The Resurrection – John 20:1-29
By Chester McCalley
or “Beholding an Empty Tomb”
THE EMPTY TOMB 20:1-10
THE REPORT OF MARY 20:1-2
“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2And so she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ ”
If John’s account had ended with chapter 19, it would not have been exceptional—all biographies end with death. The scene por- trayed here is dramatic. Not only was the doorway to the tomb standing open, but the stone had been taken away. The Greek preposition ek is used, which means out of. Tombs were closed by a round stone that rolled in a track. The implication of the preposi- tion is that the stone had been lifted out of this track.
The thought of a resurrection did not even cross Mary’s mind; she believed that they had taken Him away. The pronoun they is unde- fined. It could be an impersonal plural, or it could be a reference to the enemies of Jesus. This would imply that the Jews had come to commit some final indignities on the body of Jesus. Like Mary, neither Peter nor John anticipated the possibility of a resurrection. To them, the empty tomb was to be explained by some natural cause.
THE ARRIVAL OF PETER 20:3-10
“Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they were going to the tomb. 4And the two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; 5and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. Simon Peter therefore also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed. 9For as yet they did not under- stand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10So the disciples went away again to their own homes.”
The act of running shows the great emotion involved. Only one other passage in the New Testament refers to running other than metaphorically. Matthew 28:8 says “And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.”
The touches of local color point to eyewitness historicity. John (probably) ran faster and got there first but did not go in; Peter arrived later and immediately entered the tomb. The grave clothes lay just as they had been when they were wrapped around the body. The description leads one to believe that Jesus arose through the grave clothes without disturbing them. The scene is orderly, not one that would be left by grave robbers.
Three different verbs are used for “seeing” in this account. In verse 1, Mary saw (blepo); in verse 6, Peter beheld (theoreo); and in verse 8, John saw, (eiden). Verse 8 tells us the other disciple (probably John) saw and believed. What did John believe? It probably means he believed that a resurrection had occurred but did not yet connect that fact with any particular Scripture. The disciples believed in the resurrection first and then connected it to Scripture later. This means they did not manufacture a resurrection to fit their interpre- tation of Old Testament prophecy.
THE APPEARANCES OF JESUS 20:11-29
See <a href=”http://knowing-jesus.com/the-post-resurrection-appearances-of-jesus/“>this article</a> for the post resurrection appearances of Jesus.
THE APPEARANCE TO MARY MAGDALENE 20:11-18
Her Arrival 20:11-12
“But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.”
The position of the grave clothes indicated where the head and feet had lain. When angels appear in the Bible, they are usually recog- nized by the powers they possess rather than any difference from human form. This is why Mary did not respond with shock or surprise. This is the only place where angels are mentioned in John’s narrative, though they abound in Luke’s writing. Mary did not expect an empty tomb; she came seeking a dead body.
The verb beheld is theoreo (from which our word theater comes) and denotes, not mere perception, but studied contemplation.
Her Conversation 20:13
“And they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ ”
Mary repeated the words she had spoken to the disciples in verse 2 with two variations. Instead of the Lord, she says my Lord; and I do not know replaces we do not know. The words of verse 13 show her sense of personal loss is now intensified. The simplicity of the narrative may be seen by observing that from verse 13 through 18 there are no connecting particles. The simple questions and decla- rations emphasize the dignity of the scene.
The only function of the angels is to ask Mary why she is weeping. After they ask the question, nothing more is heard of them. Mary’s assumption is that Jesus is dead, and all she anticipates is finding a body. We would all have cause to weep if Mary had found what she sought. What a tragedy had she gotten that for which she wept!
Her Discovery 20:14-18
“When she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’ 16Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means, Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to My brethren, and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and that He had said these things to her.”
There was something different about the risen Jesus because the Gospel accounts reveal that He was not always immediately recog- nized (Luke 24:15-31, 36-37; Matthew 28:16-17; John 21:4). Jesus repeats the question of the angels but adds Whom are you seeking? This was probably intended to lead Mary to look for a person, not a body—Jesus wishes to raise her expectations. The words stop clinging to Me carry two ideas. First, Mary is not to delay the Lord in ascending to the Father. Second, she must learn that fellowship with Him from now on is going to be different than it had been in the past. Jesus speaks of My God and your God, not our God. He is obviously not speaking of two gods. The words indicate that His relationship to the Father is not of the same nature as her relationship to the Father.
THE APPEARANCES TO THE DISCIPLES 20:19-29
Without Thomas Present 20:19-23
“When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ 22And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.’ ”
The disciples were afraid. They had escaped arrest in the garden but knew that being disciples of Jesus meant they were under suspicion. It is probable that they were meeting behind closed doors to decide how to escape from Jerusalem without being noticed. Verse 19 demonstrates one of the characteristics of the resurrection body: The closed and locked doors were no impediment to Jesus— He merely passed through them. While the resurrection body is different, there is also continuity, for His hands and side were definable as human. Jesus offered words of comfort and physical evidence that He was alive.
The reminder that He was sending them forth to continue His work would take on new meaning now. They would have had little enthusiasm to go forth in His name were He dead. The resurrection made their commission all the more compelling.
The words about receiving the Holy Spirit were an initial announcement of which Pentecost would be the historic fulfill- ment. The word any is plural, showing that the forgiveness of which Jesus speaks is not that of an individual but of men as a class. The apostles will have the authority to declare the forgive- ness of sins. How did they do this? The answer may be discovered by noting how these men preached in the book of Acts. We find they did it by preaching a message that said forgiveness of sin was on the single condition of faith in Christ (Acts 10:43). Everyone who proclaims the gospel is forgiving or not forgiving sins, conditioned on the response of faith or unbelief on the part of the hearer.
With Thomas Present 20:24-29
Thomas’s Doubt 20:24-25
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ ”
Thomas provides further evidence that the disciples were not expecting Jesus to rise. Thomas even refuses to believe eyewitness accounts, of which there were five on the very day of the resurrec- tion! There was no imaginary “building up” of appearances; in fact, the reverse is true. They were progressively restricted, not progres- sively built up. Thomas insisted on personal, visual, and tactile evidence before he would believe. The word saying indicates con- tinuous action—the disciples said repeatedly, “We have seen the Lord!”
Thomas’s words, I will not believe, contain a double negative, mak- ing the refusal an emphatic one. Evidence was not requested but demanded.
Thomas’s Discovery 20:26-29
“And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 27Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.’ 28Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’ ”
During the eight day interval, the disciples are left to ponder the events of the resurrection day. As far as we know, there were no appearances during these eight days. The disciples are gathered in the same place and the same room as on resurrection day. This time, however, we are not told they were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews (20:19). Though the doors were closed, the reality of Christ’s resurrection must have freed them from their previous fears.
Jesus invites Thomas to touch His hands and side, but he did not do so—this was not required, for one look did it; and he exclaimed, My Lord and my God! Thomas is convinced Jesus is alive; but more than that, he acknowledges Him as deity. Jesus says in verse 29 that
Thomas believed because he saw. This verse is not making a comparison between Thomas and those who come to believe without sight. He says those who believe without sight are blessed, but He does not say they are more blessed. When Jesus tells Thomas not to be unbelieving, He uses the word ginomai, which means to become. It is an invitation to change his mind set. The transformation is to be dramatic, as indicated by the strong adversative particle but.
Latest posts by Chester McCalley (see all)
- Jonah 3:1-4:11 – The Obedient Prophet – February 7, 2013
- Jonah 1:1-2:10 – The Disobedient Prophet – February 7, 2013
- Setting for Ruth: “The Days When the Judges Governed” – January 27, 2013
- The Tragedies of Moab: Ruth 1:1-18 – January 27, 2013
- The Welcome to Bethlehem: Ruth 1:19-22 – January 27, 2013
