seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 20:1 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.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
a. John 20:24 Thomas (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean twin.
b. John 20:31 Or may continue to believe
This is from blueletterbible.org.
She said to them: This is one of the few places in the Bible where someone encounters angels and they are not stricken with fear. It shows that Mary was so grieved at the loss of Jesus that she was unaffected even by an appearance of angels.
I will take Him away: It's possible that Mary was a large, strong woman and was physically capable of carrying away the body of a dead man. It is more like that she was simply so filled with sorrow and devotion that she isn't thinking through her plans carefully.
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" Jesus had only to say one word, and all was explained. "Never was a one-word utterance more charged with emotion than this. " (Tasker)
Go to My brethren and say to them: The fact that Jesus makes a woman the first witness of His resurrection is significant. The law courts of that day would not recognize the testimony of a woman, but Jesus did.
When the doors were shut … Jesus came and stood in the midst: How did Jesus enter the room? "We can scarcely say more than that John wants us to see that the risen Christ was not limited by closed doors. " (Morris) Apparently, resurrection bodies are not subject to the same limitations as our present bodies.
Receive the Holy Spirit: Jesus gives His disciples the Holy Spirit, bringing new life and the ability to carry out their mission. Many people see the connection between this breathing on the disciples and when God created man, and breathed the breathe of life in him. This is a work of re-creation, even as God breathed life into the first man. This is where the disciples are born again.
Unless I see … I will not believe: Thomas is not a doubter, but an unbeliever who will not accept the valid testimony of others.
Do not be unbelieving, but believing: Jesus explicitly repeats Thomas' demands back to him. This must have been very impressive to Thomas, and very convincing.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed: There is a special promise blessing given to those who believe. The faith of Thomas is the climax of the book: Jesus has triumphed over sickness, sin, evil men, death and sorrow; now He conquers unbelief.
Thomas is a good example in many ways. He refused to say he understood when he didn't, he refused to pretend to believe when he didn't. And when he did understand and believe, he went all the way and properly called Jesus Lord and God.
Jesus did many other signs: John admits that he presents an incomplete collection, written for a purpose.
This is from the easy English site.Mary was not expecting Jesus to become alive again. When she saw the open entrance, it upset her. She thought that somebody had moved the stone in order to remove Jesus’ body. So she ran to Peter and the other disciple to tell them. They ran to the grave themselves to see what had happened.
When he arrived, the other disciple did not rush inside. He just looked in. He saw the position of the cloths. It seemed as if Jesus’ body had just passed through them. If somebody had stolen the body, they would not have left the cloths like this. But Peter rushed inside first. And he did not seem to realise the importance of these details.
When the other disciple saw the position of the cloths, he ‘believed’ (verse 8). He did not believe that Jesus’ spirit had gone to heaven. This disciple believed that Jesus’ body had actually become alive again. But it was a new kind of life, because his body was able to pass through material. It was not the same as when Lazarus became alive again. Lazarus’s body was the same as before. And his body would become old and he would die in the end. But Jesus’ body was not the same as it was before. He would never die again.
Both Jesus and the scriptures said that after his death, Jesus would become alive again. But the disciples had not realised what this meant before. They had not expected the grave to be empty. But the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection was in the scriptures and in the empty grave. The other disciple examined the evidence and he believed!
Jesus’ resurrection proved that he was really God’s Son. He had defeated even death. For Christians, death is not the end, but the beginning of a new life with God.
It worked.... the antidote worked.... the human body now has new updated capabilities because Jesus brought the antidote.... it's implanted in our DNA now..... and now my human body is capable of climbing out of the burial cloth and into a new existence!I have to confess.... I do not believe that women should be preachers. In the days of Jesus.... women weren't even invited to court. Even in the case of rape.... a woman was not known to be a good witness. Women were on earth to serve men.... to have babies.... to raise babies.... Men were the big deal... women were helpers............... and yet a woman was the first one to find the grave empty.
God gave a woman the first look at eternal life......
Jesus came to earth to bring the antidote to death.... and it worked.
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