Because He Lives (John 20:11-18)
More than 20 years ago, Tammy and I attended a Christmas party at the home of one of the members of the congregation where I was preaching. And, surprising all of us, one of our elders came. Several folks had begged Gerald to come, but he was getting to the age where he just didn’t get out much in the evening. I was delighted Gerald came.
Understand that I absolutely adored Gerald Watts. Gerald was one of the finest men I have ever known, and when I moved to Alum Creek as a rather young man, Gerald took me under his wing. He showed me around town, we spent considerable time together, and we grew extremely close.
So it wasn’t surprising that Gerald sat down next to me and struck up a conversation that night. He and I talked until it was time to give thanks for the food, and we all bowed our heads to pray. During the prayer, Gerald began mumbling, which was rather unlike him. A few seconds after he started mumbling, Gerald fell over into my lap unconscious.
An aortic aneurism had burst. Somehow Gerald didn’t die immediately, but he died at the hospital early the next morning. I was devastated, and the church was devastated. And Gerald died on a Saturday, which means I had to preach the next morning. I got up in the pulpit that day, read my sermon, and made sure I didn’t make eye contact with anyone. I knew the moment I made eye contact, it was all over.
Each one of you has been devastated at the death of someone close to you. Some of you have known losing a parent or a sibling. Others of you have lost a spouse, and others have faced the heartbreaking loss of a child. Regardless of your circumstances, death is devastating.
Mary Magdalene was devastated by Jesus’s death. In her grief, she stood weeping outside his empty tomb when Jesus himself showed up. Mary didn’t recognize Jesus at first, but when she did, she understood everything had changed. This morning learn: “Jesus’s resurrection changes lives.”
Scripture (John 20:11-18)
verses 11-13:
Mary, as you recall, had not been able to fully anoint Jesus’s body, for the Sabbath was rapidly approaching when he died. The idea that Mary would not be able to fulfill that final act of love would have been considered horribly tragic in that culture. Thus, it’s no wonder she’s weeping when she can’t find the body.
verse 14:
Mary did not recognize Jesus. While the Gospels don’t explicitly say so, they indicate Jesus’s resurrection body was quite different than his earlier body; that may very well be why Mary didn’t recognize him.
verses 15-16:
When Jesus asked her why she was weeping, Mary supposed he was the gardener. The gardener would have been taking care of the garden, not the tomb, but in her surprise and fear, Mary can’t think of who else it might be.
When Jesus called her Mary, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” “Rabboni” means “my teacher,” and is more personal than “Rabbi.” And “teacher” isn’t really the best translation in the modern world. To our ears, “teacher” means someone who stands up in front of others to instruct them; in Jesus’s day, yes, that was a teacher, but one’s rabbi was to be followed and obeyed. The word “master” best captures the word in a modern context.
verse 17:
Mary wasn’t to cling to Jesus, for she had work to do—to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was ascending back to the Father.
verse 18:
Mary carried out her mission and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”
Application
“Jesus’s resurrection changes lives.” Mary was grief-stricken at the beginning of the narrative. But when Mary realized Jesus was alive, her outlook changed drastically. Instead of being burdened with grief, Mary had a mission. Jesus’s resurrection changed Mary’s life.
Jesus’s resurrection has the power to change your life, too. You don’t need to fear death, nor do you need to grieve as others do who have no hope. You don’t need to be burdened with the weight of your sin. You don’t need to fear tomorrow.
Do you want Jesus’s resurrection to change your life? If you do, act like Mary.
One: See Jesus
If you want a life transformed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you need to See Jesus. Mary was heartbroken; she had come to the tomb early that morning and found it empty, and she wept. Yet, when Mary was able to See Jesus, she went from grief to joy.
After he had been crucified, Jesus appeared to many people and changed their lives. Thomas wasn’t with other apostles when Jesus first appeared to them, and Thomas said he wouldn’t believe that Jesus were really resurrected unless he could inspect the crucifixion wounds himself. When Thomas was able to See Jesus, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28). No more doubt, but faith.
Saul of Tarsus was a “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1), but then he was able to See Jesus. Saul then became an apostle and spent the rest of his life going to the Gentiles with Jesus’s message.
If you want your life to change, you must See Jesus. You understand you won’t See Jesus in the flesh; in fact, Jesus said that we’re blessed to believe without seeing: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn 20:29).
Yet, you must see him through the eyes of faith. You build your faith through the word of God: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn 20:30-31). Spend time seeing the crucified and resurrected Christ. This week read the four accounts of his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection. See him die on the cross, and see him raised from the dead. See Jesus.
Two: Serve Jesus
If you want your life transformed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Serve Jesus. Mary, when she realized Jesus was standing there, said to him, “Rabboni!” Mary’s calling Jesus “Rabboni” indicates she saw herself as Jesus’s servant.
Do you see yourself as Jesus’s servant? Paul told the Colossians: “You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:24). Could he write the same about you? You understand that the wise one serves Jesus: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24). How much do you honestly Serve Jesus? How obedient are you to his word?
Three: Speak Jesus
If your life has been transformed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you must Speak Jesus. “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’—and that he had said these things to her” (Jn 20:18). Women weren’t considered reliable witnesses in Jesus’s day; in fact, women’s testimony wasn’t permitted in court. But Mary didn’t care; she knew what she had seen, and she had to speak.
How much do you Speak Jesus? We live in a world rapidly heading for eternal torment, and Jesus is the only way to avoid damnation; Jesus himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). There is not a single person alive who can get to heaven unless he knows Jesus, believes Jesus, and obeys Jesus.
Unless you Speak Jesus someone may never hear the truth of the gospel. To whom will you Speak Jesus today?
How much has your life been transformed by Jesus’s resurrection? Do you need to come this morning and claim a transformed life as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.