[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       John chapter 19, starting in verse 38: “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there” (John 19:38-42, ESV).

       For contemplation before us today is the event which takes place after Jesus has died on the Roman cross, by the excruciating method which the Romans used to execute people, to execute criminal offenders. Indeed, it all took place at the particular spot where they would carry this out, at the Place of the Skull. We remember from last week that Jesus had died earlier than was the norm. By order of the Jews themselves, as the Roman soldiers were checking the bodies of Jesus and the two criminals—those two persons which hung next to him on their own crosses—when they came to Jesus, they saw that he had already died. Thus, the soldier attending the matter did not break his legs, as if to speed up the death process, as the other two men experienced. But rather, the soldier pierced his side. That provided a clear indication, a vivid picture, that he had already died. John wanted to make it clear that there was no doubt about that fact.

       Of all the individuals who could have buried Jesus, it is interesting what we see as the next scenes unfolds. Presumption might have been made that it would be the Eleven remaining disciples of the inner-circle who would come and fulfill the task. However, actually it comes from a prominent man within the Jewish Nation, a man named Joseph of Arimathea. Matthew in his Gospel tells us that he was a wealthy man. Then, we learn from Mark’s Gospel that he was “a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God” (Mark 15:43). And alongside him comes Nicodemus, who we know from John chapter 3 was Pharisee. He had been interested in what Jesus was saying and teaching. Perhaps, maybe perhaps, Nicodemus thought, Jesus had some critical answers to the meaning of life. But back then, at that time, it did not appear that Nicodemus went all in. On the contrary, it would appear that there was some kind of delay. Conceivably at this point, here in John chapter 19, Nicodemus has in fact, believed. John doesn't inform us that he's believed as he tells us that Joseph of Arimathea has believed. So, we really don't know for sure. But perchance, by this point in time, Nicodemus has indeed believed.

       Thus, the task of making sure Jesus is properly buried is carried out. This included the wrapping of his body in linen cloths, and also the ointment of it with spices. Howbeit, an interruption within the whole process of the burial occurs due to the Sabbath day. Of course, Jesus died on a Friday afternoon. Thus, the Sabbath was set to begin at sundown on Friday evening. In that case, there wasn’t a lot of time. It seems that the process was interrupted because Luke records for us that on Sunday morning the women were to return with more spices. Luke states, “On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56, ESV). This very verse is fascinating since the Jewish Law was no longer in effect. Pulling it from memory, we recall the curtain in the Temple had been torn in two when Jesus died. The other Gospel writers said that at least a couple women were present at the burial, and probably more. In that case, Joseph and Nicodemus presumably asked them to come back after the Sabbath to finish the burial process. Besides, they wanted to do it anyway most likely, and doubtless would have done it themselves had not Joseph and Nicodemus stepped in. Of course, they would have needed help. It is beneficial to consider the psychology behind all of this, the mindsets of all these persons involved. They didn’t realize what we now know. They didn’t realize he was going to raise from the dead. In their minds, they were burying their friend for good, a friend they would see some time later when they themselves died, perhaps some twenty, fifty, or seventy years later.

       Of course, as we read, Jesus received a fresh, new tomb. No other bodies resided within this particular tomb, which Johns says was located in a garden. Its selection was made because it “was close at hand.” Time was of essence due to the Sabbath.

       John chapter 20, and verse 1. We are going to see, at least compared to the other Gospel writers, that John still is in fast-forward mode. He kind of moves along at quicker tempo that perhaps even we would like. Verse 1: “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” (ESV).

       Set before us is a very abbreviated version on the events that transpire on Sunday morning, after the Sabbath day. John only mentions one of the women who were coming to the tomb with the spices for the continued anointing. If we were to read Mark’s Gospel, and start at the beginning of chapter 16, we also can understand that there were two other women with Mary Magdalene. The other two were Mary, the mother of James, and Salome. Even in John’s Gospel they have been present. The stone that had been put in front of the tomb or cave, as we might better think of it, is also mentioned for the first time. There's also an absence of drama surrounding the event of the discovering of the body missing at the tomb. Rather, John cuts directly to Mary actually running and telling both Simon Peter and John himself that the body is gone. The other women are also left out. Obviously, the excitement surrounding the whole event as well as perhaps the confusion are displayed. What she must have been thinking can only boggle the mind. It probably was along the lines that she thought and obviously as indicated by the texts, that the body of Jesus was in fact stolen. Unfortunately, this is what the vast majority of Jewish persons believe in our day and age, even in the twenty-first century. It is very sad, a very sad thing. Here was their Messiah, the Savior of the World, whom God sent for them to be cleansed from the sins, and they have rejected him. They are still waiting for another messiah, and that messiah will come. Yet, he will come by the power of Satan himself.

       Speaking of Satan, there is no mention in John’s Gospel, or any of the others, as to what Satan was doing at this point. He had possessed Judas, but after that we don’t know what he was up to. It’s likely by what events took place at the cross, when the sun stopped shining, there was a great earthquake, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, and dead persons came back to life, that he realized he made a grave mistake (no pun intended), that is, a grave mistake from his perspective. Trying to destroy God’s plan he was, and instead, he ended up helping to carry it along. Rather than ruining the hope of the Jewish people, now the Jewish people could indeed have hope, and anyone could have this hope by what Jesus accomplished by lying his life down on the cross. Sin could be rectified in individuals, a way for them to actually fully know God. In light of all this, he was certainly very upset.

       Verse 3: “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. 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” (John 20:3-10, ESV).

       Excitement and yet confusion ensues among Peter and John after hearing what Mary had to tell them. Perhaps excitement that he might really be alive, but perhaps not. Nevertheless, in running toward the tomb, we see that John arrives there first. He doesn’t go into the tomb though, but rather simply peers inside. Fear must have enveloped him—fear of what contrary evidence might present itself, or perhaps the image of a desecrated body that he didn’t want stuck inside his mind. Yet, when Peter arrives, he boldly goes in. The presence of the linen cloths there without any disturbance goes also to show that the body was not stolen. If the body had been stolen, likely either the cloths wouldn’t be there, or they would have been thrown about. Whether Jesus folded them himself or whether an angel folded them up we do not know. But they were there. Once John witnesses Peter’s boldness, he decides to follow suit. In seeing the linen, he himself believed that he had in fact risen from the dead. Admittedly, John confesses that before this time they had not understood that Jesus was to rise from the dead. Of course, on many occasions, Jesus had told them that this would be the case, but they did not believe it. None of them did according to John. At this point, though, rather then thinking that the body was stolen and gone, the choice is made by John to believe that something good has happened. His mind can recall what happened what happened with Lazarus, and now he understands that Jesus himself may have been able to raise himself from the dead.

       Verse 11: “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.” 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.” 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” (ESV).

       In reading this section of Scripture, it would appear that some time has passed between the last scene in which Peter and John ran to the tomb to this scene, in which Mary Magdalene is standing outside of the tomb. Apparently, there was no interaction between them as Mary does not know yet that Jesus has risen from the dead. Clearly she is very upset as she knows that the body is gone. And, she thinks somebody has come and stolen it. Thus, peering into the tomb she sees the two angels clothed in white. The text does not record whether she realized they were angels or not. This may be an indicator of how distraught she was at the scene. Maybe she understood they were angels and maybe she did not. In the midst of talking with them, she turns around and sees a man standing there. Yet, there is no realization of who it actually is. In thinking about it, it would seem the most probable cause for this is that Jesus supernaturally prevented her from recognizing him, as he did with the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus in Luke’s Gospel. The aspect also exists as well that he would have been in a much healthier condition at this point than he was just a day and a half prior when he was executed. As a matter of fact, John records that Mary supposed that the man was the gardener. Later when she will recount it (not recorded in this book), she told that to John and thus it has been recorded for us.

       Anyhow, the moment dawns on Mary that it is in fact Jesus outside the tomb when he speaks to her and she hears her own name from his voice. We can recall the importance of this in what Jesus had told his disciples back in John chapter 10. There, he said in verse 3, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name” (ESV). Obviously, she was dramatically startled at the whole thing and wanted to hug him, as one would expect even in our day and age. For whatever the reason, however, Jesus says that she ought not do that because he hasn't returned back to God yet. Speculation there is has been among theologians on what this might mean, especially since in verse 27 of this same chapter, Jesus is going to say that Thomas can in fact touch him. So, perhaps Jesus returned to the Father between this scene and the seen with Thomas and the other disciples. Or possibly there's some other explanation and we just aren't sure what that explanation is. But a couple things can be noted in what Jesus says to her. For one, he says that the disciples are now his “brothers.” Up and to this point, in John's Gospel, he had not referred to the disciples as brothers. This will become the common name used during The Church Age. And he also acknowledges that their God is, in fact, his God—that they have the One and same God. Being overwhelmingly excited about all of this Mary, obviously, returns and tells The Eleven disciples what had happened. Unfortunately, John does not record what their reaction is to the whole thing.

       Verse 19: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (ESV).

       Now John moves to a scene wherein Jesus appears to the disciples, though not the entirety of the Eleven. A little strange it is as the way this section was written seems to downplay the excitement or joy that would have been experienced by them. It seems more ‘matter of fact.’ This might be due to the fact that John thinks his listeners or readers are already familiar with the other Gospels. Nevertheless, the doors being locked shows that the disciples were full of fear. Full of fear. Likely they thought what had happened to Jesus was soon going to happen to them. Wouldn’t the Jewish leaders wish to rid the earth of the whole thing—the whole movement—and take out the disciples as well? Thomas wasn’t present, for he, being in the manner he was, was probably in a bunker somewhere. Yet, while the scene can seem humorous, it also shows the state of their hearts that they were fearing for their own lives, and still didn’t have their minds on the things which are above. They weren’t following what Jesus said when he said, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do” (Luke 12:4, ESV). Also recorded in Luke’s Gospel was the fact that when Jesus appeared, the disciples thought he was a ghost. Mark adds for us, “Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart” (Mark 16:14, ESV). Thus, even though John doesn’t mention it, Jesus apparently wasn’t happy with the whole locked doors thing.

       Nevertheless, John shifts the focus to what Jesus tells the disciples. Again, likely we are in an abbreviated mode, where John is fast-forwarding through things. Jesus tells the disciples, as he does in the other three Gospels, that they are going to be placed on mission, just as he had been on mission during his earthly ministry. Of course, no specifics are mentioned as to what that mission is going to be, and again, that might be because it is already recorded in the other Gospels. As far as Jesus breathing on the disciples and saying to “Receive the Holy Spirit,” we just don’t know for sure what was going on. Perhaps he was telling them they were going to receive the Spirit in the future, like they did in Acts 2. Or, feasibly, John is in super fast-forward mode and actually recording, out of sequence if you will, what Jesus does do in Acts 2. It’s just hard to say for sure. We are aware it’s at that point, in Acts, that they will receive the Holy Spirit and not any time before that. As far as the forgiveness of sins statement goes, it obviously wouldn’t be that Jesus is telling people they can freely choose whether they desire to forgive another person or not. That would contradict other things he said, as well as things written in the epistles. Since it is coupled with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, it’s likely this has to do with the message that the disciples are going to share. With that in focus, it would mean that the disciples offer forgiveness to all they share their message with, and for those who do not receive their message, those folks stand condemned. It would be something along those lines. But it would not be the authority of a minister to forgive sins either, as if there was an earthly person that acts as a mediator between us and God (outside of Jesus). That belief is practiced by some Christians today, like certain Lutheran brothers and sisters, but it seems that we ought not hold to that belief.

       Verse 24: “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (ESV).

       An aside story about Thomas is presented before us, and we are all familiar with Thomas. Really, if there was ever a case study with a pessimist, Thomas would be the one to study. Thomas was the ultimate pessimist (though the other disciples probably weren’t much better). He definitely was not the optimist. Even though the disciples report to Thomas that Jesus has indeed appeared to them, he will not believe it. Rather, likely going through his mind is the idea or fear that he himself is about to be crucified just like Jesus was. The whole thing fit Thomas’ narrative. Jesus, their leader, was captured and crucified. “Go figure,” he probably thought, “anything good doesn’t last for long!” And, he likely figured it was only a matter of time before the Jewish leaders would figure out where he was and capture him, and do the same to him. The good news is that Thomas wasn’t completely hardened of heart. There was some softness in there. No doubt we can think of individuals we ourselves are acquainted with who are completely hardened of heart, or, at least, close to it. We really don’t know for sure where they stand. We simply just know that it doesn’t seem anything will penetrate, and nothing seems to get through to them. A fixed focus, they have, on the evil of the world, and cannot seem to get past that. Hopefully one of the goals of our lives, if we are a pessimist and a Christian, is to become more and more optimistic. In contrast, Jesus himself, truth be told, was an optimist. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the time to appear here to Thomas in the first place. The setting in the mind of optimism does appear to be the setting that God wants us hovering at.

       Thus comes the appearing eight days after Jesus appeared to the disciples on Sunday evening. So we are on the following Monday. This time Jesus appears and Thomas is present. Notice that even after Jesus had appeared to the Eleven eight days before that they still have those doors locked. They are still fearing the possibility that perhaps, just perhaps the Jews will decide to take them out as well. Want to be ever so cautious, just like a lot of us would be (and in fact are). Nevertheless, in what Jesus says to Thomas, it shows that God hears what we say out loud. Jesus had heard what Thomas had said to the disciples. And, he takes him up on what he said. He offers to give him what he wants, even though it wasn’t the most faith-filled of requests. Jesus wants Thomas to believe, no matter what it takes. Thankfully, Thomas does indeed believe when he sees the wounds which are still present. Perhaps if Jesus hasn’t returned to the Father yet, perhaps this was one of the reasons, so that Thomas could see the wounds still afresh. Or, perhaps Jesus had requested of the Father that he be allowed to touch the wounds even though Mary Magdalene had not been allowed to touch him. It would appear that the Father had granted the request. Whatever the case, it shows Jesus’ great love for Thomas who was having trouble believing. It is fair to say that most of us today have never seen much at all, at least like these disciples did, and we have believed. This is what God wants. Paul will later tell us that signs are for the Jews, and God doesn’t want to have to give us ‘signs’ so that we will believe. Yet, he will do that if that’s what it takes.

       Verse 30: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (ESV).

       The truth is spilled by John that he hasn’t written everything down that could have been written. Indeed, Jesus accomplished more than he has written, and we partly know that to be true because we have the other Gospels which, at times, show more of what Jesus had done and said that John didn’t record. So we already recognize that’s true, and yet we aren’t aware of what further was done besides those things. Anyway, what John has written here for us, and for everyone who will read, is a grand display of Jesus’ power, the power of God working through him. All that is needed is presented, and it provides the opportunity for any person out there to believe. All that one needs for life, really, at the end of the day, is presented here. This book holds the key and meaning to life, and because of what Christ accomplished by his death, burial, and resurrection, anyone can have that life if one so chooses.

- Daniel Litton