The Resurrection of Christ
John 20:11-18
July 19, 2020
Peter Yoo
Sermon Script
Review
So far, by way of review, I spoke on the life of Christ, Jesus’ earthly ministry. And I remind you this morning that without Jesus’ life of perfect obedience, we have no hope. Jesus obeyed God’s Law perfectly and his perfect record is now bound to you as if you were the one who obeyed the Law perfectly. Praise God for the life of Christ. And last Lord’s day, I spoke on the death of Christ and how it relates to the Old Testament sacrificial system. Our ultimate purpose in life is to be with God forever. But sinners cannot be with God unless their sins are dealt with. And Jesus as the great high priest offered himself as the sacrifice and shed his blood for his people. And now, brothers and sisters, all of your sins are permanently dealt with. Praise God for the death of Christ.
This morning, I will be speaking on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, I never understood the purpose or the beauty of the resurrection. I never understood the importance of why Jesus must rise from the dead. Our brother, the apostle Paul, gives us a list of reasons in 1 Corinthians 15: if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then (1) our preaching is vain (1 Cor. 15:14); (2) your faith is vain (1 Cor. 15:14, 17b); (3) all christians are liars and false testifiers (1 Cor. 15:15); (4) you’re still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:17); (5) any believer is ultimately dead (1 Cor. 15:18); (6) and lastly, we should be pitied most of all (1 Cor. 15:19).
So we can see that the resurrection of Jesus Christ carries the weight of salvation on its shoulders, as it were. The resurrection of Jesus Christ validates and confirms that Jesus Christ was truly the Son of God and every thing he said in his Word is absolutely true, including his victory over death. And so, with this great deal of importance placed on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I hope and I pray that this morning, all of us, as children of God, would love the resurrection of Jesus Christ more.
Peter and John
And to better understand what the resurrection is all about, I remind us this morning that our Lord Jesus was crucified. And when he uttered those declarative words, “It is finished,” Jesus was referring to his finished work on earth. His perfect obedience to God was finished. His suffering for us was finished. But some things were not finished. One such thing is the very resurrection of Jesus Christ. But before he resurrected from the dead, our Lord Jesus died. And our Lord Jesus was buried.
And this is where we begin our passage this morning. We begin on the very early and the very dark morning of the first day of the week. We as the all-knowing reader know that the resurrection is the Christian’s joy and that the resurrection of Christ is a greatest light and most radiant moment in all of human history. But the setting is described as dark. The darkness of this morning reflects Mary’s condition. Mary sees Jesus’ tomb without the stone. So she ran to the disciples Peter and John and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t where they put him.” Back then, grave robbery was not uncommon, so it’s perfectly understandable why Mary said this.
So Peter and John both run to Jesus’ tomb, but John arrives at the tomb before Peter. And John gives us interesting detail regarding his arrival to the tomb before Peter. At first glance, it seems like John is trying to tell us that he’s faster than Peter and it’s a competition between them. But the details that John gives are not given to pit them against each other. Actually, the gospel of John often shows both of them in unity. John was simply younger, and so he outran the older and slower Peter, and therefore he reached the tomb first.
But when John arrived at the tomb before Peter, what John observed was no grave robbery. Without going inside, John peeks inside and he sees the expensive linen cloths laying there. And there were also even more expensive spices. But none of them were taken. If this was grave robbery, the expensive cloths and spices would definitely have been taken. There was something was off about this picture.
Then Peter arrives at Jesus’ tomb. And Peter was, as most Peters are, impulsive and he quickly entered the tomb. He’s the first person to actually enter Jesus’ tomb. And he sees the expensive linen cloths and expensive face cloth in separate locations just laying there. And he sees the even more expensive spices. Again, something is off about this picture.
Then John enters into Jesus’ tomb “and he saw and he believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture that [Jesus] must rise from the dead.” As a side comment, isn’t it fascinating how ordinary the extraordinary can become? Isn’t it almost sad how numb we can be to the extraordinary nature of the resurrection? Because we all know this story, therefore it’s so easy to lose the wonder of the extraordinary. But think about what Mary, Peter, and John were thinking. Someone close to them had died. Jesus Christ died and was buried. And so, if you’ve lost a loved one, if you’ve lost someone close to you, then you can sense the darkness.
Mary and the Angels
And so, the disciples went home, but Mary was outside of Jesus’ tomb weeping. But when Mary looks into the tomb, she sees something strange. Unlike the disciples, her attention doesn’t go to the linen cloths or the face cloth or spices. Rather, she sees two angels in white, sitting where Jesus’ body was: one at the head and one at the feet. Does this picture remind you of something? If you remember last week’s exhortation, the tabernacle was to resemble the dwelling place of God with man. The tabernacle had an outer area, an inner area called the Holy Place, and an even more inner area called the Most Holy Place, which was quite literally the holiest place in the world because the Most Holy Place resembled the very presence of God. And inside the Most Holy Place, the holiest place on earth, was the golden Ark of the Covenant. On top of golden Ark was the mercy seat, where two cherubim angels were sitting on top of mercy seat, one at the head of the ark and one at the foot of the ark. And the Most Holy Place is something only the high priest could see once a year. And so, in other words, back then when people thought about the Most Holy Place or the Ark of the Covenant, they thought about the very personal, merciful presence of God.
And it’s no mistake that Mary saw this very picture. Mary saw a picture, a microcosm of the Most Holy Place. Mary saw, as it were, what resembled to be the very presence of God. Something she had never seen before, something that she could never see before, something that was only reserved for the high priest once a year. She saw two angels, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body was. But because Jesus wasn’t there, the tomb essentially remained empty to her, even though it was filled with angelic glory.
Brothers and sisters, do our lives resemble Mary’s deep need for the personal presence of Jesus Christ? When is the last time we sought out the personal presence of Jesus Christ? Mary understood her deepest spiritual need: she needed the personal presence of her Savior. She needed the personal presence of Jesus. This was a time of spiritual crisis. Mary deeply needed the personal presence of Jesus, but she can’t find him anywhere. It’s as if she said, “I need my only help in life, where is he?”
But imagine the thought of the angels. In their minds, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so real, how could anyone possibly be weeping at this time? The angels were truly wondering why anyone could be weeping at Jesus’ victory over death. And so they ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?” The equivalent term for “woman” in today’s context is like the word “ma’am.” “Ma’am, why are you weeping?” And Mary reveals the heart of the issue: “They have taken away my Lord.” My Lord. Earlier, when she spoke to Peter and John, she said, “They have taken away the Lord.” But this transition is so important. From the perspective of the angels, Jesus is matchless King. But from the perspective of Mary, Jesus is her personal Savior. Mary knows Jesus as the one who sought after and saved her very soul from eternal death. We don’t even have any recorded words from Peter or John in this entire passage. But Mary’s words could not be any clearer. “They have taken away my Lord.” Mary wanted Jesus. Mary wanted the personal presence of Jesus.
And by extension, all of Jesus’ followers want Jesus. All of Jesus’ followers want the personal presence of their Savior. Most people believe that the Christian life is all about being like Jesus. What would Jesus do? However, the Christian life is not only about being like Jesus, it’s about being with Jesus. The Christian life is about being with Jesus. And the beauty of the resurrection is that you can actually be with Jesus. Jesus lives. And you will naturally want to be like Jesus just by being with Jesus. And so I ask us this morning, what does Christ mean to us? Because if we’re like Mary and we know ourselves as guilty sinners, devoid of all hope and all life in and of ourselves, then Jesus is not just a role model. Rather, Jesus becomes our Savior. Jesus Christ is no longer just the Lord, but my Lord. Jesus lived and died for me. Jesus, why would you live and die for someone like me?
Mary understood this all too well. But she continues to weep because she doesn’t fully understand. And brothers and sisters, there are people out there who continue to weep today because they don’t fully understand either. Your friends or your family members might be weeping right now because of the death of someone they loved. And they believe that this life is it. They believe that once this life is over, it’s over. And they would give anything, anything at all, just name it and they would give it all away in an instant just to say one more thing to that person or just to see that person for one more minute. Brothers and sisters, this is the world we live in. People may live this life on this earth as if it’s final. But I encourage you, tell people about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Think about what we claim as followers of Jesus Christ. We make the very bold claim that death is not final. Death is not final. And this is the very heartbeat of the gospel. You and I, dear Christian, will see other Christians who have died. But when Christ returns, you will not see them as dead. You will see them as alive and glorified and in an eternal state. Every Christian believes this. The world may call us crazy because they believe that once they die, they die. But Mary needed this news. She needed to know that there was hope for her loved ones who have died.
Mary and Jesus
But as she kept weeping, she turned around and saw Jesus standing. Brothers and sisters, the dead do not stand. Jesus Christ has risen! He’s alive! Jesus Christ is standing. But the irony of it all: she doesn’t recognize him! She even hears his voice, but still she doesn’t recognize him. But Jesus reveals himself to Mary slowly and gently. He asked Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” But Mary thinks Jesus is the gardener and she asked him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” And the next verse, verse 16 is one of the most dramatic shifts in all of Scripture. Jesus makes himself known to Mary in the most intimate way imaginable. How does he do this? He said her name. Mary. In just one verse, in a single moment with a single word, Mary’s whole world was flipped on its head. It was a word that you could feel. This is just another wonderful reminder that transformation happens at Jesus’ Word. If we seek gospel transformation in our lives and in the lives of others, it must happen at his Word.
Imagine the tone with which Jesus spoke to Mary. But you know what? When I see Jesus, I want to ask Jesus personally, “Jesus, how did you speak to Mary on that day? I want to know.” And when I see Mary, I want to ask her personally, “Mary, what was it like when you heard Jesus say your name? I want to know.” Brothers and sisters, you can be there with me when I ask them. You can perhaps even outrun me and reach them before I can and ask them the same questions before I get there. It’s amazing that Jesus knew her name. Jesus knows all things, but most of all, dear Christian, he knows your name. And I can’t wait for him to say my name. And I can’t wait for him to say your name.
Mary understood something amazing that once dark morning. She had a wonderful honor of seeing a representation of the Most Holy Place with her own eyes. But she learned that our Lord Jesus Christ is the new Most Holy Place. Jesus alone is the unique dwelling place of God and people can only be with God through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Our purpose in life is to be with God forever. And Mary experienced a tiny glimpse of that when Jesus said her name. And after Jesus said her name, Mary responded with “Rabboni,” which means teacher. You would never address a mere human as “Rabboni.” That high honor is only reserved for God. And when Mary heard Jesus say her name, Mary’s instinct at that moment was to worship God. The instant God changes your heart is the instant God allows you to see who he is. And what other response is there but immediate worship? Jesus Christ is truly the Lord, he is truly the living Son of the living God.
But Jesus does something unexpected. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Mary has just gone from gloom to gladness, from sorrow to satisfaction. She understood her deepest spiritual need was Jesus and she couldn’t find him. But Jesus comes to her and we would expect Jesus to allow Mary to embrace him. We would expect Jesus to say something like, “Cling to me Mary, I am here.” So then why did Jesus stop her? Simply put, the embrace between Mary and Jesus would have be broken by death when Mary died. And so, it’s as if Jesus said to Mary, “Mary, I’m going to embrace you from heaven.” If only Mary would wait until her resurrection and her new glorified body, then she can embrace Jesus in the new heavens and new earth. And this new embrace will never be broken. Death could never separate this new embrace. Brothers and sisters, I encourage you this morning to wait for your true and eternal embrace for when Christ returns. Because then and only then will your embrace of Jesus never be broken by the power of death. You will enjoy the embrace in a new, glorified state that human nature has never known before, that is a human nature without death.
Mary and the Disciples
Jesus told Mary, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but (rather) go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary goes to Jesus’ disciples to give them the right perspective of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But again, this is our ultimate purpose: so that we might have eternal communion and everlasting fellowship with God. And Jesus calls his disciples his brothers. Dear saints, Our Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the grave and he calls you his brothers and sisters. And you can call his Father your Father and his God your God.
Brothers and sisters, I remind you this morning that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is quite literally the greatest, most glorious event in all of history. This is not an exaggeration. The resurrection of Jesus Christ absolutely transforms everything, even death. And because of the resurrection, death is not the end. And so, we have a hope that this world desperately needs. Jesus Christ has proven himself to truly be the Son of God. He has shown us that after death awaits life. Jesus Christ tells us in John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Brothers and sisters, I encourage you this morning, believe these words. Hope in the Lord, hope in the resurrection life, and let us wait for Jesus and the new life that awaits us.
Soli Deo Gloria