John's Gospel in the 20th chapter. What a lovely story this is. Absolutely lovely. It rebukes the flesh, feeds the spirit, and there's
plenty to glean here in John's Gospel in the 20th chapter. We're
going to look at verses 1-18 and another gospel narrative
in Mark chapter 16 is the same rendition of the same event.
It's just a few things different but the apostles are telling
what's going on. So we'll look at John 20 and
we'll start at verse 1. The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she
runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom
Jesus loved, that would be John, 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
the other disciple came to the sepulchre. So that they ran both
together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first
to the sepulchre. And John, stooping down and looking
in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet he went not in. Then came
Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulcher, and
seeth linen clothes lie." They're just sitting there. The napkin
that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes,
but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also
the other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he
saw and believed." He believed Mary's report that somebody had
taken him. He wasn't there. They didn't believe the Scriptures
because the next verse, "...for as yet they knew not the Scripture
that he must rise again from the dead." So they didn't fully
understand what was going on. Verse 10, "...then the disciples
went away again unto their own home." But, this is what we're
going to look at. But, Mary stood without at the
sepulcher weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked
into the sepulcher. We'll stop there, and I'll read
it as we go. These two disciples, Peter and
John, after the report of Mary who was at the sepulcher early,
dark still, first, As Mark says, the Lord revealed Himself to
her first. Hearing this news from Mary Magdalene,
they raced to the tomb, they looked in, Peter went in, then
John followed him, and they saw nothing, no one, and then they
turned around and went home. This reminds me of the saying
that we hear often times, I've heard it many times, There's
nothing here to see. Go on your way. There's nothing
here to see. Go back. Go home. Turn around. There's nothing
here to see. But I want us to learn from Mary. That's what I want. And I've
been looking this over for weeks now. This is what I want to learn. And I want us to learn this together.
but Mary." Verse 11, "...stood without at the sepulcher weeping,
and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher." She stayed longer. She got there
first, ran back, told them, they came, they looked, nothing's
happening, they left. May we be as persistent in the
things of the gospel, in the means of the grace of God, church
attendance, reading the scriptures, prayer closet, may we be as diligent
as Mary is here. Let us stay a little longer.
Luke 21 says, in patience possess ye your souls. Let us stay a little longer when
we read the book. I read Spurgeon. I have numerous
devotionals that I like to read. But if I get behind, I'll start
to read them. It's almost like I've got to
get done. That's not what we should do with this book. Let
us, every time we open this book, whether it's publicly or privately,
let us That just peruse or scan, but
let us dig deep and ask God to visit with us as we meditate
upon His Holy Word. Again, fellowship. Let us stay a little longer in
fellowship with Him and with one another. There's a fuller, richer blessing
waiting for us. Maybe there's a little bit more,
as the Psalm says, maybe there's a little bit more honey to glean
out of this rock, out of this book. I know that we get busy. We are
prone to distractions. But let us just say, I'm going
to wait for a blessing. This world will get along fine
without you and without me. The world hates believers. It
does, it truly does. Again, let us wait when we're
in communion with the Lord. Whether it's at home in a prayer
closet, publicly, privately, and mainly I'm speaking privately,
in communion with our Lord in private. Let us do what Mary
did. She didn't run home. She let
the other brethren, and they were her brothers in Christ,
but she stood. She just stood a little longer. Can we not wait? Monday will be here soon enough.
Your jobs will be pulling at your purse strings, your heart
strings, your mind strings. Sometimes you just say, no, I'm
not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. As Tim
James said, the believer, he was talking about pastors, but
I say believers are the most independent men and women on
the top of God's green earth. We are free. In Christ. In Christ. Let us be like Mary
who stood without. And it says, she wept at the
sepulcher, stooping down and looked in. Now, the apostles
that just went in came out and said, there's nobody here. But
she stoops, she stands and she stoops and she looks in. She
looks in. Weeping, tears flowing. This
is why I believe she was weeping and she was there first and she
stayed. And this will rebuke us, it rebukes me. Like I mentioned
to Bruce this morning in Bible class, I believe she loved much
because she was forgiven much. Turn with me to Mark chapter
16. Now every believer is is forgiven."
I'm not comparing one to another. I'm just saying she stood here.
I want to imitate her in this respect. In Mark chapter 16 and
verse 9, says now, in Mark's account,
now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he
appeared first, he marks that down, Mark the Apostle, through
the inspiration of God, marks that Mary appeared first, and
then he incidentally puts down, out of whom Christ had cast seven
devils out. She was a bad woman. Seven, not
just one, seven devils? Can we not wait, perhaps ten
minutes, How about 20? How about 30? How about just
clearing all of Sunday? You hear the message, go home
and meditate. Now we got stuff we gotta do. That's life. Life
gets in the way. But I'm telling you, you want
the joy that she had at the end of this whole thing? Wait. Stop. Perhaps this is our problem.
This is my problem, I'll say that. This is our problem, I
would say. This is why we love so little. We love one another
so little. We love our neighbors so little.
It's because we haven't had a clear view of how vile we are and that
it took the most shocking and magnificent event in human history
to recover our souls. We're sinners, but we're not
as bad as Hitler. It's not about that. It's about
His impressing you and me that we don't seek God. We never sought
God. And we wouldn't seek Him now
unless He first sought us. The whole interaction between
Christ and her, who initiates it? He does. We'll see that as
well. That's pure grace. She's looking. She's not finding anything. So,
perhaps this is why. She looks again. See what it
says in this verse. She looks again into the tomb. She stood without weeping, and
as she wept, she stoops down and looks back into the sepulcher. Songs of Solomon says this about
the seeking saint. Can't find her Lord. The church, have you seen Him whom my soul
loves? Remember the church as the woman,
the bride in the Song of Solomons chapter 3 and verse 3 if you
want to look at it sometime. But she can't find her Lord,
and she comes to the watchman, the preacher, and she said, have
you seen Him whom my soul loves? Whom my soul loves. Mr. Spurgeon says, love cannot
leave the place where it lost its object. Love cannot leave
the place where it lost its object, but will continue to search.
And if you don't, you know about that because if you've lost keys
or when you get older, if you lost your reading glasses or
your wallet or anything, I sit down, and it's like, well, Melinda's
got a set of keys. That's not my key, so I get up and go retrace. You keep looking back and back
and back. This is what she's doing. She's
grieving for her Lord. Look at verses 12 and 13. And
as she looks back in, she sees two angels sitting, one at the
head and the other at the feet, where the body had lain. And
they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said to
them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not
where they have laid Him." First off, I'm thankful that
it's two angels. One sitting where Christ's feet
were to be and one sitting where Christ's head was to be. Angels
don't care where they are called or what position or location
that they are called in spiritual service. But if it was you and
I, we wouldn't be sitting at the head. Like the disciples
argued, you know, that one time they said, who's going to be
greatest? Can you tell us who's going to be? And then the mom
gets them involved, you know, my son's, you know, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no. Parents stay out of it. The Lord
says, it's not for you to determine. But I'm thankful that the angels,
they're there. And one writer said that the
color was white. White's the color of joy. I never
thought about it that way, but it's going to be joy here in
a minute. Oh, we are so proud and so unlike this dear woman.
They have taken away my Lord. Notice, she still will not go
away. It's like Jacob wrestling the angel in the Old Testament.
I'm not going to let go until you bless me. She tells him,
where are they? She's weeping. She's crying.
I want to know where they've laid him. And I will say this,
side note, if we ever go to any place and we hear any message
and Christ is not proclaimed, reiterate Mary's words when you're
heading out the door. You've taken away my Lord and
I don't know where you put Him. Don't stay there. Get out. Get out. Verses 14 and 15. And
when she had thus said, she turned back and saw Jesus standing there
and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said unto her, therefore,
repeating what the messenger said, Why weepest thou? Whom
seekest thou? Whom? She, supposing him to be
the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if you have borne him away,
tell me where you have laid him, and I will take care of him. This is, I believe, Lord, we
believe, but help our unbelief. She sees Christ, but doesn't
know who he is. She saw, but didn't know him.
And how deceitful these things, these eyes are, our feelings,
feelings come and go. But the word of truth, he said
he was the resurrection. That doesn't change. That never
changed. This is what we need to behold Christ. We need to
behold Him with the eyes of faith. I don't know, maybe she didn't
recognize Him because her eyes, when you cry and you can't focus
for the tears. Or another reason, one writer
wrote, and I do agree with this, how easy when we get mixed up
when grief wins the day. Somebody dies, a friend passes
away, Something serious happens and
we're full of grief. And we just... Faith takes a
back seat. We can't think straight. We have a tendency to stumble. But I like verse 15 again. Jesus said unto her. He initiates. He initiates the conversation. Isn't that Sovereign grace. He has to initiate everything.
Is this not simply the grace of God to us, usward? He must love us first and then
we'll love Him. What we see here is the result
of Christ loving her before this. He must seek us or we will not
seek Him. And then she says, she says,
supposing it's written in here in this narrative, supposing
him to be the gardener. Well, that's yes. And that's
no, that's correct. On one hand, it's not the gardener,
but it is spiritually in songs of Solomon. Isn't our Lord, the
master garden of his garden and who's his garden. It's his church.
It's His church. So she didn't understand fully
perhaps what she said or what she saw, but supposing Him to
be the gardener, oh yes, Christ is the chief gardener and His
garden is the church. Look at Songs of Solomon. And
then she makes this statement. And you think, and I just passed
it over for years. I will take Him away. Apparently
there's an old proverb I found out in 1200 AD. feels no load. Love feels no
load. Here is this woman, I don't know
her stature, but I know Christ died at 33. He's a 33 year old
full-grown man and a couple of the commentaries, I don't know
how they got this, they said by the time you add the wrap
and the spices it could be close to another hundred pounds. She
says tell me where you've laid them and I'll take them away.
I will take care of them. I think faith is being worked
up in her, and she's ready to move mountains. Now, like I say,
in my mind, I can picture her, she's like, there's nothing too
hard for faith. I can do it. You tell me where
you've laid him, and I will take him away. Not we, I'm not going
to go back and get Peter or James. I will do it. That's what faith
does. She was, as I believe, ready,
says in Matthew, blessed are the pure as He has made us, the
pure in heart, they shall see God. And she's getting ready
to see God. And she sees Him, but she doesn't know Him. And
she's getting ready to see Him again. Faith makes the impossible possible. And all of it to the glory of
God. Verse 16. Here we go. Jesus said unto her,
Mary, that word the inflection in the voice, but she knew instantly
it was her Lord. She knew instantly, oh, the sweet
and tender call of the blessed balm of Gilead, the ever-gracious
speakings of Emmanuel to our heart and soul. Can you imagine
in your mind's eye what this redeemed sinner must have felt
when she heard her name from the lips of her most precious
Lord and Savior? And she turns And I didn't know
this before, but I did research on this. She turns and she says,
Rabboni, which is to say master. We'll stop right there. That
word Rabboni is only used here and in Mark and in Mark. It's the same Greek word for
Lord. It says Master, Teacher, Rabbi. It's part of that, but it's different.
This is completely different. Rabboni, it's only used in two
places. What she saw is the Godhead of
Christ. She's basically, and I can't
remember what the Hebrew scholars said, it's like Lord, Master
of all the teachers or something like that. She exclaimed, Rabboni,
and this is more than just the word master. The word is, like
I said, used two times in here, and in Mark, it's chapter 10,
verse 51. It signifies God, and it signifies my teacher, my master,
or Lord of all masters. She acknowledges in sheer delight
Christ as God, Christ as the only mediator, Christ as the
only ransom for sinners, and Christ as her all in all. And
He most surely has the preeminence. And she saw that. And she acknowledged
that. And what does she do? We can
only guess, but Christ said, don't touch me. I imagine based
on his scriptural history, every time she was around the Lord,
she was at His feet, weeping and hugging Him. And he's like,
don't touch me. She was so filled with the light
and the tears flowing that she wanted to throw herself at His
feet. He's like, don't touch me. I have not yet risen, don't
touch me, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father, but
go, but do this. You want to please me, and I
know you love me, and that's why you're here. Go tell my brethren."
Now, this is specific as well. Christ always said His brethren,
or the word brethren, or brother, or whatever. There's only a few
times in this book that He says, My brethren. Now, that's particular. That's specific. This glorious
event of my resurrection, don't go... You're going to preach
it in the gospel, because the resurrection is included in the
gospel. But this particular event, this special event, discriminatory
event, you tell my people, my brethren, he says, my brethren. Tell it to my brethren. This
is used for a particular emphasis here. And in this context, he's saying,
my, those for whom I died and have risen again. My brethren,
those who deserve it not, deserve salvation not. My brethren, those
ever loved from before eternity. My brethren, those I will keep
until the end." And then to add sweet nectar
to this flower, look at what he says. Say unto my brethren, I go in
ascent unto my Father. and your Father, my God, and your God." This is something she knew. But
oh my word, how... And then she did what she... Obedience! It doesn't matter
if it's baptism. Baptism doesn't save. What she
did doesn't save. The Lord told her to do something,
she did it. I just don't understand the problem. The Lord called
you, quickened you, tell somebody, but let us follow the Lord in
baptism, and then let us do like an ax, and enjoy worship, break
bread together, have communion together, gather together. These are just things that...
So she's tasked to pull herself away from them, as it were, and
she comes again and tells the disciples what she had seen,
had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto
her. What an amazing story. What an amazing story. Can we
say this here this morning? Christ's Father is our Father? Can we say that? Can we not stand
and wait for Him a little longer? Will we not look again and again
for Him in this book, in our studies, in our closet, or to
hear together at Sovereign Grace Church in Jackson? Will we not
continue to look and come back and come back and come back as
Christ is preached and held forth? The hymns that we sing, the words
that are read, the Bible class, it's all of Christ. I say this, if we wait, if you
and I wait, we shall receive joy unspeakable, as did our dear
sister. And I imagine as she's running
to tell the brethren the tears of anguish and grief and sorrow,
the tears of joy, or she's running so fast her eyes are being dried,
and she's like, I've got something to tell them. I've got something
to tell them." Based on what he said is what she told him. She didn't make up anything new.
Melinda's always telling me I exaggerate and I like to stretch the story.
I think most men do. Yeah. He got that from you, Bruce.
I don't know what you... And I don't know, Nathan, is the
verdict still out? But a woman, what she saw, she told. What he's shown us, let us tell. I know we're getting more involved
in the community here lately. A good thing, as far as people,
I hear people asking me questions, this and that, and you'll have
to endure some stupid questions. I mean, what about this? What
about that? But, you know, take it and listen
and be kind and gentle, speak the truth in love, but bring
it back to Christ, because that's their only... Obviously, you
can tell by the questions they're asking, they're not hearing Christ
where they're at. But may it not be said of us
here, may we wait and linger and wait for the blessing because
surely it will come. Bruce, would you close us?