You Ask Me How I Know He Lives?
Notes
Transcript
When writing his gospel, John had a very specific goal in mind, he writes in the closing verses of chapter 20:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John wants you to “believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
It seem that every Easter, the whole of the Mainstream Media and Academia have exactly the opposite goal in mind, article after article is published that seeks to undermine belief in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God and as the one who can give you eternal life.
John understood that we are in a spiritual battle, and the most important, most practical, most critical application of Jesus’ resurrection is to strengthen our faith in Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God and as the one who can give life. Therefore he carefully crafts chapter 20 to give us three sources of evidence of Christ’s resurrection. The first is found in verses 1-10:
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
Physical Evidence
Physical Evidence
We often speak of the empty tomb, but in fact, the tomb was not empty, in the tomb were the linen grave clothes, infused with spices, which were used to prepare Jesus’ body. John makes a great point of this, repeating it twice, because the original readers would have understood the significance of this. Both the linen cloth and the spices were of great value. So great in fact, that grave robbing became such a problem; the Roman Empire made it a crime punishable by death.
Mary’s explanation just did not add up, no robber would take the body and leave the grave clothes! John saw the evidence with his own two eyes and he says he believed!
Apologist after apologist have used the minds just as John did and looked at the physical evidence and have come to the same conclusion—the only rational explanation for the evidence is that Jesus rose from the dead!
Do not let the talking heads on the History Channel or in Time Magazine fool you. There is no argument against the resurrection that is being presented today that has not been tried in the past and each and every one of these have been blown out of the water by an honest evaluation of the evidence.
This is not the only evidence to the resurrection however, did you notice how John criticizes his own faith in this text, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.” Rationalistic evidence can only take us so far, it does not have the power to bring us to maturity in our faith. We will speak more about this in a moment, but first let us look at the second type of evidence John gives...
Experiential Evidence
Experiential Evidence
This type of evidence is seen in the next eight verses:
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
Apparently, Mary followed Peter and John back to the tomb and after they departed, she remained, weeping. At one point, she decides to look in and sees two angels who ask her, “Why are you weeping?” She responds, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Turning around she sees another person, whom she thinks is a gardener; he asks the same question and she gives the same answer. She has seen the evidence; she saw not only the grave clothes, two angels, but she also saw Jesus! Apparently, she was being blinded by her emotions, she is still sticking to her original story, “They have taken the body!”
This is significant, because as important as experiential evidence is, John is already preparing us to see its weakness—it can blind us!
In tenderness, Jesus spoke her name, “Mary”. This broke the spell, she recognized who Jesus was and yet new emotions overwhelmed her a distorted he faith, she clung to Jesus.
If she meant this as a simple embrace of affection Jesus would not have rebuked her, but knowing her thoughts Jesus said, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”
Mary in her emotive zeal intended to never let go of Jesus. However, if the Word of God, rather than her emotions had informed Mary’s faith, she would have understood that it would be more blessed for her to let go and allow Jesus to ascend into heaven and take His seat at the right hand of the Father. Not only does Scripture teach us this, but also only, a few days earlier Jesus Himself reminded His followers what the Old Testament taught:
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
As with rational evidence, emotional evidence can only take us so far, the most important evidence is Scriptural that is what we will look at now. Turn your attention to John 20:26-31:
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Scriptural Evidence
Scriptural Evidence
We naively believe that if we could just find Noah’s Ark or have one of those reported “near death encounters with heaven” that our faith would be stronger, but nothing could be further from the truth. Peter, John, Mary and Thomas all had firsthand knowledge of the physical evidence and they each had a personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus, but Jesus does not say they were “blessed”, not He reserves the highest blessing to those who “have not seen and yet have believed”!
Peter, John, Mary and Thomas did not come to full maturity in their faith until they “understood the Scripture” (John 20:9).
Why is it that the fullness of God’s blessing is not found until we understand the evidence of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus found in the Old Testament. Interestingly enough, Peter himself tells us in his first epistle. Citing Isaiah 40, the Apostle Peter writes:
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Peter identifies two things about the Word of God that is not true of the other two: first, the Word of God is living and abiding. Second it comes with the power of the Holy Spirit to cause people to be born again!
God’s Word is a living thing and it has the power to give spiritual life. Paul tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
As we come to understand how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures, our faith comes alive! No wonder one of the earliest Christian confessions of faith emphasized how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Scripture:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
John’s intentions could not be more clear, he intends for us to look at all the evidence, but especially the evidence of Scripture.
Let me give you two Old Testament chapters to read when you get home, Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. You need to pray before you read them asking the Holy Spirit to show you the evidence and you may have to read them several times. However, I am confident that you will see in both that Jesus “died for our sins in accordance with Scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with Scripture.” When you find it and understand it, you WILL be blessed!