He is not there, He is Risen

 By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher

 

Text: John 20:1-18

Matthew 28:5-6

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

(NKJV)

 

The path to eternal life in heaven with the Lord is through belief in the one sent by God, His only Son (John 3:16). How we come to believe may differ. For some, it is finally believing after many years in the Church, hearing about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. For others, it may be a tragic event in life that causes them to reach out to God. For others, it may be seeing the change in the life of a friend and a desire to experience the same change. The common thing in all these ways of coming to belief is faith, because we cannot see Jesus till death or His return, with the only remaining physical evidence an empty tomb in Jerusalem. This text is the account of three people coming to believe.

 

It is the first day of the week and Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early and sees that the stone sealing the tomb has been rolled away (John 20:1), Her first reaction was to run to Peter and John, telling them that someone has robbed the tomb and taken the body of Jesus (John 20:2). Peter and John take off in a race, running to the tomb with John arriving first (John 20:3-4).

 

John stoops down to look in and observes the linen cloths that wrapped the body of Jesus lying there, with no body, but he did not go in (John 20:5). Peter followed John and he did go in and also saw the linen cloths but also saw the handkerchief that had been around Jesus’ head folded and in a separate place (John 20:6-7). John then went in and also saw and believed, for both Peter and John did not believe the scripture that said Jesus must rise again from the dead (John 20:8-9). Peter and John then went away to their homes (John 20:10).

 

After Peter and John leave, Mary is outside the tomb weeping, and she also stooped down and looked into the tomb (John 20:11). When she looked in, she saw two angels one at the foot and another at the head of where Jesus had lain and asked them if they knew where they had taken the body of Jesus (John 20:12). Instead of answering her question, the angels ask Mary why she is weeping to which she answers, telling them they have taken the body of her Lord, and she does not know where (John 20:13).

 

After saying this, Mary turned around and saw someone behind her but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:14). Jesus asks Mary why she is weeping and presuming He was the gardener, she asks if He took Jesus and where He took Him (John 20:15). Jesus said, “Mary” and she recognized it was Jesus and worshipped him but Jesus told her not to touch Him because he had not ascended to the Father, telling her to go tell the brethren (John 20:16-17) Mary went and told the disciples she had seen the Lord and what He said to her (John 20:18).   

 

The empty tomb is evidence of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, but is it evidence enough or do we need more? To understand this, we must look at the reactions of Peter and John, and Mary Magdalene.

·         Peter and John (John 20:1-10) – Upon hearing from Mary Magdalene that the tomb was empty and that someone had stolen Jesus’ body from the tomb, Peter and John ran to the tomb. John outran Peter and got there first, but did not go in, seeing the grave wrappings put there by Joseph and Nicodemus just lying there. Peter one-ups John and goes in where he also observes the handkerchief that was wrapped around Jesus’ head neatly folded and not lying with the linen wrapping. John then goes in and observes what Peter saw, and believes. While the scripture does not specifically say Peter also believed, since this is John writing this, he is telling us this was the moment when he believed.

·         Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18) – While Peter and John entered the empty tomb, Mary sat outside weeping. After the men left, she too looked in, but she saw two angels standing at the head and foot of where the body of Jesus was laid. Still believing someone had stolen the body of Jesus, she asks the angels if they know where they took the body. She then turns around and sees Jesus, but does not know it is Him till He speaks. Mary believed Jesus arose from the dead, but not based on the evidence of the empty tomb, but on seeing Jesus.

All three of these people came to believe Jesus had risen from the dead, but in different ways.

 

Jesus died, was buried, and arose from the dead to redeem fallen humanity from their sins. There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem serving as evidence of this, but we must ask ourselves if we believe it. Unlike Mary, who came to believe by seeing Jesus is not possible for us because Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Unlike Peter and John, many of us live too far from Jerusalem to simply run to the tomb to see that it is empty. This is why we must believe in faith for faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6), with faith believing what is unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Each of the individuals in this text came to a belief in the resurrection of Jesus through physical evidence or seeing Jesus. Our belief today comes through faith, the written accounts of these witnesses, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

 

If you are reading this and have never made a public profession of faith to be saved (Romans 10:9-10). I invite you to pray with me now.

 

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

 

If you just prayed, I want to encourage you to find a local Church teaching the Bible so you can grow closer in your new relationship with the God you will spend eternity with. May God convict, challenge, and bless everyone reading this post.