this morning we turn in the bible to john chapter 20 john chapter 20 and last this last friday we considered jesus in the garden and christ on trial and this morning we now come to the section of resurrection in chapter 20 that is found on page 1153 we'll consider together the first 18 verses of john 20 let's give our attention to the word of the lord now on the first day of the week mary magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb so she ran and went to simon peter and the other disciple the one whom jesus loved and said to them they have taken the lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out and the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus's head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. For as yet, they did not understand the scripture, and he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she 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've laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned to say to him, in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. I've always loved what was said about David. That David was a man after God's own heart. And in the course, I'm sure, of your life, you've read that. And you look at that and you think, well, I would love to know what that is. I would love to have that. I would love to be somebody. Could it even be said of me that I am somebody after God's own heart? Could anyone really attain that other than David? I mean, that's a question that's always perplexed me because it's David. It's mighty David. I kind of understand with David. I want to consider with you this morning what that looks like. I want to consider what that looks like in light of the resurrection of Christ. The problem that is before us this morning, the single great problem after the resurrection, is a problem that continues still to be a problem to this day. It was that the cross was a massive stumbling block even for Jesus' own disciples. Stumbling block. What we have in the Gospels following the resurrection are a series of responses and struggles of all of the sheep. We're looking at the sheep here. Struggles of the sheep to believe and understand the resurrection the way that they should to perceive the implications of it to understand it not just simply to accept it but to believe it why is that why is there such a struggle to believe this i mean you've come here today and what i really if i went around and asked does anyone doubt the resurrection if anyone says i don't really believe it well you're not a christian you're you're not a follower of Jesus. But there are many of you who have come and you think, well, I accept the resurrection. I believe that it happened. That really doesn't doubt. But you're still struggling with what it really means. The scenes in the gospels that we have after the resurrection are remarkable because what we have are, as I look at them and I think about them, it seems to me you have a lot of people giving up. This is important for us today to consider because I believe you can learn a lot about the challenges of the Christian life. You can learn a lot of your own struggles in the Christian life, your own sorrows, your own feelings of emptiness, maybe depression. You can learn a lot through all of those struggles by looking at the struggles of these people immediately after the resurrection and you can see. You can understand in their struggles why they went through these things and you can apply that to yourself. The Lord is challenging us this morning. The Lord wants us to receive it in a certain kind of way, a certain kind of way. And in all of this struggle to believe the resurrection and all of this struggle that we see after to accept it the way that it should be accepted. It's remarkable this morning that we have one particular woman set in front of us in John's gospel that is an encouragement, a specific and special kind of encouragement as we look at the Lord today, lead her in the kind of response that pleases him. She is a wonderful example, even in her failure to teach us what Jesus, how Jesus wants us to approach this and how He wants us to respond to the truth that He has triumphed over the grave. What I want to do this morning is look at some of the different responses to the problem of Christ crucified. And I want you to consider some of those responses and then see how the text, John is offsetting Mary in a very special way in the Lord's leading of her that she would become an example to us. But I want you to ask as you're going through this, what makes her so different? What makes her so different? In verse 10, we're introduced to her. In verse 1, excuse me. And the text shows us here, as we are introduced to Mary, it introduces us to Mary, and then it immediately moves to the responses of Peter and John. So if you look at verse 1, now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been rolled away. We read that as she came to this tomb, she saw that the stone had been taken away. It had been really ripped out of its socket. Mary sees this and she runs. She sees this giant stone that has been removed from the tomb, and immediately she runs back to tell Simon, Peter, and clearly here the disciple whom Jesus loves is John. If you were to compare this with the other accounts, you know at this time that other women first had come with Mary to the tomb. And when Mary sees the stone rolled away, As she dashes back to the tomb, we know that the angels appeared to those other women. It seems to me in my study that Mary Magdalene missed this. As she runs away to go back to Peter and John, she tells Peter and John here that the body of Jesus was taken away from the tomb. And as soon as Peter and John hear that, they break out into a run. They leave her in the dust, and they break out into a run, and it's often said, and I think it's probably right, Peter was obviously the older of the two because we read that John outruns him. I think some of you older people are fast, don't worry. John gets to the tomb, and stooping to look in, John has some reservations, you'll notice this, because Peter just comes and barges right in. John, John stoops and he, he looks in and it says specifically he did not go in and he looks and he looks and then Peter comes and following him, he goes right into the tomb. And the emphasis you'll notice is on the cloths. You'll, you'll notice there the face cloth, which had been on Jesus's head. And it's not lying with the linen cloth, but you'll notice that it's, it's folded by itself. You think, well, why the detail? Why is this important? Well, when you're looking into the tomb and you see linen cloths and handkerchiefs and you see things folded nicely by itself, what's communicated is no robber does such a thing. No robber of a body comes in and steals something and then tidies up afterwards. He doesn't yank off the clothes and then fold them. The text is telling you to understand this as they're understanding this is the Lord. This is not normal. This is impossible that the body was stolen. That's the first thing that the text really is driving us to see here. Only the risen Lord would care to do such a thing. Now, if I were a moralist today, I'd tell all the children to fold your clothes. And the parents would be happy with me. But that's not what this is all about. The text says something interesting in verse 8. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. That sounds good. I like that. Until the next verse. For as yet, they did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. They didn't know it. Then the disciples went back to their homes. Is something rubbing you wrong about that? Something's not right. Commentators want to speak of this positively. I'm having a hard time. I'm a Calvinist. We have to look at every problem under the sun. In verse 9, something should jump out. They did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. I think to myself when I read that, wait a minute, wait a minute. What do you mean they didn't understand the Scripture? They had been walking with Jesus for how long? And the whole time in his teachings. What did he say to them? Jesus kept saying to them over and over and over again, listen, I am going to the cross. The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of sinners and he will be crucified, but he will rise the third day. Over and over and over. You have so much grief by the disciples over his death I can't help but thinking they have less expectation of the resurrection than Jesus' enemies. Because the enemies want to steal the body. What is remarkable here is that even with evidence, clothes, cloths are folded, something's lacking. Something's lacking. In Luke's gospel, when it says that the women reported these things to the disciples, it seemed like idle tales. Just a myth. And they did not believe them. And when Peter ran in to look, he saw the linen cloth lying there. This is in Luke. And he marveled and he remained in wonder over it. What was the problem with the disciples? I mean, you could be here today and you could have a lot of proof of the resurrection, couldn't you? Jesus even said that even if one rises from the dead, that doesn't necessitate belief, does it? I think the problem is made clear on the road to Emmaus. Remember, these two were walking, and they're trying to put all this together. They're really reasoning this thing out. And the whole imagery is they're walking away from where they shouldn't be walking away from. They're heading back, and they're thinking, this was a mighty prophet. He did all of these mighty things. And it seems to us that His life just got taken away from Him. He was this mighty prophet. They crucified Him. Remember what happens. Jesus walks up to them and He purposely blinds their eyes. Sovereignly blinds their eyes. What is this conversation that you are holding as you're walking together? And they stood and they looked at him. And you're looking sad. And they said, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And you have not known the things that have happened in these days? What things? What a remarkable reply. What a teacher he is, isn't he? Work it out for me. Tell me what things. Well, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth. That he was this mighty prophet in word and in deed. And our chief priests and rulers. Now listen to this. They delivered him to be condemned to death and they crucified him. You almost get the sense that wasn't supposed to have happened. And he got the death of a criminal. He got the worst possible death in the Roman system. He was nailed to a cross and the blows and the strikes and the beatings and the nails and the sweat like blood, remember, in the garden. But all of these things where he was crucified. And you see, we were hoping He was going to redeem Israel. What, what, what? Whoa. You were hoping what? And it's the third day. And He's nowhere to be found. They didn't understand why Jesus had come to do this. Still after. This has been a remarkable problem in John's Gospel that when Peter was going to the cross, we looked at Friday night, He still didn't understand why Jesus needed to do this. He didn't understand his own need for Jesus to do this. He didn't see his own self. And now after it, they still don't get it. And it makes me wonder, how big of a, large of a problem is that today? We hoped Jesus was going to bring back the glory to Israel. Well, how many Christians are still thinking something's wrong because Jesus hasn't done that? We thought it was time to nationally restore Israel. We thought it was time for the former glory of Israel. How many people today are confused because of a wrong conception of what Jesus has really come to do? Every year, the Pope at this time gives his Easter address and it's always the same. It doesn't matter to the Pope. It's all about earthly peace. And every single time you get in heaven, all is peace and gladness, but alas, it's not so on earth. And then they lament the hunger and the disease and the war and the violence as if, notice here, he prayed even this morning that this peace and human dignity would be returned. On the major address of the resurrection, you're not dealing with the most important thing. which tells you the Pope himself doesn't really get it. How do you think we would have responded to the resurrection of Jesus if we were there? That's a dangerous question, but I want you to think about it for a minute. What would we have done? You know what's remarkable? And this is why it touched me with the baptism this morning. I don't find anyone after the resurrection who understood or accepted it the way that they should. I don't find it. if I had confidence in humanity, that's pretty distressing. Oh, slow to believe. Now, these were Jesus' mighty disciples. Oh, slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not, was it not necessary, ought not, the Christ to have suffered and entered into his glory? You see it in their response. What do you have in our text this morning? They go home. That's what troubles me. Wait a minute. If you believe that the Lord was risen indeed, amen, the Lord's risen indeed, would you just go back home? I think I'd be running everywhere in the city, right? Where is he? Where is he? They had evidence. Something was still lacking. And then you get to Thomas. Oh boy, Thomas. Unless I see, unless I take my hands and I put it in the holes and I feel the sight, I will not believe. Wow. In every single circumstance, Jesus has to come after them. Jesus has to come after Abigail Gamow. Jesus has to come after you. Or you're hard to this. Now, I've done all that this morning to show you and help you to see why Mary is so important. Do you know she gets the single great privilege of being the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus? The single great privilege. And when you have something like that, when John puts the spotlight right here, you start having questions. Mary, if you look at the scene, has been left in the dust. She's been abandoned. And Peter and John left her. She hasn't seen anything. She's been to the tomb. She won't go back home. You know who Mary Magdalene was? Mary Magdalene was a notorious sinner. Mary Magdalene was the one of whom Jesus had cast out seven demons. Seven of them. And he broke her bondage. Everyone knew about Mary Magdalene. She was a crazy woman, possessed, low on the socioeconomic ladder, the kind of person you'd never walk up to and greet, the kind of person who enters the church and you'd probably think, strange. There goes that defiled woman. There goes that one cursed by the devil. Why of all the people does our Lord start with her? Of all people. Verse 11, she comes back, everyone's gone. You read that she stood there outside the tomb weeping. You can picture this, the cloths are folded. Everyone's gone, she's alone. She's full of emotion. Just a few days ago, she had stood at the foot of the cross, remember. She had heard people say, crucify, crucify him. She had seen the blows. She had witnessed the crown of thorns and the robe of mockery. She had witnessed the Lord of glory crucified. She witnessed the large cross laid on his back. All this. She can't get it out of her head. The worst thing has happened. Somebody has taken his body. I want you to feel this for a minute. Someone has taken his body? The thought of that. You get a sense of the agony, don't you, right now in the news over this? I mean, the news has just gripped us for weeks of these terrible atrocities. I mean, these terrible disasters that have happened. You know, what if someone got a hold or what if something happened to the body of your loved one and you never found it? For weeks now, we have been obsessed in this country over a missing plane. And they still don't know. But it's amazing. You see this a few days ago, this ferry sinking. And I mean, what a horror that's set before us. I groan when I see these things. I groan wanting the end of all things and the new. It's just awful, isn't it? And you get all sorts of responses when these things come. At this point, you know, the Malaysians say, well, there's no survivors, and they've given up on all hope of finding any. You've seen family members furious and the weeping and the mourning that goes on, and they say, we're just not going to find survivors. But some people hold on. Some people hold on. And there was one Chinese woman who stands out to me as I watched her mourning, and she says, my son was 40 years old. My son, what am I going to do? Nobody. As months go on, whether they find the plane or not, most of us will go on with our lives. The ferry disaster, most of those people will go on with their lives. But there will be some who have to have closure, don't they? They have to have closure. What is the closure that they need? The body. Here's where I think Mary is given so much attention. The disciples go to their houses. Thomas is hard. Peter's going to go back fishing because of his massive failure. He's given up. You get the sense on the ones to the road to a mace, they've just given up with life. They're just... How many of you feel like given up with life? Mary is full of emotion and tears. Where's the body? Her pain overwhelms her. The weight of the cross, the weight of the loss drives her to despair and she breaks out into tears, just breaks out. The pain is so great that in verse 11, two angels talk to her and in the glory of angels, they speak to her, woman, why are you weeping? She doesn't even see him. how many people when angels spoke ducked and covered the distress is they've taken away my lord and i don't know where i've got to know completely clouded so that those fears of everything else is gone you feel this she is so full of emotion she's so full of mourning to the point of no more hope and in turning around when jesus himself is standing there the text says she didn't recognize him oh everyone wants to say the commentators want to say that's a mistake to say that it was emotion it jesus blinded her i'm not convinced i think that's what makes this so powerful here's why the spotlight is on mary she has nothing without him she has absolutely nothing without him all she wants is christ everything else around her is gone you know from her point of view with a dead jesus I have no gospel. I have no forgiveness. It means nothing. I can't reconcile that. Why go on if that is the truth? There's no more of her. That's the imagery you get. Done. The Psalms constantly describe this, by the way. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail. The only strength of my life is God. Here is God. And here's where we are confronted with our own superficiality. What a stark difference from, I won't believe unless I see. What do you value? What really matters to you? I believe that the death of Christ in many respects tests our loyalties. Put it this way, if there was no resurrection this morning, would it really make much difference to you? It kind of tests why you're even here. would you be able to go on with life with no worry? Would you be able to go back to your business? Would you be able to go back to making your money, fulfilling your American dream? Would you? Does this really matter? It's in this distress that Jesus comes to her. Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Love that question. you're weeping, but I need to know whom you're seeking. He is taking this love that is so mingled with sorrow, and he's addressing now what needs to be understood. When Christ laid aside the handkerchiefs and the cloths, Calvin says something beautiful, he was signaling that he had clothed himself with immortal life. It was done. Death had been conquered. The grave had been over. He had paid for sins. But Christ asks, whom are you seeking? Are you seeking a Christ who's held Mary under the power of death? You don't have forgiveness that way. Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, where have you carried him? Tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away. You fear here, the body's been stolen. Sir, if you carried him away, tell me, I'll go get it. Mary, can you hear it? Mary. I would imagine she froze. Abigail, put your name there. My sheep hear my voice. To him, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. And when he brings out his sheep, He goes before them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Mary. This is a call of sovereign love. Here is one of his sheep really struggling with sorrow in life. And he embraces her in love and her eyes are opened and she falls. It's such a moving scene, isn't it? In verse 17, you come to, well, maybe a little bit perplexing because it seems cold. It's not. Mary, I need you to do something else. Don't cling to me. I've not yet gone up. I've not yet ascended. But I need you to do something else, Mary. Go to my brothers and tell them. Notice how that all changed. These are his brothers now. I need you to go do something. Go to my brothers and tell them I'm ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. What Jesus just did for Mary is what He said He would do for all of His people in the midst of the hardships of life. He promised that the resurrection would turn our sorrow to joy. And I want you to listen to John 16. Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Therefore, you now have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you. I'm going to give you that. But Mary, I need you to do something. I need you to go to my brothers who don't understand this, who are still hard to this, and I need you to tell them. Now I close with this. Who was listening to our Lord and His earthly ministry? Who was listening to why He needed to die? I wonder how many of us are filled with anxiety and filled with dullness and filled with distress in our lives because we've yet to properly contemplate what He's saying to us. What is Jesus telling you this morning? I came in A.D. 30 and I died that cruel death that you might be forgiven, but I'm not on the cross. See how awful it is to run around putting up little pictures of Him on a cross. Or little crosses with crucifixes. I'm not there. I'm risen. And I'm going and being seated for you. And what I'm telling you it means is it had to be that. I had to do that to wipe out your sins. And so that all the sorrow that you've known in this life, all the hardship that you've known in this life, that I have conquered it for you. I've dealt with it for you. And the death that you now are going to die is not punishment. You belong to me. I call you by name. And what really matters in life, all of the sins and sorrow that we have gone through, the Lord announces to you in the resurrection, I've answered it. It's answered. I've dealt with it. But now you go tell it to my brothers. Because there are a lot of dull ones. There are a lot who don't understand it. If you understand it and that joy has filled you, that's why you're here. I leave you with this thought. Before the death was a Mary who poured this alabaster flask of oil on his head. And Jesus says, that act was so meaningful that whenever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done, what she has done will be a memorial. Mary anointed his body for burial, believing. That was Mary of Bethany. After the resurrection, you get one more Mary. Mary Magdalene, the seven demons who was cast out. Why do I think it's like that? The fall began with a woman. And the restoration of all things begins with a woman. And whose sorrow in front of your eyes is just turned to joy. Now, a believing heart mixed with that kind of love is what Christ is after. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Believe in the heart. Intellectually is not fully it, is it? Jesus is going after Peter and he's going to say, do you love me, Peter? Do you love me? Do you love me? Imagine a faith mingled, a believing, trusting, resting faith that is driven by this kind of joy and love. That's the kind of heart that David had when the Lord said of him, that is a man after his own heart. That's the heart he wants from you today. This is what we celebrate today. If you understand this, the Lord says the same thing to you then. If His peace has guided you, you believe this, you're saved. All your sorrow is turned to joy. Let that love drive you now in going out to tell His brothers that Jesus has finished the work. Tell them what the power of the resurrection has brought to your life. Announce to all that Jesus Christ is risen indeed. Amen. Heavenly Father, our hearts and our lips are full of praise. All the sorrow that we've known and the choices and the things we see happening in this life, you just announced that you dealt with it. The Lord Jesus is not raised. We have none of it. He's risen indeed. And that gives us all the reason in the world to be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and to go forth and tell others the wonderful things that You've accomplished. I pray for any today who have yet to believe this, that this kind of believing response, trusting response, and a life that follows of love and joy and peace in the Holy Spirit would be given to them. And as we leave today, all of us would praise the Lord for the wonderful works that you have done and that we now are resurrected in the resurrected one. In Jesus' name we pray these things, amen.