Everything Changes

John 20:1-31

I said it earlier, I will say it again.  He is risen.  (He is risen, indeed.)  Yes, indeed.  What a glorious thought to consider.  It was not that our lives were bought in exchange for Jesus’ existence.  Yes, He suffered and He died.  He experienced the excruciating physical pain.  Even more painful, He experienced separation from the Father.  But because He was the pure and spotless, holy sacrifice, He overcame death.  He is not in the tomb.  He is not there.  He is no longer dead.  He has risen just as He said.

And now, everything changes. 

When God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel, he praised God saying,

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.  He changes times and seasons …”  Daniel 2:20-21

In light of the interpretation of the dream, Daniel was talking about the rising and falling of kingdoms.  And yet, God is working continually at all levels, physically and spiritually from the microscopic to the macroscopic.  He changes the times and seasons of individuals.  I’ve heard John Bullard mention Acts 17:26 before 

“… he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”  Acts 17:26-27

The very circumstances of our lives, their time and place, are hand-selected by God to bring us to Him.  If you’ve got what you think are difficult or crummy circumstances, then cry out to God.  If you’ve got what you think is a comfortable and carefree life, then bring praise to God.  Whatever the case, the purpose of your circumstances is to encourage you to seek God.

God is working in the physically small stuff, too.  He is working at the cellular and molecular level.  Here is the familiar verse from Psalm 139:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made …  Psalm 139:13

Job chapter 10 says God poured us out like milk and curdled us like cheese and formed us like clay, how we are clothed with flesh and skin, and knit together with bone and sinew.  Any metaphor to explain how our bodies were formed is inadequate.  Scientists do not understand how the cells of baby differentiate.  They are all the same to begin with but at some point (at just the right point) some will become heart cells or brain cells or muscle cells or cells of a particular organ.  Who oversees these transitions?

I could talk about this stuff all day.  Every time I learn something new about the human body, I am embarrassed before the Lord that I could ever have believed that we could have evolved over time through random chance.  Yesterday, I was helping Joseph with his science homework.  We were reading about the lymphatic, urinary, and endocrine systems, and I was biting back tears.  I know that it sounds crazy, but did you know that your kidneys process all the blood in your body in less than 30 minutes.  That amounts to 40 gallons a day!  There are a million tiny filters in each of your kidneys. 

We also read about the glands in your eyes that make tears.  Many animals make tears, but humans are the only creatures that cry when they are sad.  Not only that, our tears are chemically different than tears that you cry when you’re cutting an onion.  There are hormones in your “sad” tears that actually work to make you feel less sad.  The old adage “go have a good cry” is actually doing something to make you feel better. 

I will give you one more.  Did you ever wonder what holds your cells together?  It turns out that one of the key components of what holds your cells together is a protein called laminin. 

Wikipedia describes it this way: The trimeric proteins intersect to form a cross-like structure that can bind to other cell membrane and extracellular matrix molecules.  The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which allows them to form sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor organized tissue cells to the membrane.

This protein looks like a cross.  Here are a few pictures:

 Colossians 1:17 says,

… in him all things hold together.  Col 1:17

Literally, every one of your bodies is being held together by trillions and trillions of cross-shaped proteins.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

Indulge me for one more example from the heavens.  When God was questioning Job, one of the questions was:

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt?”  Job 38:31

You know the Pleiades?  It is a small group of stars often called the Seven Sisters.  Surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly, that grouping of stars is an “open star cluster.”  The stars in an open star cluster are loosely bound to each other by mutual gravitational attraction.  The Pleiades are bound gravitationally.  When God asked Job, “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?”  He had already done it!

On the other hand, the three stars which make up Orion’s belt are part of the Orion OB1 Stellar Association.  “A stellar association is a very loose star cluster, whose stars share a common origin, but have become gravitationally unbound and are still moving together through space.”  God created Orion’s belt as a cluster with a gravitational linkage, but they are no longer bound.  God has “loosened Orion’s belt” Job could never have known that!  Man first discovered stellar associations in 1947.

The heavens declare the glory of God …  Psalm 19:1

As I prepared this message and pondered what to say as well as the Easter celebration in general, God reminded me how I am a captive set free.  I am no longer a slave to the thinking of this world.  I am no longer bound into depression or fear.  I am no longer bound by habitual sin.  I then thought of Ephesians chapter 4.  Verse 8 says,

“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”  Ephesians 4:8

In my mind, I was considering myself no longer a captive of the world, but a captive of Christ.  But, when I studied out the verse a bit more, I find that what Paul wrote in the Greek is a bit unusual.  Because it is so unusual, different translations handle it differently.  Although the style of the King James is archaic, it renders what Paul wrote more literally.

When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  Ephesians 4:8

The NIV translates the double use of the words “captivity captive” as “many captives.”  But consider the meaning behind the literal translation that “he led captivity captive.”  Jesus did not take me a captive to himself as much as he took captivity away.  If captivity is taken captive, then I am set free.  If I come to serve the Lord now, I do it freely because I want to.  I am not compelled to serve by force or fear.  I serve by choice because I love Him.  Jesus considers people who believe in Him as brothers and sisters.  We are made into His family because we are no longer captives because He took captivity captive.

The other thing from this passage that struck me is the phrase “gave gifts to men, or to his people.”  Verse 11-13 says,

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13

I used to think of this verse more that Christ “made some apostles, evangelists, pastors and teacher.”  But that’s not what it says at all.  This passage is about the grace that has been given to each one of us.  It’s not prescriptive that Jesus made some apostles, evangelists, …  Rather, Jesus gave us apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers so that (the body of Christ may be …)

And that is the reason that I share all this.  I want to help us prepare as we take in John chapter 20.  I want you to be prepared not just for the truth that God changed everything at that one moment in history in a kind of academic way.  I don’t want us to think, “Yes, yes, I know all that.  I’ve heard all this before.  If I know the name Jesus, then I’m good.”  What I do want us to consider and be prepared for is that God is changing everything at an individual level when we allow it.  We can move from death to life because of what Jesus has done, what He has accomplished.  We also move into “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” as we allow ourselves to be equipped by those Jesus has given to us to help us, encourage us, and teach us.

Our great God who binds and looses stars, causes kingdoms to rise and fall, places men and women in the time and place specifically designed for them, puts them in the bodies specifically designed and planned and held together by Him, He has set us free not that we may lead lives of dissipation or idleness or even satisfaction with the things of this world.  Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”  (John 6:63)  He set us free that we “might have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10)  What a statement Paul has made!  Through Christ and the ones He has sent to us, we have the chance to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Before we move into John chapter 20, let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, what you have done for us is amazing.  I pray that it would not be far off to us but rather something that we can partake of.  We want to receive your blessings and grow up into fullness in You.  Speak to us now I pray.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”  John 20:1-2

The other gospel accounts recorded that Mary went with other women.  In addition, she uses the pronoun “we” when talking to Peter and John.  Apparently, she is mentioned by John apart from the other women because she was the only one to go running immediately to them.  The phrase “the disciple Jesus loved” is the way that John speaks about himself.  It’s a humble thing where he avoids mentioning his own name.  Mary has no consideration of resurrection at this point, only a stolen body.

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.  Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.  John 20:3-10

There is a lot of looking and seeing going on here.  Greek is an amazing language in many ways with more detail than English.

John looks first.  The Greek word there means to look at something with your eyes.  Simon Peter goes into the tomb and sees the cloth and linen in its place.  The Greek word used for seeing here is to discern or ascertain by seeing.  The body has “evaporated” and left the grave clothes undisturbed where they should be.

Last week, we talked about the quick work of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus made to bury Jesus.  Nicodemus had brought 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes and “Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.”  Jesus’ body was enclosed in a sticky mass of cloths and ointment.  Physically taking the body out of the grave clothes would have left a mess, not an orderly scene of strips and cloths lying in their proper places.

Finally, John comes into the tomb and he “saw” in still another way meaning to see with the mind, to understand.  We would say that he saw the scene and “got it.”  Then, he believed without the supporting evidence of the Old Testament prophecies.  We aren’t given an account of that walk back by Peter and John.  I expect there was hopeful expectation mixed with profound confusion.  If He left the tomb in some miraculous way, where was He now?

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don't know where they have put him.”  John 20:11-13

Mary may be the only person who ever saw an angel and did not fall down or become overwhelmed with fear.  It seems her grief was so strong that even an angel did not impact her.

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:14-16

It’s pretty unrealistic to consider that Mary could actually manage to move the body of a full grown man.  Again, she seems not to be thinking clearly.  She wants only to protect the memory of her Lord.

But everything is explained to Mary by a single word, that of her own name. 

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”  Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.  John 20:17-18

It’s not like Jesus is warning Mary to stay away because she might cause him to become unclean or that He can’t be touched for some reason.  Greek verbs have many more tenses than English.  In this case, the phrase “do not hold on” has the connotation that the action “holding on” is already started and will be stopped.  Mary has already begun holding Jesus, probably in a tight grip, not wanting to every let him out of her sight again.

Jesus calls himself brother to the disciples.  However, He maintains a distinction in the way He speaks of the Father.  He does not say “our Father and our God.”  There is a difference in our relationship to the Father.  Augustine explains Jesus’ thought this way, God is Jesus’ Father by nature.  He is our Father by grace.  The Father is Jesus’ God because he became a man.  He is our God because Jesus is mediator between us.

The simple fact that Jesus appeared to Mary and sent her as the first messenger is another small evidence that this a factual account rather than a hoax.  In the first century, women were regarded as unreliable witnesses.  If John were going to make up a story about a supposed resurrection, he would not have included a women as a witness.  It would have been inconsistent with the culture.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  John 20:19-20

Jesus’ first words to the disciples must have been a relief.  He doesn’t open up on them with a vindictive attitude about their behavior in the garden or during the trial.  He doesn’t lay a guilt trip on them about being no shows at the crucifixion (except for John).  No, he extends to them a greeting of peace.  What a relief.  He shows them that it is really him.  His body bears the wounds of his death.  He is no phantom or ghost.

And yet, the resurrection body is apparently not bounded by physics the way our natural bodies are. How did Jesus get into a locked room?  I don’t know, but here’s another geek side note.  In an atom, how much is empty space?  If I told you that a proton was the size of a pinhead, how far away would the electron be if we were talking about a hydrogen atom?  It would be 50 yards away.  If a proton were the size of a pinhead, the diameter of the hydrogen atom would be 100 yards.  You can fit a trillion protons inside a single hydrogen atom.  Your body is actually a trillion times more empty space than it is substance.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  John 20:21-23 

Jesus gives the disciples a mission:  Continue the work He started.

He tells them to receive the Holy Spirit by breathing on them.  In Genesis 2, it says that God breathed the breath of life into Adam, and he became a living being.  Here is a parallel that Jesus breathes into us the Holy Spirit.

There is forgiveness to those who repent and believe.  There is warning to those who will not repent that they are not forgiven.  This is the message of the church.  The ministry of the church as Jesus lays out here is assurance (extending peace), mission (sending), the Holy Spirit (enabling), and authority (extending/withholding forgiveness).

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  John 20:24-29

According to Jesus, you and I are blessed as we have not seen and yet have believed. Cool.

People often talk about a doubting Thomas, but Thomas is not really a doubter, is he?  He is really an unbeliever.

Jesus repeats back to Thomas his exact demands, and it has a profound effect.  The translation choice to use the word “doubting” is maybe not the best.  The Greek uses the antonym for belief.  Jesus’ words are more like “Do not become unbelieving (apistos) but become believing (pistos).”

Thomas immediately expresses a change in his belief.  He is ready to declare Jesus both “My Lord and my God.”  Jesus accepts this worship, and does not tell Thomas, “You shouldn’t say that about me.”

Coming to belief in Jesus is different for different people.  Some people hear the message once and believe.  Some people hear the message many times and still do not believe.  There is not anything we can do to be saved from our sins, but there is something we can stop doing.  To prepare ourselves to believe in Jesus, we can stop our unbelief.

David Guzik wrote this, “Thomas is a good example in many ways. He refused to say he understood when he didn’t, he refused to pretend to believe when he didn’t. And when he did understand and believe, he went all the way and properly called Jesus Lord and God.”  If you haven’t trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to follow Thomas’ example.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.  John 20:30-31

There is more to the story.  John has only given us a taste of what Jesus has done.  I have another quote from David Guzik.  “One collects everything possible about a dead prophet; it is all one has of him. But one only tells enough of a living person to introduce one’s hearers to him. John trusts that a personal relationship with Jesus will reveal more to the believer.”

That was a cool thought for me.  Why weren’t more of the miracles and acts of Jesus recorded?  They didn’t need to be.  He is alive.  Those who have the Spirit in them know that Jesus is alive in them and working in them and through them.

If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, then he wouldn’t have been who he said he was.  Jesus had to rise from the dead.  He stands at the door of our lives and knocks at each one individually, waiting to change everything.  Each of us gets the choice to accept or reject him.  He has taken captivity captive.  We are free to choose.  There is nothing external to us that can hold us back.  Even if there is something that you would say holds you back, it is your fear of that thing, not the thing itself which holds you back.

 Jesus said,

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life.”  John 6:63

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”  John 11:25-26

We will now take communion.  Communion is a time to remember Jesus’ sacrifice and death.  Paul wrote that “whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” and also,

Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.  I Corinthians 11:28-29

I grew up going to church my whole life, and yet I didn’t believe in Jesus until after I came to Clemson.  I became a Christian, a follower of Christ, in the fall, but I distinctly remember my first Easter after that.  I was home and we were going to have communion at my parents’ church.  I had this verse in my mind leading up to that Easter.  For all the times I had taken communion without discerning the body of Christ, I was deeply sorry.  I had been eating and drinking judgment on myself for years.  I was so thankful for God’s mercy toward me.  The sky didn’t part, nor did a beam of light shine down on me there at the altar.  And yet, God was pleased to have one of his children remembering His Son for what he really had done.  Let us come to the table with thanksgiving for the peace He has brought us by his sacrifice on the cross.  Let us come with confidence and assurance on the proof of his resurrection, Jesus has triumphed over sin and unbelief and changed everything.

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, You have overcome the grave.  We are ecstatic to celebrate Your resurrection.  Thank You that You have taken captivity captive.  Thank You for the freedom to choose You.  Thank You that when we believe in You, we are reconciled and we become children of God.  Praise Your holy Name.  Amen.