In this special sermon, Chad Dexter looks at John 20:10-31 and one of the most powerful evidences for the truth of Christ’s resurrection: the testimony of three skeptical eyewitnesses of their radical transformation by Christ.
Full Transcript:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for gathering us together this morning. We thank You for the Lord Jesus who laid down His life as a perfect substitute for us, that we might have forgiveness, atonement for sins, and eternal life. Lord, we love You. We love You because You first loved us. We thank You for Your Spirit and the gifts which You give us to use in serving You and serving one another. We pray, Lord, that we’ll be found faithful. We pray, Lord, that as we turn together this morning to Your word, that You may open our eyes to behold wonderful truths from Your word. We pray, Lord, that You will open our hearts to receive it, that we may be changed in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This passage that we’ll see this morning records the testimonies of three groups of people who were eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection. Did you know that there is more recorded in the Gospels about the resurrection than there is about the Lord’s crucifixion and His burial combined? There’s more recorded about the resurrection. The New Testament writers placed great importance upon the resurrection because without the resurrection, if there is no resurrection, then all those who have died have perished. They have died in their sins and without hope if there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection, our own faith is worthless because we have believed in a false teacher who claimed to be something he is not, proclaiming a message that isn’t true if there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection, we have no hope of a resurrection or of life beyond death. When a loved one dies, we grieve, we mourn, but we don’t grieve as those who are without hope, but we grieve as those with the knowledge that Christ is risen. He is the firstfruits of our resurrection, so we grieve with hope. But without a resurrection, of all people on earth, Christians are most to be pitied because we have squandered the only life that we have. Isn’t that what the world tells us? We’re wasting our life on this myth of Christianity and of a risen Christ. If there is no resurrection, then we are wasting our Sunday when we could be out there watching football, you know, spending time with friends, eating and drinking and being merry as the world tells us that we should do if there is no resurrection.
In the preceding chapters, John writes extensively regarding the events surrounding the resurrection so that there would be no doubt that the resurrection of Christ is a verifiable historical fact. You’ve heard some of the evidences of the resurrection. There have been books written about evidence of the resurrection. Consider just a few. The empty tomb-Jesus’ body was no longer there. The grave cloths, which if someone were stealing a body and they were in a hurry to escape the scene of the crime, surely they would not take time to unravel, unroll the grave cloths and to leave those behind and take the body away from the tomb, leaving the grave cloths behind. The Roman guard, Pontius Pilate, the Sanhedrin, who all took great precaution not to allow Jesus’ body to be stolen. These were all of the powers that be at the time. The Romans, the Sanhedrin, all of them had a vested interest in Jesus’ body not being stolen and in there not being some kind of a faked resurrection scam. Another evidence of the resurrection, the actions of Jesus’ own followers, none of which were consistent with any scheme to steal the body or to fake the resurrection.
We could add many more to this list, but this morning we’re going to consider what I believe to be the most powerful evidence of the resurrection. The most powerful evidence, and that is the testimony of the eyewitnesses. The testimony of the eyewitnesses and their radical transformation. But it may not be what you think.
Think back on the timeline of events of the crucifixion. On Friday before sundown, Jesus’ body had been taken to the private tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus had brought 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe, and they wrapped the body and laid it in the tomb just before the start of the Sabbath. The next day, Saturday morning, the Sanhedrin went to Pilate and asked for a guard for the tomb. Pilate said to them, you have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you know how. And they went and made the grave secure. And along with the guard, they set a seal on the stone. So they made it as secure as they know how. They rolled a great stone in front of the tomb, set a seal upon it, and assigned a Roman guard who were tasked with guarding that tomb upon their very lives.
Now, Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene has already been to the tomb earlier. She’s seen it empty. And what was her reaction? Do you recall the story earlier in this chapter? She’s distraught because she assumes that someone has taken away the body of the Lord. She doesn’t know whom. But for her, that’s the only explanation for the empty tomb. So that’s what she reports to Peter and to John. Do you think that Mary was expecting a resurrection? Clearly not.
Peter and John have also seen the empty tomb. John chapter 20, verse 9, tells us that they too did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Verse 8 tells us that there was a moment of faith for John. But what is emphasized in this chapter and in each of the Gospels is the disciples’ unbelief. At best, there were moments of broken faith with consistent ongoing doubt and unbelief.
But in God’s wisdom, their skepticism of the resurrection became one of its greatest proofs. Let me say that again. The skepticism of Jesus’ disciples became evidence of one of its greatest proofs. You say, how can that be? Well, let’s look at the text. And in our passage, we’ll see these three encounters with the risen Christ. Three encounters with the risen Christ. The first being the encounter of Mary Magdalene, verse 11,
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping;
She’s weeping. The Gospel of Mark identifies this as Mary Magdalene. In popular culture, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a prostitute, but there’s no suggestion of that in Scripture. The fictional novel, The Da Vinci Code, even claims that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife, but this is nothing more than heretical nonsense. In the Bible, Mary is the one from whom Jesus cast out seven demons, Luke 8:2. Don’t you think she was thankful and forever changed? Mary became a loyal follower of Christ, and she was one of the few with the courage to remain at Jesus’ crucifixion. Nearly all of the rest, in fear, had scattered. Mary was also the first that we know of, the first of Jesus’ followers to arrive at His tomb. And she’s about to be the first to see the risen Christ. Back to verse 11,
and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
So Mary is weeping. Her master is dead, the one who cast out her demons, who changed her life, the one who’s been her teacher. She’s come to the tomb to mourn, bringing spices. Mark says to anoint the body of the Lord. But His body isn’t there. She’s already run away from the tomb after her first visit to bring the news to Peter and John. But now she has returned to the tomb a second time. She’s sorrowful. Not only is her master dead, but His body has been stolen. She is probably in disbelief that this stone has been rolled away and Jesus is no longer there. So she looks once more into the tomb, a second time just to make sure. Has she seen it rightly? And as she looks into the tomb for the second time, she sees two angels. Two angels. The angels are in human form. She doesn’t recognize them as angels.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mary is convinced that Jesus is dead. The body is somewhere. She doesn’t know where.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
So notice Mary’s unbelief. She is not looking for a risen Christ. For what is she looking? She’s looking for a body. Notice too her lack of understanding. Seeing Jesus, she doesn’t recognize Him.
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.”
So she doesn’t recognize Jesus. She actually mistakes Him as the gardener and imagines that perhaps he is the one who has taken away the body of Jesus. What a theory, huh? Mary has gotten up at the crack of dawn. The morning after the Sabbath, she’s gone immediately as soon as she’s permitted by Jewish law to go to the tomb. But the gardener, this is an eager gardener, he has somehow beaten her to the tomb. Not only that, but he’s beaten her there with enough time to spare to move away the stone, to carry away the body of Jesus, and then he has returned to the scene of his crime to, what, continue with his gardening? I mean, this is a dedicated gardener. It makes no sense, does it? Makes no sense whatsoever. But this is the level of our spiritual understanding apart from God opening our eyes. You might say, how could Mary possibly come up with a theory like this? Well, if you and I had been there, I believe our theory would have been perhaps even more implausible because this is the level of our spiritual understanding apart from God opening our eyes. It was this way with all who saw Jesus after His resurrection. Mary, the disciples along the road to Emmaus, the apostles, Saul on the road to Damascus, none of them recognized Jesus until what? Until He opened their eyes and revealed Himself to them.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
There’s no process of persuasion and argument that is going on here. All it takes is one word from Jesus, Mary, and she recognizes Him. What changed? What changed? Jesus opened her eyes. She saw not a dead teacher, but a resurrected Savior. Now let me ask you a question. Just because up to this point, Mary had not believed, does that make the resurrection any less real? No. Jesus had risen. The resurrection was a fact, but it was God who gave her the faith. And her eyes being opened, she believed.
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Jesus says two things to Mary. First, stop clinging to me. Stop clinging to me. I cannot stay. Why not? Well, it’s the same thing that he told Peter in John 13:36,
“Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”
So Jesus had been preparing His disciples for His death and for His resurrection. Now He is preparing them for His ascension. So stop clinging to me, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to My father and your Father and my God and your God. So this is Jesus’ first encounter after His resurrection. Now, prior to this encounter, was Mary full of joy? Was she full of faith? No, she wasn’t. But what changed? What turned Mary’s tears to joy? The resurrection. She had seen the risen Christ. God had opened her eyes to know that He is alive. And it changed her.
Now let’s look at the second encounter, the encounter of the 10 apostles. Verse 18,
Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
Notice the change in Mary when she had encountered Peter and John earlier in the day, what did she say? They have taken away the Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. What is her testimony now? I have seen the Lord. It changes everything.
So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews,
So Jesus had told the disciples that He would rise again. Mary has told them that she has personally seen the Lord and spoken with Him. Luke tells us that two disciples who had seen Jesus on the road to Emmaus had come and reported it to the apostles. So Jesus had prepared them for His death and His resurrection. Mary has reported to them that she has seen the risen Christ. Others have reported the same message to the apostles that the Lord has risen and they have seen Him. So now here they are boldly proclaiming the resurrection of the living Christ, right? Is that what’s happening? No. Where are they? They’re in a room with the door locked and barred for fear that they would be found and arrested. What a sad picture, don’t you think? Try to imagine the mood. Imagine the conversation that Sunday afternoon. What do you think they were saying to one another? Maybe they weren’t saying very much. Maybe like we often do after someone dies, they were recalling good times with Jesus. We don’t know. It seems that the mood was mostly one of despair. All of their hopes and dreams had been shattered. The master was dead. They were probably thinking, what next? No one had an answer. Then they began to receive these reports and they were discussing them. Then as they were locked together in this room in fear,
Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Imagine their astonishment and joy. Remember, they weren’t looking for a resurrection. They did not believe the testimony of those who had seen Him alive. They weren’t waiting or expecting for Christ to reappear. None of what they had imagined had come to pass. What were they expecting? They were expecting that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem and establish His kingdom. But instead of establishing His kingdom, Jesus went to the cross. He gave His life up on the cross. They were looking for plan B. And then suddenly when they were at their lowest point, Christ appeared in their midst. The Gospel of Luke provides some additional detail into this encounter of the apostles with the risen Christ.
While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.
So this is the first thing Jesus said to His disciples, peace be to you. They were startled and frightened. When Mary had seen the risen Christ, she mistook Him for the gardener. Now the apostles thought they were seeing a spirit which could pass through walls and instantly enter a locked room. Mark records that while Jesus comforted them, He also rebuked them for not believing the witnesses who had already seen Him. So far from convinced of Jesus’ resurrection, the apostles were doubtful until the very last. What was it that turned their sorrow to joy? What was it that turned their unbelief to faith?
And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
When Jesus showed them the wounds in His hands and in His side, and when He ate with them, they knew that He was no spirit but the risen Christ and it changed them forever. And these apostles who were once too afraid, most of them, to appear at their Lord’s crucifixion. After His death, they locked themselves in a room too afraid to come out. Are these bold, fearless men of God? Not at that time. These apostles were so skeptical of the resurrection that they would not even believe the testimony of multiple credible eyewitnesses who had seen the risen Christ. Yet they became so convinced of the resurrection that they were emboldened to preach the resurrection in the midst of hatred and opposition, even unto death. John was exiled. The rest of Jesus’ disciples were martyred for preaching what? For preaching the resurrection. What took these timid men and changed them and gave them so much boldness? John said in 1 John 1,
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life…what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also,
This is what changed them. Acts 4:20, Peter and John answered and said to them,
we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.
So this transformation of the apostles from fearful to fearless, from faithless to faithful to the end, that is proof of the resurrection and it’s a demonstration of its power.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
So here Jesus answers the question the apostles must have been asking – what next? What next? And Jesus’ answer is essentially a preview of the Great Commission in three parts. As the Father has sent Me, I send you. So why did the Father send Jesus into the world? Why was He sent? For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son for what reason? To be the Savior of the world. So everything Christ did from the moment of His birth until His death and His resurrection was for the purpose of fulfilling His mission of saving the world, namely, all those who believe in Him. Now we have that mission. God does the work but we deliver the message and we make the gospel credible through our testimony. So that mission was first given to Jesus and then to the apostles and now to us.
And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The last promise Jesus gave His disciples, which is recorded before His ascension, was the promise of the Holy Spirit.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.
It says He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. The breath of God is an expression of God’s creative power. Just as God breathed into Adam the breath of life, He breathes into every believer new life in His Spirit. Now the apostles didn’t receive the Holy Spirit at this time, but when the Spirit came upon them in Acts chapter 2, they were changed. They were turned into fearless, bold preachers of the truth willing to die for what they had seen and known. So Jesus says, I’m sending you into the world to carry on My mission, but you’re not going to be alone. I’m giving you a Helper. I’m sending you My Spirit. And then he says in verse 23, the third part of this,
If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.
This is a little bit of a hard verse, isn’t it? Have you ever wondered what this verse means? Roman Catholicism teaches that this applies to the Pope and to the cardinals and to the priests who are able to forgive sins at the giving of confession, but only God can forgive sin. Do you remember the occasion when Jesus told the paralytic, your sins are forgiven. And the scribes, how did they respond? Well, they grumbled against Jesus, saying this man blasphemes. This man blasphemes because only God can forgive sin. But to show that Jesus had full authority to forgive sins, He told the man, get up and walk. Get up and walk. What was Jesus’ purpose in doing that? It was to demonstrate that the holy God can perform a miracle like that, and only God can forgive sin. Jesus did both.
So if no one but God can forgive sin, what did Jesus mean when He said, if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them? Are you with me? So what did Jesus mean? Well, I believe what He meant is what we find in verses like Acts 10:43,
Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.
They were being given the same message and the same mission that the prophets had been given. Who declared forgiveness of sins to whom? To those who believe. I believe Jesus meant what we find in verses like Luke 24:46-48,
and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
So forgiveness of sins comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Amen? We are just the messengers. However, as His representatives, the apostles, and even we ourselves can rightly say to those who believe the gospel, your sins are forgiven. Brother Joe, do you believe the gospel? Your sins are forgiven. And we can also say to those who did not believe and who have rejected the gospel and rejected our Christ, your sins are not forgiven. We can say that with confidence. Why? Not because God has given us that authority to make that decision or to impart ourselves forgiveness of sins, but because this is what God’s Word says. So this is the mission which Jesus gave His apostles. And by extension, He gives to us. As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you. Brothers and sisters, we are His representatives to proclaim this message of forgiveness. And He gives us His Spirit to help us.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus. Do you know what that means? Didymus means twin. So evidently, Thomas was a twin, like our twins.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
This is the incident which earned Thomas his nickname, Doubting Thomas. Even on the testimony of the other ten apostles, Thomas still doesn’t believe. He refuses to believe. I will not believe. Sometimes it is portrayed that Thomas was different or more skeptical than the other apostles. I think Thomas gets a little bit of a bad rap because he responded essentially the same way as the others did. For the most part, they didn’t believe either. I’m not going to believe unless I see with my own eyes and feel with my own hands that Christ is physically bodily alive. So that sets the stage for the third encounter. After Jesus’ resurrection, the encounter of Thomas.
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Be changed, not just one time, but now until the end of your days, Thomas, be believing.
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
So the apostles were not men who were inclined to believe in Christ against all reason. Isn’t that what we’re told? The Jesus followers were fanatics. They would have believed in the resurrection no matter what. They would have believed in the resurrection against all reason. But like all men, they were men who were as naturally skeptical as many others. Thomas said, I will not believe. But God opened their eyes and revealed Himself to them in such a way through the risen Christ that they had no choice but to believe and to proclaim what they had seen. So the truth of the resurrection was so certain and the proof so overwhelming that even the most skeptical of Jesus’ disciples, all of whom were skeptics, could not deny whom they had seen and touched and heard.
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Blessed are those who walk by faith, not by sight. We cannot see and touch Jesus as Thomas did. One day we will. But our faith is just as real as that of Thomas when he touched the holes in Jesus’ hands and when he placed his hand in Jesus’ side. The God who said one word, Mary, and opened her eyes, is the same God who opens our eyes. 1 Peter 1 says,
and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
We cannot see Him, but we rejoice because we know He is risen. We know He is preparing a place for us, and we know that one day we will see Him as He is. That’s why John has recorded these many details of Christ’s resurrection.
Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
Don’t you just want to hear all those stories? One day we will, but God has given us those things which we need, and we’re thankful that we have those. But there are many other things which He performed which are not written,
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
My dear friend, has God opened your eyes to see the risen Christ? Has He opened your eyes? Aren’t you eternally thankful? Why missions? Well, why church? Why do we gather together on Sunday and study the Word? Why do we sing praise to Him and we fellowship and worship and serve throughout the week? Because we cannot stop proclaiming what we know to be true, that Christ is risen. Because it has changed us forever.
It’s been said that wrong teaching begets wrong living. Is that true? Wrong teaching begets wrong living. But it’s also true that right faith begets right and righteous living. Right faith begets right and righteous living. Jesus is risen. Go and live for Him and tell others about Him. Why walk with Christ today? Why live for Him and not for the world? Why share Christ with your neighbor? Why live fearlessly and with joy and hope in the face of persecution and trials and darkness and death? Why go and live and minister in the Philippines for eight years? Why send a family like us eight years ago to go and serve in the Philippines? Well, it’s the same reason that you serve Him here. Because He is risen and it has changed us and we cannot stop proclaiming what we know to be true, that Christ is risen and we want everyone to have that hope and that joy which He has given us. Amen?
Let’s bow and thank the Lord for this precious gift. Father, our hearts are full of joy this morning and every morning to be reminded that Christ is risen. In rising from the dead, He has conquered fear and death. He has made Himself a substitute and made atonement for our sins so that we may be forgiven and have eternal life. Lord, we thank You for this precious gift. I ask, Lord, that these truths would be always before our eyes. I pray, Lord, that we would not be discouraged and disheartened by the darkness in the world around us, but I pray that the meditation of our hearts will always be upon You. I pray that You will, because You have given us Your spirit, that You will refresh our hearts, that You will always help us to live with hope and with joy Lord, give us the courage to proclaim Your message that You gave the apostles. Lord, I pray that we would be bold to proclaim the good news of the resurrection in the face of opposition and persecution, even unto death. And we can do that, Lord, because we know that Christ sits at your right hand making intercession for us, that He prepares a place for us, and that we will one day see Him face to face just as He is. Lord, we look forward to that day. In the meantime, help us to live for You this day and every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.