This transcript of a Sermon on John 20:1-31 has been lightly edited.
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If you have your Bibles, please take them and turn with me to the Gospel of John. The other night at our Good Friday service, we read John’s account of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, and today we will look at John’s account of the resurrection of Jesus as well. And so now follow along as I begin reading in John chapter 20, beginning in 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. 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.
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.
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, 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. Now Thomas, one of the 12 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, put your hand, 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. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his 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.”
Let’s pray. Father God, we do thank you for these words, which are inspired by you, which are preserved by the spirit and that reveal to us the glory of Christ. Show us the life that is in these words. Change us by the power of your spirit. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
So for the last 30 years or so, there has been a movement in our culture away from the church. Estimates are that since 1990, close to 40 million people have left the church and they’ve done so for various reasons. But within the last 10 years or so, there’s been a movement of people that have left the church and have lived that process out on social media and they call this the process of deconstruction.
They have a doubt that creeps into their mind. Maybe they’re doubting the integrity of a denomination or maybe they’re doubting the words of Scripture, but they let that doubt get into their mind and then it takes root and they feed that doubt and they live out this process of leaving the church live on social media so everybody can follow along.
In reality, this process of deconstruction is nothing new. As we study the book of Judges moving forward from here, we will see that the Israelites doubted God’s goodness and then turned their backs upon God, bringing his judgment upon themselves. Even in the early church, there were wrestlings with what do we do with people who have professed faith and yet have walked away because of the doubts or the hurts that have happened in their life. Apostasy is nothing new.
It is rooted in the church because oftentimes in the life of the church, in the life of the Christian, doubts creep in. I will tell you that doubt is part of life. Doubt is part of the Christian life, but what do we do with those doubts when they come to us? Well, today we are going to consider John’s account of the resurrection and we’re going to look at Mary and some of her doubts and how she dealt with them. We’re going to look at Peter and John and the rest of the disciples minus Thomas and then we’ll consider Thomas and his doubts and then what can we do with doubts in our lives when they come in. And I hope that we will see that we can trust God with our doubts. We can trust God with those places where we’re just not sure and that he has given us a way to handle those doubts.
MARY MAGDALENE’S DOUBT AND BELIEF
So first, Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus. She was someone who had spent time listening to Jesus’ teaching.
She was one of the women who had followed along from time to time with Jesus as he traveled around, possibly supporting Jesus in his ministry. And she, according to John, is one of the first ones to show up at the temple.
Now, we know from the other gospels that she was not alone. There were other women that were with her and they were there to finish a job they could not finish on Good Friday because the Sabbath was getting ready to come in. All they could do was bury Jesus. They could not finish that process of anointing him and cleaning him and preparing him for his time in the grave. So Mary and these women were showing up to do that very thing.
But John focuses on Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene had been healed by Jesus. He had removed demons from her and she had a very close relationship with Jesus and the disciples. And she gets to the tomb and finds it empty. Now, what’s Mary’s first thought when she finds the tomb empty? Well, John tells us, “Somebody has taken the body of my Lord.”
Now, why do I say this is an instance of doubt? Well, Jesus had taught Mary and the disciples that it was necessary for him to die, but also that after a period of time he would raise from the dead. And so everybody that we’re going to look at in this particular account today had heard these words from Jesus several times.
Sometimes it came in direct teaching. Other times it came through parable, like when he said, tear down this temple. And the gospel authors tell us that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body. Tear down this temple and I will build it again in three days. And yet Mary’s very first thought as she comes to the tomb is to say they have taken the body of my Lord.
Now, the next thing she does is she runs and she talks to the disciples, maybe hoping to find comfort from them, maybe hoping to be reminded of Jesus’ promises by them. And we’ll look to their response here in a little bit. But she goes thinking that Jesus’ body has been stolen.
She comes back to the tomb and she enters the tomb again, looking, checking once more, and she sees two angels. And she says that she after being asked, “Why are you weeping?” She says again, “They’ve taken the body of my Lord.”
And we know from the other gospels that they respond to her. They tell her and the other women that Jesus has been raised from the dead. And so they should not weep.
But she leaves the tomb, seeing a man in the garden. And once again, having heard the teaching of Jesus, she does not, still does not see Jesus standing there until he calls her by name. And then having seen Jesus, having heard Jesus, having been spoken to by Jesus, she goes back to the disciples and she says, “I have seen the risen Lord.”
And so Mary starts with doubt, and yet that doubt is turned to belief.
THE DISCIPLES’ DOUBT TURNED TO BELIEF
Next, we come to the disciples. And the account of the disciples happens in three different stages. And each of these stages is marked by doubt that turns to belief.
In the first stage of this, we have Peter and John. And you have to love John here. John is the disciple whom Jesus loves. That’s how he refers to himself throughout the gospel. And he makes it a point to make sure that we know even 2,000 years later who won the race to the tomb.
They both ran, they heard Mary’s words, and they run to the tomb. Peter takes off, John passes him, but John gets there first. But what does John do? He kind of hangs around outside. It’s almost like he doesn’t want complete confirmation that the body of Jesus has gone because he’s not quite sure what to think.
But Peter goes on in. He sees the empty tomb. He sees the grave clothes folded up. John follows him in. And it tells us here in verse 9 that Peter and John did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. They doubt it. They doubted the truth of what even their eyes were showing them.
The next stage is all the apostles, all the disciples except for Thomas. Later that day, they’re all gathered. They’re in a room. They’re locked in there because they’re fearful that the same thing that happened to Jesus will happen to them next. And then suddenly, Jesus is in the room with them, speaking peace to them. And it is at this moment that the disciples get it. The disciples see and believe.
Jesus proclaims peace upon them twice. Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit in a way that sets them apart for the office of apostleship. And then he leaves them once again.
But what happens after he leaves? Thomas comes. Thomas was absent. And this is the third stage of the disciples’ doubt and belief. Thomas comes to them and they’re all excited and they say to Thomas, we have seen the resurrected Lord.
Now, does Thomas believe his friends? Absolutely not. He says, unless I see him within my own eyes, unless I touch the scars on his hands and his side, and unless I have physical confirmation of the truth of these things, I am not going to believe.
And Jesus leaves Thomas in that doubt for a period of eight days, we’re told. So eight days later, Jesus comes back to the disciples and he speaks peace to them once again. And then he looks specifically at Thomas and he says, “Touch my hands, touch my side. All the physical evidence that you wanted, that I am still alive is right here. Quit your doubting and start believing.” And Thomas answers him and says, “My Lord and my God.”
And Jesus says this to Thomas, he says, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
And after these three accounts of doubt and belief, that is when John chooses to reveal to us what the purpose of his book is.
“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.”
THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY
You and I are those who are called to believe in the resurrection without seeing the resurrection, but we’re not called to believe blindly. John and the gospel writers wrote down for us the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, so that we might have what is necessary for us to believe, so that we might have our doubts answered about what is true and what is necessary for life. But we live in a skeptical age, do we not? We live in an age that’s very much like Thomas.
I am not going to believe anything unless I see it. I am going to doubt the truth of Christianity, the truth of what is revealed in the gospels, because those things just can’t happen, can they? Well, brothers and sisters, I tell you that one of the reasons that Mary and the other women and the disciples doubted was because resurrections were just as rare 2,000 years ago as they are today. And yet John wrote down for us these things so that we might believe.
Now, there are a lot of things that we doubt in our world. Christianity is one of the things that our culture doubts on a large scale, but typically our culture doubts Christianity for the wrong reasons. Our culture doubts Christianity because they don’t like the things that Christianity says about how we want to live our lives.
We don’t like what the Bible teaches about life and abortion. We don’t like what the Bible teaches about marriage and sexuality. We don’t like what the Bible teaches about whatever it is that we want to do that the Bible tells us we shouldn’t do.
But I would tell you that that’s the wrong reason to weigh and to doubt Christianity. Yes, Christianity makes claims and calls to holiness, but Christianity also makes historical claims. The Gospels, the letters of Paul, make historical claims specifically about the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Those are the heart of Christianity. Those are the important things to weigh and to decide whether you believe or disbelieve. And here is why.
If we were to continue to read the rest of 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse one and all the way to the end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul lays out what is the most important thing for people to know and to believe about Christianity. It is that Jesus died according to the scriptures for the sins of those who would believe. It was that Jesus was really dead and laid in the grave for three days. And it was that Jesus rose from the dead, and that is a historical fact.
Paul goes on to say, look at your life. Look at those calls to holiness in the scripture. If Jesus did not raise from the dead, don’t worry about those things. Don’t sweat those things because one of two things is true.
If Jesus did not raise from the dead, either we are still in our sins, guilty before God and pursuing holiness doesn’t matter because we can’t be holy enough to please God on our own, or God doesn’t exist and holiness doesn’t matter anyway. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.
And then Paul brings the Corinthian Christians and he brings us today back to the truth that we have to make a decision in our lives as to whether or not the resurrection is true or if it’s false. If it’s false, go be warm and well-fed and prosper the best you can.
If it’s true, you then have to make a decision. Is it my only comfort in life and in death or is it something I reject? If you believe the resurrection is false or you believe it’s true and you choose to reject it, I would encourage you to face your doubts with the scripture. Look at the gospel accounts.
Look at what Jesus claims in the gospel accounts. Consider Paul’s letter, specifically 1 Corinthians 15 and his defense of the resurrection. Look at the history of the church and the people who died and gave their lives or changed their lives because of the truth of the resurrection and weigh for yourself whether or not it’s worth believing.
And if it is, I would encourage you to believe and to find a church that you can join with that will proclaim the truth that Jesus has lived, Jesus has died, and Jesus has risen again.
CONCLUSION
But what about those of us that do claim belief and yet still struggle with doubt? As I mentioned before, doubt is a part of the Christian life. Whether you look at the psalmist Asaph in Psalm 73 where he looks at the teaching of God that God says, I will punish the wicked and reward the righteous, and he looks out upon the world and he sees a whole bunch of wicked people prospering and a whole bunch of righteous people suffering.
And it’s not until God opens his eyes to see the glory of the truth that there is something beyond this world that is better than the rewards and the sufferings of this earth. And it is there that the wicked will be punished and it is there that the righteous will be rewarded.
Or whether you’re just walking through life, maybe suffering with something for a long period of time, and you’re saying to yourself, “Is God good?”
How do we deal with those doubts? Well, I think how we typically deal with those doubts in our culture is we feed the doubts and starve the truth.
We need to flip that on its head and begin to starve the doubts and feed the truth. Or as Tim Keller says, we need to begin to doubt our doubts. What do I mean by that? If you’re married, have you ever, I don’t know, doubted your spouse in something? What happens if you have this moment of irrational doubt about your spouse, and then you just start thinking of all those times, whether it was big times or little times, that that spouse let you down? What do you think would happen? Well, ultimately, you’d turn your back on your spouse, wouldn’t you? Because all you can think about is how horrible they are.
But what if instead of that, when it comes to that doubt about your spouse, you look at them and you say, you know what? She stuck with me for 31 and a half years. You know what? He comes through for me in little things that I don’t often think about, that we feed those areas where we’re thinking good about that person.
We need to begin to do the same thing with God when those doubts creep into our hearts, into our lives. What do I mean about that? Well, maybe if you’ve been suffering for a long time and you’re beginning to doubt the goodness of God, remember those times where he’s been especially good to you. Remember your salvation. Remember the blessings that you have in your life.
Remember the promises that he has kept both in his word and in his life. And like Asaph, go to God with those doubts, express them to him and ask the Holy Spirit to feed your faith rather than your doubts. Brothers and sisters, our hope, our comfort is in the death and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
That is the heart of what we believe. That is the heart of the glory that awaits.
Let’s pray. Father God above, we do thank you so much for the glory of the resurrection and we ask that you would speak your truth, your grace, your mercy and your goodness into our hearts. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
As we go this week, we leave with a blessing and this is a blessing that reminds us that it is the same power that has raised our Lord from the dead. It is that power that equips us for the holiness that God calls us to.
“Now may the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever.”
He who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming soon.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
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