“So What?”
[John 20:1-31]
April 12, 2009 Second Reformed Church
The sun had not yet risen. The night before, Pilate had stationed guards at Jesus’ tomb to keep anyone from stealing His Body and claiming that He rose from the dead. The guards were tired, but the kept their post, until the ground started to shake – an earthquake Suddenly the stone which had been rolled across the tomb and down into a cleft so it would stay tight was rocking back and forth, and the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. And then angels appeared with the glory of God about them, and the soldiers fell to the ground as though dead. When the light dissipated, the guards ran back to their barracks, leaving the open tomb unwatched.
At that time, Mary Magdalene and some of the other women came to the tomb to finish the burial preparations that they had to stop making, as it was the Sabbath, and no work is allowed on the Sabbath. But they found the tomb open, and empty. So they ran back to the disciples.
Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves, and they also found the tomb empty, and they wondered what it could mean. They didn’t understand that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Mary went back to the tomb and sobbed. Angels appeared to her and witnessed to her of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And then Jesus, Himself, appeared to her, and told her to tell His disciples that He is risen, and He would be ascending back to the Father.
That evening, Jesus appear to the ten – Judas was dead and Thomas was elsewhere – and He gave them the gift of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Then they went to tell Thomas, but he said he would not believe unless he could physically examine Jesus’ wounds. So Jesus appeared again, and Thomas believed.
We hear at least one of the Gospel’s accounts of the resurrection at least once a year, and, as we consider what happened on that first Easter morning, let us ask ourselves the question, “So what?” Does the resurrection of Jesus mean anything to you and, if it does, why does it mean something to you?
There are plenty of scholars and teachers and ministers who will tell you that Jesus did not actually rise from the dead, and it doesn’t matter. They say what matters is that we believe in Jesus’ ethics – the good things He told us to do. The resurrection did not really happen, they say, it is just a metaphor that affirms that Jesus did good things, and we should do likewise.
Does the resurrection matter? Why are you here this morning? If I read this morning’s Scripture and said, “So what?” How would you respond? The witness of the New Testament and the early Church is that the resurrection is of utmost importance – that Jesus really rose from the dead in His Physical Body is of utmost importance. And we find a few reasons in our text for why that is so.
First, if Jesus physically rose from the dead, then we who believe will also physically rise from the dead with new and perfect bodies. As Paul explained, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all of the apostles. Last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as risen from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ is not raised, then our preaching is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
“So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised to glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body” (I Corinthians 15:1-19; 42-22, ESV).
So what? If Jesus rose from the dead, He has promised that all we who believe in Him – we who have been forgiven of our sins by His Work, we shall rise in the same way and with the same type of new and perfected body that He has.
And still there are those who will object, “No, He didn’t rise. It was someone who looked like Jesus, but it wasn’t Him. Even Mary didn’t recognize Him at first.” And that’s true, she didn’t recognize Him. Neither did the men on the Emmaus Road. Why? Possibly because His Body, now perfected, didn’t look exactly the same way as His Body had looked. Even Madison Avenue tells us that if we take this pill or go to this gym or follow this diet, we’ll look different. How much more so now that His Body had not taint or mark of sin in it?
Some will still object and argue that what they saw was wishful thinking, or a mass hallucination. But can that really be the case here? There were more than five hundred eyewitness to Jesus’ Resurrection in a physical body that ate and drank with them. Also, most of those eyewitnesses were alive at the time the New Testament was being written, so they could be questioned – and all of them would report the exact same truth. And, perhaps most compellingly, there were willing, and many of them did, die for refusing to recant their testimony that Jesus is alive, risen, eating and drinking with His disciples. Why would it take to get you to recant? Do you see how compelling this testimony is?
“As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be to you ’ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he has said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them” (Luke 24:36-43, ESV).
Second, if Jesus physically rose from the dead and ascended to the Father – back to His Throne, then Jesus is Sovereignly in control of all things, and we have no reason to worry. If Jesus physically rose from the dead, and we believe in Jesus Alone for our salvation, then the things of this world should not cause us to worry.
Ultimately, that is the way we should respond to the resurrection, but we are still sinners, and we fall and sin and worry. Yet, part of the message of the resurrection is that our God and Savior, Jesus, is absolutely in control of everything that occurs, so if we are His, what have we to worry about?
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV).
If Jesus physically rose from the dead and ascended back to His Throne, wouldn’t it make sense to bring all our troubles and concerns and needs to Him? He is the Creator and the Sustainer of all of the Creation. He sovereignly has planned that this shall happen and this shall not. To Whom else shall we turn? Who else can comfort us and give us exactly what we need each day? What other satisfaction can we find other than what we find in the Resurrected One?
Third, if Jesus physically rose from the dead, then all those who believe in Him, as we see in our text, receive the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us in our Christian walk. This is exactly what Jesus promised:
“‘These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
“‘Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you’” (John 14:25-26; 16:7-15, ESV).
So, if Jesus physically rose from the dead, all those who believe in Him Alone for salvation will receive the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, Who will help to us to remember and understand what Jesus has said and lead us in glorifying God. And He will also show us how to live out all that God has said.
And fourth, if Jesus physically rose from the dead, all those who believe in Him Alone for their salvation are blessed. You and I are blessed, if we believe in Him, though we have never seen Him or met Him in the flesh. And that’s not just some intangible, “I’m blessed.” No, we are blessed, because we shall receive new, restored, eternal bodies at the end of the age when the dead are raised, we have no reason to worry or become unduly excited by the things that happen in our world, because everything is unfolding according to Jesus’ Plan, and He has promised to fill our every need, and we have received the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit Who leads and teaches us.
Jesus has physically risen from the dead. So what? To all those who believe in Jesus Alone, we are made right with God – saved eternally – forgiven and made righteous and holy on that final day. We are loved, beloved children of God, for whom He is preparing an eternal home, where we will live in resurrected bodies like Jesus. And for now, we have hope, a God we can trust, and a God Who lives in us and uses us according to His Will.
So what? So much! Unspeakable riches! Open your Bibles and read – receive the grace God has for you. Be strengthened and encouraged for the good works you have been called to do. And give thanks.
Another blessing we’re given is the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. In a few moments we will receive the bread and the cup, and Jesus will meet with us spiritually and minister to us with His Grace – if we come to the sacrament, honestly, as Christians, we come away from it having grown and been strengthen. Come, expecting to meet with Jesus. He is alive. He is risen. And that means everything.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, we thank You for raising Jesus from the dead, restoring His Body and perfecting it, and receiving Him back to His Throne. We thank You that through His resurrection, we know that we will also rise and be like Him, that He is sovereignly in control, and You have sent the Holy Spirit to us. Help us to be able to answer the sceptics among and around us who hear the history of the resurrection and say, “So what?” May You be pleased to open their eyes and have them receive You for their salvation. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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