John 20 - Resurrection Roller Coaster
The greatest event in history results in a massive range in emotional responses. How does it make you feel?
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John 20 (ESV)
1 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.
2 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.”
3 So Peter went out with the other disciple,
and they were going toward the tomb.
4 Both of them were running together,
but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 And stooping to look in,
he saw the linen cloths lying there,
but he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him,
and went into the tomb.
He saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the face cloth,
which had been on Jesus’ head,
not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple,
who had reached the tomb first,
also went in,
and he saw and believed;
9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture,
that he must rise from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb,
and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
12 And she saw two angels in white,
sitting where the body of Jesus had lain,
one at the head and one at the feet.
13 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.”
14 Having said this,
she turned around and saw Jesus standing,
but she did not know that it was Jesus.
15 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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic,
“Rabboni!”
(which means Teacher).
17 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.’
” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord”—
and that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that day,
the first day of the week,
the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came
and stood among them
and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
20 When he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his side.
Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with you.
As
the Father has sent me,
even so I am sending you.”
22 And when he had said this,
he breathed on them
and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them;
if you withhold forgiveness from any,
it is withheld.”
24 Now Thomas,
one of the twelve,
called the Twin,
was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him,
“We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see
in his hands the mark of the nails,
and place
my finger into the mark of the nails,
and place my hand into his side,
I will never believe.”
26 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.”
27 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.”
28 Thomas answered him,
“My Lord
and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him,
“Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those
who have not seen
and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book;
31 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.
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Previous DIG DEEPER posts on John
John 20 Summary
As he tells of the most amazing event in history, John twice mentions the day of the week: it was the first day (v1, 19). Ever since the Church was formed in the book of Acts, God's people have continued meeting together on what we now refer to as the Lord's Day, on which we celebrate the resurrection each week.
Imagine the emotional whiplash that Mary, Peter and John experienced that morning: grief and sorrow turned to confusion, probably mixed with frustration and even a bit of anger for Mary who thought Jesus' body was stolen. Peter & John were likely upset that Mary woke them up so early as they were physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted from their experience during Jesus' trial & crucifixion. Yet they sprung up and ran into the same state of angst Mary had been feeling upon discovering Jesus' empty tomb.
But then the lights came on.
That happened first for John in v8, where he writes of his experience in the second person, he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the Scripture that he [Jesus] must rise from the dead (v9).
Mary's state of shock takes longer to overcome. The appearance of the two angels don't even phase her (compare her reaction with the Roman soldiers who are recorded in the other gospels as feinting in fear at the sight of these angels). Then she doesn't even recognize Jesus standing before her; she assumes He just works there.
It's not till Jesus calls her by name that she recognizes He's alive, and after hugging Jesus in joy, she immediately announces the good news.
Dig Deeper
Often times people think that they must abandon reason and logic and replace it with faith. These people need to be introduced to Doubting Thomas. He hears the reports of the fantastic experience the other disciples told him about, but refuses to believe until he sees physical proof.
The amazing thing is that Jesus doesn't scold Thomas for doubting. Jesus shows Thomas the proof. Granted, the hands and feet that Thomas found his proof in have ascended into heaven, but in their place we've been given the entire New Testament and 2,000 years of scholarship providing mountains of evidence that Jesus is who He said He is.
God does not ask you to believe based only on warm, fuzzy feelings, but rather He expects you to believe because this belief is rational and true.
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God is our Father because we have been adopted in Christ (v17)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to continually erase the doubt in your life (v27)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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