Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Victory snatched from defeat

Intro: Victory snatched from defeat

to him far too good to be true

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook and the rocks split.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (vv.

51–54).

Those who reject the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ remain outside the sphere of salvation, for as Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, it is only “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, [that] you will be saved.”

Scripture records at least ten distinct appearances of Christ between the resurrection and the ascension: to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18), to other women who had been at the tomb (Matt.

28:8–10), to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–32), to Peter (Luke 24:34), to ten of the eleven remaining apostles, Thomas being absent (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25), to all eleven apostles, with Thomas present (John 20:26–31), to seven of the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–25), to more than five hundred disciples, probably on a mountain in Galilee (1 Cor.

15:7), to James (1 Cor.

15:7), and to the apostles when He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3–11).

In addition, the risen Christ later appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–9), and several subsequent occasions (Acts 18:9; 22:17–18; 23:11).

Transition: Encountering the resurrection

Context: Recap last week darkness of the cross… look at what Swindoll says there is defeat here at this moment… one of the greatest defeats in life is losing someone you love...

Jesus’ presence conveys something more, a lesson and a description of what it means to experience this Jesus and to become one of his disciples filled with his Spirit.

In a passage that has seen lengthy debate among interpreters, Jesus breathes on his disciples, filling them with his Spirit.

Post resurrection is a new relationship...

The Lord then sent Mary to the apostles to tell them of His impending ascension: Go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.”

For the first time the disciples, who had been referred to as slaves or friends (15:15), are called Christ’s brethren.

It was through His work of redemption on the cross that this new relationship with Him was made possible.

It is “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph.

1:7).

God adopts as His sons (Rom.

8:14–15; Eph.

1:5) those who believe savingly in Jesus Christ (Gal.

3:26).

As a result, Jesus “is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb.

2:11), and has become “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom.

8:29).

Reflecting this new relationship, the Lord’s message to the disciples referred to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.

But unlike the Synoptics John takes us far deeper into the details of what transpired on Easter morning.

Matthew and Mark provide minimal information about the resurrection appearances.

Matthew reports a meeting of Jesus with Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” at the tomb (Matt.

28:2) and then tells us how Jesus met the disciples later (28:9), who “clasped his feet and worshiped him.”

Mark says that the circle of women included Mary Magdalene as well as Mary the mother of James and Salome (Mark 16:1), but his shorter ending (to 16:8) gives no resurrection appearance.

Luke refers as well to the visit of the women and adds to Mark’s list that Joanna was there too (Luke 24:10).

But for Luke, the chief story that conveys the importance of this day comes in 24:13–35, when Jesus appears along the Emmaus road to two disciples.

John’s Gospel takes us in new directions.

Three sections divide the chapter.

(1) John begins by richly supplementing the Synoptic story, telling us about a personal reunion between Jesus and Mary Magdalene (20:1–18).

While this story could fit easily into the minimalist tomb stories in the Synoptics, for John it is an important vehicle for telling us things about Jesus and what it means for Christians to have a transformed relationship with the resurrected Lord.

Embedded in this account is the most explicit “empty tomb” description in the New Testament.

Peter and the Beloved Disciple race to the tomb and become eyewitnesses, pointing to the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection

John has designed chapter 20 in order to instruct us as readers about two chief themes: the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection and the nature of what it means to be his disciple in the era of his resurrection.

We will focus on the second reason

READ v.

Jesus had foretold His resurrection (2:17; Matt.

16:21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; Luke 9:22),

THEN SET UP:

Jesus was raised to life so we could have real life

“Life” is one of John’s key words; he uses it at least thirty-six times.

Jesus offers sinners abundant life and eternal life; and the only way they can get it is through personal faith in Him.

If sinners need life, then the implication is that they are dead.

“And you hath He quickened [made alive, resurrected] who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.

2:1).

Salvation is not resuscitation; it is resurrection (John 5:24).

The lost sinner is not sick or weak; he is dead.

This life comes “through His name.”

What is His name?

In John’s Gospel, the emphasis is on His name “I AM.” Jesus makes seven great “I AM” statements in this Gospel, offering the lost sinner all that he needs.

Eternal life is not “endless time,” for even lost people are going to live forever in hell.

“Eternal life” means the very life of God experienced today.

It is a quality of life, not a quantity of time.

It is the spiritual experience of “heaven on earth” today.

The Christian does not have to die to have this eternal life; he possesses it in Christ today.

Although it would be difficult to say for certain what level of believing is here envisioned, it certainly marks an example of the fact that the beloved disciple is a symbol of those who at this stage had not seen an appearance of the risen Lord and yet believed (cf.

20:29).

It must be remembered that the combination of seeing and believing has been a repeated theme in John (cf.

2:23; etc.).

Many had seen his signs and had failed or refused to believe (cf.

6:30; 9:38–41; 12:37; etc.).

But to believe without seeing the actual reality was marked by the evangelist for special note (cf.

4:50; 9:35–36; 20:29).

Furthermore, it is particularly noteworthy that the beloved disciple is the only person in the Gospels who is recognized as having reached a point of believing as the result of seeing the empty tomb.

Given the trauma of the crucifixion, the fear and bewilderment of most of the followers of Jesus was not allayed by the sight or reports of the empty tomb (cf.

John 20:1–2; Matt 28:5; Mark 16:8; Luke 24:11, 17).

It took the appearances of the risen Lord himself to convince most followers that the resurrection was a reality.

The beloved disciple, however, is here viewed as the model for the believing community.

The beloved disciple believed without an appearance, and Mary Magdalene recognized the Lord, as will soon become evident, when her name was called (20:16).

It is fascinating to note that the Johannine evangelist has described transformative recognition occurring through the use of one word at this point.

In the sea story it occurred when the disciples responded obediently to the stranger on the shore and cast their nets (in what seemed to be a foolish act) on the other side of the boat (21:6–7).

In the Lukan Emmaus story the recognition occurred in the breaking of bread.

What should be concluded from these examples is that recognition of Jesus does not need to follow a single pattern.

Coming to the point of conviction that Jesus is alive is probably as varied as the nature of the people who believe.

Normally the term shalom (Hebrew)/Salam (Arabic) is the common Semitic greeting to others in the community.

The context of a theophany, the divine appearance, was expected to strike terror in the life of a human because of the common Semitic belief that to see God would mean that one would die or be “undone” (cf.

Judg 6:22–23; Isa 6:5; 8:13; cf. also Rev 1:17; Heb 10:31).

To have God say “fear not” or to place a hand on the person indicated that the appearance did not bring with it judgment (cf.

Rev 1:17–18).

Jesus does not disparage the faith of Thomas (“So now you believe because you see me?”) but simply cites a fact (“Because you have seen me, you have believed”).

Thomas’s faith is anchored to sight.

Then Jesus goes on to utter a blessing not on those who see and believe—which is certainly a virtue paraded throughout the chapters of the Gospel.

Rather, he offers a blessing on those who believe but have not seen.

At first reading it looks like Thomas was more unbelieving than the other disciples, but this was not necessarily the case.

They do not seem to have believed Mary Magdalene when she said she had seen the Lord—it was not until Jesus appeared to them that they were filled with joy (20).

Earlier references to Thomas reveal one who was dogged in his commitment to Jesus (11:16) and honest about his doubts (14:5).

He refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he actually saw the prints of the nails and spear wound for himself.

By the way, this shows that the disciples and the evangelist were talking about a bodily resurrection of Jesus, not some spiritual survival beyond death.

The appearance of Jesus to Mary was so unexpected that she did not realize that it was Jesus.

The fact that He appeared to Mary rather than to Pilate or Caiaphas or to one of His disciples is significant.

That a woman would be the first to see Him is an evidence of Jesus’ electing love as well as a mark of the narrative’s historicity.

No Jewish author in the ancient world would have invented a story with a woman as the first witness to this most important event.

Furthermore, Jesus may have introduced Himself to Mary first because she had so earnestly sought Him.

She was at the cross while He was dying (John 19:25), and she went to His tomb early on Sunday morning (20:1).