themselves there seems to be no hint yet that they thought that Jesus rose from the dead they must at this point have supposed that there were those who might have stolen the body of Jesus they really were ignorant they shouldn't have been

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Jesus had taught them but and so we read of this foot race of these two disciples verses three through seven

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Peter therefore went out the other disciple and were going to the tomb so they both ran together the other disciple

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John's talking about himself outran Peter came to the tomb first and he's stooping down looking looking in saw the linen claws lying there yet he did not go in then

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Simon Peter came following him went into the tomb saw the linen claws lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head not lying with the linen claws but folded together in a place by itself now remember that Nicodemus and Joseph had wrapped the body of Jesus with cloth with a hundred pounds of spices and ointments it was like a cocoon and they would wrap the head too and forgive me for getting too graphic but they would put a handkerchief over the face with an attempt to keep the mouth closed

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I read that in several commentaries and so this handkerchief was over the wrapped head and they came in and saw the wrappings there and the handkerchief by itself and so I don't know if the body of Jesus just came out and left it intact it seems to be kind of unreasonable that it would have been unwrapped and the unwrapped cloth would be laying there when you consider how it was prepared with a hundred pounds of the spices it would have basically sealed it together there's really not enough information here as to how it was discovered other than the claws were there and what that proves is nobody stole the body you've got to find an explanation somewhere else and this was demonstrated by the way by commentaries actually early on I'm getting ahead of myself in my notes but it was a

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Chrysostom who argued in about you know in the early centuries of Christian era that this was evidence that the body was not stolen because somebody stealing a body from a grave wouldn't take the time to unwrap it leave the claws there or the handkerchief by itself.

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All right so Peter and this other disciple are shown in John's gospel they have interacted with one in a really on four separate occasions you have

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Peter and John together it's always Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved or Peter and the beloved disciple or the other disciple and there are four times when just those two are mentioned in John's gospel where they're interacting with one another and so you have one in John 13 where they're at the supper and Peter didn't want to ask

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Jesus directly who is it that's going to betray you he nudges John you ask him you know he you're his favorite you ask him see if you can find out who it is and then the second is this account in John 23 through 9 which they're running to the empty tomb the third situation is

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Peter and this other disciple together in John 21 verse 7 records the appearance of Jesus to his disciples at the

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Sea of Galilee all right and then we read therefore that disciple whom

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Jesus loved said to Peter it's the Lord remember here they were in this boat on Galilee and man on the shore they fished all night didn't catch any fish he said cast on the right side of the boat and they brought in this huge amount of fish and John young John said to Peter it's the

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Lord and and then this is the account here by the way one day

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I was visiting Paul Stenstrom when he was in the nursing home I just came back from fishing I didn't catch anything and I said

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Paul asked me to catch any fish I said no he said you should have fished on the right side I'll never forget that Jesus said fish on the right side of the boat they caught all that fish and so Simon Peter when he heard it was the

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Lord put on his outer garment he plunged into the sea and then the fourth and last interaction of these two men at John 21 21 and 22 and we'll deal with this in a couple weeks in some detail and that's where Jesus told

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Peter that he was going to die before the second coming now you'll hear a lot of people argue that all the earlier disciples expected the imminent return of Jesus the rapture of the church

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Peter didn't he knew he was going to die before the second coming of Christ and of course the rumor spread because Peter turned around said what about this fellow what about John is he going to die too that's my business

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Jesus said it's none of your business if he if I have him survive until I come that's up to me not you don't don't you just be concerned about yourself but the rumor arose and John corrects that Jesus never said that I would be alive at the second coming he just said if he chooses to keep me alive until his second coming what is that to you

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Peter and so you have these four instances in John's gospel where Peter and John are kind of brought together and they had this interaction with one another

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Peter would have been the older man and John the younger man and by the way again in John 23 through 9 they're both running to the empty tomb and John arrived first to the tomb bent down looked in and he saw the grave close and he didn't go in John was the first one to the tomb

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Peter was the first one in the tomb now this indicates probably that John was the younger of the two he beat out

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Peter and it's been reasoned of course that the epistles of John 1st

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John 2nd John 3rd John and the book of Revelation were written down in the 90s

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AD this may have been back in AD 30 John may have been a very young man at this point

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Peter middle -aged perhaps and the fact that he beat out

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Peter in this race to the tomb may indicate that he was a young man and this had been commonly argued by the way down in church history.

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John gave careful detail to how they found the grave clothes but no body John wrote that he saw the linen cloths lying there the handkerchief had been around his head not lying with the linen cloths but folded together into place by itself and so this describes shows the reality and the importance the body of Jesus had not been stolen but the body of Jesus was no longer wrapped in grave cloths something else happened.

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Oh here's the reference to Chrysostom I see in my notes I referenced earlier this detail was used in the earliest times as an apologetic for the

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Christian faith Chrysostom he was called the silver tongue he was a great preacher argued that had grave robberies stolen the body of Jesus they would not have taken the time or trouble to unwrap the body of Jesus and would not and would not have carefully laid the wrappings in the handkerchief that was used to cover the face over the top of the wrappings the grave clothes still in the tomb indicated that the body of Jesus had been resurrected.

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Now perhaps Peter had not yet comprehended the significance of what he saw but later it certainly would have been further evidence that could be cited as proof of the resurrection of Christ.

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There may be however a different emphasis of John and here we kind of bring out maybe the you know the the male dominant culture of the first century the apologetic significance of the narrative could have a different slant in Jewish eyes the testimony of the women was unacceptable and remember in John in Luke 24 the women told the disciples that Jesus was risen we saw him they didn't believe the women and Jesus rebukes them later you should have believed the women but they didn't well here we've got two men they're eyewitnesses now there's valid testimony as far as the

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Jews of the first century would have perceived they could fulfill the Jewish requirement of valid testimony according to Deuteronomy 19 .5

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so far the evangelist himself was concerned he may well have had a simpler interest

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Jesus had forsaken his grave clothes forever he's risen the evangelist had penned the story of Lazarus recorded how

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Lazarus the bidding of Jesus came forth from his tomb with the wrappings of the dead still binding him

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Lazarus hand and foot and the napkin on his head Lazarus had to be freed to take up life again in this world but Jesus on the contrary left his wrappings in the grave as a sign of his resurrection into the life of God's eternal order if this was plain to the evangelist that is

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John it was otherwise with Peter and as he stood and gazed on the grave clothes in the tomb he was totally uncomprehending he was clueless the sign was a mystery beyond his fathoming at least at this time however even though Peter seemed to be clueless still it had an impact upon John and so we see in verses 8 and 9

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John the other disciple believed in Jesus's resurrection he saw and he stated he believed in other words

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John writing this gospel I believed when I saw the grave clothes sitting laying there

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I believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ it's basically what he's saying verses 8 and 9 the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also he saw and believed doesn't say that about Peter says it's about John for as yet they didn't know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead now think about that statement this other disciple who was

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John himself was impacted in a far greater way than Peter on this occasion or so it would seem later we'll read that our

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Lord appeared to Peter separately but here we read of John's own testimony of the impact of what he saw he saw and believed the verb tense

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Greek verb tense of believed is what they call an heiress tense and it usually signifies a completed action something you know he believed it was something that was done in the past it was a done deal from the moment

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Peter saw those claws laying there he believed but this heiress tense verb can also be occasionally translated what's called an aggressive heiress in other words it speaks about a beginning action so it could rightly be translated he saw and began to believe or we might paraphrase he began to fully believe obviously

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John believed before this but now he believed in the resurrection his faith was filled out now he believed some would argue it was limited to we believe the fact of the resurrection and certainly that's evidently so but it speaks of a more full faith a genuine faith in all that was recorded about Jesus of all that John had heard and witnessed of Jesus and now he'd been convinced of his resurrection this other disciple exhibits genuine saving faith.

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Verse nine explains the next gives an explanation of the faith that John exercised for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead that's an interesting explanation

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John believed that Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead even though his faith was based on what he had seen rather than what he'd read in the scriptures what is suggested or implied the normal way that God brings people to saving faith is through reading or hearing the scriptures not seeing a risen

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Jesus you follow how significant that is later in this chapter of John we'll read about doubting

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Thomas he'd not seen Jesus when Jesus appeared that first Sunday night he wasn't present with the disciples

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Thomas declared to the others unless I see in his hands the prints of the nails and put my finger in into the prints of the nails and put my hand into his side

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I will not believe and then we read the next week after eight days his disciples were again inside Thomas with them

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Jesus came the door is being shut stood in the midst and said peace to you then he said to Thomas reach your finger here look at my hands reach your body reach your hand here put it into my side do not be unbelieving but believing and so Thomas saw and he believed

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Thomas answered said to him my Lord and my God and then Jesus said Thomas because you've seen me you believe that's what

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John did he saw and he believed and that was good but then

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Jesus declared blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe in other words what do they believe they believe the scriptures you see you are more blessed if you believe in the resurrection of Christ because the holy bible has declared it than if you were there and you saw the grave close yourself in that tomb knowing that the body wasn't there any longer that's what the scriptures that's what

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Jesus said to Thomas you're blessed you saw you believe John saw and believed but more blessed is the one who hasn't seen and yet believes and then here in this early part of John it says he believed although they didn't yet know the scriptures about what the scriptures teach about his resurrection and so there's a great emphasis here on what the scriptures record about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of course every one of us here this morning that are

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Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ not because we saw proof of it or the visible manifestation of Jesus probably scare us if we did but the scriptures the word of God has told us and we believe it and Jesus Christ declares that you're a blessed man a blessed woman a blessed girl or boy if you believe these things and so we're to believe in Jesus Christ for who he is and what he did because God's word the holy scriptures declare what actually happened in history and so if you begin and continue to believe on Jesus Christ and both his sacrificial death and his resurrection is taught in the holy bible

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God's word you'll be saved from your sin and you'll be given the gift of everlasting life and this when it says that that John looked in he saw and he believed it brings up all of the expressions of faith and belief and believes and believed that have permeated this fourth gospel and I listed a number of them we don't have we don't have time to read through them but repeatedly in John's gospel that talked about believers having everlasting life being given the gift of everlasting life and notice the number of citations

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I gave and that's just a partial list and I've listed probably what a dozen or more there on the bottom page nine and ten we believe the scriptures

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Paul stated it this way in Romans 10 8 through 10 contrasting those who falsely thought they were saved by doing good works of the law and those who put their whole faith their soul faith in Jesus Christ soundly and openly professing their faith

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Paul wrote for Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law that is by what you do the man who does those things shall live by them you want to live by you want to be saved by the law keep it perfectly see how well you do but the righteousness of faith that is the forgiveness of sins and the declaration that you're not a sinner but you're righteous that comes through faith speaks in this way do not say in your heart who will ascend to heaven it's not some great task that you have to do that is to bring

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Christ down from above or who will descend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the dead it's not what you do but what does the scripture say the word is near you the word in your mouth and in your heart that is the word of faith which we preach that if you confess with your mouth the

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Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised from the dead you will be saved that is a promise you save through faith but then notice what

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Paul includes for with the heart one believes under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation you confess

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Christ as your Lord and Savior there's not a secret faith it's a declared faith before others a confessed faith

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Jesus said whoever confesses me before others I'll confess before him before my father in heaven whoever denies me before others all denied before my father in heaven if you're a

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Christian you need to declare it and of course the best way a Christian may declare his faith is in baptism remember the first time

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I declared my faith as a 19 year old I told God bless her mrs. Oliver she'd been working on me for months and I told her

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I was a Christian I just saying a matter of fact because that's what happened you know but man she broke down in tears

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I couldn't believe it it was you know the confession an open declared confession of Christ and it was so affirming to her of course she told everybody it was quite a remarkable conversion at the time well a confession with the mouth but notice what

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Paul wrote for the scripture says whoever believes on him will not be put to shame it's a belief in the scriptures about Jesus dying and being raised yes

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John saw and he believed you're blessed John but you're more blessed because you've read it in the scriptures you believed it and you've confessed it with your mouth

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Jesus Christ is Lord and he's not just Lord he's my Lord he's my king and I love him and serve him and believe on him the faith in Jesus Christ that brings salvation is based upon what the scriptures say faith and what the

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Bible teaches his faith in God who inspired the words of the Bible to be written words that he chose and he called to this task of generating bringing forth faith in his people and then the passage concludes with the simple word in verse 10 then the disciples went away again to their own homes

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John was yet to record anyone yet seen or meeting there is in Jesus we're gonna see that in verse 11 next week as these men returned to their homes they had no comprehension what was yet before them the cross and resurrection of Jesus had changed everything however a new age a new world a new creation had dawned on that first day of the week and these soon would find themselves to be pillars in the true temple of God that God was erecting a spiritual temple built upon a foundation that they as Apostles would establish and that very night

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Jesus would appear to them and their lives would never be the same and of course so it is with any and all who truly come to Jesus Christ and repentance from sin and in full faith in him that believer enters into a life that is abundant enjoyable fruitful and rewarding that believer experience a transformative encounter with the living

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God through faith in his son which is a life of joy peace and liberty thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift in Jesus Christ let's pray thank you father for your word and for the various records we have in the

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Gospels that are able to give us insight into your ways and your work through Jesus Christ help us our

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God to go forth from this place with renewed faith and renewed love and zeal for the cause of your son our