John 20:1-18 - They Found An Empty Tomb

Main Idea: Jesus’ resurrection proves life’s greatest hardships are temporary.

6 PROOFS OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION

- The first witness was a formerly demon-possessed woman (whose testimony was inadmissible in 1st century Jewish courts).

- The first two male witnesses are characterized as scared, initially unbelieving, & non-integral to the story.

- The stone was rolled away (an unthinkable choice for the guards).

- The cloth head wrap Jesus was buried in was neatly folded.

- Angels announcing the resurrection were seen by the women.

- Jesus was physically seen & touched by people over 40 days.

• OUR IMPERFECT UNDERSTANDING IS TEMPORARY

  • We will understand why God wrote our unique story.

  • We will understand God’s Word.

• OUR GRIEF IS TEMPORARY

  • The God of Heaven’s Armies is for us.

  • The God-Man knows us by name.

  • The King of Kings has a home for us.

• OUR EARTHLY CARES ARE TEMPORARY

  • Concerns for health, shelter, food, & relationships will fade.

  • Heavenly wonders and blessings are eternal.

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 20. John chapter 20. I can't tell you guys how excited I am to not to be past the crucifixion account, because it's something that as Christians, we always need to be going back to over and over again.

But I'm thankful that Jesus didn't just die for our sins. He rose again the third day. And what a joy that that is, that one day, for every single one of us, resurrection is coming.

That even if these old bodies pass away, and some of you are like, listen, 29-year-old, I got told this morning, I got, what was it, foot corns, something like that. Those of you that have them, you know what I'm talking about.

They said, listen, I've got those that are older than you. I'm not telling you that, but when these earthly bodies pass away, I don't know.

When these bodies pass away, the resurrection day is coming, where all of our sorrows and all of our struggles are going to pass away. Okay, I got to stop.

I got to get back into the text, because if we're talking about resurrection, the hope of glory, heaven, Jesus' return, I could talk all day, and we do not have all day. So turn over to John chapter 20.

We are in our very last sermon series in the Gospel of John. We have traveled all the way from John 1.1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him, and without him, there was nothing made that was made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That's how we started all of this journey back in 2024.

And today, we begin this final chapter in John 20 and 21.

That as John, decades after these events, as he remembers the resurrection of Jesus, even as he reflects on the various other gospel accounts that had been written at this point by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John says, there are some things that I want

to make sure that people know about Jesus' resurrection. He actually says, as we'll hear next Sunday, I wrote everything that I did in my gospel so that you would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing in Him,

you would have eternal life. So the point of this is to give you confidence in Jesus as God's chosen one, as God the Son. And so we're going to see that play out even today.

Today specifically, we're going to be in John chapter 20 and verses 1 through 18. And the title of the message today is, They Found an Empty Tomb.

The eyewitnesses there on that Sunday morning over 2,000 years ago, or almost 2,000 years ago, they discovered when they went to the tomb of Jesus, that it was vacant. Jesus was absent without leave of the Romans, the Pharisees, or the devil himself.

He was not here, for he is risen. Let's do this first. Let's pray.

We'll read through the passage. We'll see some things that the Lord has for us today. We're actually going to look a little bit at six proofs of the resurrection, why you should believe that Jesus actually did rise from the dead.

And so I think it's going to be a wonderful time together. But let's pray, and then we'll dive in. Dear Lord Jesus, we are so, so grateful for your goodness to us.

Lord, we thank you that you, having name that is worthy to be appraised, to be praised, you have authority, you have wisdom and honor. And so God, may we give all of our praise and attention, devotion and obedience to you.

Lord, I pray today, if there's someone here that does not yet know you as their Savior, that today would be the day that they choose to follow Jesus. We love you, and we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

4:00

Maryʼs Discovery

Let's begin reading in John chapter 20 and verse number one.

On the first day of the week, by the way, if you've ever wondered, why do Christians worship on Sunday instead of the Sabbath, Saturday, it's because of our 2000 year old practice of the day Jesus got up, if you will, starting new creation that first

day of the week, we gathered together to worship on that same day. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

Now, this wasn't just a small stone. This was a large stone that would have been rolled in front in order to prevent anyone from accessing the tomb itself. But the stone had been removed.

Verse number two, so she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, that's John, by the way, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've put him.

We would read even from some of the other gospel accounts. John here is focusing specifically on Mary Magdalene, because this is who he was having the conversation with. But Mary Magdalene didn't go alone to the tomb.

She went with some of the other women. John here is not interested in giving you like, okay, here's everything that happened from point A to point B.

He has a specific account that he is telling us, and so it's his interactions here with Mary Magdalene. You can notice there that she says, and we don't know where they've put him, inferring her and the others that had gone to the tomb.

At that, Peter and the other disciple went out heading for the tomb. The disciples have, for these three days, been hiding away so that the Romans, the scribes, the Pharisees would not then come after them and crucify them.

They have been afraid of being identified with Jesus, even as Peter denied being one of his disciples. And then in classic, like little sibling mindset, the two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.

One of the things that I love about scripture is, it is the divine word of God that communicates everything that God wanted you and I to know about our spiritual walk. And it is also penned by human authors who put their personality and joy into it.

And maybe five to six decades after this took place, John wanted everyone, every Christian throughout all time to know, I ran faster than Peter. Makes me think the Lord is probably not opposed to all of our competitive events.

And this just brings me no small amount of joy. So John goes, he gets to the tomb. Stooping down, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in.

If you remember from last Sunday, Jesus, in his burial, he was wrapped in the linen clothes. You have Joseph of Arimathea, and you have Nicodemus that put 75 pounds of ointment and perfumes and stuff on him.

I wanted to also mention, because at our Bible study in Job, I highlighted one thing.

The amount of perfumes and stuff that they put on Jesus is a Roman measurement of 100 litras, which would correspond to about 75 of our pounds in, you know, what's that, imperial metrics or imperial measurements.

So some of you, last week in your Bibles, you saw, oh, 100 pounds of stuff. And so when I said 75, you went, wait a second. Why is this different?

It's because it's 100 Roman litras. It's about 75 of our pounds today. That's just free for you guys.

But for the couple of you that did wonder about that after last week going, am I crazy? Is Bryon crazy? Both of us are, but not because of that.

Verse number six, Then following him, so John looks inside the tomb. He sees Jesus' linen clothes laying there. So wherever Jesus is, he is not in what they buried him in.

And so Simon Peter also came, and he actually went into the tomb and saw the linen clothes lying there. The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths, but was folded up in a separate place by itself.

Now, during the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a myth that was popularized that said, okay, this is what Jewish people would do when they would say, okay, I'm leaving the table for a little bit, but I'm coming back.

And so this is like Jesus' commentary or him saying, I am going to return to this particular spot. That is not an accurate historical myth, although certainly we know that Jesus would return. He would tell the disciples that he would return.

But that particular story, if you have heard that before, is not an actual historical reality of a practice that existed at that time.

That was something in the 1800s and 1900s, a story that was promulgated, that a lot of people reiterated but was not factual. Verse number eight, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed.

John, again, five to six decades later, says, okay, I got there first. Yeah, Peter went inside the tomb first, but I went in the tomb and believed. Not like Peter.

It doesn't say Peter went in, saw the lid and closed and believed. I went in and I believed. Verse number nine says, they did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.

This is something Jesus highlights in Luke chapter 24, that the point of Genesis in our Bibles, Genesis to Malachi, the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, is Jesus, God's chosen one that goes through suffering and ends up in resurrection.

As you look all through Genesis through Malachi, that is the story line that happens over and over and over again. And Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that story line.

Also, Jesus had already told the disciples multiple times over, I am going to be crucified, be in the grave, and I will rise again.

But because they got so focused on the, you're going to die part of it, they missed the resurrection is coming portion.

10:44

Mary Meets Jesus

Verse number 10, Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.

She saw two angels in white, sitting where Jesus' body had been lying. One at the head and the other at the feet. Here God does something unique and special for Mary that he did not do for John or for Peter.

Let me remind you, God will do some things to speak into your heart and mind that are unique to you and that are different than what God might be doing in other people around you.

You might be able to hear the voice of God a little bit better for some of you, even during like a hunting trip or a fishing trip.

You might hear God in some unique ways there, where if I was in that same place, I would be like, stupid, you let the fish go, come on. You scared, you know, you scared the pheasants. You scared the deer.

That you might be able to experience God in some unique ways that the Lord has for you.

Let that grow in you both a desire to hear from God personally and have some grace for others who might not experience God in all of the same exact ways that you do. For some of you, listening to worship music really helps you to know the Lord well.

For others of you, it might be something like the outdoors, it might be through serving others, it might be through reading scripture, but realize that the good Lord loves you personally and he will personally care for you.

Verse number 13, these two angels then speak to Mary Magdalene. They said to her, woman, why are you crying? Because they've taken away my Lord, she told them, and I don't know where they've put him.

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know it was Jesus. Woman, Jesus said to her, why are you crying?

Who is it that you're seeking? Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've put him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary.

Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, rabboni, which means teacher. Don't cling to me, Jesus told her, since I have not yet ascended to the Father.

But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and she told them what he had said to her.

Here even at the end of this portion, you can think of Mary seeing the resurrected Christ. She would be holding on to him for dear life, and she's like, yes, you're back. And there you have Jesus going like, don't cling to me.

Like, I'm not, I'm, if you let go of me, I'm not going to suddenly be dead again. It's okay. Go tell the guys that I am raised from the dead.

What a joyous reminder that this is to us, that James, Jesus' half brother, in James 1, he says that Christ is the first fruits from the dead.

So, the first fruits, for those of you, I don't think we have any farmers in the room, but the first fruits would be those first crops that would bud.

It would be, you know, your first thing of corn or tomatoes that you would know once these have started, the rest of the crops are coming to.

And because Jesus raised from the dead, you and I have a certain date with resurrection life that is awaiting us.

14:28

Evidence for Resurrection

Today, I want to do two things. Number one, and this is going to be the quicker portion of today, so I'm going to look very briefly at six proofs of Jesus' resurrection that John gives us in these verses. They're there on your handout.

They're all here at once on the screen, because I'm not going to take a bunch of time on each of these. The first of these six proofs of Christ's resurrection is that the first eyewitness was a woman.

Now, I'm not saying this like, listen, a woman said it, therefore, it must absolutely be true. During first century, like Jewish-Palestine court dealings, a woman's testimony was not admissible in court.

If you're going to fabricate a story that will upheave the entire world, you would want your first witness to be someone that people would actually like respect and listen to.

But here, the gospel authors in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John highlight the fact that Jesus' first eyewitness was a woman. It is factually accurate, even though it was not popular, to the day and age in which they lived.

Additionally, Mary Magdalene was a former demoniac who had had seven demons that possessed her. This is not your star-shining witness of, you would want to bring someone that's very holy, very righteous, and go, yes, this is absolutely what happened.

Jesus is raised from the dead. No, he was a former demon-possessed woman, and she was the first one to see the risen Lord. Let that tell you, no matter what roads you have walked down in your path, Jesus wants you to be a witness for.

It doesn't matter if you used to be possessed, if you used to struggle in whatever ways, Jesus wants your witness and your voice for him, just as he did with Mary Magdalene. Secondly, the first two male witnesses are deeply unflattering.

So Peter and John, they weren't the first ones there. They did not believe initially in what had taken place. It's only after John goes inside the tomb that it even says that he believes.

And they abandoned the spot there at the tomb before Jesus actually arrived, which made them kind of superfluous to the story, that Jesus has still risen from the dead and has communication and speaks with people and is physically touched without the

guys showing up at all. So if you're saying, here are the two key witnesses, and you know John, he's a pastor there in Jerusalem and then later in Ephesus, and here's Peter, and he was a pastor there in Jerusalem as well, then up in Antioch, and

eventually over in Rome. But these guys didn't even get to see Jesus on that Easter morning.

Only the women did, and the guys showed up, but they showed up after the angels and before some of the other angels, and they left before Jesus even got here. This is not a perfect story that you would plan out if you were making stuff up.

Third, the gravestone was rolled away. There was no reason for the Pharisees or the Romans to move the stone. Jesus was dead.

There's no reason to open it up, and the Roman soldiers that were guarding it were a certain guarantee against any possible thievery.

No one's going up against a Roman battalion in order to steal the body of a dead, homeless, Jewish preacher there in the first century, especially not during that, like Passover right after Passover night. No one's doing that.

So this speaks to the authenticity of the account. Number four, the linen clothes were folded neatly. Anyone removing Jesus from the tomb after assaulting Roman guards and moving the stone would have simply taken the entire corpse away.

No thief would bother to take off all of the linen clothes or to take off the headwrap and to fold that and put it in a place by itself. No one would bother going through all of that process if it was that Jesus' body was stolen.

Number five, the angels were seen by multiple individuals at various times.

That both Mary Magdalene here in this passage and the other women, as we read in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they each individually at separate times saw these angelic beings who communicated to them the same truth, that Jesus was risen, that Jesus was

alive. So this wasn't just one person having a hallucination. This was multiple people at different points in time, all seeing and being able to collaborate together the same core truth. And then lastly, Jesus was physically seen and touched.

Here in this passage by Mary Magdalene, so much so that you get the picture of like a little kid hanging on to the leg of their parent, and you can picture Mary's joy as she sees Jesus, and Jesus has to go like, hey, don't cling to me.

I'm not evaporating. I'm not going to die if you don't hold on to me. So don't cling to me.

I am still going to my father. So Jesus was physically seen and touched with a physical form, discernible speech, and prolonged exposure across more than 500 witnesses over the course of 40 days.

These are not all of the proofs of Christ's resurrection, but at least from what John tells us, he wants you to know that this is not a made up story.

This is something that took place in real time and real place on a Sunday morning long ago, and that you can believe in what scripture says.

It is far too unlikely to be a fabricated story, and these eyewitness testimonies tell us that these things are true.

20:38

Hardships Temporary

As we close out today, I want us to see that Jesus' resurrection proves that life's greatest hardships are temporary. Jesus' resurrection proves that life's greatest hardships are temporary.

We can see this as we walk through the passage first, that our imperfect understanding is temporary.

We can see even from Mary Magdalene, and from her story starting off with demon possession, and then being healed by Jesus, having to experience being at the foot of the cross, and seeing her Lord be crucified, then coming to further embalm and treat

the body of Christ on that Sunday morning, only to find the body gone. She found out why God had put her particular story together on that Easter morning. One day, we will understand why God wrote our unique story.

You can look at the story of Job, and all throughout his life, he didn't realize what God had been putting together.

Even as we'll discover next Sunday, right at the end of the fifth Sunday fellowship, God did not tell Job everything that had transpired in order for him to finally arrive at the spot where he did in meeting with God and hearing God's voice.

He didn't know why. But when Job died and was reunited with the Lord, then he finally got to know. I think even going back about 80 years or so now, about the story of Cory Ten Boom, and many of you might have read her book, The Hiding Place.

She did not know why she went through everything that she did in the Holocaust and the horrors that she endured, the loss of family members, the dealing with bitterness and grief that she encountered in her life.

But on that day, when she went to meet her Savior, she got to understand why God wrote her story the way that he did.

So know this, our imperfect understanding right now of God, I don't know why, on that day, we will know him even as we are known by him.

Secondly, not only will we understand why God wrote our unique story on that day when we see the resurrected Christ, we will understand God's word.

You can think in the passage where it mentions that Jesus had told the disciples about the resurrection, and it says they did not yet understand that the scriptures said that Christ must rise again.

That one day, you and I will get to understand the story in ways that right now are really hard to put together. I don't know what your faith journey has looked like.

Any questions that you have had about God, why did you allow this, or why is this in the Bible? What's the meaning or purpose behind this? The resurrected Christ means that our questions don't end at death, but we get to see the answers.

We get to see the living embodiment of our every why. To our hurts, our concerns, our doubts, our fears, they are answered with a resurrected Savior, with the holes in his hands, and in his side, and in his feet.

I love this quote by a pastor from the 17th century, Matthew Henry. He says, we shall then fix our eye on him and see him as he is. We shall know how we are known, enter into all the mysteries of divine love and grace.

O glorious change, to pass from darkness to light, from clouds to the clear sunshine of our Savior's face, and in God's own light, to finally see light. Because of Jesus' resurrection, our imperfect understanding is temporary. The answers are coming.

And our grief is temporary. I love this, because the God of heaven's armies is for us. You can think of those angels attending the empty tomb of Jesus.

And we're told that those angels weren't just there, but that they actively care for God's people.

You can think even about ten years or so after this, as Peter is in a prison cell in Jerusalem, after John, this writer's brother, was killed by Herod in Jerusalem. And so Peter was then arrested, and an angel delivered him from jail.

In one commentary on Psalm 91, Matthew Henry also said, He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he gives his angels orders.

Not only over the church in general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge of the Lord their God, and this is the charge they receive from him.

It denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels themselves shall be charged with them and employed for them. That the God of angel armies is on our side.

And so grief can be temporary, no, grief can be temporary, knowing that we are protected and loved and cared for every single moment of our life. I also see in the passage that the God-man knows us by name.

I love that when Jesus is in the garden, yes, he starts off saying to Mary Magdalene, like, woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?

But then she's freaking out and she's asking like, hey, you know, just tell me where you've put him and I will take the body away.

And Jesus goes, Mary, Mary, I want you to know that in your moments where you're freaking out, that God knows your name. He cares about you individually. He made you.

You are his child. And so in your moments of fear and anxiety and grief, know that God is still saying Mary to you specifically, not necessarily to all of them. And you might say, Judy, you might say, Myron, what a joy.

God's not indifferent to you. You're not just one of a million. You're one in a million to him.

That he is the one who would leave the 99 sheep who are all doing what they're supposed to, to pursue the one that wandered away, to pursue the one that feels depressed and downhearted, to pursue the one that has been walking away in sin.

God knows you. He cares about you, and he's pursuing you. And lastly, the King of Kings has a home for us, where Jesus told Mary, I'm ascending to your father and to my father, to your God and to my God.

Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. Where Jesus ascended is where we will one day ascend to, either in our death or when the Lord returns. I love this poem put together by a singer named Matt Papa.

He says, Don't drop a single anchor, we're almost home. Through every toil and danger, we're almost home. How many pilgrim saints have before us gone?

No stopping now, we're almost home. That promised land is calling, we're almost home. And not a tear shall fall then, we're almost home.

Make ready now your souls for that kingdom come, no turning back, we're almost home. This journey ours together, we're almost home. Unto that great forever, we're almost home.

What song anew will sing around that happy throne? Come faint of heart, we're almost home. This life is just a vapor, we're almost home.

That sun is setting yonder, we're almost home. Take courage, for this darkness shall break to dawn. Oh, lift your eyes, we're almost home.

Almost home, we're almost home. So press on toward that blessed shore, oh, praise the Lord, we're almost home. Because Jesus has resurrected, the goodbyes that you have said are not goodbyes forever.

That loved one that you wish you could have had more time with, you will get to spend the endless ages with them day after day.

And even more glorious than that, if there could be such a thing, we get to spend day after day after day with Jesus forever, the one who knows us, who loves us, who calls us by name.

So our imperfect understanding is temporary, our grief is temporary. And lastly, our earthly cares are temporary. Even as Mary was clinging to Jesus and he says, no, no, no, there's something even more important than my presence here.

It is my presence before the Father. The truth is that our concerns for our health, shelter that we need, food, and even interpersonal relationships, those earthly cares will all fade away.

Jesus tells us, don't worry about your life, what you'll eat or what you'll drink, or about your body, what you'll wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky.

They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet, your heavenly father feeds them. And aren't you worth more than many birds? Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying?

And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the flowers of the field and how they grow. They don't labor or spin thread, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all of his splendor was arrayed like one of those.

That's how God closed the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow. Won't he do much more for you, O you of little faith? So don't worry, saying, what do we eat or what do we drink or what do we wear?

For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you.

One day, you're not going to have to worry about the mortgage anymore. You're not going to have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. You're not going to have to worry about whatever diagnosis is coming next.

Because Jesus resurrected from the dead, we have certain hope in our future. And I also love that heavenly wonders and blessings are eternal. Your heavenly investments will never depreciate.

They're not reliant on how well Apple stock is doing or any new wars in the Middle East. Every good thing that God has planned for you and every good thing that we do through His Spirit in the here and now, it will last forever and ever and ever.

On this side of existence, we know good things don't last forever. On God's side of existence, the bad, the sorrow, the crime, the disease, the evil, that is going to disappear forever.

And throughout the endless ages, we will find new things to love about our triune God, Father, Spirit, and Son, over and over again. Never getting to comprehend Him fully, but always getting to know and enjoy and love Him more and more and more.

32:16

Believe and Share

Today, my friends, they found an empty tomb. So because of that, our imperfect understanding, our questions of why, one day, they will have answers. Our grief is temporary, the losses that we've experienced.

One day, it will all be undone in resurrection life. And even as we consider our earthly cares and the things that we need each and every day, that will one day go as well. For the day, what do you do?

Do you know Christ as Savior? Have you truly placed your faith and trust in Him? Have you believed that He rose from the dead?

If you have never called on Christ to be your Savior, do that today, my friend.

And then, if you are a Christian, are you, like Mary Magdalene, like Peter and John, are you telling other people about the story that is now your story, about the future that is now your future? Are you passing it along?