The Resurrection

After last week's lesson we had a good discussion about the thief who was saved on the cross, among other things. I have one correction I said the sign that said Jesus – King of the Jews, written in three languages. I mistaken called the 3^rd language Aramaic, when it was Latin, that is recorded in John 19:20, that was a part of the first lesson on the Crucifixion, and I got it wrong when I tried to recall it from memory, during the second lesson.

Also Russ asked for the reference for the dead saints resurrected with Jesus and that is from Matthew 27:53 and that lesson was from the end of August.

John 20 (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24)

[If you read the resurrection story in all 4 gospels, you can get a little confused. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb multiple times, Jesus appears multiple times, and some see two angels while other saw only 1. What I will try to do is make a timeline of events using all 4 gospels and not which details are from each gospel

The tomb visited:

 ¹ Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark

[John starts with Marry Magdalene, the other gospels will Add Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, Luke adds "and other women". So it seems the women who saw Joseph do a rush job on the burial of Jesus planned to meet at the tomb early Sunday morning. Mary "went….while it was still dark", Matthew says she "as it began to dawn…..she came", and Mark says they "came….when the sun had risen". So the leave the houses where they are staying when it's still dark, and the begin arriving at the tomb shortly after dawn.]

 

The stone rolled away:

Matthew 28: ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. ³ His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

[Only Matthew had this part of the story. Just as the earth quakes at his death, so it did again at his resurrection. Remember the guards here, as we will read more about them later.]

 

The tomb found empty by the women: (back in John 20:1)

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

 

Mark 16

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. ⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
⁶ But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. ⁷ But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

[John says nothing about the angels in the empty tomb, Matthew is similar to what we read in Mark, Luke 24:4 says they saw two "men", so at least one of the women saw a second angels and told it to Luke]

 

The women tell the disciples that the tomb is empty: (John 20)

 

² Then 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."

[Luke 24:11 says that the disciples did not believe the women saying "their words seemed to them like idle tales". So they go to see the tomb for themselves.]

 

The tomb found empty by Peter and John:
³ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple [John], and were going to the tomb. ⁴ So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there,
⁷ and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

[So Peter and John see the empty tomb and the burial cloth laying there. Verse 8 says John "saw and believed" but verse 9 says they didn't understand that he was resurrected. So what did John believe? He believed that the tomb was empty and the body of Jesus was gone. You will find most did not believe that Jesus was alive until they saw him alive. So the disciples go back home, but Mary Magdalene stays behind at the tomb.]

Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord:

¹¹ But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³ Then 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."

[After Peter and John were gone, having seen the empty tomb but not the angels, Mary looks in again, and sees and talks with two angels.]

¹⁴ Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?"
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away."
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher).

[So Mary is crying and distressed at the disappearance of Jesus' body. But when Jesus speaks her name then she recognizes him turns to grab him.]

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'"

 

Jesus appears to the other women

Matthew 28

⁹ And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

[So Mary tells the other women and as they are going with her to tell the disciples, Jesus appears again and is seen by the other women with Mary Magdalene]

 

The women tell his disciples they have seen Jesus (back in John 20)
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

[So Mary Magdalene is the first to see the resurrected Jesus. Like before she goes to tell the disciples. Mark 16:11 says again that "when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe". So again when Mary tells them what she saw, again His disciples do not believe, until they see him for themselves.]

 

The report of the guards to the Sanhedrim Council

Matthew 28

¹¹ Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. ¹² When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure." ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

 

[So the guards report to the priest, who assemble the council. Just as the bribed Judas, so they also bribe the guards. This is very risky for the soldiers, for they could be scourged or even killed for being asleep when they are on duty. But they take the money and tell the lie. This is really crazy to think they could sleep through an earth quake, and not hear the stone being rolled away and at least two men dragging his body out of the rock tomb. But what the council feared the most was wide acceptance among the Jews, of a resurrected Jesus. Because once you believe the resurrection, it is impossible to deny Jesus is the Lord, the true Son of God.

 

In Acts 17 Paul said this: 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. ³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." ³² And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter." ³³ So Paul departed from among them. ³⁴ However, some men joined him and believed……]