Resurrection of the Son of God (John 20:1-18) Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Resurrection of the Son of God (John 20:1-18)

Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce  

 Christian Arts Ministries :Biblical precepts &Gospel music

 

The Empty Tomb (John 20:1-10)

 

 1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb, first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

 

 

The order of Christ’s appearances after His resurrection seems to be as follows: (1) to Mary Magdalene and the other women (Matt.28:8-10;John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9-10; (2) to Peter, probably in the afternoon (Luke 24:34);1Cor.15:5); (3) to the disciples on the Emmaus road toward evening (Luke 24:13-32:Mark 16:12); (4) to the disciples, except Thomas, in the upper room (Luke 24:36-43;John20:19-25);(5) to the disciples, including Thomas, on the next Sunday night (Mark 16:14; John 20:26-29); (6) to seven disciples beside the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-24); (7) to the apostles and more than five hundred brethren and James, the Lord’s half-brother (1Cor.15:6-7); (8) to those who witnessed the ascension (Matt.28:18-20; Mark 16:19;Luke 24:44-53;Acts1:3-12).

Verse 1, the first day of the week, or the day after the Sabbath, signifies a new beginning, a new age. In Lev.23:10-11, 15 a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest was offered to the Lord as a wave offering on the day after the Sabbath. That sheaf of the first fruits was a type of Christ as the first fruits in resurrection (1Cor.15:20,23). Christ resurrection on precisely the day after the Sabbath. By His all-inclusive death He terminated the old creation, which had been completed in six days, after which was the Sabbath day. In His resurrection He germinated the new creation with the divine life. Hence, the day of His resurrection was the beginning of a new week – a new age. This day of His resurrection was appointed by God (ps.118:24), was prophesied as “today” in Ps.2:7, was predicted by Himself as the third day. (Matt.16:21; John2:19,22) and later was called by the early Christian “the Lord’s day” (Rev.1:10). On this day Christ was born in resurrection as the firstborn Son of God (Acts.13:33; Heb.1:5) and the Firstborn from the dead to be the Head of the Body, the church (Col.1:18)

The Lord’s resurrection had been accomplished, but the discovery of it required the disciples’ seeking in love toward the Lord. It was thus that Mary the Magdalene discovered it and obtained the fresh manifestation of the Lord and the revelation of the issue of His resurrection: that His Father is the Father of those who believe into Him, and that those who believe into Him are His brothers (v.17), Peter and John only knew of the discovery; but Mary obtained the experience. The brothers were satisfied with having faith in the fact of the Lord’s resurrection, but the sister went further and sought the resurrected Lord Himself, i.e., the personal experience of the Lord. The Lord was there all the time, but He was not manifested until verse 6.

Verse 5 all the things that were cast off from the Lord’s resurrected body and left in His tomb signify the old creation, which He wore into the tomb. He was crucified with the old creation and buried with it. But He rose from within it, leaving it in the tomb and becoming the first fruits of the new creation. All the things left in the tomb were a testimony to the Lord’s resurrection. If these things had not been left there in good order, it would have been difficult for Peter and John to believe (v.8) that the Lord had not been taken away by someone but had risen by Himself. These things had been offered to the Lord and wrapped around Him by His two disciples. Joseph and Nicodemus (19:38-42) what they had done toward the Lord in their love to Him became very useful in the Lord’s testimony.

Verse 6 the strips on linen lying there. If the body been stolen, the thieves would have carried body with linen, not unwrap it; but even if they did, wrappings would have been strewn around tomb, not lying in perfect order as they saw. The strips would have been tossed.

Verse 9 the Lord is not only life but also resurrection (11:25). Hence, death cannot bold Him (Acts 2:24). He went into death of His own accord to accomplish His work. When He finished His mission, He came out of death and rose up from it.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18)

 

11Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

 

Verse 17 on the day of His resurrection the Lord ascended to the Father. This was a secret ascension, the ultimate fulfillment of the going predicted in 16:7. It occurred forty days prior to His public ascension, which took place before the eyes of the disciples (Acts 1:9-11). On the day of resurrection, early in the morning He ascended to satisfy the Father, and late in the evening He returned to the disciples (v.19) the freshness of His resurrection must be first for the Father’s enjoyment, as in the type the first fruits of the harvest were brought first to God.

Previously, the most intimate term the Lord had used in reference to His disciples was “friends” (15:14-15). But after His resurrection He began to call them “brothers,” for through His resurrection His disciples were regenerated (1Pet.1:3) with the divine life, which had been released by His life-imparting death, as indicated in 12:24. He was the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died and grew up to bring forth many grains for the producing of the one bread, which is His Body (1Cor.10:17). He was the Father’s only Son, the Father’s individual expression. Through His death and resurrection, the Father’s only Begotten became the Firstborn among many brothers (Rom.8:29). His many brothers are the many sons of God and are the church (Heb.2:10-12), a corporate expression of God the Father in the Son. This is God’s ultimate intention. The many brothers are the propagation of the Father’s life and the multiplication of the Son in the divine life. Hence, in the Lord’s resurrection God’s eternal purpose s fulfilled. 

Through His life-imparting death and resurrection, the Lord made His disciples one with Him. Therefore, His Father is the Father of His disciples, and His God is the God of His disciples. In His resurrection they have the Father’s life and God’s divine nature, just as He has. In marking them His brothers, He has imparted the Father’s life and God’s divine nature into them. By making His Father and His God theirs, He has brought them into His position-the position of the Son- before the Father and God. Thus, in life and nature inwardly and in position outwardly they are the same as the Lord, with whom they have been united.

 

Bibliography,

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.