The Resurrection Morning
John 20:1-10
We are gathered today on the first day of the week just as most Christians have done for almost 2000 years. The Jews always observe the Sabbath, which is the seventh day. Since all the first Christians were Jews and they brought the message of Christ to the rest of the world, why did they shift their emphasis from the seventh day to the first day of the week? There is only one explanation: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ occurred on Sunday. As our text in John 20:1 begins, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”
Ever since the apostles met with Jesus on the evening of that Sunday (John 20:19), the church has met on the first day of the week (John 20:26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). The church gathers for worship on the Lord’s day (Rev. 1:10). Why? Because every time we meet on the first day of the week we are celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said last time, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pivotal event not only of Christianity but of human history.
The truth of the gospel, the Christian message, rests on the fact of Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor. 15:14). Our salvation hinges on the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 15:14). The forgiveness of our sins depends on His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:17). His resurrection secures our justification (Rom. 4:25), eternal life (Rom. 6:23), and our own resurrection (1 Cor. 15).
All four gospels record the fact of Christ’s resurrection. Each account adds details unique to the witnesses who experienced it. Dr. Harry Ironside wrote about John 20, “Out of the different accounts which we have in the Gospels of the events connected with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is one of the most graphic, one of the most interesting and one of the most compelling. When rightly understood, I do not see how anyone desiring to know the truth, can meditate on this passage without being brought to saving faith in the risen Christ” (H.A. Ironside, Addresses on The Gospel of John [New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1956], p. 857).
And that of course is John’s purpose: that you would believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and have life in His name (John 20:31). As I read our passage today ask yourself, “Do I believe?” and “What difference does it make that Jesus is alive?” John 20:1-10:
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then 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.” 3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, His closest followers struggled to understand what He said about His promised resurrection and the fulfillment of Scripture. It really wasn’t until after His resurrection that they understood. In John 2 after Jesus had cleared the temple at the beginning of His earthly ministry, we’re told that the Jews confronted Him and demanded, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” John writes,
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said (John 2:19-22).
Jesus had promised His disciples that He would be raised from the dead (Matthew 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-33). But as Luke tells us, “they understood none of these things” (Luke 18:34). It was not until after Jesus had been raised from the dead—and until after He was able to open their eyes to the truths of the Scriptures—that we’re told they believed.
This morning’s text tells us how that belief began to take hold in the disciples’ hearts. The first event that John records for us is:
1. Mary’s Report (20:1-2)
John 20 begins with Mary Magdalene, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” Remember that this Mary was among those women who stood by the cross as Jesus was crucified (John 19:25). Luke tells us that after Jesus died on Friday, these women followed after Joseph of Arimathea and “observed the tomb and how His body was laid,” (Luke 23:55). John doesn’t mention it but several other women came with her to the tomb bringing spices they had prepared (Luke 24:1) to anoint His body (Mark 16:1). Mark tells us that the women wondered, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” (Mark 16:3) since it was heavy. But as four Gospels report before they got there, “the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1).
The stone being rolled away is strong evidence of Christ’s resurrection. This was a large, round stone placed in a groove in front of the tomb to secure it from grave robbers. It would have taken several strong men to roll that stone out of the groove. Matthew reports that the Jewish leaders feared that Jesus’ disciples would come and steal His body and claim that He was risen (Matt. 27:63-64). So they went to Pilate and got a Roman guard to secure the tomb. They set a seal on the stone and posted the guard, making it as secure as they knew how (Matt. 27:65-66).
Matthew also tells us it was an angel who rolled back the stone from the door (Matt. 28:2) while the guards shook for fear and became like dead men (Matt. 28:4). When the guards reported what had happened, the chief priests gave them a large sum of money and told them to tell anyone who asked that the disciples came at night and stole Jesus’ body while the guards slept (Matt. 28:11-15).
There are several obvious problems with that story. If the Roman guards were asleep how did they know it was Jesus’ disciples who took the body? Guards who fell asleep on duty would have faced substantial punishment (Matt 28:14). Even if they had dozed off, the sound of a group of men moving the heavy stone surely would have awakened them. Besides, after the crucifixion, the disciples were too depressed and fearful to pull off a grave robbery. And even if they had stolen Jesus’ body why would they then have endured persecution and martyrdom to proclaim what they knew to be a hoax?
So the rolled away stone is evidence of the resurrection. In addition, Mary reports that the tomb was empty. Mary Magdalene was not expecting the resurrection, so when she saw that the stone was rolled away, she assumed that somebody had taken Jesus’ body. John 20:2 tells us, “Then 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’”
She knows the disciples did not take Jesus’ body. She assumes someone else did—perhaps the guards or the Jewish authorities. But again, the obvious problem with that scenario is that if the Jewish leaders knew where Jesus’ body was, they would have produced it the instant that the apostles began proclaiming the resurrection.
So, the first piece of evidence for belief is that the stone had been rolled away and the body of the Lord Jesus was no longer there.
2. John’s Observation (20:3-5)
Upon hearing Mary’s report, we’re told (John 20:3), “Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.” The “other disciple,” the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” must be John himself. This means he is reporting his first-hand eyewitness testimony of these things (John 21:24).
It is likely that John was younger than Peter, and evidently a faster runner. We’re told (John 20:4), “So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.” John also seems to have been the more cautious of the two. Having arrived, he didn’t enter the tomb; but we are told (John 20:5), “And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.”
The grave-clothes were there; and it would clearly have been recognized by John that this was—indeed—the place where the body of the Lord had been lain. If the Lord’s body had been stolen, it would have been very strange that the clothes had been left so intact. This is yet another piece of evidence for belief although John himself did not yet understand completely.
3. Peter’s Investigation (20:6-7)
After John sees the tomb from outside, Peter arrived. But Peter didn’t show any of the timidity that John displayed. We’re told (John 20:6), “Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.” (v. 6a).
Once he stepped in he saw was a remarkable thing! Verse 6 continues, “and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.” (vv. 6b-7).
Jewish burials involved wrapping the corpse with linen strips and tucking spices into the folds to offset the stench of the corpse. The head was wrapped separately. Peter and John saw the linen wrappings with the face cloth rolled up by itself in an orderly manner, but Jesus’ body was gone. Grave robbers would not have taken the time to remove the grave clothes at the scene, but would have grabbed the body with the grave clothes and left. Or, if they had removed them, they would have left them scattered in a disorderly fashion. D. A. Carson observes, “The description is powerful and vivid, not the sort of thing that would have been dreamed up; and the fact that two men saw it (v. 8) makes their evidence admissible in a Jewish court (Dt. 19:15).” (The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans/Apollos], pp. 637-638).
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11), the former dead man “came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.” Lazarus was raised in his old body which was still subject to disease and death. So he had to be unbound by bystanders (John 11:44). But Jesus was raised with a resurrection body that is no longer subject to death. That new body is physical, yet it could pass through the grave clothes, leaving them lying there intact. He later could pass through closed doors without opening them, as well as appear and disappear suddenly at will (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:15, 31).
4. John’s Belief (20:8-9)
We’re not told what immediate affect this all had on Peter yet; but it was clearly a turning point for John. He writes of himself (John 20:8), “Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” In this section John uses three different Greek words meaning “to see.” When John first arrived at the tomb (John 20:5), he stooped and looked in and “saw” the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. In that verse he uses the common Greek word that suggests nothing more than sight. When Peter got there (John 20:6), he entered the tomb and “saw” the linen wrappings. Here the Greek word has the nuance of looking carefully or examining something. Finally, John went in, “saw” and believed (John 20:8). Here John uses a word that means to perceive or see with understanding. He not only saw, but He believed.
What did John believe? Did he believe that the Lord Jesus was truly alive from the dead? Perhaps, at this point, it was only a growing belief. What we find in the gospels is that first there is unbelief by those who were eyewitnesses, then belief. Both are evidence of the truth of the resurrection.
To become a more complete belief it needed to be centered in the Scriptures. John himself tells us (John 20:9), “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Later that day when Jesus appeared to them (Luke 24:45), “… He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”
The evidence of the rolled away stone, empty tomb, and the grave cloths left behind is powerful, but it is not conclusive for believing. John had faith based on the evidence. He saw the graveclothes. He knew the body of Jesus was not there. Warren Wiersbe writes, “as good as evidence is to convince the mind, it cannot change the life.” The Bible says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” (Rom. 10:17).
It is faith in the Word that the Lord wants in His disciples (John 2:22; 12:16; 14:26). Peter would later write that it is the Word of God that is a more sure basis for our faith than personal experiences (1 Pet 1:23-25; 2 Pet. 1:19-21). Paul wrote about the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-4), “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
We may not be able to examine first-hand the evidence of the empty tomb or to see Jesus physically alive and to touch Him as the apostles did, but we have the witness of the Word of God. The Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Apostles together testify that Jesus is alive.
5. Disciples’ Return (20:10)
Finally John writes(John 20:10), “Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.” This itself is testimony that they were convinced Jesus was not there. They would not have left the tomb—opened and unguarded as it was—if they thought the body of the Lord might still be in it.
The pieces of evidence that Mary and Peter and John saw are a part of what our faith is based on. The Christian faith rests on the testimony that Jesus is alive and the fulfillment of scripture. Faith in Christ is not a blind leap in the dark. Wilbur M. Smith concluded: “If our Lord said, frequently, with great definiteness and detail, that after He went up to Jerusalem He would be put to death, but on the third day He would rise again from the grave, and this prediction came to pass, then it has always seemed to me that everything else that our Lord ever said must also be true.” (Therefore Stand [Baker], p. 419, cited by McDowell, Evidence, p. 187).
Be encouraged that the Lord does not cast us off when our faith is weak and our understanding is shallow, but He graciously leads us to deeper faith and understanding as we seek Him.
Mary did not yet expect the resurrection, but she loved the Lord and wanted to give Him a proper burial. Peter’s and John’s faith and understanding were very weak at this point, but the Lord graciously nurtured them along and later used them mightily. We serve a gracious and loving Savior who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Draw near to Him, especially when you’re confused or doubting (Heb. 4:15-16).
Faith has a starting point; a basis. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures. The Resurrection tells me that Jesus is who He says He is; this is not just a big fairy tale; that He is making me into someone new and that He is coming back for me. Is that your faith as well?
