"He Must Rise" Sermon: John 20:1-18

“He Must Rise”

[John 20:1-18]

April 8, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            And so Jesus, after being crucified – impaled on the horns of a tree, forsaken, and despised by all those around Him, took confidence in His Father:  “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46, ESV). 

            Ah, but was He really dead?  There are still people who hear the Easter history and say, “Oh well, Jesus just fainted from the pain and blood loss; He didn’t really die, and when He came to, He ran from the tomb and hid in Sherwood Forest with His wife and children.”  Nonsense.

            We are told that Jesus really died.  It certainly was in the interest of the both the Jews and the Romans to make sure this rabble-rouser was dead.  And, in deference to the Jews, who would not have a body impaled on a tree during the Sabbath, the Romans went around to break the legs of the crucified to hasten their deaths.  But we read, “So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:32-34, ESV).

            Jesus looked dead to the soldiers, so they did not break His legs, but to make absolutely sure, one of them took a spear and thrust it into His side, and blood and water rushed out.

            And if Jesus had only fainted – after two days of blood loss and dehydration, some still believe that He awoke in the tomb, rolled the stone up and out from covering the tomb and then overcame a company of Roman centurions.

            Jesus died on the cross on that first Good Friday; He was buried in the tomb, and a stone was rolled down across the opening to the tomb, and a company of Roman centurions were set as a guard on the tomb to make sure no one stole the body and said that Jesus had risen from the dead.

            Jesus remained in the tomb on the Sabbath, but on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, hoping to finish the embalming that they had begun late that Friday:

            “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.’”

            Mary’s immediate response to the tomb being empty was to tell the others – to run and get Peter and John – Peter, who was wracked with guilt over having denied Jesus, and John, the disciple that Jesus loved.

“So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, 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.”

Can we picture Peter and John running?  Peter, the elder statesman, being out-run by the younger, John.  Yet John, out of respect for Peter’s age or out of awe of what he saw, stopped and did not enter the tomb.  So, Peter came – non-stop – as He always did, and ran into the tomb with hardly a thought, and then he saw:

“He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' 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, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

The face cloth was folded up, but the linen burial cloths that Jesus had been wrapped in were lying as though Jesus had walked through them – they were still arranged as though on a body, but lying there with no body in them. 

And John went into the tomb with Peter, and he saw the cloths and he saw that Jesus’ body was not there.  And he believed.  What did he believe?

He did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead!  Look at the text:  “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.”

What did he believe?  He believed Mary’s report:  the tomb was empty; Jesus’ body was gone.  He did not – yet – believe – or even understand that there must be a resurrection.  They believed Mary that the tomb was empty – they saw for themselves that the tomb was empty – but they didn’t understand that Jesus must rise from the dead.

Why?  Why must he rise?

Paul explained:  “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that 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 has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith 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 also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV).

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we who believe in Jesus will not be raised from the dead.  In other words, if we don’t rise from the dead, we just stay in our graves like the pagans teach.  You live, you die, and this is it.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then my preaching is in vain and our faith is in vain.  Remember what we have said the Gospel is:  Jesus came to earth, lived, died for our sins, and rose from the dead.  If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, what we preach and teach as the Gospel is meaningless.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we have been telling lies about God.  Because, in the Gospel, we preach and teach and confess that God raised Jesus from the dead.  And if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we are lying if we say God raised Him from the dead.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins – we are not forgiven – the whole Wrath of God against us for our sins is still coming down on us, and we will experience eternal suffering.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then all those people who died believing in Jesus are dead in the ground, and we have lied to their family members in telling them that they are in Paradise – in the Kingdom of God.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead – if this life is all there is – if we have been living striving to be Christ-like, and it is all a lie, we are the greatest fools who ever lived.

“Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:29-34, ESV).

The Corinthians were engaging in a pagan practice of baptizing living people on behalf of the dead – the Mormons do this even today.  And Paul turns the tables on them and asks them, “If you are baptizing people on behalf of the dead, and they are dead in the ground never to rise – that there is no consciousness, no life after dead, why in the world are you baptizing on their behalf?”  If just didn’t make any sense.

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, if the dead stay in their graves, what good can we who are alive do for the dead?

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, Paul asks, why am I putting my life in danger?  Why am I fighting for Christ and His Gospel?  Why are we Christians subjecting ourselves to slaughter by the Romans and the Jews if Jesus didn’t achieve anything for us?

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, why shouldn’t we just eat and drink, for tomorrow we die?  Doesn’t it make more sense, if this world is all there is, to do everything you can to have pleasure and then burn out?

Peter and John believed Mary – Jesus’ body was gone.  But where was it?  What did it mean?  They certainly didn’t believe – yet – that Jesus had risen from the dead.

            “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 have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’”

            Mary returned to the tomb after Peter and John had left.  She was looking for some sign as to what had happened – where the body was.  And two angels appeared to her and asked her why she was crying.  And she told them that she didn’t know where the dead body of Jesus was – that she had come to finish the burial preparation, but someone – for some reason – had moved His body during the night and she didn’t know where.

“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 have laid him, and I will take him away.’”

Notice that in some way, Jesus’ appearance was changed in rising from the dead.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the 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.”

            But she knew His Voice – that tone of love that she had known for the past three years.  When He spoke her name, she understood that this was Jesus – He had risen from the dead – that’s why His body was not in the tomb, because He stood up and walked out – He was alive!

            And we might briefly ask ourselves what that means – what does it mean to say that Jesus has risen from the dead?  From our text, it is obvious that something about Jesus was different – Mary did not recognize Him at first.  And He told her not to touch Him.

            Some people say that this is because Jesus was now a sprit-being; He did not have a physical body any more.  Some say that Jesus had become and angel.  But what does the Scripture tells us?

            Later, Jesus went to the place where the disciples were hiding, “And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him”

(Matthew 28:9, ESV).  He had real feet that they could hold on to.

            Eight days later, Thomas saw the risen Jesus.  And Jesus, knowing that Thomas had doubted and said that he wanted proof that Jesus was physically alive “[Then he] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe’” (John 20:27, ESV).  Jesus invited Thomas to put his fingers – his hands – to examine His body – to see that He was flesh and blood and bore the marks of the crucifixion.

            After Jesus appear to the two on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple went and told the apostles what had happened.  “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace 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 had 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.

            “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:36-47, ESV).

            Although the disciples had seen people rise from the dead before, knowing the horrific death that Jesus had died, there were afraid.  But Jesus assured them that He had really – physically – risen from the dead.  He again invited them to touch Him and put their hands in His wounds.  And He told them that He was flesh and blood, not a spirit.  And to prove it to them, He asked them for some food, and He ate with them.  Spirits don’t eat, only flesh and blood eats.

            Somehow, in some way, Jesus did not look exactly like He had, but Jesus had physically risen from the dead – He rose from the dead in the same body He lived and died in, though it was changed in some way.  He proved that He was really flesh and blood by letting them feel His body and having Him eat with them.  He explained to them that it was necessary for the Savior to be put to death and that He must also rise – victorious.

            And so Paul writes, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, ESV).

            Why must Jesus physically rise from the dead?

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then the Gospel is true, and we will physically rise from the dead.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then we who believe are forgiven for our sin – we are no longer under the curse of Adam.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, the Jesus is reigning as the Sovereign God over all Creation.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then Jesus is putting all of His enemies – and ours – under His feet – defeating them, until at least, He will put death under His feet, and death will be no more.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then He is restoring the entire Creation, bringing His Kingdom to earth, and bringing every one of the elect – everyone who will ever believe throughout time and space – into His Kingdom, where we will live eternally with Him.

            If Jesus physically rose from the dead, then this life, despite anything and everything that might happen to us is a life of joy.

            Do you understand that it was necessary that Jesus physically rise from the dead?

            Let us pray:

            Eternal and Risen God, Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever.  Help us to understand that just as it was necessary for Jesus to physically die in our place, it was also necessary for Him to physically rise to be victorious over sin and death and Hell.  As we receive the bread and the cup, help us to know that Jesus, Who meets with us in the elements, is not merely a spirit, but is physically seated on His Throne in Heaven, even as He meets with us spiritually in the bread and the cup.  Raise us up, O Lord.  Assure us of the Resurrection and make us witnesses to Your Body and Blood.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.