Read John 20. Circle the word(s) that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
20 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), 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 that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Reflections on the Word.
As I think about this chapter, this chapter flows between doubt and faith, between hearing the truth and believing the truth. Mary Magdelene’s tearful belief that Jesus was dead is met with the tenderness of the words of the angels and of Jesus. Her doubt has turned to faith. The two disciples who saw the empty tomb along with the 8 other disciples must have questioned Jesus’ resurrection until Jesus appeared in their midst. Jesus gives them His peace and His commission to them. Their doubt turns to faith. Thomas who was not there, adamantly stated that he will not believe their testimonies that Jesus is alive unless he himself touches the wounds of Jesus. Jesus graciously grants him his requests. His doubt turns to faith.
Doubt and faith echo in this chapter. As Christians, we too have our doubts. But do our doubts erode our faith? Doubts about the Creation narrative, doubts about The Flood, doubts about The Exodus or even doubts about the historicity of Jesus and the disciples. Modern scholars and archaeologists cast doubt on the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. Our tendency is to believe our eyes and our ears of experience over The Word and the written Word of God.
If you are vacillating, wavering in your faith, remember the Word of God has stayed true from the beginning of time. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 3, “What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
It may seem that science has triumphed over the Scriptures, but as science continues to further examine or discover new archaeological facts. These new observations have cast doubt on their previous conclusions as stated as fact. It was once thought that it was impossible for the world to be covered with water. Today, geologists know that the landmass of earth was once covered with water and through tectonic shifts, the landmass arose from the ocean floor. The discovery of body or bodies of waters in the earth’s crust affirms the Scriptural description of the water in the earth’s mantal. Let’s not surrender our faith so easily for the declarations of the Scripture will be proven true.
It is not just the written Word of God is on trial, but God is on trial for His truthfulness in His declarations to man. God will not be proven to be a liar. It is humanity’s understanding that is finite while God’s knowledge is infinite. God will prevail at the end as not all the human facts are all in. More will be discovered that will affirm the truthfulness of Scritpure.
John 20 is the climax of this book. He begins with the Logos coming into the world to become the Lamb of God. He concludes it with the Logos finishing the work of salvation and returning to the Father who sent Him.
-Kingston