Come And See

3. The fact that was forgotten is that Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up“… and John says, “But he spake of the temple of His body” (John 2:19, 21). Jesus would raise from the dead, and restore all lost hope.

-He was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36)

-Jesus would be lifted up to die (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33; 19:14-37)

5. Some of Jesus’ day had trouble accepting this message (John 12:34-36)

-They questioned, “Won’t the Christ abide forever?”

- “Who is this Son of man?”

- “How sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?”

6. When it seemed all hope was gone, we read that Jesus was buried, but in three days something happened … (John 19:38-42)

A. If the stone is rolled away, who removed it?

1. The stone

-The stone would have weighed a couple thousand pounds and would have required several men to move it.

-The stone was sealed with wax to the tomb that it was sure to be securely closed, and no other entrance was supplied. (Matthew 27:66)

-This was not a stone that could be pushed over, but had to be rolled away. The stone was rolled into a groove before the tomb. (Show picture of tombs)

2. The removers of the stone.

-John simply says that Mary came, while it was early, “and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1)

-If it was removed, who removed it?

-Was this a humanly devised plan, or was this a Divine act?

-Although other writers show this to be by divine power (Matthew 28:2-6), John just wants us to know that there was indeed an empty tomb.

-The friends of Jesus would not have been able to remove it.

*The friends were intimidated by the Romans and Jews

*The Roman soldiers guarded the tomb (16 soldiers trained to guard 36 square yards of ground)

*Even if they came to the tomb, these fisherman would have to fight and defeat these guards

-The Romans would not have removed the stone.

*If they fail to carry out their assignment it meant death.

*Even the Philippian jailor would have taken his life had the prisoners fled in Acts 16:27-28.

*We learn from Matthew that when the body was gone that the soldiers tried to lie about the body of Jesus. (Matthew 28:11-15)

-The Jews would not have removed the stone.

*The Jews were the ones who ordered that it be guarded

-Jesus would not have removed the stone.

*He had been dead for three days, without food, without water. He would have been weak.

*The nail holes in His hands and feet would have certainly caused a great loss of blood.

*Not to mention the spear hole that was in His side in which the scriptures read, “forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:34)

*It is said that the very heart of Jesus had been punctured.

*Those crucified would lift themselves, to be able to take a breath… the legs were broke so that death would come faster.

*He had been beaten and scourged, and was so weak that the guards would not break His legs because He was already dead. (John 19:33)

*The only way the stone was removed, was by Divine power.

3. The reason for removing the stone.

-Was the stone removed to be able to steal the body?

*If this were true, the evidence needed would still be…Who stole the body?

*If the body had been stolen they would not have taken the time to remove these grave clothes.

*John takes the time to show that they saw, “the napkin, that was upon His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself” (John 20:6, 7) See also John 11:44.

-Was the stone removed to be able to free the body of Jesus?

*This would not be necessary if God had raised Jesus.

*Jesus appeared to the disciples without the doors ever opening. (John 20:19, 26)

* The Greek word “kleio” meaning “shut” in this passage also meant to be barred, or to be locked.

-Was the stone rolled away for the disciples to look and see that the grave was empty?

*This tends to be the answer, because that is exactly what took place. (John 20:1-10)

*This is the proof that Jesus had risen, even though the text reveals that they had not yet known that scripture (John 20:9)

* The Bible does show that they would recall the scripture of His “temple” being lifted up after three days (John 2:22)

B. The evidence is clear, the stone is rolled away by the power of God, and the body is gone, not by theft, but again by the power of God in the Son. Jesus is Risen!

A. If Jesus is risen from the dead then where is He?

1. Mary Magdalene sees Jesus (John 20:11-18)

-After the disciples had gone home, Mary weeped at the tomb.

-As she wept she looked into the tomb, and saw two angels

*One at the head of where Jesus was laid

*The other at the foot of where Jesus was laid

-She explained her grief in not being able to find Jesus, She said, “they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.”

-Jesus immediately arrives to ease her sorrow and said, “Woman why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?”

-Notice the emphasis on the word “Whom” and not “what”.

-Mary did not know that Jesus spoke with her, and wanted to know where Jesus was that she might take Him.

-But with one word Jesus turned her doubt into faith, He said, “Mary”, and she responded, “ Rabboni” which means Master.

-Jesus showed her the difference between former relationships and the one they now shared as He instructed, “Touch Me not”.

-The close relation would not continue very much longer, and He wanted to make that clear.

-Jesus would now ascend to the Father, and be restored to His rightful glorified place.

2. Jesus appears to the disciples (John 20:19-25)

-Jesus arrived in a locked room without ever opening a door, and with a message of peace, “Peace be unto you”

-This was certainly a message of peace as Jesus showed them the nail scarred hands, and the wounded side, to show that He was the risen Lord.

-The passage says, “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”

-The message of peace continued as Jesus commissioned His disciples to go and preach the truth concerning Him.

-He also gave them the power to state the terms of remission for sins

-These same fearful disciples who were shut up in a room would leave that room to be bold and courageous teachers of the truth, based on this new evidence.

-John made it a point to show that Thomas was not present.

---The disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, but He said, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe”

3. Jesus appears to Thomas and the eleven. (John 20:26-29)

-One week later, after Thomas made a faithless statement, Jesus appears to remove all doubt, with His message of peace.

-Jesus told Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27)

-Thomas made the profound statement, “My Lord, and my God” (John 20:28)

-Jesus then exclaimed, “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29)

---Guess what? We have not seen…but will we believe? (I Peter 1:8-9)

4. Jesus appears to the disciples by Galilee (John 21)

-John does not tell us how many days have passed, but does make mention of this being the 3^rd appearance of Jesus to His disciples. (John 21:14)

-Jesus approaches the seven as they have all decided to go fishing. (John 21:1-4)

-Jesus said, “Children, have ye any meat?”, and with not catching anything they said, “No” (vs. 5)

-Jesus gave simple instructions, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” They complied and brought in 153 fishes. (John 21:6, 11)

-John said, “It is the Lord”, and Peter was so excited that He jumped into the water and swam for shore.

*This same Peter was the one who hurried to the tomb to see if Mary’s testimony was true.

*Could it be that Peter had remembered his denial of the Lord as he ran to the tomb and entered?

*Could it be that his renewed hope caused him to jump from the boat and hurry to see Jesus? (I Peter 1:3-5)

*We cannot be certain, but Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved Him, and said “follow Me” (John 21:15-17)

*Peter was faithful in his labor for the Lord from that day forward, as far as we have record.

* Peter began in Acts 2 to establish the kingdom of the the King of Kings …Jesus Christ.

-The rest of the disciples came to shore to join them for a meal of fish and bread. (John 21:7-9)

-At this point John records, “And none of the disciples dared ask Him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord” (John 21:12)

B. The evidence is real and convincing, but will you believe in Jesus?

1. This false theory says that Jesus never died

-Jesus was swooning because of all of the torture and agony He had been through.

-They thought He had died, took Him off the cross, put Him in a tomb where He revived.

-Jesus then rolled away the stone, fighting off all the Roman soldiers, and then appeared to His disciples.

-The disciples were so excited that they began to teach falsely that Jesus is risen.

2. Problem with this false theory.

-This theory fail to account Jesus physical condition. (This was discussed in a previous point.)

-He had no sleep, went through all kinds of trials, was beaten, nailed to a cross, pierced in His side by a spear, examined by those who were used to crucifixions and declared dead.

-He was left in a tomb for 3 days, without food, water or health care and then all of the sudden stops swooning, muster up the strength to roll away the heavy stone, with swollen bloody hands, while defeating a Roman watch, and then appears to His disciples.

-Jesus’ disciples then were so gullible to believe the story that they went preaching this message.

-Then the disciples hid Jesus until He finally died a natural death, without the world knowing, only to give Him a natural burial. Never happened!

C. The Vision Hypothesis

1. This false theory excuses one miracle for another.

-Some hold to the view that states that the disciples were seeing hallucinations of the Lord.

-It is said that the body of Jesus was never raised, and that He appeared to the disciples in a glorified state.

2. Some problems surrounding this theory

-If you can believe in the miracle of a vision, you can believe in the miracle of the bodily resurrection.

-Even if Jesus was appearing in a vision, that still leaves no explanation for an empty tomb.

-This also fails to do justice to the gospel story. The preaching of the gospel had a message of the risen body of Jesus Christ.

-The apostles John said in I John 1:1, 3 “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;” and also “That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.”

- Jesus never said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days you will see a vision”, rather He said “I will raise it up”

-How did a vision eat a meal? (John 21:12-13), or how can you thrust your hand into the side of a vision? (John 20:27)

-The most amazing thing is that more than 500 saw Jesus at the same time…Vision or Risen Lord? (I Corinthians 15:6)

-I think we can get the point!

D. The Wrong Tomb Theory

1. Kirsopp Lake devised this theory in order to excuse the empty tomb.

-The disciples all came to the wrong tomb, even though there was a dear loved one inside.

-Even though the tomb was new, and had a Roman watch sitting around it (16 soldiers), they all came to an open, empty, wrong tomb.

2. There are some problems here…

-It is almost impossible to believe that the disciples, all came back to the wrong tomb. They loved Jesus!

-Even more impossible is that the Roman watch all did the same. They had been guarding it for three days!

-Also, if one can say that all came to the wrong tomb, there is still no explanation for the over 500 appearances of Jesus. (I Corinthians 15:5-8)

-Had they all approached the wrong tomb…there was another one empty…Jesus had risen from the dead!

A. The Apostle Peter

1. Peter tells us of the hope that we can have in the resurrection (I Peter 1:3-5)

-Since Jesus is raised and is seated at the right hand of God, we can hope in the promise of eternal life.

-We all want to spend eternity with God, and receive the inheritance reserved for us as God’s children.

2. Let us all take comfort in the message of the resurrection

B. The Apostle Paul

1. Paul stated the necessity of the resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-8; 12-26)

-If Christ is not risen, we have been lied to, and we have no hope of forgiveness of sins, or eternal life.

-But Paul says, “But now is Christ risen”. It is true!

-Paul even questioned why some of them doubted and taught falsely concerning the resurrection (vs. 12)

-Paul saw and knew that Jesus was raised (vs. 8)

2. Paul’s message can revive our hope in the promises of God

3. Paul makes an illustration of how we receive the benefits of the resurrection of Jesus. (Romans 6:1-8)

-Paul points out that we must put off the old man of sin, by crucifying it in the water of baptism.

-When we are buried in the waters of baptism, we are raised to walk in newness of life.

-Where was the blood of Christ shed? In His death

-Where are we buried into a likeness of His death? In baptism

-When do we come in contact then with the saving power? In baptism. (I Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16)

-Therefore we can know that we are in Christ, and have had our sins forgiven by the blood of the cross, if we have obeyed the commands of the Lord

-HEAR John 12:48

-BELIEVE John 8:24

-REPENT Luke 13:3,5

-CONFESS Matthew 10:32-33

-BAPTIZED Mark 16:16

-FAITHFUL Matthew 24:13

3. Have you been risen with Christ? If not realize that you must do that in order to have the hope of eternal life. (Colossians 3:1-4; II Thessalonians 1:7-9)

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Last modified: 05/02/08

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