He Is Risen: See And Believe!

Father in heaven,

we would come before you now

and that we would ask that

your name would be hallowed

and that your will would be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Father, would you now pour out your spirit

upon us, your people,

in this congregation

and would you give us eyes

to see the risen Jesus

through this eyewitness account of John.

It's in your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, a week ago I had my vision tested

and as part of having my vision tested,

I knew that there was going to be

a particular test in that big test

that is a point of challenge for me.

The colorblind test.

I was seated in front of 12 circles,

four rows of three.

Each circle was comprised of smaller circles

of varying colors and shades

and apparently there are numbers

you can see in those circles.

So the aid helping me

starts circle one.

Well, what do you see?

I don't see anything.

Oh, what do you see there?

I don't see anything.

Next circle, nothing.

Next circle, nope.

Nope.

Nope.

I think I see a six.

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Three, seven, nope.

So I turned to her and I said,

would you just tell me?

I can't see.

I'm colorblind.

I can't see.

Tell me the numbers.

So she walked me through.

Four, 14, 27, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I believed.

I believed.

I couldn't see it.

I turned to my eyewitness friend

and she said, there they are.

And I believed without seeing.

My eyes didn't need to see the numbers

to believe that they were there.

This morning, we're not gathered

to talk about a colorblind test.

This morning, we've gathered together

to see and believe the risen Jesus.

He is risen.

He's risen indeed.

And I doubt that any of us in this room

have actually laid physical eyes

upon the risen Christ.

But does that mean that Jesus is not alive?

If there's anything that my vision test shows,

it's you don't have to see something

with your own eyes to know it's real.

This morning, I'm going to show you

a eyewitness account from the Gospel of John.

And if you want to start turning your Bibles there,

please feel free.

You've got Bibles before you in the pews.

John is the fourth book of the New Testament.

It's the fourth Gospel.

When it comes to seeing and believing

in the resurrection of Jesus,

we're actually dependent on someone else's eyewitness.

Someone else who saw Jesus

after he was crucified and raised from the dead.

And the eyewitness account that we're going to look at

is the account of John,

one of his longtime followers.

Now, you know what an eyewitness account is, right?

It's like when there's an accident on 60th and Sheridan,

and you're there, you see it,

the police officer come,

then they take a police report of your eyewitness account

of what took place.

You were there, you saw it.

And this morning, we're going to look at the eyewitness account

of the Gospel of John, John's account.

He was there, he saw it.

And he shares it with us

so that we can believe

that Jesus is raised from the dead.

And so my aim this morning

is not to convince you

that the Gospel of John

is a reliable account

of the resurrection of Jesus.

My aim this morning

is to show you what John shows us

so that you would believe that Jesus is risen.

That's my goal this morning.

And here's how he's going to do it.

In John chapter 20,

John 20 · chapter mention

he starts in verses 1 through 10,

and he shows us the empty tomb.

And then for the rest of the chapter,

he's going to show us

three transformational events.

People who encounter the risen Jesus,

and their lives are changed.

And so what John shows us

is the tomb is empty

because Jesus is alive,

and Jesus changes people's lives.

Here's what's riding on all this.

What you believe about Jesus

is really important.

And what you believe about his resurrection

is very important.

If Jesus wasn't raised from the dead,

he is not who he claimed to be,

and the work that he did on the cross,

what we just kind of brought to mind,

how is that supposed to have accomplished anything

if he wasn't raised from the dead?

Let alone the fact that we have no hope of life after death.

But if Jesus was raised from the dead,

it actually proves that he was God in the flesh,

that his payment for sin was effectual,

it accomplished what he sought to do with it,

and that he is alive today.

So let's look at this empty tomb in verses 1 through 10.

I'll just read it for you.

Now on the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early

while it was still dark

and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple.

The other disciple is John, the writer of the gospel.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and John,

the one whom Jesus loved,

and said to them,

They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,

and we do not know where they have laid him.

So Peter went out with the other disciple,

and they were both going toward the tomb.

Both of them were running together,

but the other disciple, John, outran Peter

and reached the tomb first.

And stooping to look in,

he saw the linen clothes lying there,

cloths lying there,

but he did not go in.

Then Simon Peter came following him

and went into the tomb.

He saw the linen cloths lying there

and the face cloth,

which had been on Jesus' head,

not lying with the linen cloths,

but folded up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple, John,

who had reached the tomb first,

also went in,

and he saw and believed.

For as yet,

they did not understand the scripture,

that he, Jesus,

must rise from the dead.

Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Here's John's eyewitness account

of what happened that first Easter Sunday.

Before dawn,

this would have been most likely Sunday,

April 5th, 33 A.D.

A real time, a real day.

Before dawn, it's still dark.

Mary Magdalene,

one of Jesus' female followers,

she arrives at the tomb

to finish preparing Jesus' body for burial.

So there's a little backstory right there.

Two days earlier,

Jesus had been crucified

on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem.

And while Jesus,

his last words that he said there,

it is finished,

he was speaking about the work

that he had done on the cross.

Mary Magdalene was there.

She witnessed his crucifixion,

his death,

and his burial.

Because she followed

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

to Joseph's newly hewn-out tomb

in the limestone outside of Jerusalem.

And she followed them there

and watched them put Jesus'

linen-shrouded body into that tomb

and then roll this huge stone

in front of the tomb entrance.

She saw it.

She had the tomb address,

you could say.

And so it's on the first day

of the week.

It's Sunday.

Three days following

that first Good Friday.

And when Mary arrives

in the dark,

she notices right away

that this huge stone

had been taken away,

verse 1.

She must have looked in.

Because when she runs

and tells Simon, Peter, and John

that the body has been taken away,

she must have looked in

to know that it had been removed.

And she tells them

that someone must have taken his body

and placed him somewhere else

unknown to them.

And right there,

what you see is that

she's not thinking resurrection.

She's not thinking

that he's been raised from the dead.

She's thinking that

his body's been misplaced.

So upon hearing Mary's report,

Peter and John,

foot race to the tomb,

verses 3 and 4.

John arrives first

because he's younger than Peter.

And when John arrives,

he stoops in the tomb

and he looks down into the tomb.

It's like looking down

into a shallow cellar

of a basement.

He looks down

and sees the linen burial cloths

that had enshrouded Jesus' body

lying there.

And they're missing something.

I'm not naming any names,

but sometimes in our family,

there's this towel

that shows up

in the middle of our bathroom

with no body in it.

It's this empty towel

and you touch it

and it's a little damp.

What's going on?

Not naming any names.

But when John looks in

and sees these burial linens,

something's out of place.

We've got a missing body.

These burial linens

were missing the very person

that had been enshrouded by them

two days earlier.

And it gives John pause.

So much so,

he doesn't go into the tomb.

He's just looking in.

And here's what I want to put

into your brain.

Something's going on

in John at this moment.

Something is being brought

to his mind

at this moment.

He arrived at the tomb

and his heart was pumping

and his heart starts going,

the heart rate starts going down

and then he sees

these burial linens

and his heart rate

is starting to go up

because something is going on

in his mind.

Something related

to the Old Testament.

But we'll come back

to that in a second

because Peter arrives.

He arrives huffing and puffing

that old man

and in classic Peter style,

he just goes right

into the tomb.

Right in.

And he too sees

the burial linen lying there.

But what John tells us,

he also sees

the linen face cloth

that was over Jesus'

dead head.

It was separate

from the linen cloths

that covered his body.

And what Joseph,

what John is very clear

in pointing out

is that this linen face cloth

was not thrown

on the floor.

It was folded up.

You know,

after you wash your face

with a washcloth,

you kind of fold it up

and put it on your sink.

Very intentional.

It's folded up.

Someone left

the burial linens.

Someone folded up

this face cloth.

And if you were going

to be stealing

Jesus' body,

I'm guessing

you're not going

to take the time

to fold up

his face cloth.

You're going to throw it

on the floor

or keep it on his head.

So,

at this point,

John in verse 8

now enters the tomb.

He sees the empty tomb.

He sees the empty

burial linens.

He sees the folded up

face cloth.

And at the end

of verse 8,

we see these words,

John saw

and believed.

And we have a very

important question

we need to answer

right now.

What did he believe?

What was he believing?

Well, in verse 9,

we're told,

for as yet,

they did not understand

the scripture

that he must

rise from the dead.

He believes

that Jesus

has been raised

from the dead.

Because what has

come to his mind

is the Old Testament

scripture

in new,

pronounced,

powerful way.

If you flip

in your Bible

back to

Psalm 16,

Psalms 16:10

verse 10,

this may have

been the scripture

that had come

to his mind

and that

stirred his belief

that Jesus

has been raised

from the dead.

This verse,

I'm going to read you,

this verse

was proclaimed

by Peter

and the apostle

Paul

when they would

preach

and that they

would give

an Old Testament

basis for the

resurrection of

Jesus.

For you will not

abandon my soul

to Sheol

or let your

holy ones see

corruption.

And of course,

the holy one of all,

the greatest of all

holy ones is Jesus.

You will not see

corruption.

Was this

the verse

that God

had used

in John's

mind

to stir

belief

when he sees

the empty tomb?

It could have been.

It could have been

Isaiah 53, 10

where the suffering

servant is buried

in a grave

of a rich man

and then afterwards

he lives,

goes on living,

raised from the dead.

These are different

passages that

the Old Testament

points to

not just the

Messiah dying

but the Messiah

necessarily being

raised from the dead.

So here's what

we see happening.

Here's this

eyewitness account

of an empty tomb

and what John

is telling us

is that this

tomb is not

empty on

accident.

It's purposefully

empty.

It's the

fulfillment of

the Old Testament

scriptures.

That's one reason

why it was empty.

It had to be

to fulfill

the Old Testament.

Another reason

is that

the resurrection

had to happen

in order to

demonstrate that

Christ's one time

payment for sin

was accepted

and received

by God

a holy God.

This past week

I ordered a book

from Amazon.

Anybody ever

order a book

from Amazon?

It was a book

on the gospel,

the life of Jesus

and how that's

essential to

every Christian

and as soon

as I ordered

it I clicked

that little button

that place order

bing

three seconds

later

my emails

dinged

from Amazon

the confirmation

email

payment received

what happens

on Good Friday

is payment

made

what happens

on Easter Sunday

is payment

received

Christ's payment

for sin

was accepted

by a holy God

and that

opens

wide the door

for all sinners

to come

and receive

forgiveness

of sins

through what

Jesus has

accomplished

he is a

living savior

and sins

are washed

clean

this is an

empty tomb

but it's

speaking loud

and so upon

seeing the

empty tomb

John believed

that Jesus

had been raised

from the dead

because his

bible is making

sense in a new

way

and I just

want to point

out the obvious

he's not

looking at

the resurrected

Jesus right

now

he's standing

in an empty

tomb

believing that

Jesus has been

raised

because he's

thinking about

his bible

in a new

way

if John

is any

indicator

someone does

not have to

visibly see

the risen

Jesus

in order to

believe that

he's been

raised from

the dead

you just need

to know

your bible

it's a

supernatural

revelation

okay

we've seen

the empty

tomb

John's

making an

eyewitness

case

now he's

going to

move us

to

some

very

interesting

encounters

and what

these

encounters

demonstrate

is why

the empty

tomb

is empty

the empty

tomb

is empty

because

Jesus

is alive

and he's

changing

people's

lives

so the

first

transformational

risen

Jesus

sighting

it's

almost

like

if you

were in

the

northwest

and you're

like

okay

bigfoot

sighting

I saw

him

we don't

know it's

true or

not

John

provides us

with some

risen

Jesus

sightings

of people

real people

who had a

real encounter

with the

risen Christ

and they

were really

changed

so the

first story

first account

is with

Mary

Mary Magdalene

and I'm

just going to

breeze through

these

this is in

verses

11

through 18

what we see

happen here

is that

Mary's

weeping

outside

the tomb

where Jesus

was laid

she stoops

down

she looks

in the tomb

there are

two angels

there

and the

angels

are like

woman

why are

you weeping

he's not

here

it doesn't

even strike

her that

two angels

are in

this tomb

because she

turns around

and when she

turns around

there is

Jesus

standing

before her

but she

doesn't

recognize him

in fact

he then

asks her

woman

why are

you weeping

and then

in great

irony

he asks

her

in verse

15

whom are

you seeking

so

don't

miss

that

Mary

is

distraught

the one

that she

had been

living for

for the

last three

years

she just

witnessed

crucified

her

the guy

that he

was she

was living

for is

gone

and now

she just

wants to

finish

preparing

his body

and now

his body

is gone

it's gone

from bad

to worse

she just

wants to

know where

the body

is

and so

she's

seeking

the body

of Jesus

she turns

around

and there's

the risen

Christ

who she

doesn't

recognize

asking her

who are you

looking for

and she

thinks he's

the gardener

sir if you

have carried

him away

tell me

where you

have laid

him

and I

will take

him away

verse 15

and then

Jesus

says

he says

to her

Mary

Mary

and instantly

she has

eyes to

see

and she

exclaims

in verse

60

in Aramaic

Rabboni

which is a

term of

affection for

a teacher

Rabboni

and so she

must have

reached out

to cling

to him

because in

verse 17

he's like

whoa

whoa

whoa

don't cling

to me

yet

I've

not yet

ascended

to my

father

but what

we see

happening

in this

account

is this

we have

a distraught

weeping

Mary

that once

she sees

and recognizes

the risen

Jesus

she is

profoundly

changed

her weeping

turns to

worship

do you see

it

she encounters

the risen

Jesus

and she's

changed

and what

John is

helping us

to see

is the

tomb

is empty

because

Jesus

is alive

and he's

changing

people

she see

she saw

she believed

and she was

transformed

now some

of you may

have come

into this

building

this morning

and you

have a

very similar

cry of

your heart

when it

comes to

Jesus

someone stole

Jesus

from you

maybe it

was when

you were a

child

growing up

in a

church

and another

Christian

did something

and you

were like

I'm done

I'm done

with this

take

I'm done

I'm walking

away

and you

grieve the

loss of your

Jesus

or maybe

you're a

college student

you showed up

freshman year

to this

big class

with a really

smart professor

and this

really smart

professor

just totally

annihilates

any argument

for Jesus

and his

resurrection

and it's

like he

you lost

your Jesus

at that

point

well the

good news

is this

despite

what other

people have

done

despite

best

arguments

John is

very clear

Jesus is

alive

and he

calls you

by name

in John

10

Jesus

says

the good

shepherd

calls his

sheep

by name

and they

know his

voice

when Mary

hears

Jesus

calling her

name

lights on

she sees

and she

believes

and she's

transformed

her weeping

turns to

worship

and she's

just looking

to hold

on to her

savior

her risen

savior

if you've

lost your

Jesus

along the

way

he's calling

you by

name

how do you

know he's

calling you

do you

believe he's

alive

do you

believe he

died for

you on

the cross

do you

believe that

there is

life in

him and

no one

else

do you

want to

live your

life for

him

he's

calling

you

so what

you do

is this

you by

faith

like Mary

you just

cling to

him

so we

see

the tomb

is empty

because Jesus

is alive

and he's

changing

people

not just

in 33

AD

April

but he's

changing

people in

April

2018

AD

because he's

still

alive

the next

encounter we

see is with

his disciples

in verses

19 through

23

the disciples

are holed up

in the upper

room locked

door and they

have basically

kind of isolated

themselves in

fear of the

Jews

these guys that

killed Jesus

what does that

mean for us

so they're

hiding

they're

fearful

circle the

wagons

call a

holy huddle

let's step

back

who knows

what's going

to happen

some of us

in this room

followers of

Jesus

we're seeing

where our

culture is

going and

we're asking

questions like

what does

this mean

for us

where's

this thing

going

well

verse

the second

part of

19

Jesus

comes

and stands

among

them

and he

says peace

with you

he speaks

peace to

his fearful

disciples

they're

like who

what is

going on

he shows

them his

hands

he shows

them his

side

and then

we read

that verse

20

the disciples

are glad

they move

from fear

hear words

of peace

Jesus is

present

and they're

glad

but it

doesn't stop

there

verse 21

Jesus

then tells

them

hey

I'm glad

that you're

gathered

together

but I'm

sending

you out

and he's

going to

send them

out

with power

from the

Holy Spirit

he breathes

the spirit

upon him

with the

authority

to proclaim

the forgiveness

of sins

that Christ

accomplished

on the

cross

it is

finished

he says

it's time

to go

now

see what's

going on

here

Jesus

disciples

are

fearful

they

isolate

themselves

they

hole up

in a

holy

huddle

Jesus

steps

into the

midst

of them

pronounces

peace

empowers

them with

his Holy

Spirit

and sends

them out

that's a

transformation

Jesus

is seen

he's

believed

and there's

a transformation

you see

what John

is doing

John

is helping

us to see

that the

tomb is

empty

because Jesus

is alive

and Jesus

is changing

people

back then

and now

and so

if you're

a Christian

and you're

fearful

of what

can happen

to you

because you're

associated

with Jesus

Jesus

says

I'm here

and I'm

here with

power

from the

Holy Spirit

to send

you out

we've seen

Jesus now

interact

with Mary

we've seen

him interact

with his

disciples

and now

verses 24

through 29

Thomas

aka

doubting

Thomas

in verse

24

we read

that

Thomas

wasn't

there

when Jesus

appeared

to him

and he

had appeared

to him

Jesus

appeared

to his

disciples

that first

night

Easter

night

Thomas

wasn't

there

we're

not

told

why

and they

tell Thomas

they had

seen

Jesus

and in

verse 25

Thomas

responds

with a

degree

of

skepticism

he says

unless I

see in

his

hands

the mark

of the

nails

but then

he goes

further

she's not

seeing it

and place my

finger into

the mark

of the

nails

and place

my hand

into his

side

unless I

see it

I will

never

believe

unless I

put my

finger

in the

holes

in his

body

I will

never

believe

it's

quite a

statement

he's

saying

unless I

have

physical

tangible

verifiable

proof

I'm not

buying this

business

that Jesus

is alive

I mean

he's got

a point

normally

speaking

under normal

conditions

people who

are dead

three days

don't come

back to

life

there's a

doctor

do people

who are

dead

three days

come back

to life

no

medical

testimony

typically

not

normally

doesn't

happen

it's like

Thomas is

saying

I'll believe

it when I

see it

but more

than that

it's like

he's saying

I'll believe

it when I

can put my

finger in

it

when there's

tangible

proof

now I'm

guessing that

some of you

here this

morning have

real questions

about the

historical

reality

of the

resurrection

and you

have a

scientific

mind

and that

is a

good

thing

and you're

like I

just want

to know

how do I

know

how can I

figure this

out

did it really

happen

and how can

you verify

it

let me just

say this

and I hope

this helps

you I hope

this moves

you in a

particular

direction

the bodily

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

from the

dead

is a

supernatural

event

it's not

a natural

event

it's a

supernatural

event

it's a

miracle

and it's

true

under normal

circumstances

people who

are dead

three days

don't come

back to

life

science

is a

good thing

the research

over the

decades

and years

that men

and women

have put

into finding

cures

that is

a good

thing

discovery

natural

revelation

we all

benefit

from that

all of us

have benefited

from health

treatments

that have

come from

the hard

research

of people

using science

to that

end

but one

of the

things

one of

the

limits

of

science

is

that

it's

incapable

of

really

explaining

supernatural

events

so do you

know what

will happen

if someone

tries to

apply the

scientific

method to

the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

that person

is going

to get

frustrated

because it's

like two

different

languages

speaking

the

scientific

method

depends

on

naturalistic

explanation

of natural

events

and realities

but what

happens

what happens

if a

supernatural

reality

is being

asked about

supernatural

literally means

beyond the

natural

here's what I

think happens

here's the

culture I

think we're

in

some people

in our

culture

see science

and they're

like yeah

that is

really helpful

it's really

helpful for

explaining

naturalistic

events

science

as a

discipline

but there's

other of us

who start

seeing science

not just as

a discipline

but as a

worldview

science explains

everything

and when

science is

unable to

explain

something

it can

then be

labeled

unscientific

which can

subtly mean

it's not

true

think about

it this

way

science is

like this

map

a map

that

explains

and describes

those things

in natural

events and

encourages and

it's really

helpful

it's very

clear

but what

happens when

there's something

that happens

beyond the

map

that goes

beyond the

scope of

what science

is

defined to

do

what are

other ways

to know

realities

how do you

know

supernatural

truth if

it's

supernatural

revelation

supernatural

revelation

and that's

exactly what

happens to

Thomas

Jesus reveals

himself to

Thomas

look with

me

Jesus

eight days

later

verse 26

his disciples

are inside

again

Thomas is

with them

this time

and Jesus

once again

stands among

them and

speaks peace

and then he

turns right to

Thomas and he

says to

Thomas

Thomas put

your finger

here

see my

hands

and then he

says and

put out your

hand and

place it in

my side

do not

disbelieve

but believe

and you know

what I find

very interesting

John does

not record

him doing

that

he doesn't

record that

he doesn't

show Thomas

putting his

finger in his

hand or

putting his

hand in his

side

what we

see happening

here is

Jesus reveals

himself to

Thomas and

in such a

way it

satisfies

Thomas

and he

says my

Lord and

my God

remember what

Thomas said

earlier

I will never

believe unless

this happens I

will never

believe

Jesus shows

up he

doesn't touch

him and

he believes

my Lord

and my

God

when Thomas

says my

Lord and my

God he's

saying two

things

Jesus is

preeminent over

all Lord of

Lords and

he's his

Lord and he

also says my

God talking

about Jesus

true nature

God in the

flesh and

notice the

my's I

belong to

him now he's

my Lord and

my God

Thomas knew

at once as

he's standing

in the presence

of the risen

incarnate God

Lord of

Lords that he

is alive

so here's what

John is doing

John is showing

this account of

Thomas coming

face to face

with the risen

Jesus his

disbelief turned

to belief and

it shows us why

the tomb is

empty because

Jesus is alive

and Jesus

responds by

saying hey

have you

believed because

you've seen me

blessed are those

who have not

seen and yet

have believed

that's us

that's where

we're living

most likely

none of us

are going to

lay physical

eyes on the

risen Christ

but there are

other ways

to see him

we're able to

believe in

Jesus now by

seeing him in

the revelation

of this book

of John's

eyewitness to

the resurrected

savior

it's a faithful

testimony of a

true event

when doubting

Thomas encounters

the risen

Jesus

he sees

he believes

and he's

transformed

I will never

believe

he's turned to

my Lord

and my God

so this morning

if you have

doubts about

the resurrection

of Jesus

because you

have a healthy

scientific mind

of inquiry

we're not

asking you

to reject

that

what I just

like to ask

you is this

maybe

you're trying

to make

science do

something it's

incapable of

doing

so here's

what I would

recommend

would you

take a little

step of faith

and if

Jesus is in

fact alive

you call

out to him

and ask

him to

reveal himself

to you

ask

Jesus

to show

himself

to you

we've got

these little

gospel of

John's on

the back

tables for

you to

have

and that's

where I

would start

this morning

we've covered

a lot of

ground

John has

shown us

the tomb

is empty

John walked

in

he saw

he believed

and there was

hope in his

heart

and then

John shows

us the tomb

is empty

because Jesus

is alive

Mary saw

believed

transformed

the disciples

saw

believed

transformed

Thomas

saw

believed

transformed

salvation

depends upon

what you

believe about

Jesus

if Jesus

was not

raised from

the dead

it casts

major doubts

on who he

was

and major

doubts on

what he sought

to do on the

cross but if

Jesus was

raised from

the dead

my lord

and my

god

if he was

raised from

the dead

his payment

for sin

is accepted

the resurrection

demonstrates that

we started

this sermon

together

with this