SEEING IS BELIEVING (part one)
JOHN 20:1-18
In September, 1938, a man who lived on Long Island ordered an expensive barometer. When it arrived he was extremely disappointed to find that the dial was stuck; it pointed to “Hurricane.” This can't be right; hurricanes don't happen around here. After shaking the barometer vigorously several times, the man concluded that he had a defective product. "I spent good money on this piece of junk."
He sat down and wrote a scathing letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. He mailed it the following morning on his way to his office in New York. That evening he returned to Long Island to find the barometer missing–along with his house! The barometer had been right. This man didn't believe the barometer was correct until he saw the proof with his own eyes.
Jesus' disciples weren't convinced that he had come back to life until they saw him with their own eyes.
1) “Where’s Jesus?”
John 20:1-9, "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.
He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)"
Last week in the Sunday school I asked what evidences could we tell people about that showed that Jesus rose from the dead. We have another one here with the stone. It's understood that a deep groove would be dug out and the very large and heavy stone was placed into it and rolled down into place.
Being that there would be an incline on either side, the disciples would need to roll this stone up the incline and out of the groove, while staying undetected by the guards. This would be nearly impossible to pull off; thus making the idea that the disciples came and stole the body ludicrous.
The reason Mary is going to the tomb is so she can anoint Jesus. In other gospel accounts Mary is joined by Mary the mother of James and Salome. John mentions only Mary because she is the central figure.
So Mary gets to the tomb, sees the stone is already rolled away and assumes someone came and removed Jesus' body. So she runs to tell the disciples. She sees Peter and John and tells them. Peter and John race to the tomb. John was a faster runner and gets there first but hesitated in going in. Peter gets there and moves past John and goes in.
Both Peter and John recognize the linens are there. This should’ve helped them to believe that the body wasn’t taken away for who would unwrap it and neatly fold the linen before removing the body? Then, John goes all the way in and sees how everything was. It says he saw and believed. But based on vs. 9 all he believed was what Mary had told him-that Jesus wasn't there.
So this is the first instance of seeing was believing for them. Luke 24:12 says that Peter went away wondering what had happened. They believed that the body was missing, but at this point, they were not yet ready to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. They needed more proof.
They shouldn't have since Jesus had told them he was going to come back to life. But with the empty tomb the evidence is there for them to edge closer to the point of fully believing in the resurrected Christ.
Many people are gradual believers. Some things about Christ are easier for them to accept than others. As they go along they become more convinced. They see or hear something that causes them to wonder, like Peter. Then, like John, they believe to an extent. As time goes on, if they remain open, the Lord will show himself to them in a way that leaves no doubt and they become fully convinced.
That's what happened to Mary.
2) “Mary, it’s me!”
John 20:10-16, "Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher)."
Peter and John leave and Mary stays behind. She is deprived of the privilege of performing this act of love in being able to anoint her Lord. Then she looks into the tomb and sees the two angels in white. "One at the head, and the other at the feet”. There's significance in this.
You may have heard of the ark of the covenant. Exodus 25 gives instructions on the building of it. Here it had a different name, ark of the Testimony. On the cover, or mercy seat, as it was traditionally called, there were placed two cherubim (angelic creatures) one on each end.
Fast forward to the resurrection, and we have the two angels sitting on the new mercy seat as the resurrected Christ would now make it possible for everyone to receive God’s mercy.
And the angels sitting where Jesus had been laid was a testimony of his resurrection and of his power over death. In Luke's account, the angels gave testified to the women, "why do you look for the living among the dead. He is not here; he has risen!"
The angels waited until John and Peter left before appearing. Why? Perhaps it was a test. Would they, along with the other disciples believe Mary when she went back to them with the news? This could've been one of the reasons Jesus appeared to Mary first.
Another reason Jesus appeared to Mary first could have been because she seemed to be more moved by the situation than Peter and John and therefore the need to comfort her in her distraught condition was pressing. It makes sense that Jesus would operate this way.
Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." When we are overcome with emotion Jesus is right there to comfort us.
But this shows that Jesus doesn’t do things according to the status quo. It would make sense to show himself to the Apostles first but instead he shows himself to Mary. Just like when the birth announcement came. Who did the angels appear to, the religious leaders? No, to shepherds in a field. But it makes sense for God to operate outside of man's intellect and 'wisdom'.
Then Jesus speaks to Mary. Here we have Jesus’ first recorded words since his resurrection. A teacher asked, "What do you think Jesus first words were when he came out of the tomb?" A little girl shouted, "I know!" Extending her arms high into the air she said, "TA DA!”
Jesus speaks tenderly to Mary and asks, “why are you crying; who are you looking for?" Obviously Jesus knew the answer but these were leading questions. But at the same time they weren't empty ones. Jesus cared that Mary was weeping. I'm sure it bothered him to see her so emotional.
At first, Mary didn't recognize him. Since she was weeping, her tears clouded her vision. It's also possible that Jesus altered his voice or appearance. A lack of recognition happens with people today. Their vision is clouded so they don't "see" Jesus. The handprint of God is all around them but they fail to recognize it as such. God's miracles are mere coincidences. God's blessings are something they're entitled to. They experience God's mercy and grace but feel they're deserving of it. Thus, they fail to see God all around them.
So Mary doesn't answer Jesus’ questions, she just assumes since he is the gardener (caretaker) he would know why she was there, why she was crying and who she was looking for; so she just cuts to the chase. Then, Jesus calls her by name, "Mary".
Has the Holy Spirit ever done that to you; call you by name? It gets your attention quick. Sometimes we don’t recognize the significance of Jesus’ presence to us until he makes it personal. We read scripture but until we personalize it and see that God is speaking to us it won't have as much of an impact on us.
Mary turns to him. I can picture Mary's eyes wide with shock and wonder. In her excitement she cries out, "Rabboni"! This is a term of respect. And it was a privilege and honor for Mary to be able to address Jesus this way. Men studied under a Rabbi, not women. So for Mary to be able to call Jesus her Rabboni was a special blessing to her. But it doesn't mean that Mary didn't see Jesus as more than just a teacher.
Here we see an emotional shift take place. As Jesus would have been troubled by her weeping, now he would be gleeful at her newfound joy. I believe he may have been as excited as she was when he revealed his true identity to her. Jesus seeks to turn our weeping into joy, too. It makes me think of the joy of salvation where in Luke 15 we're told that there is rejoicing in heaven for each sinner who repents and turns to Christ.
But think about the joy and relief of Mary here. Mary Magdalene was one of the ones at the cross. Mary, John, Jesus' mother, and others that loved Jesus dearly were there to witness the crucifixion. Mary's last image of her beloved savior was a bloody, bruised and battered Jesus hanging on a cross until his dying breath. Not a very nice final memory; not a pretty picture to walk away with.
But, that grotesque image was not going to be her final memory of Jesus. What Mary saw now was not the bloody and bruised Jesus, but the refreshed and restored Jesus. But, as joyous as this moment was, it needed to end, for now.
3) "I have seen the Lord!"
John 20:17-18, "Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her." Jesus says to Mary, “do not hold onto me; (which means, 'do not cling to me') for I have not yet returned to my Father”.
Why did Jesus tell Mary to not hold onto him? In Matthew's version, Jesus tells her to not be afraid. Why would she be? Perhaps Mary was afraid she’d never see Jesus again. "I have you back and I'm not letting go." Mary was probably holding on for a little too long and Jesus needed to make her aware that it couldn't stay like this.
He needed to go; he hadn't yet returned to the Father. Jesus' words indicate that he may have ascended to his Father's side before returning to make his appearance to his disciples.
Perhaps Mary also thought his return meant that he was back for good and things would go back to the way they were for the past three years. But that wouldn't be the case, either. He was only going to be around another forty days and even during those forty days it was not going to be like it was the past three years.
It's easy to relate to Mary, here. We would've wanted to hold onto Jesus too. Thankfully, through the Holy Spirit, we can do that; we can have Jesus all to ourselves. I'm sure there are often times when we would like to be able to hold onto Jesus physically like Mary did. But we need to realize that spiritually, we don't ever have to let Jesus go, like Mary had to. We have a privilege they didn't. We can be around Jesus all the time and we can have him all to ourselves. What a blessing.
But notice that Jesus put off personal preference for the sake of ministry. If it were me, as soon as I resurrected I would've wanted to go to heaven right away to be at my Father's side. Instead, he ministers to the weeping Mary.
We may have a desire to go and be with the Lord but until that time comes we have work to do. In Phil. 1, Paul said that he desired to go and be with the Lord but he knew it was more important that he stayed and continued his ministry work. Matthew Henry, “Public service ought to be preferred before private satisfaction.”
Mary wanted to continue to hold onto Jesus; she didn't want that glorious moment to end. But, there was work for her to do, too. “But go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” Jesus included Mary in this declaration as well as the disciples. Jesus is declaring to them that they are a family; they are of a kindred Spirit. God isn’t just the Father, he’s your Father. We're a family.
The same is true for us. We become children of God through faith. Gal. 3:26-27, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
All people are God's creation. But to be a child of God we need to put our faith in Jesus. We repent and are baptized in his name, putting the purity of Jesus upon us that enables us to be forgiven of our sins and have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now we have the relational aspect. God is our Father (intimacy) as well as our God (authority).
Jesus further intimates this as he tells Mary to go to his brothers. He refers to the disciples in an intimate, family way. His last real contact with all of them had been when he was arrested and they all deserted him. They may have wondered if he was angry with them for that. Jesus dispels that notion here. In Matthew's version, he tells Mary to tell the disciples to go to Galilee and that he would see them there.
Sometimes we desert God; we run away from him and run toward sin. Then, we become convicted and we repent. But then we may become sad and afraid, wondering if the Lord is angry with us. Though he's not happy with us when we disobey him, we are still his brothers and sisters; we are still family and friends of Jesus. And, he still wants to meet with us.
So Mary runs back and tells the disciples that she has seen the resurrected Jesus. Do we share Mary’s excitement? We who have encountered the living Lord do we go and share this good news with others? May we be bursting at the seams to want to go and tell others that we know the risen Savior.
So, did the disciples believe Mary? Mark 16:11, "When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it."
It's interesting-Mary tells them Jesus is not in the tomb and they don’t believe her. Then, Peter and John go and see for themselves and they believe. Then, after they left, Mary has an encounter with the risen Lord. Again, Mary goes and tells them and they don’t believe her this time either. Mary had already proven to them that she was seeing things correctly so why not believe her?
To believe Jesus was missing from the tomb was one thing, but to believe he was actually alive was something else altogether. This wasn't like his other miracles; this would be the biggest of them all. Even though the disciples had been told by Jesus that he would rise again, they needed to see it in order to believe it.
Even when one of their own, Mary, said she had been with him, it was not enough for them to be convinced. The disciples would have to see in order to believe. And see they would. Next week, we'll look at Jesus' encounter with them.
