He Is Risen! The Scriptures read, “Early 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. 2 So 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!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally 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.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.”
He is Risen!…I love John’s account of that first Resurrection Morning. We know that it wasn’t just one woman that morning, because of the other Gospels, but John zeroes in on three main people. Mary arrives at the tomb and the stone closing off the gravesite from the world has been moved.
From Luke’s Gospel, we know that she looked into the tomb from the outside and saw no body, and the linens have been left behind. But then two men, most likely angles appear and tell all the women that Jesus had risen. At this they leave and find the disciples.
Peter takes off running, but so does John. John tells us he out paces Peter and gets to the tomb first. But whether he’s out of breath or is just scared to go in, John it’s the first one to look in out of the two of them. It’s Peter. When he gets there, he looks in to see if Mary’s account is true. And it is! There is no body and the linens are indeed left behind. That’s when John himself looks in and confirms what Peter has seen.
That’s when we get this line from John, “He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) (v.8d-9).”
I want us to step back from this for one second and see something. John is truthful at this moment, yeah he believed that Jesus raised, but he didn’t understand the ins and outs like he would later. Here’s a guy that had heard from Jesus for three plus years about his eventual death and resurrection, and now he finally believed it, but he didn’t understand it.
I love this comforting thought, I don’t have to understand everything about God to put my trust in him. I don’t have to have everything in perfect theological comprehension to accept the Risen Savior. I don’t have to have a degree in biblical languages or studies to be brought out of my sin and into Christ’s life. What I need to do is accept what Jesus has said and done. Jesus said I was lost in my sin and separated from God. Jesus has said that I cannot cleanse myself of that sin. Jesus said that he has come from the Father to earth because of his great love for humanity. Jesus said, he is the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus said that he is the perfect sacrifice for me, so that I do not have to die in my sin. Jesus said he was going to die and resurrect, which he did. That’s what I put my trust in. Jesus word and deed. Jesus word that I am a sinner far from God, whom he has died for. His resurrection proves that what he said was true. That means then, anyone who places their trust in Jesus as their Savior will also be with him in eternity. I don’t need to know much about Jesus for my salvation, I just need to believe his word and deed.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I stay there, in sweet ignorance of the work of God in its totality. No, I am to grow in my knowledge of the Risen Savior. How from ancient times and through many different means, he has brought together the path of redemption to humanity. From the saving of Noah on that boat, to bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, to setting David on his throne, to that young virgin woman who he called to give brith to the Savior.
We, like John are not required to know all the work of God through the ages, we are simply to trust in his word and deed, but we are not to stay in that moment. We are to grow in our relationships with Jesus. Later on John would write three letters and one more book. And within those writings, John uses the depth of the Word of God to bring understanding to the followers of God.
The resurrection is only the beginning of the life of Christ for those who would believe. It was never intended to be the end. Yes, the end of death’s power of those who would trust Jesus as their Savior, but not the end to the relationship with God.
It’s not a thanks Jesus for saving me, I’ll see you when I die in this body or when you come back. No, it’s a daily walk of learning about our Savior, the Lover of our souls.
Let us this morning not look a the resurrection as merely the end to death, but as the beginning to eternal life, which is a deep relationship with God. And if you haven’t taken that next step in your relationships with God to go as deep as you can, what’s stopping you? What keeps you back from that depth?
I have been asked how can we spend eternity with God, isn’t that going to get boring after awhile? My response is, we will have an infinite amount of time to get to know and infinite God who loves us.
I want to challenge you this week to look into your life and ask the question, have I moved on from that day that I believed, into a rich and life changing relationship with my Savior. If you have, rejoice! If you haven’t make it a commitment to grow this next year in your relationship with God. Through prayer that doesn’t stop, through reading that is deep and thorough, and through serving others.
But if you haven’t put your trust into Jesus as your Savior, and you woke up this early in the morning for some reason, there’s another thing we can notice from this passage. Out of the two disciples, only John believed at this point. There was enough evidence for John. The stone was rolled away, the body was gone, yet the linens were left. John believed that Jesus was resurrected, but it took another moment in time for Peter to believe in the resurrection. Yes, we know from the other Gospels that Peter marveled at what he saw, but he hadn’t believed it yet.
What evidence do you need to believe that Jesus is the Risen Savior? That you are indeed lost in sin, that rebellion that says I want it my way and not God’s? If your answer is, “…more. I want more than the pages of the Bible, I want more than the lives of Christians I see around me, I want more than the facts presented. I want more than the fine tuning of the universe, or the interconnectedness of this world. I want more evidence.” My question would then be, is there ever enough evidence?
My challenge for you this morning is really seek and explore the evidence. To run, like John and Peter to the tomb and examine it for yourself. And at the tomb decide whether there is enough to believe or simply just marvel at.
I have run to the tomb and found it empty and I have believed in the Risen Savior, who has brought me from death to life. And I now walk with him as be brings me closer to his eternity. Today, let us worship the Risen Savior who is calling each of us to run to the empty tomb and trust in him as our Savior. Amen.
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