John 20

The Old Testament teaches us, in places too numerous to mention, about a coming resurrection from the dead. One of the most obvious passages is at the end of Daniel, where we read, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2) This doctrine of a general resurrection was accepted by many Jews, including the Pharisees, Mary and Martha of Bethany, and the disciples of Jesus. What people did not yet understand from the Scriptures was the doctrine of a singular resurrection of the Messiah well in advance of the general resurrection. This too was taught in places like Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 69, and in a more subtle way by prophetic books like Zechariah and Jonah. To see this teaching we need to look for a singular figure who is connected to a group, where the fate of the one person is determinative for the fate or encouragement of the larger congregation, and where the victory over death experienced by the One is said to be a source of help to the many as they face their own lives of difficulty. If the One is already victorious, but the many are waiting in faith for the fulfillment of their deliverance, then we have a doctrine of the resurrection of the Messiah well in advance of the general resurrection. It was this point of truth that the disciples had not yet understood from the Bible, a point that Jesus had already predicted and had clearly taught to the twelve.

Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John were among the first eyewitnesses to this amazing happening. The proof was presented in God’s characteristically humble manner. We are told of a stone that was out of place, and a tomb that was not entirely empty. The body of Jesus was not there, but it was what remained in the tomb that was presented by John as most impressive. The linen cloths were lying there that once wrapped the dead body of the Messiah. These must have been arranged in such an amazing way that they told a story by themselves, a story of a body risen out from them. The placement of the smaller face cloth to the side must have been one of the first actions of the risen Lord. Perhaps it would have been impossible to reconstruct the entire fact of resurrection just from this evidence, but John recorded this as decisively impressive for Peter and himself. They saw the way that that linen cloths were lying there, and they saw the way that the face cloth was folded up by itself, and they believed.

The disciples went back to their homes, and helping us to focus on what happened to Mary Magdelene, who finally saw evidence more powerful than the linen cloths. She saw Jesus. She did not recognize Him immediately. Like the two men in Luke 24, for a time she seemed to be prevented from seeing our resurrected Messiah, presuming Him to be the person in charge of the burial garden. It is when He said her name, “Mary,” that she became aware of this exciting fact. He had risen from the dead, and He was alive.

Jesus instructed Mary, “Do not cling to Me.” The reason that He gave had to do with the fact that He would not be remaining forever on the earth, but would soon depart for the heavens. This fact requires our further consideration. One day, the resurrected Jesus will walk the earth again. He did this for a brief time after His resurrection, but then He departed in what He refers to here as an ascension to the Father. There is another realm beyond what we see on this earth. The Father reigns from that realm, and that place can receive a physical body. It is from that place, the present heavens, that Jesus showers us with great blessings, including the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Mary brought the word of her encounter with the Lord back to the disciples, but they were huddled together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Then Jesus, somehow travelling inside that locked room, appeared physically to them. Naturally there was much about this that is very shocking and even confusing to us. Here we have a body risen to immortality walking upon the earth. This is something that we have never seen. What we need to hear is that He spoke words of peace and commissioning to His apostles. They had peace with God, and they would be messengers of this great divine shalom and the forgiveness of God to thousands of others. Heavenly gifts would come by the work of the Holy Spirit, poured out from on high by God. The emblems of the death of Christ, by which our blood-bought peace was won, were still visible.

These vivid proofs that the One before their eyes had to be the same man who was so recently nailed to a cross were seen by those who were in the room, but one of the twelve was missing, and He was skeptical of the report of the others. He needed to see with his own eyes, and eight days later he did see. He was not corrected when he responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus is Yahweh risen from the dead. He is the God of creation and providence, through whom all things were made. He gladly receives our worship, and we should bring to Him this worship, for it is what He deserves.

We are not yet allowed to see what Thomas saw, but we do have the great privilege of hearing the Word and believing. As an aid in this we have this and three other gospels, as well as many New Testament letters, and the whole of the Hebrew bible. We have ample proof not only of a coming general resurrection, but we have come to believe with certainty that can only be a gift from above, that the Son of God has already risen. Because of these facts, we are encouraged through our life of trials even now, knowing that as He is, so we shall be.