Easter, April 20, 2003

Pastor Joe Fuiten, Cedar Park Assembly of God

 

Scripture Reading:  John 20:1-17 Page 768

1 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. 2 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!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 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." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.15 "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." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).17 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.'"

 

            Let me begin by reading am almost poetic summarizing of the Easter story that was developed by one of the Cappadocian Fathers 16 centuries ago.  I have always loved the ancient comparative style of writing.  He said,

Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him.

Yesterday I died with Him; today I am made alive with Him.

Yesterday I was buried with Him; today I am raised up with Him.

Let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us ... ourselves, the possession most precious to God and most proper.

Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us.

Let us become godly for His sake, since for us He became Man.

He assumed the worse that He might give us the better.

He became poor that by His poverty we might become rich.

He accepted the form of a servant that we might win back our freedom.

He came down that we might be lifted up.

He was tempted that through Him we might conquer.

He was dishonored that He might glorify us.

He died that He might save us.

He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were thrown down through the fall of sin.

Let us give all, offer all, to Him who gave Himself a Ransom and Reconciliation for us.

We needed an incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live. We were put to death together with Him that we might be cleansed. We rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him.[1]

 

            After Jesus was raised from the dead he appeared eleven times[2] that are recorded in the Scripture.  It was probably more than that, but we have record of eleven times.  In this message I want to highlight a couple of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus with the goal of looking into the heart of God.  Jesus appeared to certain people.  By doing so, he made some pretty clear and strong statements.

When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene he sent a strong message to the socially disadvantaged. She has the name Magdalene because she came from the village of Magdala that is only about half mile away from Capernaum where Jesus lived during his ministry. Magdala was a tough town, like Highway 99 around Aroura. According to the Talmud[3], the city of Magdala had a reputation for prostitution.

We know that Mary was formerly possessed by seven demons.[4] In many of the ancient writings outside the Bible, they speculate that she is the woman taken in the act of adultery and also the sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus with perfume.  We know that being demon possessed is one possible result of prostitution.  She lost her innocence early in life.

Jesus released her from the demons and set her on a path of wholeness.  Along with a group of other women, she financially supported him and traveled with his group.[5]  From that I conclude that somewhere along the line she got some money.

            Mary was one of those who stayed with Jesus, even at the foot of the cross.[6]  She saw him suffer and she saw him die.  While his male disciples ran and hid for their lives, this tough gal from the streets stood by him on the cross.  She had suffered plenty in her life so she was not about to abandon Jesus when he was suffering.

            Even after they put Jesus in the tomb, she was there. Matt 27:61 “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.”  This was the day before the resurrection, the Sabbath.  They just sat there, too stunned and numb to do anything more.  She was there on Friday, there on Saturday, and there on Sunday.  For Mary Magdalene, this was her way of grieving what she had lost.

            Jesus appeared first to this grieving woman. He didn’t appear first to the Caesar, or to Pilate, or to Caiphas. To this loyal, but hurting, woman he made his first appearance.  He was her Savior in more than one sense.

            Maybe you can understand how she felt. Maybe you also have lost someone to death.  They say that for children, the divorce of their parents is more difficult than losing a parent by death.

            She was rough, tough, and socially disadvantaged but Jesus appeared to her first. I suppose Mary never quite got over the fact of where she had been and the life she had lived.  There is something that is actually good about a sense of sin in our life.  Forgiveness is all the sweeter.

 

            When Jesus appeared to Peter he sent a message to those who knew better but did worse. In the footrace between John and Peter, John wins. When John arrives, he looks into the tomb from the outside, but does not enter.   As soon as Peter arrives, he enters the tomb.  It’s his nature. He speaks before thinking, and enters before considering. In Luke 24:12 it says “Bending over, he saw[7] the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering[8] to himself what had happened.”

            Peter looks, but he really does not fully see.  He is left wondering.  It is a positive admiration, but not necessarily a full comprehension.

            I think it is interesting that Peter and John are together.  The last we heard about Peter, he had denied the Lord and was out weeping bitterly over his failure.  He had apparently recovered from his huge failure.  Judging by the fact that they are together, it must have been John who went to find Peter. How fortunate we are to have a friend who will find us when we go astray.

            That night, Jesus will appear to Peter.  Thank God that Jesus appears even to people who have denied him. Jesus does not chew us out and say “I told you so!”  Instead he comes to where we are and finds us. The appearance to Peter is for those who feel like spiritual failures.  They knew to do better and had even promised to do better, but they had failed.

When Jesus appeared to Thomas he sent a message to those who are skeptical. Thomas missed Church on that Sunday night when Jesus first appeared to the disciples as a group.  Thomas was not so much a doubter as what we would call a skeptic.  Personally, I wish there were more skeptics in the church. It seems like so many Christians fall for tall tales and urban legends that go around.  I still get emails about what Madelyn Murray is up to.  She has been dead for years, but gullible Christians still send around emails as though she were still alive. 

            A skeptic and a disbeliever are two different things. A disbeliever will not accept the facts when they are presented to him.  His mind is already made up and should not be confused by the facts.  A skeptic, on the other hand, will respond to the facts.  They have honest questions and will be addressed with honest answers.  No amount of evidence will convince a disbeliever.

            Jesus was willing to address the issue of a skeptic with evidence.  Thomas gets a very mild reprimand and a call to believe.  "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

            When Jesus appeared to John he sent a message to those who believe.  Apparently John was a believer from the first moment.   He was not so quick as Peter to rush into the empty tomb, but when he entered, he did not with substance.  In verse 8, “Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)”

            When John looked in he perceived and understood.  John seemed to get it right away.  When it says he believed, it means he saw what was there and immediately applied that knowledge.  He knew what he saw and what it meant.  At that very instant he was fully committed to what he saw.  John adds that even though he believed, he did so based on what he saw and not on what the scriptures had said.  At that moment, they did not yet understand that the Scriptures predicted his resurrection.  Only later would Jesus show them the prophecies of resurrection.

            John was a good man. He was a thoughtful and reflective man.  He had a brain and he used it.  God does not call us to disengage our mind when we come to him. We should continue to observe and to reflect. The good news is that the evidence leads us to belief as well.

            Each of the four was a very different person.  Yet Jesus appeared to them all. We are all individuals.  The resurrection will speak to us in different ways and at different levels, but Jesus is appearing to you today.