John 20:1-18: “The Disciples
Discover Early Sunday Morning That Jesus Has Risen From The Dead”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 16-42 of chapter 19.
1.1.1.
We looked at what Jesus’ body went through on this day
when He was crucified, taking our information from what a medical doctor has
written concerning the medical aspects of death by crucifixion.
1.1.2. We saw more
Old Testament prophesies concerning the Messiah fulfilled on this day, and were
amazed that hundreds of years before crucifixion was even used as a form of
punishment that dozens of very specific prophesies were made concerning the
events of Jesus’ crucifixion that would occur when the Messiah would come as
the suffering servant to die for the sins of mankind.
1.1.3.
We saw that the blood of Jesus Christ was being shed
in order to make an atonement and covering for the sins of mankind, and that
His body was beaten, bruised, and broken to pay the full debt of the sin of
every man, woman and child who ever will live upon the earth.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
1-18 of chapter 20.
1.2.1.
We have now followed Jesus to the cross and seen Him
die there to make atonement for the sins of mankind. We have looked at all of the incredible
phenomena that occurred on that day when Jesus was being crucified and when He
died, phenomena in the manner of attesting signs of what God was accomplishing
through His death. We have likewise
looked at numerous prophesies that were fulfilled on this day when Christ died
upon the cross, and we observed the incredible minute details that the Holy
Spirit included for us encoded in those prophesies, and, we looked at the
probability of those things happening by accident. Well, in this study we will see that Jesus
Christ rises from the dead on the third day, just as He promised His disciples
that He would do, and we will look at more prophesy that was fulfilled in this
event as well.
1.2.2.
To start off, I would like to make the statement that
the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important event mentioned
in the New Testament, and that upon the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the
dead everything that we believe as Christians hinges :
1.2.2.1.If Christ is
not raised then our faith is in vain, we are still in our sins, all who have
died as Christians are lost for eternity, we are of all people to be most
pitied, the apostles were lying false apostles:
1 Corinthians 15:14-20, “14 and if
Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is
vain. 15 Moreover
we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified
against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are
not raised. 16 For if
the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is
worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. 19 If we
have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who are asleep.”
1.2.2.2.The
resurrection of Christ was the central truth in the original sermons preached
by the church after Jesus rose from the dead: at Pentecost (Acts 2:24-36), at
Solomon’s Porch (Acts 3:15), before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:10; 5:30), and to the
Gentiles (Acts 10:40; 13:34).
1.2.2.3.To have been
a witness of Jesus after His resurrection was required for one to be considered
an apostle (Acts 1:22).
1.2.3.
In having
risen from the dead, Jesus Christ stands alone among all of the men who have
ever lived. Chuck Missler in one of
his newsletters wrote the following concerning the Easter holiday and the
resurrection of Christ, “Mohammed,
Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha), Confucius, Jesus Christ. To many, these names
are all of equal value; they represent great teachers who spoke words of wisdom
and enlightenment. They are the leaders of major religions, and their words and
ideas live to this day, each having won the loyalty of millions and even
billions of followers. All four of
these men died and were buried. However, three still lie in the grave.”
1.2.4.
We will look at the evidence that exists that Jesus
Christ in fact did raise from the dead, and we will see that God has gone to
incredible extents to give us proof of the validity of His resurrection. When the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign
(attesting miracle) to prove His claims and that He was sent from God, Jesus
pointed them to one single sign, the fact that just as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the belly of the whale that so the Son of Man would be thee
days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40).
1.2.5.
We are also going to look at the theories that
skeptics have come up with to try to disprove that Jesus rose from the dead
because these are both comical and they also serve as evidence that He rose
from the dead.
1.2.6.
Here are some good quotes from those who have
researched the facts of Jesus’ resurrection:
1.2.6.1.Dr Simon Greenleaf has
written, “According to the laws of legal evidence, there is more evidence
for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about
any other event in history.”
1.2.6.2.“Dr. Greenleaf, the Royal Professor of Law at
Harvard University, was one of the greatest legal minds that ever lived. He
wrote the famous legal volume entitled, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence,
considered by many the greatest legal volume ever written. Dr. Simon Greenleaf
believed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was a hoax. And he determined, once
and for all, to expose the “myth” of the Resurrection. After thoroughly
examining the evidence for the resurrection — Dr. Greenleaf came to the exact
opposite conclusion! He wrote a book entitled, An Examination of the
Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the
Courts of Justice. In which he emphatically stated: “it was IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could
have persisted in affirming the truths they had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST
ACTUALLY RISEN FROM THE DEAD . . .
(Simon Greenleaf, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by
the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, p.29). Greenleaf concluded that according to the
jurisdiction of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best
supported event in all of history! And
not only that, Dr. Greenleaf was so convinced by the overwhelming evidence, he
committed his life to Jesus Christ!”—author unknown.
1.2.7.
Before we get into our text for this study, I would
like to pose a question, “Was the resurrection of Jesus foretold
prophetically from the scriptures?”
I would point you to these verses:
1.2.7.1.In Genesis
3:15, when Adam and Eve were told that the serpent would strike the heel of the
seed of the woman, but that he (the seed or descendant of the woman) would
crush the head of the serpent, this necessitated a resurrection from the dead
by the Messiah: Genesis 3:15, “15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between
your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise
him on the heel.””
1.2.7.2.When Abraham was told to take his son of promise and
go up on the mountain and sacrifice him in Genesis chapter 22, they went on a “three
day journey” to get there (Gen. 22:4), and then as Abraham was preparing to
be obedient to the Lord and strike his son with the knife and kill him, the
scripture tells us that this was a foretelling prophetically what Jesus Christ
would do because Abraham knew that if he killed his son that God would raise
him up even from the dead, and in a sense he did receive his son back from the
dead: Hebrews 11:19, “19 He considered that God is able to raise people
even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”
1.2.7.3.The crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites who had
“walked for three days” after eating the Passover Lamb in Exodus chapter
14 was symbolic of the Christian being raised up with Christ.
1.2.7.4.In the third
chapter of the book of Joshua, when the Ark of the Covenant was carried by the
Israelites through the parted waters of the Jordan river (symbolizing judgment)
this was a foreshadowing of resurrection from the dead, as Peter
intimates: 1 Peter 3:21, “21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the
removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good
conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
1.2.7.5.When Jonah
emerged from the belly of the whale “three days and nights after being
swallowed” this is a prophetic type of Jesus Christ being in the heart of
the earth three day and three nights after being crucified (Jonah 1:17).
1.2.7.6.Psalm
16:9-17 is clearly a Messianic Psalm that foretells that the Messiah would not
undergo corruption in the grave: “Therefore
my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hades; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption. Thou wilt show me the
path of life.”
1.2.7.7.Though
somewhat obscure, Psalm 118:22-24 seems to primarily have in view that new day
that would dawn at the resurrection of the Messiah, “22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the
chief corner stone. 23 This is
the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous
in our eyes. 24 This is
the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
1.2.7.8.Isaiah
26:19, “19 Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For
your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the
departed spirits.”
1.2.7.9.Isaiah 25:8,
“8 He will swallow up death
for all time, And the Lord God
will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His
people from all the earth; For the Lord
has spoken.”
1.2.7.10.Ezekiel
37:1-14, “1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out
by the Spirit of the Lord and set
me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there
were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very
dry. 3 He said
to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say
to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’
5 “Thus
says the Lord God to these bones,
‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you,
cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will
know that I am the Lord.’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to
its bone. 8 And I
looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them;
but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on
these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great
army. 11 Then He
said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
1.2.7.11.Daniel 12:2,
“2 “Many of those who sleep in
the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to
disgrace and everlasting contempt.””
1.2.7.12.Hosea 13:14,
“14 Shall I ransom them from
the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your
thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.”
2.
VS 20:1-2 - “Now
on the first day of the week Mary
Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. And so she ran and came to Simon Peter, and
to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away
the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him’.” – John tells us that on Sunday, the first day
of the week, that Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb and saw the stone
rolled away and then she ran and came to Simon Peter and the disciple whom
Jesus loved and told them that the stone had been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb
and that Jesus’ body was missing
2.1.
Here we
see the greatest devotion to the Lord Jesus, that of the woman from whom He had
cast out seven demons, Mary Magdalene. Taking
great risk with all of the travelers being in Jerusalem for the Passover and
having no men with her for an escort, Mary comes to Jesus’ tomb even before day
light to mourn and see if she can better honor His body and prepare it for
burial (Luke 24:1 tells us in his account that she and some of the women women
had prepared some spices and perfumes and brought them to the tomb).
2.2.
Matthew in his gospel writes some further details
about these events of this morning in 27:62-66, “Now on the next day, which
is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
together with Pilate, and said, ‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive
that deceiver said, ‘’After three days I am to rise again’’. Therefore, give orders for the grave to be
made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and
say to the people, ‘’He has risen from the dead’’, and the last deception will
be worse than the first”. Pilate said to
them, ‘You have a guard; go make it as
secure as you know how’. And they went
and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the
stone”. According to Matthew, to
make the tomb secure so that no one could steal Jesus’ body, the Roman seal was
placed on the stone rolled over the mouth of the tomb, and a guard of Roman
soldiers were placed all around the tomb.
Removal of the seal would be done at the penalty of death, and to remove
it you would first have to fight your way through a guard of the best trained
fighting men the world could offer.
2.3.
One thing that we can surmise is that Mary Magdalene
was probably just as reluctant and slow to believe that Jesus had risen from
the dead as were the other disciples, therefore it is not inconsistent that in
this account she tells the disciples when she meets them that someone had taken
away the body of the Lord and she didn’t know where they had laid Him. She probably then included some kind of a
wild and vague story about seeing an angel and the message the angel spoke to
her (see Matthew’s account in Matt. 24:1-10).
In telling her story about someone having taken the Lord’s body, in confusion and faith mixed
with unbelief Mary was contradicting both what she perceived as happening and
what the angel had said about Jesus not being in His tomb because He had risen
from the dead (see Matt. 28:1-7).
2.4.
It is also not surprising that the disciples are slow
to believe Mary Magdalene’s story as the other gospel writers tell us for after
all men tend to be slow to believe women’s stories.
2.5.
It appears that not only was Jesus’ mother now staying
with John, but Peter was staying with him at this time also.
3.
VS 20:3-7 - “Peter
therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they were going to the
tomb. And the two were running
together; and the other disciple ran
ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen
wrappings lying there; but he did not go
in. Simon Peter therefore also came,
following him, and entered the tomb; and
he beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been
on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by
itself.” - John tells us that Peter and
the disciple whom Jesus loved were running together to the tomb but that the
other disciple was faster and out ran Peter to the tomb, and when he got there
he stooped in and saw Jesus’ linen wrappings laying there, Peter then walked
into the tomb when he got there and saw the same linen wrappings along with
Jesus’ face-cloth lying rolled up by itself
3.1.
Peter and John (‘the other disciple’ as he refers to
himself here) were panicked and awe struck and began ‘running together’
straight to Jesus’ tomb after speaking to Mary Magdalene about what she had
seen at Jesus’ tomb. We can only imagine
the many thoughts that were racing through their minds as they ran to Jesus’
tomb to find out what had happened to Jesus’ body. Perhaps they were alternately taken up with
sorrow and anger thinking that someone had stolen the Lord’s body, while also
considering whether or not Jesus’ words about rising from the dead on the third
day might have been meant and fulfilled by Him in a literal sense.
3.2.
John who was possibly younger, was more fleet of foot,
and outran Peter and got to the tomb first.
However, John was apprehensive about going into the tomb, so he stooped
and looking in as he waited for Peter to arrive. If John was younger than Peter he may also
have been waiting to enter the tomb in order to show respect for his older
friend. In either case, the testimony of
two witnesses was required in any legal matter so John’s waiting provided a
proper witness to this event. As John
looked in he saw Jesus’ linen wrappings lying there.
3.3.
Peter ran up to the tomb and then in his normal
impulsive manner, he just walked right into the tomb. Peter saw the linen wrappings lying where
they had been, still unwrapped, however the body of Jesus was not now inside of
them.
3.4.
Likewise, note here that Jesus’ separate head wrapping
was still wound up, however Jesus’ head was not inside of it.
3.5.
From the gospel descriptions we understand that the
wrappings around Jesus’ body were laying right in the very position they had
been when Jesus’ body was laid there, with one exception, there was no Jesus
inside of the wrappings.
3.6.
In the Greek, the word translated ‘beheld’ here
emphasizes that Peter looked carefully at these things. Peter had not as yet come to any conclusions,
there was only wonderment at what he had seen.
4.
VS 20:8-10 - “So
the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also, and he saw
and believed. For as yet they did not
understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own
homes.” - John tells us that this other
disciple also entered and saw these things and ‘believed,’ but John tells us
that at this point in time they still did not understand that Jesus Christ must
rise from the dead, so they went after this back to their own homes
4.1.
John entered the tomb after Peter, and when he beheld
the wrappings being undisturbed and yet Jesus not present, he ‘believed,’
yet we are not told exactly what he believed.
However, it appears that he believed that Jesus had risen from the
dead. Yet, John tells us that neither of
these disciples did ‘understand’ that Jesus ‘must rise again from the
dead,’ to fulfill the scriptures and be the risen and triumphant Lord and
King of Kings. In other words they did
not understand the importance of Jesus’ raising from the dead.
4.2.
We have to wonder exactly what was going through these
disciples minds as it states here that after this they each ‘went away again
to their own home.’ This is another
indicator that Peter was staying at John’s house at this point.
5.
VS 20:11-13 - “But
Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping;
and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she beheld two angels in white sitting,
one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been
lying. And they said to her, ‘Woman, why
are you weeping?’ She said to them,
‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
Him’.” - John tells us that at this
time Mary was outside of Jesus’ tomb and weeping and that as she stooped and
looked into the tomb that she saw two angels dressed in white sitting at the
two ends of where Jesus’ body had been laid, and that they ask her why she is
weeping
5.1.
Mary Magdalene again has an angelic visitation when
she returns to Jesus’ tomb. This is the
only time in the scriptures that angels are seen sitting, and they are sitting
at this time because they are resting in the finished work of Christ. This has caused them to rest.
5.2.
Evidently,
the two angels are sitting one at the head and the other at the feet of where
the body of Jesus had been laid, with the linen wrappings that had been placed
around Jesus’ body still undisturbed.
5.3.
This time, the two angels speak with Mary and ask her
the reason why she is weeping? Their
response to Mary is a gentle rebuke because they are really speaking to the
fact that there is no good reason to weep because Jesus has died and Jesus’
dying was accomplished according to the eternal purposes of God. However, now Jesus has been raised from the
dead, just like He promised would happen. Plus, Jesus’ death has procured eternal life
for the whole world if men will believe upon Him for salvation.
5.4.
In verse
20, Jesus will likewise ask Mary why she is weeping.
5.5.
Other gospel writers record that these angels
testified of Jesus to Mary more than John records here. For instance, Luke records the following
about this event in Luke 23:55-24:7, “55 Now the women who had come with Him out of
5.6.
Mary is focusing primarily on her grief to such an
extent that she doesn’t even realize that these are angels speaking with her,
and she tells them the same message that she had first told the disciples about
the body of Jesus being missing.
5.7.
Mary is wanting to do a better job of what Joseph of
Arimathea and Nicodemus had hastily performed for the dead body of Jesus in
preparing it for body, as Luke tells us that she is bringing more herbs to
anoint His body properly for Jewish burial.
5.8.
It is both intriguing and convicting that Mary still
calls Jesus her ‘Lord’ in this passage, even after she now believes that
He is actually dead.
6.
VS 20:14-18 - “When
she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and 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 Hebrew,
‘Rabboni!’ (which means, Teacher). Jesus
said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the
Father; but go to My brethren and say to
them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God’’. Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the
disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’, and that He had said these things to her.” - John tells us that Mary turned and beheld
Jesus standing there but did not recognize Him, and that Jesus then asks her
why she is weeping and whom it is that she is seeking, when Jesus calls her
name she recognizes Him finally and began clinging onto Him, after which Jesus
told her to stop clinging to Him because he had not ascended to His Father,
after which Mary ran and announced to the disciples about having seen the Lord
6.1.
This section is one of the most moving sections of
scripture. Here Mary Magdalene has
returned to Jesus’ tomb and remains there.
Then, she sees Jesus but in her emotional state and confusion she does
not know who He is.
6.2.
As the angels had spoken to Mary Magdalene, Jesus also
calls her, ‘Woman’ (a term of respect), and then asks her why she is
crying? Figuring that Jesus is only the
gardener she asks Him if He has taken the body of Jesus and if so if He would
tell her where He has laid it.
6.3.
Then, Jesus calls her by her name, ‘Mary,’ and
she turns and recognizes Jesus, and calls Him, ‘Teacher.’ In John chapter 10 we saw that Jesus said
that His sheep hear His voice, and here Jesus merely has to say Mary’s name and
she recognizes Him. Notice also that
the Lord knows the name of His people, as the scriptures tell us: 2 Tim. 2:19, “19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having
this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the
name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.””
6.4.
Mary evidently latches onto Jesus tightly for Jesus
tells her at this point to ‘stop clinging’ to Him, for He has not yet
ascended up to the Father. We are told
in another gospel that Mary and the women were clinging onto Jesus’ feet and
worshipping Him. We will talk more about
why Jesus said this to Mary in our next study when we pick it up here.
6.5.
There is some difficulty reconciling the other gospel
writers’ accounts with that of this writer when it comes to the details of this
story, and I don’t want to go into a great amount of detail trying to reconcile
these passages, however notice for instance :
6.5.1.
Matthew’s account of these events of this morning is
found in 28:1-10, “1 Now
after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an
angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and
sat upon it. 3 And his
appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead
men. 5 The
angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for
Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come,
see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from
the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into
6.5.2.
John doesn’t include in his account what Matthew
includes about the angel communicating the message noted above to Mary
Magdalene, nor that another Mary came with Mary Magdalene, during Mary’s first
trip to Jesus’ tomb on this morning.
6.5.3.
John only includes Mary Magdalene telling the
disciples that the body of Jesus had been taken out of the tomb and that she didn’t
know where they had laid His body.
However, Luke includes that Mary told more than this to the disciples,
namely the message spoken by the angel.
So, the number of people with Mary Magdalene varies, the seeing and
being talked to by the angel differs, and the message told by Mary to the
disciples varies.
6.5.4.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke in their accounts of this
morning do not include Mary Magdalene making a second trip to the tomb nor of
her seeing Jesus after initially being at the tomb.
6.6.
However, we must remember three things when we look at
these accounts which vary in some of their detail :
6.6.1.
If all of the writers told exactly the same story with
the same verbiage we would obviously suspect a plot on their part in making up
the story.
6.6.2.
Each writer wrote varying detail about the story,
according to their own perspective as well as their purpose in writing, and
therefore we cannot assume much from a difference in details included by each
or a bit of a contradiction in the details.
6.6.3.
We must realize whenever interpreting scripture that
since scripture never contradicts itself since it is inspired of God, we have
to look for a way to reconcile all of the various accounts, as best as we
can.
7.
The
resurrection of Jesus Christ created great problems for the Pharisees in Jesus’
day because they could not find the body of Jesus, and perhaps the greatest
evidence for Jesus raising from the dead is the fact that the Pharisees could
not find His body, for if they could have found it they would have paraded it
through the streets of
8.
The
resurrection of Jesus Christ has created problems for many men, and it is a bit
amusing to see the theories that have been made to disprove Jesus’
resurrection. These theories of the
skeptics themselves provide evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, for
instance :
8.1.
THE SWOON THEORY
8.1.1. This theory believes that Jesus revived in the tomb
and came out and found His disciples.
8.1.2. Those who created and hold to this theory believes that
Jesus revived in spite of the fact that He had been beaten, He had been given
39 lashes with the Cat Of 9 Tails, He had been too weak to carry His own cross
to Calvary, He hung on the cross for 6 hours, the guards were so convinced that
he was already dead they they didn’t break His legs to hasten His death when
they came to take His body, the Roman soldier had stuck a spear into His side
releasing blood and water from the heart and the sack surrounding His heart,
they had taken Him to the tomb and covered His body all over with 100lbs. of
sticky spices, His body was wrapped numerous times all around with the burial
cloth (if Jesus hadn’t been dead at this point He would have now died of
suffocation), He was placed into a tomb with a stone of 1 ½ to 2 tons weight
rolled against it, the tomb had the Roman seal placed over the stone, and a
Roman guard of 4 to 16 of the world’s best fighting men guarding the tomb.
8.1.3. So, in spite of all of this, Jesus revived, removed
His burial cloth and the 100lbs. of spices sticking to His body, moved the
stone out of the way of the tomb without waking the Roman soldiers, somehow in
His weakened stated rolled the 1 1/5 to 2 ton stone up out of the way without
disturbing the Roman guard, and then found His disciples and revealed Himself
to them telling them that He was just fine after all.
8.2.
THE
DISCIPLES STOLE THE BODY
8.2.1. The gospels tells us that this story was the original
skeptic theory as created by the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. I would begin by asking why the disciples
would have wanted the dead body of Jesus?
What would having Jesus’ dead body do for them? Those who created and hold to this theory
believe that though the Romans had placed a 1 ½ - 2 ton stone against Jesus’
tomb, placed a Roman seal over the stone so that if anyone tampered with the
tomb they would be killed, and placed the 4-16 of the finest soldiers to guard
the tomb that the world has ever known, that the disciples decided that this
morning that it was time to rumble and so they mustered themselves and their
courage together and came and attacked and overpowered the Roman guard. They then somehow were able to roll the 1 1/5
to 2 ton stone up and out of the way from the entrance of the tomb, a feat that
15 men might have had trouble completing.
Then, they took the body of Jesus and carefully unwrapped the cloths
wound around Him, being careful to rewind them to look just as they were when
Jesus was laid to rest, and they stole away the body of Jesus and went and told
everyone that He had risen from the dead.
8.2.2. This theory of course negates all of the numerous eye
witnesses of Jesus after His resurrection, including up to 500 who saw Him in
total as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
8.2.3. This theory of course is also held regardless of the
fact that all of the 12 apostles but John were killed for their faith refusing
to recount that they were personal eye-witnesses of His resurrection.
8.2.3.1.On Terry Watkins website is the following quote
concerning how it that the 12 apostles would not have gone all the way to the
grave without recounting that Jesus had raised from the dead if it were in fact
not true, “Michael Green, principal of St. John's College, Nottingham,
writes concerning the apostles, ". . . You could imprison them, flog
them, kill them, but you could not make them deny their conviction that on the
third day he rose again." Dr. Greenleaf wrote, "IT WAS
IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the truths they
had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISEN FROM THE DEAD!"”
8.3.
THEY WERE
ALL HALLUCINATING
8.3.1.Those who hold to this theory believe that Mary
Magdalene came to Jesus’ tomb on that first Sunday morning and in her
distraught and grieving state of mind hallucinated that she had in fact seen
and talked with Jesus. Then, she ran to
the disciples and told them that she had seen the Lord. Then, they ran to the tomb and had an
hallucination of Jesus. In fact, each of
the one’s who claimed to have seen Jesus had the same hallucination, including
each of the following:
8.3.1.1.Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9).
8.3.1.2.Other women (Matthew 28:8-10).
8.3.1.3.Peter (Luke 24:34; I Corinthians 15:5).
8.3.1.4.The two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke
24:13-35; Mark 16:12).
8.3.1.5.Ten of the eleven remaining disciples (Luke 24:36-43;
John 20:19-29) .
8.3.1.6.All eleven remaining disciples, eight days later (John
20:24-29).
8.3.1.7.Seven disciples by the
8.3.1.8.Five hundred followers (I Corinthians 15:6) .
8.3.1.9.James (I Corinthians 15:7) .
8.3.1.9.1.This is Jesus’ half brother, not the apostle
James. This James became the pastor of
the church in
8.3.1.10.The eleven at the ascension (Acts 1:3-12).
8.3.1.11.The apostle Paul upon the road to
8.3.1.11.1.The man who was originally named Saul was the most
zealous of all of the Pharisees in
8.4.
THEY ALL
WENT TO THE WRONG TOMB
8.4.1. Those who hold this theory believe that Mary Magdalene
was so distraught that she went to the wrong tomb, found that it was empty and
then thought that Jesus must have raised from the dead and went and told the
disciples about this. Each of them then
went to the wrong tomb and came to the same conclusion. The Romans went to the wrong tomb also when
they tried to figure out what was going on.
In fact, Joseph of Arimathea who whose tomb it was, even went to the
wrong tomb.
9.
Some of
the evidences for Jesus’ resurrection from our study:
9.1.
The rolled
up and undisturbed burial cloths reveal that Jesus resurrected and simply went
right through those cloths.
9.2.
How could
Jesus’ motley crew of dejected disciples have mustered enough courage to come
and overcome a Roman guard of soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb in order to break
the seal, remove the stone, and steal Jesus’ body?
9.3.
Who among
Jesus’ followers would have been so bold as to dare break the Roman seal over
Jesus’ tomb, something that would have brought instant death, and steal Jesus’
body?
9.4.
The
accounts tell us that this huge stone that must have weighed 1 ½ to 2 tons had
been rolled up and out of the garden, how could Jesus’ dejected disciples have accomplished
that feat?
9.5.
Had
thieves somehow been able to overcome the Roman guard, move the huge stone from
the mouth of the tomb and then steal the body of Jesus they wouldn’t have taken
the time to take the cloths off of His body and then re-wrap them neatly laying
them to look undisturbed. They would
have thrown Jesus’ body wrapped into a wagon and headed out, waiting to remove
the cloths until later.
9.6.
If the
Pharisees had been able to find the body of Jesus they would have paraded it
through town in a wagon to disprove He had risen from the dead.
9.7.
Men will
only hold to a lie so long if to do so means death and yet not one of Jesus’
disciples ever recounted the fact their testimony that Jesus Christ rose from
the dead.
10.
CONCLUSIONS:
10.1.
Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. They thought He was crazy, yet he was the
most intelligent man who ever lived.
They thought they kept Him from overthrowing the government, yet He
overrules them all. They thought they
killed Him, yet He is alive! They
thought they silenced Him, yet He speaks now louder than ever. Is He your Lord? Do you know your eternal destination if you
were to die today?
10.2.
The author to the book of Hebrews exhorts us in Heb.
12:2 to do the following: 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of
faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
10.3.
Jesus is Lord, but is He the boss of you? Is He your Lord? He can’t be your Savior if He is not also
your Lord!