Before we do, let's pray. Our
gracious Father, we pray that you would give us grace to truly
come to you in our spirit, that you would give us sight by faith
to see and to hear in our soul the Lord Jesus Christ as you've
declared him to us in the gospel of scripture. Thank you for these
words, we pray, Lord, that you would allow us, as these disciples
of Christ did, to understand and believe the things that He
accomplished in His resurrection. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In John chapter 20, I want to
go through the first 10 verses with you here. I'll give you
first an overview. One of the reasons, actually
let me be perfectly open about it here. One of the main reasons
I wanted to look at this with you is because of the interaction
between the Lord Jesus and Mary Magdalene, which we'll see here.
But before we get there, We're going to notice that actually
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus was, saw the empty
tomb, returned to the disciples and then went back to the tomb.
And that's what we're going to find in this in the beginning
of the chapter is her first visit and as we get through the chapter
she comes back and she's met by the Lord Jesus. So let's look
at this in verse 1. It says in verse 1 of chapter
20, the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,
when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth a stone
taken away from the sepulcher. She wasn't alone, but John mentions
her only. John had a way, when he wrote
the gospel, of mentioning one person and their pursuit of Christ
and their meeting of Christ. And John is very endearing in
the way that God has used him to write. He says in verse 2,
Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other
disciples. When she came and the stone was
rolled away, She says this to them. She runs back to Simon
Peter, not just to them, as you read the other Gospels, but that's
who John singles out here, to Simon Peter and to the other
disciple whom Jesus loved, which was John, and saith to them,
They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we
know not where they have laid him. So she says two things here. Notice she said, they have taken
him out of the sepulchre. She had seen that he was missing.
from the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him." We
meaning that not just her, but the other women with her. They
didn't know at this time where he was. Peter therefore went
forth and that other disciple and came to the sepulchre, so
they ran both together. And the other disciple, John,
did outrun Peter and came to the sepulchre, and he, John,
stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying,
yet went not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following
him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the
linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." So you
would think that if someone had stole the body of Jesus, there
would be no clothes there, would there? They wouldn't have taken
the time to unwrap the body if they were going to take him.
They would take him with his body and his clothes. When Lazarus
was raised from the dead, remember, He came out of the tomb and then
Jesus said, loose him. To take the clothes off. It wasn't
just taking a napkin off his face. It was a wrapping around
their head and their whole body. They were wrapped. And so all
these things were separated. The head wrapping was in one
place. The clothes were in another place.
It was very orderly. And it was removed. So we know
that his body wasn't stolen. And we know it was deliberately
taken off, whether the angels took it off and laid it aside
or not. We're not sure, and it doesn't matter. The point is
that these men saw the clothes lying in an orderly way, and
Christ had not been stolen, His body had not been taken, He had
risen from the dead. That was the testimony that's
being underscored here. So John went in first, then Peter
went in. And then, and so they saw the
linen, the napkin that was separated from the clothes. And verse 8,
Then went in also that other disciple, John, which came first
to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. For as yet they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
That seemed like a very fundamental thing. They didn't know that
Jesus was going to rise again from the dead? Were these guys
even Christians? Were they believers? Of course
they were. Remember, Jesus asked them, who
do men say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, flesh and
blood hasn't revealed that to you, but my Father which is in
heaven. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. So, clearly, These
men were believers in Christ. That's why they came to the sepulcher,
because of their love for Him. They didn't come here just out
of vain curiosity. These men loved Christ. Faith
is the evidence of the new birth. Faith is the evidence that a
man has been born again. Jesus told Nicodemus, unless
you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven. You can't see the kingdom of
God. They could see it. By faith, they saw the Lord Jesus
Christ, the King of Heaven. And they knew it was Him, and
they believed Him, yet they didn't know something very fundamental,
that He must rise again from the dead. In fact, when John
says here, He believed, they didn't know the Scripture, it
underscores something to us that when we believe, It's believing
the Scripture. And yet John saw the evidence.
But that wasn't the strong evidence God would give. When He really
gave them the Scripture and opened to them the Scripture, that's
when they truly believed Him. Jesus did that when He met with
them. But verse 10, Then the disciples went away again to
their own home. Now, as I mentioned, Peter confessed
Christ. John loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter also loved Him. John knew
he was loved by Christ. Not just himself, but all the
disciples. They knew this. And we know that these things
are the gift of God. And yet there's this fundamental
gap, it seems like, in their understanding. And I don't know
about you, but I have in my own understanding what feels to me
like big gaps. Don't you? You wonder, you ask
fundamental questions, and you wonder, like, for example, Lord,
how is it that I became your son? How do I know that I'm truly
born again? Those questions are fundamental,
and yet we have to go back to the scripture. We have to continually
hear the gospel. God has to teach them to us,
not just in our head, but in our hearts so that we truly believe
it. And so, believing Christ is a
gift of God, and yet it's comforting to know that believing Him is
the result of His grace, the result of His operation in our
heart. And it's comforting to know that
when we don't understand, as we ought, that it's what He understands. And what He knows that we're
putting our confidence in, not what we know about Him. And I
think that that's something that we often miss, is that we view
our, we gain assurance from how much we know, rather than trusting
how much Christ has done and what He knows about us. Galatians
says, and Paul told the Galatians, he said, after that you knew
God, or rather, were known of God. The thief on the cross said,
Lord, remember me. His assurance of eternal life,
he put it all on Christ, didn't he? Lord, you remember me. I
can't remember. And I don't have any confidence
in myself, but I have ultimate confidence, complete confidence
in you. I'm humbled that I don't believe
what I ought to believe. I'm humbled that I don't understand
what I ought to understand. I've been told I ought to, and
it's always for the hardness of my heart. And yet, the revelation
of that hardness of heart and unbelief ought to drive us to
Christ, that we might be given mercy and grace So that our hearts
might be opened, like Lydia's heart, our eyes opened. Jesus
told the Pharisees when they asked them about the blind, asked
Jesus about the blind man. They said, are we blind also?
He said, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But because
you say we see, therefore your sin remains. It's important to
realize that Jesus came into the world to open the eyes of
the blind, to heal the sick. not the righteous. He came to
save those who need a Savior, and so it's a It's an endearing thing to read
scripture and find in it men who believed Christ and yet were
sinful and unbelieving and lacked basic knowledge. And God brought
them along. That means we can look to Him
to bring us along, doesn't it? Doesn't it mean that these things
are meant to encourage us to go to Him? Yes, I'm wrong in
my lack of understanding and my unbelief, but yet I'm going
to go to Christ to fix it. I'm not going to look to myself.
I'm not going to look to men. And so we see that even though
they were slow of heart, Jesus reproved them for their slowness
of heart in many ways, yet that humbling is an experience that
we feel. We're humbled by our sin, we're
humbled by our unbelief, and it even causes us fear. And yet
that drives us to Christ by the mercy of God to find in Him our
all. And that's where we begin to
understand. That's when we begin to understand
that our salvation is not in us, but it's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So that's the first thing we
see here. is that these men, they came to the tomb, they saw
the evidence, and yet, in Peter's case, immediately he didn't believe,
and John didn't know the Scriptures, even though Jesus had told him
a number of times, many times, it's necessary that I go to Jerusalem,
that I suffer many things at the hands of the Jews, be turned
over to the Gentiles, die buried and rise again the third day."
He gave them that throughout His ministry. He said, as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, the
Son of Man must be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth. In John 12, 32, He says that when He's lifted
up, He'll draw all men to Him. He was going to die. And He was
going to rise again. I am the resurrection and the
life. He told Martha. Believest thou
this? Continually focusing their attention on the fact that life
was in Him. Life was in Him. He's not the
God of the living. He's not the God of the dead.
He's the God of the living. And yet they didn't understand
it. Even though it was taught to them by Him in His ministry
from the Old Testament and by His own words. He raised Lazarus.
He raised the widow's son who they carried through the streets.
And He raised Himself from the dead. He says, I have power to
lay my life down and to take it up again. Over and over again
Christ told them that, and yet they didn't know it yet. Because
God had a time when He was going to make it known to them. And
so we learn from that. And now we see also here, it
says in the next part, that they went again to their own home.
So they came to the sepulchre. Mary goes to the sepulchre with
some other women. She sees the tomb empty. She
comes back and tells the disciples. Peter and John go to the sepulchre,
to the tomb. They go into the tomb. They see
the place where the Lord lay. That the napkin and the linen
cloths were folded and separate and organized. And they returned
home. Peter still doesn't believe that
Christ rose from the dead. But John believes and yet doesn't
know the scripture. And at that point, Mary is still
there. These guys go home. She probably
went back after they left. She probably followed them back
the second time. So she's still there. Verse 11.
But Mary... stood without at the sepulchre
weeping." Now, the first time she saw that it was empty. And
the angel had told her to go back and tell the disciples,
and they went back. But here it says, "...now she
stood without at the sepulchre weeping. And as she wept, she
stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, wondering, is
it true? Is he really not there? And see
it, two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other
at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain." Isn't that interesting? Two angels. And what does that
make you think about? Two angels sitting, one at the
head and one at the feet, sitting there where Jesus' body had lain. Doesn't that remind you of the
tabernacle in the Old Testament? There was a tabernacle. And in
the tabernacle there was the holy place, the holiest of all. And in the holy place there was
an ark. And in the ark there were three things. There was
Aaron's rod that budded. There was the pot that had manna.
And there were the tables of the covenant. And over the ark
there was a seat, a lid covered with gold called the mercy seat.
But above that were two cherubim. And they looked down upon the
mercy seat where the high priest would sprinkle the blood. They
look down on that lid of the ark called the mercy seat where
the blood was sprinkled and inside the ark were these three things,
Aaron's rod that budded. What does that represent? Remember,
Aaron's rod was budded because the children of Israel didn't
believe that God had chosen Aaron and they rebelled against God's
word and God Told Moses, put all their rods together, and
the rod that buds, that's the high priest he's chosen. So the
budding of Aaron's rod indicated God's choice of his high priest. Here it is in the Ark. The Lord
Jesus Christ is God's choice. He's the Christ, the one chosen
of God, to be our high priest. No man takes this honor to himself.
God is the one who appoints his high priest. Hebrews chapter
5. And here the Lord has sworn by an oath to him in the Old
Testament. The Lord has sworn thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. In Psalm 110. So the rod that
budded represented Christ who would be chosen by God, who was
already chosen by God from eternity, to be our high priest. And then
there was the pot that had menna. And the pot that had manna signified
God providing His bread for Israel. He gave them the bread from heaven.
The manna and that bread was their life. They lived upon that
bread. Christ is the bread from heaven. And we live upon him. Our faith is the way we eat Christ
in our soul. And we live upon him initially
and in our life. We continue to feed upon Christ
just as God provided manna for them every morning while they're
in the wilderness as we are in a wilderness in this world. So
the pot that had manna represented Christ, whose body would be broken
in order that we by faith might live upon Him and live to God.
And then the third thing that was in there were the tables
of the covenant. And what were they? They were
the inscribed requirements that God put on Israel that they might
have life. Obey these words and you shall
live. If you don't, you shall die.
But the Lord Jesus said in Psalm 40 verse 8, Thy law is within
my heart. I come to do thy will, O God.
And so the tables of the covenant reflected what the Lord Jesus
Christ had in his heart and would do. which was to fulfill the
will of God in the place and for the benefit of his people.
All these things were in the ark. And over that ark, these
two cherubim looked down where the blood was sprinkled. And
the cherubim looking down on that blood signified that God
was made favorable to his people because of the blood. They had
broken everything. They had rejected the high priest.
They had refused. They had not believed God, even
though God gave them manna. And they had complained about
the manna. And they had broken God's law.
But in Christ, all of those things are fulfilled. And God looks
upon the blood because Christ suffered for our sins and fulfilled
our righteousness. And those two cherubim would
look down and prove that God received the blood, received
Christ, who fulfilled all that was in Him. Our righteousness
and sanctification are given to us by God. And we're sanctified
and made righteous before God in Him. That's what those things
signified. And so these two angels now,
they sit at the head and at the feet where the body of Jesus
laid. And that testifies to us. God sent his angels from heaven
to testify. Christ is risen. Not only risen,
but God has received him. God has received his sacrifice
for sinners, for his people, for Israel, the elect of God. Those God gave to his son, for
whom he laid down his life as the shepherd laid down his life
for the sheep. As Christ laid down His life for the church
that He might have her, and wash her from her sins, and bring
her to Himself, these angels are there. And so Mary sees the
angels when she goes in here. And they're meant to teach us
this. And so that's in verse, you see that in verse 12. But
now I want you to see here that Mary Magdalene was here at this
point early in the morning. She's still in a fog, really,
of what has happened. She's overcome with sorrow. She turned from the tomb. It
says here, it says, she sees two angels in white sitting,
the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of
Jesus had lain. And then it says, and they say to her, Woman, why
weepest thou? It's a correction. Why are you
weeping? You were told that he would rise
from the dead. She saith unto them, Because
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him." She had watched Jesus die. She had watched Joseph and
Nicodemus prepare His body for burial. And she saw them lay
Him in the tomb. Saw them roll the stone over
the door of the tomb. She had gone home with the other
women to prepare the spices. Because they meant to come back
on the day after the Sabbath, Sunday morning, and anoint His
body. They had prepared the spices to put on His body. They hadn't
realized that he was going to rise from the dead. And so she
comes to anoint his body and finds him not there. The only
conclusion she could draw was that his body must have been
taken away. So she says, she was weeping
because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where
they have laid him. My Lord. The only one in life
she thought about, really. The one that she missed, the
one that died, the one who suffered. And she saw it all happen. And
the one that she loved most was now taken from her. Not only
died, but she couldn't find his body. She sought for him whom
her soul loveth, as the Song of Solomon says over and over.
And He was the one she sought for. And that's the evidence
of faith. We seek for the Lord Jesus Christ. In our heart we look in scripture,
in the gospel. We want to hear what has God
said. That's the only way we can find
Him. God has to open His word to us
and make Him visible to us through the eyes of faith. And so she
sought for him. She's weeping now. She doesn't
know where he is. And so she tells the angels,
they've taken away my Lord. All she could think about is
someone has removed him. Even though the clothes are there,
it doesn't make sense to her yet. And so she's in a fog. She
came early in the morning when it was still dark. At that time,
she couldn't see clearly. And her eyes were weeping, so
she couldn't see clearly with her eyes. And her mind was in
a fog like you're in a sleep. When you're in a sleep, sometimes
you come up out of it partially and you wonder, where am I? What's
the orientation? I don't even know where I'm at.
You're in a fog. You're out of touch with reality.
And so that's the way she is at this point, spiritually. And
so she said that in verse 14, and when she had thus said, I'm
sorry, she said this, she spoke to the angels, because they've
taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him.
And then it's like, after they ask that question, she turns
herself, because she's anxious, she's looking everywhere she
can. And so in verse 14, and when she had thus said, she turned
herself back, and she saw Jesus standing. And she knew not that
it was Jesus. Here she is, weeping. I don't
know what the light was like. Could she see clearly? I don't
know. But one thing is clear, she didn't know that this one
standing before her was the Lord Jesus Christ. So she gave him
polite attention, but not her full attention. You know how
it is. You're thinking about what you're
going to do next, even though you're addressing the person
in front of you. He says in verse 15, Jesus said to her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? This is the
way our Lord always does to his people. He pulls from us an expression,
a confession of what's in our heart. Because out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. What we believe Under stress,
at least, is what we're always going to say. What we truly believe.
That's how you know what you believe. What you truly believe
is going to come out when the going gets tough. You're going
to confess, Lord, I don't know what to do. I am a great sinner.
Christ is all my hope. Save me by your grace, because
that's all I have. What the Lord Jesus Christ has
done, where He is now, His interceding for me, is my entire hope for
glory. It's all I have for my covering
for my sin. He's all my obedience and righteousness
before God. And so those confessions come
out. He asks her this, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? But she, not knowing that it
was Jesus yet, says she's opposing Him to be the gardener. She thought
this was the one who takes care of the area outside the tombs,
the gardener, the keeper there. And so she said to him, in politeness,
If thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid
him, and I will take him away." She must have thought there was
something about why they moved him. She couldn't understand
why. Maybe it was because they didn't find it fitting that he
be there. Maybe because of the derision that had been cast upon
him in this fine place in a rich man's tomb, the gardener had
moved his body, or someone else had moved it, and he knew where
it was. If you've taken him, Tell me where you've laid him,
and I will take him away." The Lord had been taken from her.
He had left her. Had been taken away from her.
She didn't know why. He had died. His taking away
from her going away from her was to go to his father in order
that he might take away her sins from her, and then come again
and receive her. But she didn't know this yet,
so she speaks to the Lord Jesus, not knowing it was him, as if
he's just the gardener. And then, in verse 16, the most
endearing things are said. Jesus said to her, He calls her by name. The gardener
wouldn't have known her name, would he? Mary. Like when you're trying to wake
someone out of their sleep. Gently. Mary. You don't want to frighten them.
So you use their name. Drawing them out of that state
of confusion into the reality of the way things truly are.
And with a single word, calling her by her name, so that she
knows that he knows her. He knows her, and he calls her
before she knows him, before she recognizes him. Mary, she
turned herself, because she was speaking to him as if the gardener,
and she had already begun looking around. Where have you laid him? And he says, Mary, and she turns
around. And she said to him, Rabboni. Now John Gill says that the word
that's used here in all of his readings and study, he's never
found where it was used, that particular word was used by someone
speaking to a doctor of the law, a master as they like to be called,
rabbi. The form here is a form that
was only used when men spoke to God. And she says, Rabboni,
Rabboni. which is to say, Master, but
Master in a sense where it's the Lord, my Master. And Jesus said to her, touch
me not, for I'm not yet ascended to my Father. Now, the Lord knows
us, and He calls us. He doesn't just call us, but
He calls us by our name. And I like to think about that.
When we don't know Him, When we're like the disciples and
we don't believe him, he calls us and he says to us, Mary. And she had heard him say that
before, no doubt. She had heard him use her name
before speaking to her. When we talk to one another,
we often use their names as the first word in a sentence. And
then there's a comma and everything follows, Mary. Don't you want
to hear the Lord say that to you? Speak your name with just
that single word, recognizing that He knows you and making
it known to you that He knows you. As I said before, it's not
so much our knowledge of Him that we depend upon, is it? Isn't
that all of our hope that He knows us? He knows us. The Lord calls us by name. He
says, Mary, he might, you could put your name there, Luke, Hannah,
Art, Rick, Brad, whoever. And I want to hear that, don't
you? And when he does, when he uses our name, not that he speaks
to us from scripture with our first name, but he speaks to
us of himself in such a way that it applies to us personally,
because as sinners we need A Savior who is great enough to save us
when we're unable to do one thing, even believe Him. We need Him
to bring all grace. And so He calls us. And when
He does, we will know it is Him. We will know it is Him. And when
I see Him, I will know it is Him. How will we know that? By
what He says to us. Because what He says to us will
be what He has spoken in Scripture. The truth that He said in Scripture
is what He's going to speak to us in our heart. And that's the
way He speaks to us. I'll know it is Him, because
He knows me. The gardener didn't know her,
but Jesus did. And the other thing I know that
when the Lord calls me is that He not only knows me, but He
will be glad when He sees me. He will be glad that it is me. He will be fulfilled when He
makes Himself known to me in truth. And with God-given faith,
I live upon Him in that intimate communion of the Savior and His
blood-bought people, His beloved. In Colossians 3, verse 12, it
says, "...the elect of God, holy and beloved." We're elect of
God. Because we're elect, we're holy,
and we're beloved. God has set us apart in the Lord
Jesus Christ from eternity, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. And because He chose us in Christ
and loved us before, He loves us now. We are the beloved of
the Lord. Jesus said in John chapter 10
verse 3, He calleth his own sheep by name. He calls his own sheep
by name. He knows them and he calls them
because he knows them by name. We hear his call in the preaching
of the gospel. We hear his call throughout our
life. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. When
a believer dies, the Lord will call him forth. Job said in Job
14, 15, Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee. Thou wilt
have a desire to the work of thine hands. The Lord will call
His people because He knows them, and He wants them to know that
He knows them. He wants them to know that He
will be glad when He sees them, and He wants them to know that
He has fulfilled when they see Him, that He knows them and has
come to save them. And nothing gives me greater
confidence than this, that the Lord knows us and calls us before
we know Him. Aren't you glad that it's so?
Mary is a pattern. as the Lord often uses a single
person, as we saw in the thief on the cross, as we saw the women,
as we saw Peter's denial, the disciples betraying him. She's
a pattern of all who believe, a pattern of all, of how Christ
calls His sheep, His people, to Himself and makes Himself
known to them. We are admitted into this true
fellowship of spiritual understanding with Christ only because he first
knows us and calls us with a call of familiarity. A call of familiarity. Mary, that's not a call of a
stranger. That's a call of intimate knowledge
of us. The Lord calls us. He says, As I mentioned before, in Galatians
4.9, Paul said, after you have known God, or rather, after that
you have been known by Him. Mary? He knew her. I like that place in Isaiah 43,
where it says in verse 1 of Isaiah 43, let me read that to you.
The Lord says this, in Isaiah 43 verse 1, but now, Thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob." This is speaking, he uses the
word Jacob, but he's really talking about the church. They're called
the Israel of God. O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel. Jacob is a word that means supplanter,
a deceiver. That's what we are in ourselves.
But he calls us O Israel because that's what we are in Christ.
We're made kings and priests to God. He says, For I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name."
What does that mean? Thou art mine. Thou art mine,
Mary. And she says, Rabboni. Rabboni,
master. She loved him. She loved him
in life. She followed him wherever he
went. She served him and it wasn't a labor of coercion. It was a labor of love. No one
had to tell her to do it. No one said, this is what you
ought to do, now get busy. She did it because that's what
she wanted to do. God put it in her heart because
she loved the Lord Jesus Christ, her master. And Jesus said to
her in verse 17, touch me not. For I'm not yet ascended to my
Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to
my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." Now,
Mary, according to John Calvin, was preoccupied with Jesus's
physical presence at this point in time, and so she wanted to
embrace him physically. rather than embracing Him by
faith. And I think that's a valid point.
I don't think that's the main point that's taught here. But
consider that for a moment. That we are not to live by our
physical eyesight. Spiritually, we don't live by
physical eyesight. We live by faith. Isn't that
what it says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7? We walk not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight. And in Hebrews 11, verse 3, it
says, through faith we understand. Through faith we understand.
What do we understand? Whatever's true. We can only
understand the truth by faith, because we can't prove it by
sense. You can't prove the truth. God
has to reveal it to you. How do you know that God is sovereign?
How do you know that there is a heaven and that there is a
hell and that sin is only against God and that God must forgive
sin? Because God has revealed it to us in His Word. But more
importantly, how do you know that God sent His Son into the
world? That He sent Him to be a substitute for His people?
And that He actually accomplished their salvation? Isn't it through
faith? Through faith we understand. We're not to walk by sight, we're
to walk by faith. And so, she was preoccupied with
Jesus' physical presence. Peter said this in 1 Peter 1,
verse 8, he said, "...whom having not seen, you love." whom having
not seen." You see what God's work of faith in our heart does?
It causes us, like Mary, who loved Jesus because she had been
with Him and ministered to Him. Faith produces that in our heart,
even though we haven't seen Him. Though we haven't seen Him, we
love Him. Our soul desires Him, and we cry out to God, Make Yourself
known to me, even now, in my heart. Reveal Yourself to me
from Your Word, even though it hurts. You, having you expose
my sin and telling me what I failed to do, I am what you say I am. Lord, save me from my sin. Give
me that faith to see you now. Faith, this precious faith, in
whom having not seen you, love, in whom though now you see him
not, yet believing, what do you do when you believe? You rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. In 1 John 5, verse
4 and 5, it says that faith overcomes the world. In Romans 8, verse
37, it says we're more than conquerors. Through all of the persecutions
and afflictions of life, we're more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. In other words, through faith,
we overcome afflictions and persecutions looking to Christ and His promises. And then in Revelation 12, 11
it says they overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb, by
the word of their testimony, the gospel they believed, and
they loved not their lives even unto death. Faith does that.
And in Romans 6, 14 it says that sin shall not have dominion over
us because we're not under the law, because we're under grace.
Faith enables us to overcome sin, because we're under grace.
We look to Christ. And we overcome death through
faith. 1 Corinthians 15.57 says that we have the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to be raised from
the dead through Him. So we overcome sin and Satan
and the world. And even the preaching of the
gospel is done through faith so that Christ makes us more
than conquerors as the gospel goes forth. Because we send the
gospel out and God accomplishes His word. Faith does all these
things. But I think that even, and then
in Hebrews 11, verse 13, look at Hebrews 11, chapter 11, verse
13. Look at this, I like this, because
she didn't, she didn't, she did embrace the Lord Jesus Christ
with her, around his feet. She fell down and worshipped
him, it says in Mark, that she worshipped him. But here, she's
embracing him, and he says to her, touch me not, because look
at Hebrews 11, Verse 13. These all died in faith. Abraham,
Noah, Abel, Enoch, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob. They all died in faith.
Not having received the promises. They didn't actually have the
things that they believed were going to be given to them by
God. And yet they believed. That's the miracle of faith,
isn't it? We keep believing. That's God's grace to us, that
we actually keep believing what He said. But having seen them
afar off, that's the first part of faith. We see what is true,
even though to our senses it's way out there. Like a man looking
through the telescope. All those distant things are
brought near to us through faith. And they were persuaded of them. That's the second part of faith.
God persuades us. He convinces us. This is the
way things are. John 3.33 says, He who has believed
His word has set to His seal that God is true. What God has
said about Christ is the way things are between me and God. That's what faith teaches us.
We lean upon Him. We're persuaded of them. And
look at this next part. And they embraced them. Faith
not only persuades us, but causes us to go to Christ and embrace
Him. We actually call upon Him and
come and embrace Him by faith. And then we confess, this is
it, this is all for me. That there's strangers and pilgrims
on the earth. And that's what faith does. So
she didn't do that so much by faith then. She wanted to rely
on her physical embracing of Christ. According to Calvin,
that was the reason she did this, but that Jesus said not to touch
her. But I don't think that that was the main part here. Look
back at John chapter 20 verse 17, even though that's a lesson
to learn. He says here in verse 17, Jesus
said to her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father,
but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my father
and to your father and to my God and your God." You see the
reason here, the Lord draws attention to the fact not to be preoccupied
right now, Mary, with his physical presence. But to be preoccupied
with the fact that he rose from the dead and now the next thing
that's going to happen is that he's going to ascend to his father. And ascending to his father,
he's going to be seated on God's right hand, ruling over all things
in heaven and earth in order to bring his people, by the preaching
of the gospel, into the kingdom of God. I must bring my sheep,
he says in John 10.16. And so that's what he's telling.
He's referring forward. He's speaking to Mary, and to
us, and then to the disciples. Because he's going to tell her
to go tell them this. That he's going to meet them in Galilee.
And in meeting them there, he's looking forward to that time
where he's going to pour out his Spirit. As he reigns from
heaven, he's going to pour out his Spirit. And through that
ministration of the Spirit, they're going to go into all the world
to bring his sheep. So don't touch me now, because
I haven't yet... The issue now is not the present
embracing of Christ. The issue is that Christ is risen
in order that He might reign, in order that He might bring
not just you, but all of His people to glory. So I really
think that that's what the Lord is teaching us here. But I love
what the Lord says to her. He says, "...go to my brethren
and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God." Now, the disciples had all forsaken Jesus,
and Peter had denied Him. He died among thieves. The disciples
weren't around. There he dies among thieves and
they had left him there. And the women watched him from
afar. And those same women saw where they laid his body. And
they came the next morning in the darkness of early morning
to find him. Where were the disciples? They
weren't there. So though he had suffered and
died and even made intercession for them while he hung on the
cross, and even though they had forsaken him and fled, And though
he himself had been raised from the tomb and they weren't aware
of it yet, yet his relationship to them was unaffected by all
of their callousness of heart and all of the blindness of their
eyes. And so he says to them, through Mary, he says, go to
my brethren and say this to them, I ascend to my father and to
your father And to my God and your God. What a blessed text
of scripture that is, isn't it? What did God promise in the New
Covenant? I will be their God, and they shall be to me a people. If God is Christ God, as man,
he was God. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He trusted in him. He trusted
in God that he would deliver him. He trusted him as man, didn't
he? He obeyed God, trusting God,
even though the present circumstances gave every evidence that God
had forsaken him. Yet he trusted God. And God did
raise him up from the tomb. What does it say in Romans 8,
verse 31? If God be for us, if God be for us, who can be against
us? And so he tells them, go to them,
tell them, I ascend to my father and your father, to my God and
your God. If God raised him from the dead,
and he's your father as he's my father, and your God as he's
my God, And you can be sure of this, nothing in life or death,
in heaven or hell, can separate you from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the promise of the covenant,
the new covenant fulfilled in Christ's blood. Go to my brethren. What a condescending relation
he puts himself to his people. Go to my brethren. Because the children were partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,
that through death he might deliver them who through the fear of
death were subject to bondage all their lifetime. My brethren. I will declare thy name to my
brethren. In the midst of the church I'll
sing praise unto thee. He identifies himself with his
people because they were one with him. One with him in eternal
election. One with him by nature. He had
joined himself to them. We are members of his body, of
his bones. One with him in spirit. He says
in 1 Corinthians 6.17, I think it is, he that is joined to the
Lord is one spirit, one with the Lord Jesus Christ. He rejoices
with his brethren. He says, I will sing unto thy
name among my brethren. With them, I'll praise you. With
them, I'll give you praise, and I will rejoice with them. My
people, my brethren, and they now stand in relation to you
as Father and God." How are we made the sons of God? How is
it that we're made three ways? First of all, God adopted His
sons. Adopt means to choose. The word
is just to choose. He put us among the children,
Jeremiah 3.19. He put us among the children
by eternal election. He chose His people, Ephesians
1.4. He chose us in Christ that we
should be justified, holy. blameless before Him in love,
in love as His children, by His eternal purpose, putting us into
Christ. That's the first thing, by His
choice. Secondly, because He chose us to be His sons. He redeemed
us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this in Galatians chapter
3. I want you to see these things so that you can take these scriptures,
these promises, to heart and know the answer to the question,
how is it that I became your son? Galatians 3.13 says, verse
13, but Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, cursed in our
place, and cursed for our liberty. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. That was the emblem, that was
the pole that Moses was putting the serpent on, Christ was put
on the cross. In order that, verse 14, the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive, what? The promise of the Spirit
through faith. And look at chapter 4. But when the fullness of the
time," in verse 4, chapter 4, verse 4, Galatians 4, 4, "...but
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Because you were sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." We were chosen
to be God's sons. We were redeemed from the curse
of the law. Our sins were atoned for before
God. God received that just as satisfying
compensation for our sins in the blood of His Son. And He
released us from all obligations, He remitted our sins, forgave
them for Christ's sake, justified us by His blood, and having justified
us, having been made righteous by the blood of Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ sends His Spirit into our hearts, and His Spirit
is the Spirit of adoption, and by Him we cry, Abba, Father,
the Lord is our Father, because Christ redeemed us. And so He
says, go tell my brethren, I rise, I'm going to your father, and
my father and your father." And then look back at John chapter
20. He says here, Mary Magdalene
in verse 18, came and told the disciples that she had seen the
Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. Then the
same day at evening, that would have been Sunday, being the first
day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples
were assembled for fear of the Jews, they were still afraid
for their lives. That's why they had forsaken
Him. And they had good reason to be. But that was on purpose,
remember? God kept Christ alone, so that
when He died it would be made clear that He redeemed us by
Himself. He says, Then came Jesus and
stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be unto you. And
when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side. Can you imagine that sight? Look,
look at my hands. Look at my side here, where the
spear pierced me. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again,
Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, so
send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and saith to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God comes to us
from the Lord Jesus Christ. He breathed on them. He says
in John 15, 26, that he's going to be the one who sends the Spirit
of God from his Father. The Spirit proceeds from his
Father, but he's going to send it. There's this almost inseparable
Action by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. The Spirit of
God proceeds forth from the Father, but Christ sends him. The union
of the Father and the Son in their divine nature. same nature. He's God over all. Only God can
send forth God, the Holy Spirit, and He breathed Him forth. Why
does He breathe Him forth? In order that these men might
be equipped with grace to do what He says. He says, in verse 21, as my father has
sent me, even so send I you. And that's when he breathed on
them the Holy Spirit. Remember what he said to Mary?
Don't touch me, I have to ascend to my father. And when he ascends
to his father, he's going to give his Holy Spirit on the day
of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover, when he was crucified. And when he sends his Spirit,
they're going to be enabled to do what he sent them to do. Look
at Acts chapter 1, verse 8. Acts chapter 1 verse 8, he says
this, But you shall receive power after
that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be what?
My witnesses unto me. both in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and in Samaria and into the uttermost parts of the world.
He breathed out His Spirit. He gave His Spirit. When He ascended
on high, it says in Ephesians chapter 4, He gave gifts unto
men for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry.
That's what He's doing here. He breathed out His Spirit to
them. And then He says back in John,
one more verse and we'll close. He says this, John 20, verse
23. Whosoever sins you remit, they
are remitted to them. And whosoever sins you retain,
they are retained to them. Now, men cannot forgive sins. It's blasphemous what they do
in the Catholic Church when someone says, your sins are forgiven
you, or confess your sins to a priest and he'll forgive you.
That's blasphemy. Only God can forgive sins. And
yet, this verse says, whosoever sins you remit, they're remitted,
and whosoever sins you retain, they're retained. But what he
means by this is that in the preaching of the gospel, The
gospel declares that whosoever believeth on him hath everlasting
life. They have the remission of their
sins. In other words, God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, has given authority to his apostles and to his preachers
and all his sins, all those he sends, to bring the gospel with
authority, the authority of God. If we receive the gospel by God's
own authority, by the authority of Christ on His throne, we receive
eternal life. Our sins are forgiven. But the
same authority, by the same authority, also says that whosoever does
not believe shall be damned. And so the preaching of the gospel
is extremely serious. In John chapter 3, he says it
this way. The Son of God is the one we
believe. He says in John 3.36, "...he
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." That's the
gospel we preach, isn't it? What good news is that? You who
are sinners, look to Christ and be saved. Today, in a moment,
all your sins forgiven you. for Christ's sake. In your heart,
you come to know what He's done, and you believe it, and you enter
into it, and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
And even though we haven't seen Him, we grow in love to Him because
we see, day by day, how great and how greatly we've sinned
against God. And we continue to realize our
sin is great, and unless we have a Savior, we're lost and damned
eternally, and justly so. And so we believe on Him, we
call on Him, we look to Him, and we come to God by Him, and
we trust His Word that He saves sinners for Christ's sake alone. But he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Whosoever sins you remit, in the preaching of the Gospel,
we declare the remission of sins. by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you believe that, you're obedient to the gospel.
But if you do not believe, then you must stand before God with
your own sins. They'll never be remitted unless
they're remitted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father,
we thank you for your word. We stand before it trembling
because it's sharper than any two-edged sword. It's able to
divide between our soul and spirit and the thoughts and intents
of our heart. And we need You, O Lord, to take Your words, open
our hearts, and operate in there. Give us faith in Christ, that
we might see and glorify You, for Your grace in Him, and find
in Him all You require of us. The fullness of the Godhead dwells
in Him. and help us to find that we're
complete in him, not for anything we've done, but because in your
word you've promised sinners that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners. Teach us our need for him, and
like Mary, to hear our own name called in the gospel of your
grace, that we might say with her, my Lord and my God, in Jesus'
name we pray, amen.