John 20:19-23

First, I wanted to give you a couple of updates on prayer requests. I spoke to Jodi yesterday, and while her lesions from the shingles are all gone, she still has pain, and apparently she has a form of shingles that basically lays dormant and then rears its ugly head unexpectedly. Please pray for relief from pain! She and Ed had a wonderful visit with their grandchildren (Justin’s family), and precious daughter-in-law, Stephanie. Jodi is resting up now, as she continues to regain strength. Then, continue to pray for Jacob, my former student, who goes in today for a CT scan and PET scan to see how the two rounds of chemo have affected the tumors. The scans will determine how to proceed with round three. Please pray for clear scans and complete healing!

In today’s portion of John’s gospel, Jesus appears to the disciples where they are hiding in fear:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23)

Note that it is still Sunday. Jesus did not keep them in suspense. And even though they were apparently in confusion, sorrow, and great fear - to the point that they had locked the doors - Jesus does not chide them for lack of faith. Instead He calms their fear, saying “Peace be with you!” After He proved His identity, by showing them the nail marks of the crucifixion, they were overjoyed!  I can imagine them whooping and hollering, laughing, crying, jumping up and down and hugging each other, for Jesus had to calm them down with another, “Peace be with you!”

Jesus commissioned them to reach out with the gospel message. They were being sent! And so, He breathes on them, giving them life through the Holy Spirit, even as we saw God breathe life into Adam in Genesis 2:7. Remember that John lproclaimed Jesus as Creator and Life Giver in the first verses of his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

I read some other commentaries this morning on this act of breathing into them the Holy Spirit. Jon Courson says this is the point that the disciples were born again and others agree. One commentator said this was when the disciples received the life of the Holy Spirit, but Pentecost was when they received the power.

Then Jesus appears to give them the authority to forgive or withhold forgiveness. However, every commentary I looked at agreed with Jon Courson, that Mark 2:7 makes it clear that only God can forgive (this was one of Jesus’ claims to deity that so outraged the Jewish leaders). So what exactly does this mean? Well, all commentators I looked at believed that this was part of the commissioning to go out with the message of forgiveness. They were to assure people that forgiveness of sins was guaranteed to those who believed in Christ. The disciples were, and ALL of Christ’s followers are ambassadors to the world, who are to proclaim the message of reconciliation to God.

To those who feel completely unworthy, who feel they could never be forgiven, we need to proclaim that Jesus’ death on the cross completely paid the price for their sins IN FULL. And the Resurrection is proof that the sacrifice was fully accepted. This is SUCH good news to a dying world. We need to shout it from the rooftops! And we also need to appropriate it for ourselves. To be burdened with feelings of guilt and worthlessness is to deny what Christ accomplished. We’ve been given a terrific message of hope. We need to believe it, walk in it, and share it!
  

John 20:10-18

This morning we’ll look at the special encounter Mary Magdalene had with the risen Christ.

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). (John 20:10-16)

When Mary first arrived at the tomb, she was unconsolably weeping - so much so that she apparently wasn’t overly impressed by the appearance of angels. She was still focused on the loss of her Lord. And notice that she personalized her relationship with Jesus when she said, “They have taken my Lord away.”

 When she turned from the tomb, she saw Jesus, but did not recognize Him. Maybe having been looking into the dark tomb, then turning to the morning light behind Jesus temporarily limited her vision, or maybe her tears prevented her from seeing clearly. At any rate, she didn’t know it was Jesus - until He said her name! And that was all He said. And she knew instantly that it was her LORD! In John 10, when Jesus claimed to be the Good Shepherd, He said that He knew His sheep by name and that they knew His voice. When Mary heard Him say her name - and nothing more - she instantly knew.

What a precious moment between Mary and her LORD! He had chosen to appear to her first! She had waited at the tomb, while the disciples went back home. And He very tenderly rewarded her by gently saying her name! Oh, if we would just wait on the LORD to hear Him call our name! We are so busy rushing here and there - even to do His will - that we don’t stay still long enough to hear Him call our name. Each morning, as we read His Word, if we will just sit long enough to let it soak into us, we, too, will hear Him say our name as He applies the Scripture directly to our own lives and situations. He will personalize it for us so that we know without a doubt that He is speaking His Word directly to us!

After this encounter, Mary rushed to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” (vs. 18) She was the first to give out the gospel message! When you have heard directly from the LORD through His Word, you can’t help but want to rush to tell others - to share what He has said to you.

Let’s remember that Jesus had released Mary from bondage to seven demons. She had been completely transformed by her Lord! She had experienced overflowing grace! She knew what it was to be cleansed and forgiven from the inside out. No wonder she was so devoted to Jesus! No wonder she ran to tell the good news! Shouldn’t we be like Mary?  

John 20:1-9 with Matthew 27:62-66

After Jesus’ death, Matthew records an interesting scene with the Pharisees, who pay Pilate a visit:

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. (Matthew 27:62-66)

Isn’t it interesting that the Jewish leaders were better “believers” here than the disciples? They remembered Jesus’ words about raising Himself up after three days - and here they actually apply it to His body instead of the Temple. Meanwhile, the disciples, had they truly believed Jesus, should have been camped outside the tomb to witness the event! Instead, it’s the Pharisees who insist on having a seal on the tomb along with a contingent of soldiers to secure it. This actually provided the evidence that Jesus had, indeed, been resurrected.

How many guards were actually dispatched? We don’t know for sure, but most agree that there were between 16 and 50 guards sent to protect the tomb from tampering. The tomb probably had a rope around the stone that was given the Roman seal of wax to keep anyone from messing with it. Had the disciples attempted to steal the body, even if all the guards were asleep, they would have surely awakened the guards with the noise required to break the seal, move the heavy stone with some kind of tool, then carry the body out. One thing everyone agreed on: the tomb was empty!

In John’s account, we see Mary Magdalene, who was completely devoted to Jesus, seeking to be with Him first thing in the morning, while it was still dark:

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!” (John 20:1-2)

Now, Mary assumes someone else has taken the body, so she runs to get Peter and John. Even having seen the stone rolled away, she doesn’t get it yet!

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.) (vs. 3-9)

Jon Courson points out that the verbs which are used for “looked” and “saw” are different. When John looked in to see the linen strips, the verb is blepo, which means “to look at, to see visibly.” When Peter “saw” the strips, the verb is theoreo, meaning “to study more carefully” (it’s where we get out word “theory”). Then, when John “saw and believed”, the word for “saw” is eido, from which we get the word “idea.” (Courson, P. 594) It means that John got it. John saw the empty tomb and he believed. Now, he says that they still did not get how it all was prophesied in the Scripture and how it all tied in, but he knew Jesus was alive. So, verse 10, which follows, is pretty funny:

Then the disciples went back to their homes...

Huh? I’m thinking they needed to cogitate on what it all meant... But we are told that Mary lingered at the tomb. And because she did, she was the first to see the resurrected Christ! We’ll look at that precious encounter next!  

John 19:31-42

Proving the death of Jesus would be crucial to the power of the Resurrection. Had Christ not died, but merely passed out on the cross, then just woke up three days later, the sacrifice would not have been made and we would still be dead in our sin. So, these final verses in John 20 are crucial.

With the Sabbath approaching, the Jewish leaders wished to get finish this execution and have the bodies removed. So they asked that the legs of the thieves and Jesus be broken to hasten their deaths. With broken legs, they would be unable to push up to get a breath. The soldiers indeed broke the legs of the thieves, but not Jesus‘ legs:

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” (John 19:34-37)

Notice that John insists that this is a true testimony, his eyewitness testimony, given so that you may believe.

Then, two respected Jewish religious leaders, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, appeared, risking their status and reputations, to take care of the burial of Jesus. They wrapped Jesus’ body in linen and spices (weighing 75 pounds). They laid Him in a new tomb.

Jon Courson points out here that on the Jewish holy day - Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement - the high priest took off his priestly robes and put on a robe of linen (like the linen that wrapped Jesus) and went into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. If the priest had gone in while defiled himself, he would instantly die, so he went in with a rope tied around his waist, so he could be pulled out if necessary! If he came out alive, then the people rejoiced, because they knew the sacrifice had been accepted and they were forgiven for another year.

Courson writes, “Here, our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, is inside the tomb. Would He emerge? Did the sacrifice work? Are we free? Only if He came out among the people as He had prophesied could there truly be celebration and could we know that our sins are forgiven - not just for one year, but forever.” (Courson, Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 590)

Tomorrow we will visit the tomb with Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John. I can’t wait!  

John 19:28-30 with Matthew 27:45-54

Jesus was born to die. He came to earth, Emmanuel, God with us, for the specific purpose of paying the price for our sin, so that we might be reconciled to the Father. Everything He said and did during His life here on Earth pointed to this one event. We’ll look at it with some help from Matthew:

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-46)

Jon Courson reminds us that when Jesus “became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), the Father had to turn His back on the Son, because He could look on iniquity. At this point Jesus was completely alone. The atmosphere mirrored the judgment as darkness overtook the land. When Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was not only expressing His agony, but He was, in mercy, pointing the people to Psalm 22, which begins with that cry, and which describes in detail the crucifixion, hundreds of years before it was a form of execution.  He was pointing to the fulfillment of that prophecy.

John tells us what happened at the end:

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30)

 “It is finished.”

The significance of that statement is huge! The work of salvation was completed. The price for ALL our sin, past, present, and future was PAID IN FULL! There is nothing left to do - neither Jesus nor we can add anything to that work. The message of the good news is not DO, but DONE!

As proof that the sacrifice had satisfied the debt, Matthew tells us that the veil in the temple that separated the people from God in the Holy of Holies was ripped in two, from top to bottom! (Matthew 27:51) The way to God had been opened forever through Christ’s sacrifice. I love that Matthew gives the detail that the veil split from top to bottom, because it signifies that the work of salvation is God reaching down to us, not us trying to reach up to Him.

Matthew further tells us that there was an enormous earthquake that even opened up graves! (vs.46). It was enough to completely shake up one of the centurions standing guard at the cross:

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!”

To that I add, Hallelujah!  

John 19 - a side trip to Luke 23:35-43

This morning we are turning back to Luke’s account of the crucifixion, because he adds another viewpoint of the crowd and gives the most detail about the thieves who were on either side of Jesus:

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:35-43)

I think this account really displays the level of disdain that the crowd felt toward Jesus. Those around Him were sneering, mocking, and hurling insults. “He saved others; let him save himself.” And, of course we know that had He saved Himself, which He could easily have done, He could not have saved anyone!

Only the one thief on the cross seemed to recognize what was happening. He recognized his own guilt and the innocence of Jesus. He demonstrated repentance when he accepted responsibility for his sins. He humbly asked Jesus to remember him. And Jesus, even in His agony, offered mercy!

The thief had no opportunity to be baptized or to take communion, to get involved in a Bible study, or to join a church. He merely repented and acknowledged the lordship of Jesus at the very hour of his own death. And Jesus promised him he would, indeed be remembered. In fact, that very day, the thief would join his Savior in paradise!

Jon Courson points out that Jesus was born in a stable among animals, and he died between criminals. Both thieves were dying the same death, and they were equally close to the Lord. But one remained lost and the other was saved! One chose to reject Christ, the other chose to believe. It really is that simple!

We’ve been looking at those who were part of this scene. Where do you think you would be standing? Would you be callously ignoring the truth like the soldiers who cast lots for His clothing? Would you be trying to play both sides and absolve yourself of guilt like Pilate? Would you be among the crowd sneering at the “ridiculous” idea that this simple man could possibly be a king? Would you be with the religious leaders who refused His authority over them and demanded He be crucified? Would you be with the women and John at the cross, confused, hurt, and distraught because of the circumstances, wondering why God would allow such a terrible thing? Or would you be with the thief who humbly acknowledged his guilt and called out for mercy?

I think there are times in our lives when we have actually been at each of these places. Sometimes we ignore Him as we go about our own business, callously ignoring those in need around us. When was the last time we paid attention to the woman holding a sign in front of Costco asking for money? Jesus was so clear that we needed to take care of the “least of these.” Can’t we give to them out of our own abundance then leave to Jesus what they do with the money? How often do we deny Jesus by our actions, like Pilate, in order to preserve the good opinion of men?

At some point in our lives, many of us stubbornly refused to acknowledge His authority over us, because we didn’t want ANYONE telling us what to do - not even Jesus! And even those of us who are believers have moments of doubt and confusion, like the women and John, because we find ourselves in circumstances that seem hopeless. We wonder what has happened. We begin to doubt.

We need to return to that simple plea of the dying thief, “Jesus, remember me!”

John 19:23-27

Jesus fulfilled more than 300 Old Testament prophecies at his first coming. Psalm 22, in particular focuses on the details of the crucifixion, including one fulfilled in this morning’s section from John 19. Let’s focus on this small part of the larger scene of the crucifixion:

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” 

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, 

“They divided my garments among them

   and cast lots for my clothing.” 

 So this is what the soldiers did. (John 19:23-24)

The soldiers had no idea that what they were so callously doing at the foot of the cross was fulfilling prophecy. They cast lots, or gambled, for Jesus’ undergarment, completely clueless to the fact that King David had predicted hundreds of years before that they would do this. It is a seemingly small detail included in this large picture, but every detail of scripture had to be fulfilled!

Then let’s pull back the camera to see who else is standing near the cross:

 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,”  and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:25-27)

We see gathered here the remnant of Jesus’ followers. While Jesus began his public ministry, the crowds who followed Him grew as they saw the miracles He performed. They were drawn to His power as displayed in both His teaching and His miracles, and certainly to His provision of food! But as His teaching became more difficult, the crowds dropped away. Even though it had been less than a week since they had hailed Him as King when He entered Jerusalem on the donkey, they had quickly turned on Him and began shouting, “Crucify him!” The true followers had whittled down to just the 11 disciples, but even they scattered after His arrest. The only one remaining at the cross was John, the beloved disciple. And there were the four women.

It’s impossible to imagine the pain of Mary, as she watched her son hanging on the cross. With her was her sister. Tradition says that Mary’s sister, Salome, was the mother of John and James, the sons of Zebedee. Courson points out that Salome had been the one who asked Jesus to let her sons sit at His right and His left when He came into His kingdom (Matthew 20:20). Here, as she looked at the thieves on the crosses at Jesus’ right and left, she must have been struck by the irony of that request.

Two other Marys were there: Mary, the wife of Clopas (only mentioned here in John’s gospel), and Mary Magdalene, the woman who had been delivered of seven demons. She had experienced life-changing grace and was devoted to Jesus. This small band was all that remained with Jesus to the end. In the midst of his agony, Jesus spoke to His mother and John, committing Mary to John’s care. And we are told that John took her into his home from then on. I find that really interesting, since Mary had at least four other sons, Jesus’ half-brothers, including James, who wrote the book of James in the New Testament (Matthew 13:55-56). But it wasn’t until after the Resurrection that His brothers would believe in Jesus, so here, He turns Mary over to John.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the two thieves crucified with Jesus, and then we’ll try to figure out where we would have been that day had we been there to witness Jesus’ death. You can see why this scene has been the subject of so much artwork! There is so much to take in! So much was going on at this pivotal point in history. It almost defies description!