Let's open our Bibles today to
John chapter 20. John chapter 20, and let's read
verses 1 through 18. The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she
runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom
Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord
out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid
him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and
came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together, and
the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the
sepulchre. And he stooping down and looking
in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet when he not in, then cometh
Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and
seeth the linen clothes lie. and the napkin that was about
his head, not lined with the linen clothes, but wrapped together
in a place by itself. Then went in also that other
disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and
believed. For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the
disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood
without at the sepulchre weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
down and looked into the sepulchre and seeth two angels in white
sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet where
the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? She saith unto them, because
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid him. And when she had thus said, she
turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it
was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, If thou have borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, master. Jesus saith unto
her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father. But
go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend unto my father
and your father. And to my God and your God, Mary
Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and
that he had spoken these things unto her. I want us to consider
once again the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I'm emphasizing that word bodily, the bodily resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ, because I'm sure many of you know that modernists,
those who deny the scripture, the word of God, they deny the
bodily resurrection of Christ. They will confess that Christ,
yes, he did rise from the grave, but only in spirit, only in spirit. But no, that's not what the word
of God teaches us. And that's not what I want to
bring to us this morning. I want to emphasize the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ came out of that grave bodily. And
we're going to do that looking at these three things. First,
his bodily resurrection was according to the scripture. His bodily
resurrection was according to the scriptures. What I mean by
this is simply that what we read here in the four gospel narratives
was proclaimed by Moses and the prophets. That is, when the apostle
Paul wrote the letter of Corinthians, and in that 15th chapter he deals
with the resurrection. And we know from what he says
there, there were already people professing to be Christians who
were denying the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul tells them the gospel
that he had preached to them, to the Corinthians. And the gospel
that he preached was the same gospel that all the apostles
preached. There's only one gospel. And
Paul laid it out in these words. He said how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried and
that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Now, you know, when Paul wrote
that letter, all the scriptures that he had that he had reference
to is what is the Old Testament part of our Bible. according
to the scripture, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures and was buried and rose again the third day
according to the scriptures. Now, his bodily resurrection
was declared in the Old Testament according to the scriptures.
And it was declared these two ways. First of all, in type. Our picture. Now everyone here,
I assume, knows what a type is. A type is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In other words, all the Bible
is about Christ. It's all about Him. And from
the very first pages, the first page rather to the last page
in the scripture, it's all about Christ. But until he actually
came, he was pictured in so many different ways throughout the
Old Testament. That's the way the gospel was
preached to those people who lived before the actual coming
of Christ into this world. You know, some people are confused,
and they think, well, how were people saved before Christ came
into the world? And some would tell you, well,
by keeping the law. No, there's never been but one
way that God saved sinners, and that is through Christ. The law
was given to picture Christ. The law was given to show us
our need of Christ. But one of the types, there are
several types I'm going to mention this morning, but the first type
of the bodily resurrection of Christ concerned the first man. You know, the Bible speaks of
two men, the first man and the last man. And that word man is
Adam, the first Adam and the last Adam. That is, the first
man that God created, Adam, placed him there in the garden, that
he serves as a type of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Remember,
God saw that it was not good that man should live alone. He
made him a helpmate, made him a wife, in other words. And how
did he do that? By putting Adam to sleep. and taking a rib from Adam and
making him a wife. In other words, out of Adam's
side came his wife. But then when the surgery was
over, Adam awoke. He slept for a while, just like
the Lord Jesus Christ slept for three days and three nights in
that tomb. And out of his side, out of the
side of Christ. Remember when that Roman soldier
plunged that spear into his side, flowed water and blood, blood
and water out, that the bride of Christ is taken from his side. And just as that first Adam awoke
after the surgery, so the last Adam, the second Adam, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He awoke from his sleep of death after three days
in the tomb. And then another picture, and
this is maybe better known, is a picture of Isaac. Remember,
God told Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you
love, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. Now, Abraham He immediately
obeyed God. And when they came to the place,
and Isaac was laid there on that altar that was built, then God
stayed Abraham's hand and showed him a ram that was caught in
the bush. And it specifically points out
that it was the third day. Now, I want you to see this.
I want you to turn, if you're familiar with your Bible, if
not, just listen, but turn with me to Hebrews. I know this is
a type, Isaac, his resurrection from off that altar. In Abraham's
mind, Isaac was dead. He was sacrificed. He obeyed
God. But notice here in Hebrews chapter
11, beginning in verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Accounting that
God was able to raise him up, Even from the dead, now notice,
from whence also he received him in a figure, a figure. In other words, Isaac being restored
to Abraham was a figure, a picture, a type of the Lord Jesus, God's
only begotten son. God's son of his love. how he
was raised from the dead. And then the Lord Jesus Christ,
he gave another type himself. If you look in Matthew chapter
12, Matthew chapter 12, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he gave this Old Testament type of his resurrection. Matthew chapter 12, beginning
with verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. Now I want you to pay attention
here. Who asks for signs? You know, sometimes people will
say, well, if I could just see a sign, I would believe. Who
does our Lord say asks for signs? an evil and adulterous generation. God's given us his word. Don't look for a sign. Don't
ask for a sign. God's given us his word. Faith,
the foundation of our faith, is not by saying something mysterious
or even miraculous. No, no. Our faith is founded
upon the word of God. And if it's not, it's not faith. It's presumption. But notice
this. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
but there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah,
of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So Jonah
served. as a type of the Lord's resurrection. And you know, he also served
as a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as a substitute. Remember
when Jonah was in that ship, he was asleep and God sent a
great storm and the mariners, those on board the ship, they
knew they were going to die. They were going to perish in
that storm. And finally they awoke Jonah and said, well, what
can we do? He said, cast me in, throw me
overboard, and you will be saved. They didn't
want to do it at first, but they did. They cast Jonah into the
storm and there was peace. In other words, Jonah served
as a substitute. And what a wonderful picture
that is of Christ as our substitute who bore our sins, that is the
sins of his chosen people, those who trust in him. Christ bore
our sins in his own body on the tree, and he as a substitute
suffered the wrath of God that the sins of his people deserve.
And we're set free. We have peace with God. So that's
one way. The scripture spoke of the resurrection
of Christ by type, but it also spoke in prophecy. And I want us to look at a couple
of these. If you turn back to Psalm 16,
this is probably the best known of the prophecies of the resurrection
of Christ in the Old Testament. But in Psalm chapter 16, Beginning with verse 8, the person
speaking here, I. Now, both Paul and Peter in the
book of Acts, they make it clear this could not have been David.
Oh, David speaks, but he's speaking in prophecy of Christ. Because
Paul and Peter both say, well, listen, this couldn't be David
because David's bones and the dust of his body is still here
in Jerusalem. It's still here where they were
preaching. No, this one, I, I have set the
Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall
not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and
my glory rejoiceth. My flesh, now notice this, my
flesh, his body, shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to
see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of
life. In thy presence is fullness of
joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore. You might say, well, what did
he mean there? Thou will not leave my soul in
hell. The Hebrew word there is Sheol,
and it's a New Testament equivalent of the Greek word Hades. And
what it means is a separate state. It's speaking of a state that
men are in when the soul and the body are separated. The Lord
Jesus Christ did not go to hell where men are suffering the fires
of God's wrath. He did that on the cross. He
suffered God's wrath on the cross and he finished that work. No,
this is speaking of that separate state. And that's what death
is, isn't it? It's separation. In the beginning,
God told Adam, if you eat the fruit of that tree, you're going
to die. He ate the fruit, he died. His
spirit was separated from God. When we die physically, the soul
is separated from the body. And those who die eternally,
and yes, there is eternal death and hell, are separated from
God Almighty. Yes. But what a picture here
in prophecy. Thou will not leave my soul in
hell, neither, now notice, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one
to see corruption. How it's amazing when the Lord
Jesus Christ came out of that tomb bodily, there was no marks
of corruption in him. His body was preserved. In fact, miraculously, Even the
prince of the crown of thorns and he'd been beaten severely,
you know, that was all gone. That was all gone. Now he did
have the marks in his hands and in his side. We'll see that in
just a moment, but his flesh did not see corruption. One other
place in Isaiah, turn to Isaiah chapter 26. In Isaiah chapter 26, just verse
19, we read, thy dead men shall live together, now notice this,
with my dead body shall they arise. These are the words of
Christ speaking in prophecy. And he's comforting his tried
and discouraged people. And they have many applications,
this passage here in Isaiah. But the main thing for us to
see is that his body would rise. And it did, as he declared, destroy
this temple, and in three days, I will raise it again. All right,
here's my second point. His bodily resurrection was testified
to by many reliable witnesses. Now, I mentioned 1 Corinthians
15 just a moment ago as a chapter on the resurrection, maybe more
so than any other in the officials. But Paul named, and he only named
men. Have you ever noticed that? I
noticed that for the first time. He only names men. who saw the
resurrected Christ. He said he was seen of Peter,
he was seen of James, he was seen of 500 brethren, he was
seen of all the apostles, the 11 as they were gathered together.
He doesn't mention any women. But we know the first he appeared
to was a woman. We read that here in our text. In John chapter 20, he especially appeared to Mary Magdalene. She testified of his resurrection. She ran to the disciples. Peter
and John said, I've seen him. I've seen the Lord. I spoke with
him. Who was Mary Magdalene? I know you probably already know
this, but let me just say this. She was one of the most committed
followers of Christ that we read of in the scriptures. Who was
she? One of the most, she was last
at the grave, she saw. She was at the cross and she
followed Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus when they buried
the body of Jesus. She knew where he was buried.
She knew where she was going that morning. She was last at
the cross and first at the grave. Early, the scripture here tells
us. But who was she? Well, Mark in his gospel narrative
says, now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven
devils. out of whom he had cast seven
devils. Who was she rather? She was a sinner saved by the
grace of God. She was a sinner who loved her
savior and she showed her love. She anointed his head and washed
his feet with her tears. Yes, Mary Magdalene. It was in the garden. Now think
about this. It was in the garden that the devil deceived the first
woman, our mother Eve. Yes, she was deceived. Paul tells
us that. And she gave the fruit to her
husband, the first Adam, our father. He wasn't deceived. But
it's also in a garden now when the second Adam, the last Adam,
resurrected from the dead, appeared first to a woman out of whom
he had cast seven devils. The gospel is for sinners. Someone said, well, I don't like
to think of myself as a sinner. Well, I feel sad for you. I feel
sad for you because Jesus is a savior of sinners. There's
saved sinners and there's lost sinners. I understand that. But
he came to seek and to save that which is lost. And she was here. She was lost. Demons possessed
her. And he came as a wonderful deliverer,
savior that he is, and bid those demons depart out of her. We sang that hymn a few minutes
ago. He lives at one of the parts
on the The Course tells us to impart salvation. He's alive
today. He's living today. And He gives
salvation. He's King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. No one would ever be saved apart
from not only His work, but His will, His purpose, His work of
calling His elect. through the preaching of the
gospel, through the spirit of God regenerating, giving faith
and repentance. Have you noticed his first words
to her? Have you? Have you ever noticed
this? She's the first person he appeared to after his resurrection,
Mary Magdalene. Have you noticed his first words
to her? Woman, why weepest thou? Oh, let that sink in. Woman,
why weepest thou? It was from that first man, Adam,
who brought sin into this world, and with sin came tears, weeping,
and death. But now the last Adam, he asks
this woman, woman, why weepest thou? There's no cause for weeping
now. Why? He had conquered death because
he had paid the debt of his people, the sin debt. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I was at a place
of business the other day and a lady said, well, hallelujah.
And I said, listen, do you know that that's, from what I've heard,
that's the only word that is the same in every language. Praise to Jehovah. Hallelujah, the Lord God is alive. He came out of that tomb and
he lives to impart salvation, to save those who trust in him. Oh, yes. Woman, why weepest thou? You may dry your tears now because
God's law has been honored. His justice has been satisfied. And I've brought in everlasting
righteousness to all who believe. My last point. His bodily resurrection
means these three things. First of all, his resurrected
body is a real body. It's a real body. It was only his body that died.
His soul didn't die. No, his soul went to heaven. He said to that man on that cross,
remember today thou shalt be with me in paradise. No, his resurrected body is a
real body, the body that died. He said, father, into thy hands,
I commend my spirit. Yes, his spirit, his soul went
to be with the father, but his body slept in the grave. And
now The same body. That's the point I want us all.
You say, I've heard that all my life. I know it. I know you've
heard it. I know you know it. But is it
real? Is it really real what took place
here in your heart? That the Lord Jesus Christ, he
conquered death and he came out of that grave. And the same body
that was laid in the grave came out of the grave. You know, when
he tells Mary here, touch me not, that tells us he had a body. She couldn't touch a spirit.
No, he came out, his resurrected body is a real body. And he later would tell his apostles,
handle me and see. Touch me, touch me and see. For spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as you see me have. Number two, his resurrected body
is an immortal body. What do I mean by that? I mean,
he cannot die. His body is a body now that cannot
die. Paul said this in Romans six
and verse nine, he said, knowing that Christ being raised from
the dead doth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. And when he appeared to John,
On the Isle of Patmos, remember, he said, I am he that liveth
and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I tell you, John saw on his
girdle there, he had the keys to both death and hell. Christ
did. On his person, he has the keys. He's the one who unlocks. He's
the one who shuts the door, no man opens and opens the door,
no man shuts. He's Lord of Lords and King of
Kings. He came out of that body, out
of that tomb rather with a immortal body. And third, his resurrected
body is a glorious body, crowned with glory and honor. We know that his resurrected
body is glorious because we are told that it is. And it must
be a body. When you think about his glorified
body, it must be a body like when he was transfigured on the
Mount of Transfiguration, when his face did shine as the sun. Oh, he has a glorified body. Now, I said we're told that he
has a glorified body. His resurrected body is a glorified
body. Where are we told that? We'll
turn one last place to Philippians chapter three. We're told that
his body is glorified because the apostle tells us our bodies
are going to be glorified. Philippians chapter 3 and verse
20. For our conversation, our citizenship
is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice who shall change our
vile bodies. that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body. Our vile body, our body of humiliation. We don't know, we don't know
what sin has done to our bodies. We never saw Adam before he sinned. But oh, what he must have been
like, him and Eve. His intelligence, His knowledge,
what it must have been, what sin has done to man. But in that day, we'll have a
glorified body like unto His glorious body. And our Lord said
this about this glorified body in Matthew. He said, then shall
the righteous shine forth as the sun. Then shall the righteous, the
saved, shall shine forth as the sun. His face did shine as the
sun in its strength when he was glorified, when he was transfigured. Is that what our glorified body
is going to be like? I don't know, but it's going
to be better than we can imagine. Isn't that so? Amen. What a future. What a future
do we, if you know Christ this morning as your Lord and Savior,
what a glorious future do we have. We're not defeated people. No, we're more than conquerors
through him that loved us and gave himself for us. Oh, praise
God today. We're going to have a body like
he is, a glorified body. Everyone's talking about the
solar eclipse tomorrow. Have you noticed they talk about
the Corona? Corona, that's the crown, isn't
it? That's what the word crown in Spanish, the crown of the
sun. The sun, the literal sun, but
what a picture of God's eternal sun. and His crown. You can't look with these eyes,
these eyes that we have now, you've got to protect your eyes.
Oh, if we were, right now, if He were to appear in our presence
as He is now, glorified, His, the very sight of Him would blind
all of us. But in that day, we'll have a
body like unto His body. What a glorious day that's gonna
be. Amen. And all the praise and all the
glory belongs to Him. Doesn't it? All the praise and
all the glory, both now and even forevermore, it all belongs to
Jesus Christ, our Lord. What He's done for us. Amen. We're going to sing a hymn and
we'll be