Joy and Hope in the Risen Jesus

Alright, well, good morning to you all. Connecting with the risen Jesus, life in light of the resurrection. That's what we're looking at this week, our focus. As I mentioned last night, oftentimes our thinking about the benefits of Christ and our practical theology tend to stop at the crucifixion of Christ. That's what we tend to focus on and all the benefits that we can glean from the crucifixion of Christ. And I mentioned how that's a really good thing to do, to focus on the crucifixion of Christ and the joy and comfort and hope that come from Jesus' cross work for us.

But I also said that the gospel doesn't stop there. Jesus is alive. He's risen from the dead. And we're going to look at the resurrection of Jesus as John presents it in his gospel. And I remember just telling Pastor Snyder on Sunday night how much of an enjoyment it is to preach through the gospel accounts.

Because you get to preach passages with Jesus in them. Now, that's not to say that Jesus isn't in any portion of the Scriptures. He's everywhere. All the Word of God speaks of Jesus. But when you preach the Gospels, when you're reading the Gospels, you get to see and hear Jesus interacting with people. People like you and me. And I mentioned that last night. We're going to look at how Jesus interacts with us as His people by seeing how He interacts with His people in the Gospel. of John. We can connect with him then in more intimate ways.

And so this morning we'll begin our time in the Gospel of John, Chapter 20. And though we want to focus on the risen Jesus this week, we actually begin here with a passage in which Jesus seems to be missing. He seems to be missing. But we'll begin by looking at the empty tomb. So turn with me in your copies of God's Word to John, Chapter 20, verses 1 Here now the reading of God's holy and inspired Word.

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he stooping down and looking in saw the linen cloths lying there yet did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead, Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. Our Lord in heaven, bless the reading and the preaching of your word to us today. Help us to see the risen Jesus Christ and have joy and hope in him. Use this jar of clay for your glory's sake. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.

Well, we come to a point here in the Gospel where the disciples do not have yet in their minds and hearts the comfort and hope and peace that flow from even the crucifixion of Christ. They only see and only experience the sadness and the grief of the death of their beloved friend. You and I can look at the crucifixion and rejoice because we know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus has died but has risen. We know what He has accomplished on the cross and also what He has accomplished in His resurrection from the dead. But His disciples don't see that. They don't know that yet.

They're still reeling from the death of their dear friend, and they're completely depressed and downtrodden. They're downcast and discouraged. A whole day they mourn together over the Sabbath, a day that was supposed to be a day of rest for them, a day of focusing on the Lord. They spend mourning and weeping and crying over the death of their beloved friend. But now a new day dawns and something remarkable is about to occur in their lives.

But the reason they continue to be downcast and discouraged and defeated is because they have not yet seen the resurrected Jesus. And it's only after they see and believe the truth that Jesus is risen from the dead that their countenances change, their hearts are lifted up, and their whole lives, in fact, are changed. Their hearts and lives are filled with hope and joy, but it's not until they see and believe Jesus risen from the dead. And so already we see how vital and important the resurrection of Christ is to our faith and to our lives, and lives lived with joy and hope. Without the reality of the risen Christ before our eyes, even the crucifixion of our Christ is not seen.

And as we think of our own lives, The times when we feel very discouraged and defeated by the things that happen in this life or happen to us in this life for one reason or another, it's perhaps because we don't have a full-orbed picture or full-orbed reality of the resurrection of Jesus before our eyes. And could it be the reason we find ourselves so downcast? so despairing and discouraged and defeated is because we've lost sight of the truth that Jesus, our Savior, has risen from the dead and is reigning on high as King. Now, this isn't something we've intentionally done. We don't intentionally try to put Jesus out of our minds, but oftentimes the difficult and painful and traumatic circumstances we experience in this life can can eclipse and kind of cloud out the reality of Christ's resurrection from our minds as if it hasn't happened. I mean, we believe it to be true. If anybody asked us, did Jesus rise from the dead? We'd say, oh yes, of course. We believe it to be true. We would never deny the resurrection, but how much do you and I think and reflect upon the fact that Jesus is risen and reigning as king?

If that permeated our hearts and our minds, how would that impact our day-to-day lives? How would that bring us up from the miry pit of our own lives when we're so depressed and discouraged? The hearts and lives of the disciples are filled with hope and joy when they saw and reflected on the resurrected Jesus Christ. And I believe the same thing is true for you and me. The more and more we reflect upon it, the more and more joy and hope we'll have in this life.

And that's my hope for us today as we look at this simple passage of the empty tomb. To focus on the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead and to desire a deeper understanding of it and recognize that we can have hope and joy in our lives because Jesus is alive. So let's first look at the first part of this passage, verses one and two, and what we find there is the tragedy of the empty tomb. Take a look at those verses again.

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, that's John, and said to them, they've taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. So Mary Magdalene gets up on the first day of the week to go to the tomb where Jesus was buried.

And John tells us it's the first day of the week. This is Sunday. The seventh or the last day of the week would have been Saturday, but now a new week has come. It's the first day of the week. It is Sunday, and this is why we worship on Sunday, because that's the day that Jesus was risen from the dead.

And so Mary Magdalene, she's heading to this tomb early in the morning, and we learn from the other gospel accounts that she actually wasn't alone. There were some other women who were with her. We have Mary, the mother of James the Less, Salome, the mother of James and John, and Joanna as well, all going to the tomb in the morning. But John focuses on Mary Magdalene because she seems to be the one who is particularly devoted to Jesus Christ. She's the one who was forgiven much and has much love to give in return for Jesus.

And so they head to the tomb in the morning in an attempt to bring some spices and herbs to Jesus to put on His body. And they might be doing this simply out of an act of love, like we would go to a loved one's gravesite and put some flowers down in remembrance or as an act of love for the one who has passed.

But more than likely, they're going to the tomb because the day that Jesus was removed from the cross, it was rather late in the day. And Joseph and Nicodemus didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare the body and bury it before the Sabbath day came. And so maybe in their minds, these women's minds, they're thinking that the job wasn't done enough. They didn't do a sufficient work for Jesus than they would want to do.

And so they want to add more fragrant spices and oils to finish the job as well as they want it to be. And so these women, out of their great love for Jesus, didn't want to remain home mourning in grief. They had to do something. And so they get up and they go to anoint Jesus' body with even more fragrant spices and oils. And as they're walking there, perhaps they're talking together.

How do you think we're going to get this tomb open? How do you think we're going to move the stone out of the way? I don't know. I don't know how we're going to do it. Well, maybe we can ask the soldiers to open it up for us. No, they probably won't do that for us. Well, maybe we can just leave the spices and oils there at the gravesite.

But they had to do something. They didn't want to just stay home and grief and mourn and cry. But as they approach the tomb, they notice something strange, that the soldiers are gone. The stone that was over the tomb has been moved away. And it wasn't just rolled away, but it was thrown away. We learn from the other gospel accounts that there was an earthquake. There was a seismic event that moved the stone out of the way, and this catches them off guard. Something interesting about the fact that this stone is moved away is that it didn't really need to be moved out of the way for Jesus to rise from the dead, did it?

Did it have to be moved? No, it didn't have to be moved. When you think about the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ, he didn't need a door to get into the room where the disciples were after he was raised, did he? He could move through walls, walk through walls, appear and disappear whenever and wherever he wanted to. He didn't need the stone to be moved away. It wasn't necessary for him to get out of the tomb. And so why was it moved?

I think it serves a declaring function for Jesus Christ. As the heavens declare the glory of God, the open, empty tomb declares the glory of the resurrected Messiah. It declares, first of all, the defeated nature of the grave and death. Death and the grave could not hold the Lord of glory.

He would be risen from the dead, and so will you who trust in Him. But secondly, the open tomb declares a witness that Jesus is indeed alive. There wasn't a closed tomb for people to say, well, he's probably still in there. It's likely he's still in there. No, the open tomb declares the grave no longer holds Jesus. He is indeed alive.

It was open for Peter and John to arrive on the scene and see that the Lord was no longer there. And so they see this stone rolled away, but they don't yet have that glorious picture in their minds of Jesus risen from the dead. The first thing that comes to their mind is, oh no, the grave of Jesus has been plundered. Greater pain heaped on top of an already tragic experience of Jesus being put to death. Maybe the Jews convinced Pilate to have the guards open up the tomb so they could take Jesus' body out and defile it all the more. What have they done with Jesus' body?

And as the other women, they continue on to go to the tomb and end up meeting angelic beings, Mary Magdalene, she runs away. She doesn't see the angels immediately. She runs away to go find Peter and John, and she cries, what have they done with our Lord? The stone is rolled away. His body is gone. We don't know what they have done with Him. Another tragic event in Mary's life. And it's tragic because she doesn't know where Jesus is. She doesn't know the end of the story. But as we look at it, we know what happens next, don't we? We can look at it from a third-person perspective, almost from God's perspective, right? Knowing the beginning, the middle, and the end of this situation.

And we know that joy is about to fill her heart, no matter how much grief she is in right now. No matter how much despair and how broken she is right now, we know that joy is going to flood into her heart. No matter how much she grieves and mourns and is weeping.

And friends, we need to remember this because whenever we're in difficult circumstances, and tragic things come into our lives. We tend to become so self-focused, so myopic in our vision, and life can become so clouded and dark that we can't even see what's in front of us. And we oftentimes forget even what's going on behind us, all the good and gracious things that the Lord has done for us before. And what you and I need to do is take a step back and look at things from God's perspective in the Word.

To remember that there is a sovereign Lord in heaven who is working all things together for His glory, according to the counsel of His will, and at the same time, He's working all things together for your good. Our Lord is so gracious that He has woven those two things together. The pursuit of His glory and the pursuit of your good. And the same passion with which He pursues His glory is the same passion with which He pursues your good. He's yoked those things together and separate.

And we need to remember that. We need to see that. And if we could speak to Mary in this moment, we would say, hold on Mary. Something glorious is coming. Something good is coming and what you need to do, what I need to do in our difficult circumstances, our hard times in our lives, is to remember that God is in control. He's raised Jesus Christ from the dead and you know this now. You know the end of the story. He's working your circumstances out for your good. Something glorious is coming. Something good is coming and whether He lets you understand that now or in eternity, it must be so. Because Jesus is alive and working all things together for your good.

But at this point, Mary can't see that. And she tells Peter and John that they've taken away the Lord's body and we do not know where they have laid Him. And Peter and John respond in verse 3 and following, and we see this rush to the empty tomb. Take a look at verses 3 through 8.

Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. And they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. And Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. And the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed. So Peter and John, they go out and they run to the tomb trying to get there to find out what Mary's talking about. What happened to the tomb of Jesus? What's going on? And they run to the tomb and John tells us that he gets there first.

And when he gets there, he stoops down and he looks inside. And the reason he has to do this is because in the Middle East, tombs were often above ground, but they were cut very low to the ground into a hillside. They would kind of open up inside, but the opening was rather low to the ground. And they did this partly to save space, but also they recognized that you don't need a big opening for people to come in and out of, because people don't generally come in and out of tombs, right? You put somebody in and they're supposed to stay in the tomb.

And so he has to look down to see inside, to see what is going on. John runs up, he looks inside, sees the linen cloth still there, but no body. And John says he gets there first. He points that out twice, actually. It's kind of funny. Maybe as an old man, he's writing this and he's reminiscing about that event. maybe conversations he had with Peter after the fact.

Peter, you remember that resurrection morning when we found the empty tomb, we saw the empty grave? Oh yeah, John, what a morning. That was so amazing, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah it was, Peter. Remember how I got there first? I beat you. I outran you. Oh, yeah, yeah, you did. You got there first. But you remember, I went in first. I got into the tomb first. He said, yeah, you did. You did, Peter. I remember, I believed first.

I'm one-upping his friend another time there. Perhaps he thought of those fond memories with Peter. Now gone, John in his old age, thinking of his beloved friend It's funny that John records that for us. J.C. Ryle offers some helpful commentary on this little tidbit that John records here for us.

He makes the observation that there are widely different temperaments in different believers. And you can see that play out here in the way that Peter and John approach the tomb. They approach the same thing. And he says this, he says, we are told that they both ran to the sepulcher, the tomb, but John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, outran Peter and reached the empty grave first. Then comes out the difference between the two men.

John of the two, more gentle, quiet, tender, reserved, retiring, deep feeling, stooped down and looked in but went no further. Peter, more hot and zealous and impulsive and fervent and forward, could not be content without going down into the sepulcher and actually seeing with his own eyes. Both, we may be sure, were deeply attached to our Lord. The hearts of both at this critical juncture were full of hopes and fears and anxieties and expectations all tangled up together.

Yet each behaves in his own characteristic fashion. Let us learn from this, Ryle says, from the case before us to make allowance for the wide varieties in the inward character of believers. To do so will save us much trouble in the journey of life and prevent many an uncharitable thought Let us not judge brethren harshly and set them down in a low place because they do not see or feel things exactly as we see and feel and because they do not affect or strike them just as they affect and strike us. The flowers in the Lord's garden are not of one color and of one scent, though they are all planted by one spirit. The subjects of His kingdom are not all exactly of one tone and temperament, but they all love the same Savior and are all written in the same book of life.

The church of Christ has some in its ranks who are like Peter and some who are like John, but a place for them all and a work for them all to do. Let us love all who love Christ in sincerity and thank God that they love Him at all. The great thing is to love Jesus Christ. What an interesting insight Mariah pulls out from that simple observation that Peter, that John got to the tomb first and outran Peter. But Peter pushes him out of the way and dives right in. Different temperaments, but they both love Jesus Christ.

And so as you interact with one another, As you go throughout this life and work or school or ministry, you might do things differently. You might think about things differently, or you might approach things very differently. But that doesn't mean that you do not love Jesus just as sincerely as someone else does who's doing something and approaching something very differently than you are. You need to be gracious with one another and forgiving one another, not holding one another in contempt or scorn because they don't do things or feel things the way you do or because they're acting out their God-given personalities for the sake of the kingdom of God.

You would want the same grace and mercy from them as you should show toward them. So let's remember to love Christ, that that's foremost. And we can praise Him that we all do love Him in sincerity. That's a good lesson to learn, especially early in life. It'll save you a whole lot of trouble as you get older. And maybe you're experiencing the differences in personalities even now as you grow. And maybe as you get older and find someone to marry, you'll learn that people are different. And you need to be patient and allow love to think the best.

But Simon and Peter, they both finally come to the tomb, they see the fact that Jesus is no longer there, and it's here that we see the joy and hope of the empty tomb, or to put it another way, the joy and hope of the risen Jesus. We learn here in verse 9, John tells us that up to this point they had not yet believed or understood the scriptures that Christ was to be risen from the dead. They heard Jesus say it, but they didn't understand it. They didn't fully know what it meant, and therefore it didn't change their lives until they saw the evidence of it. And so they're still in this very depressed and confused and discouraged mentality. And yet John tells us something here in this passage about them seeing what has occurred, something that we don't really understand or get to see in our English translations.

He records the word saw three times in these short few verses here. He says in verse five, and he stooped down and looked in and saw the linen cloths lying there and yet he did not go in. Then in verse six, Peter went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there. Then verse eight, the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed.

What we see John recording for us here, doing for us here with these three saws, is actually a progression and further understanding of the truth and reality that Jesus is indeed alive. And it's because of the different saws that John records. The first saw, as John records it for us in verse 5, is a simple glance in the Greek language.

John uses it as a brief look, a brief glance, nothing more. John looked inside, he saw, yep, Jesus isn't there. The clothes are there, but Jesus is not there. But then he tells us that Peter goes in and he saw the linen cloths lying there, a different Greek word.

A Greek word meaning looking more intently into what is going on, maybe even picking up the cloths, touching them to see what has gone on here, and so it's not so much of an, oh wow, he's not here, it's an, oh wow, he's not here. And then the third saw that John records for us in verse eight is an altogether other Greek word that John uses, and it's a saw that can include a complete understanding of what has occurred, especially because he's linked it with this word for believe. And so it's not just a seeing it, but it's a seeing it, it's a perceiving it, and then a grasping of it, the implications of it all. And so you have this progression from a quick glance to a further investigation to a true grasping of the implications of what has occurred.

And John says it was at that point that he believed. And friends, this gets to how a true recognition of Jesus' resurrection impacts our lives. We have to intentionally pursue a deep understanding and reflection upon Jesus and His resurrection if we're going to overcome the troubling experiences of life that tend to cloud out the joy of the risen Jesus. A friend, Dr. David Whitler from the seminary, whenever talking about how we as believers come to experience the joy in Christian life, he says it comes through experiencing Jesus. in the means of grace, through the reading and preaching of God's word, through the sacraments, through prayer. And he says it's not simply enough to know where Jesus is and where joy is to be found, but you actually have to engage in them to experience Jesus, to experience the benefits of those means of grace.

And he says it's like coming into the house on a cold, blustery winter evening. And I know that's like the furthest thing from your mind right now, because it's going to be, what, 97 degrees today. It's going to be hot today. But he says it's like coming in on a cold, frigid, wintry, snowy, blustery night into your house. And you're shaking with cold. And you see a nice, warm fireplace across the room with a roaring fire in it.

And you know that if you go and stand next to that fire, you're gonna get warm, right? But that knowledge itself is not sufficient to heat you up, is it? It's not enough just to know where the warmth is to warm you up, but you need to actually go and stand by the fire and have its warmth radiate onto you to warm up your bones. The knowledge is not sufficient.

You actually have to go stand by the fire and get warm. And so it is with the means of grace. If you want joy and growth in the Christian life, you have to engage with them to get warm. And so it is as well with the truths of the risen Jesus. You need more than just a cursory glance at them. More than just a basic acknowledgement of them to experience the hope and joy that comes from them.

A cursory glance at, a basic affirmation of the resurrection of Christ is like standing across the room from that roaring fire. You know there's warmth there, but you don't feel it. You don't experience it. It's not until you seek to deeply meditate and grasp the implications of who Christ is, and His resurrection from the dead, and His benefits to you, that you take those crucial steps toward the warmth of the fire.

And we'll look at some of those more closely as the week goes on. And this is where commentaries and systematic theologies can come in handy and useful. It can help you look more in-depth and more intently at some of the benefits of Christ and His resurrection. You can gain a good grasp of those implications. But you gotta go to the fire. You gotta dig deep into who Jesus is and what His resurrection truly means. And so John has come to see things as they really are. And no doubt Peter believes shortly thereafter as John explains to him the reality of what's going on.

The graveclaws are still there. but there's no body. Where Jesus' body was, there were the linens wrapped up, and in the Middle East, they used to wrap the bodies up with the linens from the feet all the way up to the shoulders. They wouldn't wrap them up like mummies, they wouldn't cremate the bodies, but they would wrap them up from the feet to the shoulders and leave a little space open where they could put kind of like a handkerchief or even like a turban over the face or over the head, but there was an extra piece that would be found there. But they didn't wrap them up completely like mummies. And so what they saw was the grave cloths where Jesus was lying laid out and then a separate spot where his head was laying.

Everything in its place. And so the grave wasn't plundered. Everything is there laid out in an orderly fashion. The grave cloths aren't missing. Nobody took Jesus' body away and then spent the time to like wrap things up and make them look real nice again. Everything was laid out and ordered and in its place. It wasn't ransacked. Jesus was risen from the dead and this made all the difference in the world for Peter and John.

John tells us in verse 10, then the disciples went away again to their own homes. They left there and they went to each one of their own houses. Peter undoubtedly to tell his family members, John getting to go home and tell the very mother of Jesus. You remember when Jesus was on the cross, he looked at his mother and he looked at the apostle John and he says, mother, behold her woman, behold your son, son, behold your mother. And Jesus had committed Mary into the care of John. John was to look out after her. And so Mary would have been in his home. And imagine the joy and excitement that John would have had in his heart as he ran home to tell Mary, the mother of Jesus, that Jesus was not dead, that Jesus was alive.

And from that point forward, joy and hope fill the hearts of these apostles, all the more so when the Spirit of God fills them on the day of Pentecost. Because if Jesus is alive, then He is all-powerful. If Jesus is alive, then He is present with them. If Jesus is alive, then all of the promises of the Scriptures are true concerning Him.

Everything that He has said to them was going to take place. He has promised that He was going to go away and prepare a place for them. This is what Jesus is doing. Jesus said, Behold, I must die and bring all people to Myself. And as they go out and preach, all the nations come to Christ.

Their lives were changed at that moment because it was at that moment they embraced the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. No more deep-seated despair. God and His purposes and His kingdom had not been defeated, but He is victorious. Jesus has risen from the grave.

And brothers and sisters, we need to meditate on this just as much. We cannot be content with a simple glance at the Scriptures and at this truth and then that just be enough. Just hear about it and then just go on in our day-to-day lives like it didn't really matter. We can't be content with a simple glance and then maybe a little bit deeper perusal of those things, and then that be enough. But we need to stand by the fire. We need to, like John, look, and then like Peter, look a little bit more closely, and then like John, again, really seek to grasp and understand the truth of the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead.

Because that changes everything. That changes everything. No matter what circumstances you find yourself in, Jesus is alive. No matter how hard things become at work or school or home or with your family or with your grandchildren or with your spouse, Jesus is alive and he is powerful enough to intervene and to work in and through your life for his glory and for your good.

Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus is alive, so your sins have been forgiven. Jesus is alive, which means the work He began in you, He will bring to completion. Jesus is alive, which means He is enthroned in the heavens as King. Jesus is alive, which means when you die, you will go immediately to be with your Lord in the heavens. Jesus is alive, which means when you die, you will be raised up again in glory and you shall be like Him. Jesus is alive, which means there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and your God will dwell with you forever and ever, and you will have fullness of joy for all eternity. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is alive. Do you believe it? Do you believe it?

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Our Lord in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord God, that you, by your Spirit, would give us eyes to see. Eyes that don't just look at the truths of this Word and content ourselves with a simple glance, or ones that might look at it a little bit more deeply, but then walk away and forget so quickly. But Lord, give us eyes to see truly who Christ is and what He has done for us. The truth that He has been risen from that, and help us to see that every step we take in our day-to-day lives. And forgive us, Lord, for how so quickly we forget these truths.

But Lord, we need your grace. We need your mercy. We need your help to help us remember and to see. And we ask that you would fill us with joy and hope as we reflect upon our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Bless us, we pray, the rest of this day. In Jesus' name, amen.