The Day Our World Changed Forever Part 2 - John 20:11-18

0:55And she answers them: Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. So here's the reason she's weeping. She doesn't believe in the resurrection yet. She believes Jesus is dead, and what has happened is the body has been taken away by somebody. They, probably enemies. Notice also, she says, I, I don't know where they have laid him. At this point, she's alone. This encounter, she's saying, I don't know. That's why I'm weeping. They have taken away. My Lord lost him, a soul, sheep without a shepherd, a soul lost. Think about what's going on there. She is not interpreting the situation through faith, she is interpreting it through fear and loss.

1:52But I want to caution us here not to associate Mary's lack of faith with the lack of love. Don't interpret her lack of faith as a lack of her love for Christ. On the contrary, Mary is one who loves much, and she really does believe Christ is dead. And what's being expressed here is love. Maybe her faith isn't where it should be, but boy, if we could all love like she loved. She had been delivered of seven demons.

2:44And the one who set her free is now dead, and his body being further disgraced. She's weeping much because she's experiencing huge loss. She was forgiven much. And because of that, she loved much. Have you sinned a lot? Have you sinned greatly? Have you bowed your knees to the drumbeat of Satan himself? Meet somebody just like you. And I would say, don't waste your sin. If you have sinned much, love much. The privilege is yours to love much. Look upon your Savior who forgives much.

3:45That's Mary. She had been forgiven much, and she loved much. And there she is, standing there, feeling the real pain of a real loss. Well, that's the occasion for this testimony. Now I want you to see the kind manner in which Jesus comes and testifies to her. Just look at, I just love the gentleness. I love how Jesus connects with her. I just love what he does here. He appears to her. When she had said this, verse 14, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. So she had answered the angel. So if you picture, she's looking at the angels. She speaks to them, and then it says she turned. But the verb there is passive. It would be better interpreted, she was turned. Something behind her made her turn, or maybe a motion of the angels, something caused her to turn. And when she turns, she sees Jesus there, but she doesn't know that it was Jesus. Why? Well, number one, she's absolutely not expecting Jesus to show up. She's an emotional wreck at the time. Tears.

5:12Maybe Jesus was purposely concealing himself, as he does in other places. Or there was something just different about Jesus' resurrection body, which I believe to be true, certainly. But she doesn't see him. It's not the main issue. She just doesn't recognize that it's Jesus, so she goes on and responds to him as though it is not Jesus. But the fact that Jesus came to her is monumental. This is a monumental event that he shows up to her.

5:50It's monumental in Mary's life, but it's also monumental in our lives and every generation since. It tells us a lot about who God is and what he is like. Remember in Isaiah 61, 1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. What does he do? He comes to bind up the brokenhearted. There isn't a more brokenhearted soul than Mary before the tomb this moment. And he comes to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. You know what's going to happen to Mary here? An oak of righteousness is going to come forth.

6:50Isaiah 25, 8 says, The Lord will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord will wipe tears away from all faces. In Revelation 21, the tabernacle of man is going to be among men, and he is going to be their people. He will be their God. And it says this in verse 4, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain because the first things have passed away. Death causes this, right? Death causes pain. It's a separation that we just can't seem to get over. And yet. He's going to swallow up death for all time. He's going to change Mary.

7:38So he comes to brokenhearted Mary. He comes to wipe away her tears. He comes to remove her mourning. And he comes to give her the oil of gladness and praise. That's what he comes to do. That's who he is. That's who we've read about in the scriptures from the very beginning. This is our God. It's no wonder he shows up here outside the tomb to such a soul as Mary. But I want you to see how he does it. He's going to remove her mourning, bind up her broken heart. And I want you to see how he does this. Look at verse 15. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

8:41So Jesus asks a couple of questions. Mary assumes that this is the gardener. Maybe he has something to do with the cemetery itself or with managing the tombs. Maybe he's aware that the owner of the tomb didn't want Jesus'. Body in there and took him away. Maybe he saw something. Maybe he was party to removing Jesus. And so she asks him, Sir, if you've taken him away, tell me where he is, and I will come and take him away.

9:17But notice the first words of the risen Lord. Woman, why are you weeping? Two questions. First, why are you weeping? The same as the angels asked, whom are you seeking? Whom are you seeking? So he asks the same question as the angels. Why are you weeping? What has brought you to such despair? What is going on inside of you? That you would come to the empty tomb and you would be in such despair. Reflect. Do you believe? It's a reflection, a call to ask yourself, what is driving this?

10:03Certainly, it's she doesn't believe that Jesus is alive. Then he goes into a question that gets even a little more probing. Whom are you seeking? Whom are you seeking? What kind of a Savior are you looking for here? Who are you looking for? A dead body? What kind of Messiah is going to be? Going on in your mind? Are you looking for a dead Christ? What kind of Messiah? We have to ask ourselves: what kind of a Savior are we looking for?

10:49She really was thinking he was dead. And I would just say, as a side note, just in our Christiana Americana, a dead Savior is a lot more comfortable to live with. One that dies for our sins, but has not been resurrected to keep us out of sin. We want covering, forgiveness, but the resurrected Lord that wants a close relationship with us, that wants to bring us into his family, that wants to walk with us every day, we don't have room for him.

11:42What kind of Savior are you seeking? One to deliver you from your circumstances, maybe your self-loathing, maybe your depression, maybe whatever. Kind of a Savior. If you're not careful, you're going to reduce the Christ of Scripture down to a very small savior and find a Savior that is nowhere in the Scripture. Mary came that day thinking she wanted to find the dead body of our Lord. In fact, I can imagine that what was racing on in her heart and her mind was prayers to God Himself. God, where is he? Help me find him. Help me find him.

12:32And I can tell you some of the most wonderful blessings are the unanswered prayers that we ask. She came looking for a dead Savior, didn't she? And aren't you glad she didn't find a dead Savior? She didn't find what she was looking for, but she found him. She found him so much more. And all of a sudden, her understanding of the Savior just got so much bigger. We need to have a bigger view of our Savior. Well, look what Jesus does. Look at how he awakens her. Verse 16, Jesus said to her, Mary, Mary, he calls her by name. She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Raboni, which means teacher. So think about she heard the Noise, she turned back.

13:32Gardner asked the question, she turns back and looks at the tomb, probably. And then Jesus says, Mary. And again, that passive form of the verb, something compelled her to turn around, and it was Jesus calling her Mary, calling her by name. Think of that moment. She recognized the way he called her name. Probably he had called her, there was some familiar ring. But in that moment, when she heard him call her name, she knew Raboni, it's you. That's the moment.

14:19He calls her by name. His sheep know his voice, and they follow him. One day, friends, we're all going to hear such a call. He knows us by name. One day you are going to hear through the preaching of the word, there is a call that goes out, and you hear his voice. As even as I expound the scripture and bring this to light, it is God Himself that is drawing you into an invitation, He's drawing you to Himself. He invites you through the proclamation to the Word, through the declaration that there is a Savior, is His call to you to come and experience and to embrace the Savior.

15:00All that is the call, and you are hearing that, and I pray that you will respond to that. God Himself is calling you into a relationship with Him today, a closer one than you had yesterday. Will you respond? That is the call. That is Him calling you right now through the words that we share. But there is a time coming when you will hear His call, His voice. You will hear Him articulate your name with His word, in His own voice, not the voice of His servants, but through His voice.

15:45And it will quicken you. It will be a call that awakens you right out of the dead, as you saw with Lazarus. Lazarus here drops the verb, Lazarus, here. Same with us. This reality, you're going to hear with your whole resurrected being. You're going to hear that voice, and in an instant, you're going to understand, you're going to know, you're going to connect. And this reality should encourage us, and it should also give us something to look forward to. That is the day that's coming. Live now in response. Live by. Faith. Believe the testimony. Some disciples didn't believe the testimony. Are you going to believe? Are you going to believe that Mary's testimony? Are you going to believe the testimony of those who saw him?

16:44But it's also a motivation for us to serve one another and serve one another with joy and with a little bit of fear. Every one of us is going to hear God's voice. You're going to hear, and you're going to know who your true friends were. You're going to know who you're, you're going to know those in your life who sought to bring you closer, who God used to bring you closer. You're going to know in an instant those deceivers. You're going to know. You're going to know. And so we should treat one another with a little bit of fear.

17:19You are indeed children. If you've put your faith and trust in Christ, you are indeed children of the Most High. And I think sometimes we don't even grasp that. But I know who you are if you're in Christ. And I hope you'll think of me as your friend one day. Because one day you're going to hear. I hope you'll really see my desire is to bring you face to face with him. But look at what he says.

17:54Verse 17. Jesus said to her, Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended. The Father. And this, some think this is one of the most difficult to interpret sentences in the New Testament. But I think it's very straightforward what he's saying. Now, in the King James, it says, do not touch me. So there's a prohibition, do not touch me. But it's a present verb, do not be clinging to me, or do not be touching me. It implies a connection has already been made. And this shouldn't surprise us that in the same chapter, Jesus is going to say to Thomas, reach and touch, touch here. And so I don't think there's something strange or metaphysical going on that he's in some process of ascending.

18:56In some kind of metaphysical sense, he is ascending, and he makes that very clear. Because he goes on to say, stop clinging to me, stop grasping 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. So he's saying, I'm not yet ascended, but I am ascending. I'm not yet there, but I am in the process of ascending. And so the resurrection itself is part of that process of ascending.

19:28But what he does say, and I'm I believe what he's coming to Mary, he's saying, Mary, you can stop weeping. You can start rejoicing. I am alive. I am well. But things aren't going to be the same. The resurrection is my part of my ascending into heaven. Now, you need to stop clinging, and you need to be going and telling. But I don't believe he is rebuking her. Stop, we might first see that as almost like a stop, you're doing something wrong. No, no, I don't think that's what he's doing. In fact, I think Jesus has a smile on his face. And I think he's saying to Mary, Mary, you can stop clinging to me. You need to stop clinging to me.

20:22I'm alive. But understand, we're not going back to just running around Galilee like we were. You need to understand the resurrection in the proper light. She didn't understand the stone properly, and she doesn't need to just see, oh, he's alive, great, happily ever after. No, the resurrection itself is testifying to something else. It's testifying to his ascension. And Mary, if you can believe in the resurrection, you should have no trouble believing the ascension because the resurrection is simply part of the process of him going to the Father.

21:04And so let's go. Now let's look at the content. The content of Jesus's testimony. Content of Jesus' testimony. Look at verse 17. Jesus says, stop clinging to me, for I am not yet ascending to the Father, but you be going, be going to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and to your Father and my God and your God. So that last phrase, I ascend, I am ascending, literally, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God. These are profound words. This is the testimony that he entrusts to Mary to give to his disciples. So this is after that first resurrection encounter. Very important. It's like he's saying, stop clinging to me, be going with this message.

22:07And notice here, notice where she is to be going. To my brethren, to my brethren. Jesus is not talking about his physical brothers here. He's talking about his spiritual brothers for sure, because Mary in verse 18 then goes and tells this, what she heard to the disciples. She doesn't go to his physical brothers. Definitely talking about spiritual brothers. Others, but there's a change of relationship that takes place here. Those in this gospel that have been referred to as disciples, that Jesus has referred to as slaves, and even as friends, he now regards as brothers.

22:48Something definitively new has happened because of the resurrection. And a lot of times we completely gloss over this. It's not just a happy ending. Okay, he's alive. That him being alive is just one more step in the process of him being exalted. And so his message, if we look at the content and break it down into two parts, there's two parts here. Very simple, yet very profound. And so I want us to just take a moment and just look at these. First of all, there is what I will call a new incarnational development of the Son, a new incarnational development. What is that? What am I saying? There's development in the Son of David. God Himself, eternal God, God the Son, eternal God, one of essence, has stepped into time, has taken up human flesh, offspring of David, of the seed of David, has taken upon human flesh. He was conceived. By the Holy Spirit, he had to grow up, right? He experienced a maturing process. Our Lord Himself went through a maturing process. As the Messiah, He matured, He grew from a baby into a man, and He went through several of life's experiences.

24:33And though He is eternal, now that He is resurrected, He enters into a new stage of His sonship. When He folds up that cloth, now human flesh, not only has God come in and taken upon Himself human flesh, not only has He gone to the cross, not only has He gone to the depths, to the deepest depths that humanity can go. I mean, you don't get any lower than dying as a criminal on a cross. That's about as low as it goes. And He goes, and then resurrection begins His exaltation.

25:10But He's entered into a new phase. As He folds up that cloth, He is now resurrected flesh, and He is going to continue to ascend into heaven to the right hand, human flesh. Is going to go in to sit at the right hand of God. There's development in the son of David. And don't miss this. Let me just take you through this because it's the God of Scripture. Let me just give you a panoramic. What brought the Son to this point? Let me just think of human history and how, or biblical history and how the Son came to this point. You remember in creation, God says, let's make man in our own image, and he makes him. Remember, there's the fall, right? Man falls, he doesn't accept God over him, he goes his own way, and then there is a ruin, right? Ruin, the human race, right? Man is not to live for himself. And what comes is the promise of a conquering one, one who will destroy the works of the devil. And you see that God then, as you come through the pages of Genesis, you see man is left to himself. And what happens? He becomes horribly corrupt to the point to where a whole flood comes and wipes out the whole world, except for those in that little box, in that little ark. There is safe passage. God intervened and saved them. You keep going, and then he calls forth, makes a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right?

26:59Through Abraham. Seed, all the nations are going to be blessed. And then you fast forward, you come to the Passover, and God Himself comes in and He delivers His people out of Egypt, right? By through the Passover Lamb, He delivers them out and He leads them through the wilderness. This is God manifesting Himself, taking these people. This is the Son, manifest. It's the same God delivering these people out, and He takes them out and He delivers them. And what does He do? He takes them through the wilderness, and then what does He do? He takes them into the land, and what does He do? He establishes a place in Israel for His name to be exalted and for His name to be worshipped. And then what happens? He comes to David and He makes a covenant with David, right?

27:47Throne forever, Jerusalem, center of worship, right? Then what happens? God comes and there's a birth announcement. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. God will take human flesh, as John says, right? And what happens? And this child grows, right? And then in his baptism, you hear these words, This is my beloved Son, right? Then he is taken out into the wilderness and he is tempted and tried as the Son of God. He emerges victoriously so that the one who walks around, who's first driven in by the Spirit. Into the wilderness comes out in the power of the Spirit.

28:35And then he's transfigured, right? In Matthew 17, as an anticipation of his glorious splendor, few disciples see it, but they again hear, this is my beloved Son, right? Ephesians, and then he goes through suffering, suffering on a horrendous level. And listen how Hebrews interprets that for us. In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his piety. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him, the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. The son going through development, God himself coming on, taking upon flesh and growing and maturing. Now, through his suffering, he can be a perfect high priest. And then what happens? Remember, Paul, Romans 1, speaking in verse 3 concerning his son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness. So at the resurrection, the Son of God are. Let me say, the son of David is declared by the resurrection to be the son of God.

30:12So when Jesus tells Mary, go tell his disciples that he is ascending, he is telling her, if you can believe this resurrection, you need to understand what it's pointing to. It's pointing to an ascension. And what happens with that ascension? Why is that necessary? Because of everything that he has promised his disciples back in the upper room, just a few nights before. What does he say? Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.

30:57And he says in verse 16:7, but it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come, but I go. If I go, I will send him to you. Everything that he had promised, the way he is going back to the Father, why didn't he just ascend up into heaven? He does that at the end of, you know, he ascends into heaven. Why doesn't he, if he's going to his father, why doesn't he just go? Because he has to go through the cross in order to accomplish what God set out to accomplish. Find up the Brokenhearted, dry up every human tear, turn the morning into gladness. He has to go through the cross. That is his way of leading. He goes to the cross. His resurrection is his exaltation, the beginning of his exaltation, human flesh, to go into the presence of God.

31:52Something that had not happened before. Not like this at the right hand. So there is development as the Messiah. But there's also, so there's a development that the incarnational development of the Son, David, our King, develops, conquering death. But then there's also a new relationship with the Father. There's a relational development. Back at verse 17, I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God, and your God. There's a real emphasis here upon shared privileges. But there's also a distinction here that you can't miss.

32:44Jesus is God's Son by nature, eternal God, God's Son, and by right, he is perfect. He is holy. So he is God's Son by nature and by right. We are neither. We are not children by nature. We are children of the devil by nature, fallen, serving ourselves, and certainly not by right. We are sinners. So, Jesus is God's Son by nature. We become His children by regeneration. We need a new nature, and that's what the Holy Spirit accomplishes. He is God's Son by right. We are God's children by grace, by grace, by his work.

33:36His sonship is in his essence and who he is. Ours is by adoption. Glorious truth. One we don't talk a lot about. When we talk about salvation, we talk a lot about justification and regeneration, and we need to. Those are glorious truths that we can be justified, that his righteousness we can be declared clean, that we have sin that has to be dealt with. And through justification, our sin is dealt with at the cross. We also need to be regenerated. We need the change of nature. We need a new desire. And so, that's what we also get in salvation. We get a new nature, one that loves God, one that is disposed to him.

34:27But there's something we don't talk about as much. And it's probably the most glorious aspect of salvation. And that is adoption. That is adoption. Why the justification? Why the regeneration? So that you can be his children. In fact, let me just read to you where John, this is the monumental truth in John's gospel. What does he say? Verse 11, he came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name, who were born not of the blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

35:16That's the high point. Becoming children. Now, what are the privileges of being adopted? So many. Just spend a, I teach a subject, I teach a whole systematic course of theology on this. It is profound. It is deep. It is rich. And we don't often think of the fact that we have been adopted into his family. And some of the shared privileges, when he says, my father and your father, and my God, and your God, there are shared privileges that we with the son of David have, that we shared. Number one, Holy Spirit residence, fellowship with God. We no longer. Our slave, but we children who can cry, Abba, Father.

36:05That's why he sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. Another shared privilege: as children, we bear a new name, a new identity. We have a whole new disposition given to us, an identity, a place of belonging. And that goes for the corporate, all of us. We have a corporate identity. We are children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. And Jesus Himself speaks as a brother, older brother, who will family members. It's individuals. We have a new identity as corporate. We are assured of his special love. Listen, what John says in 1 John 4:9, by this the love of God is manifested in us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live to him. We are assured. Special favor. This is what Christ wanted you and I to have. He wanted us to have the Father's favor. This is what is so different from the devil and Christ. The devil wants glory for himself and he wants to keep it to himself. What does Christ do? He loves the Father. He wants you to share in that glory and he wants to give what is his and he wants to give it to you. That's the big difference.

37:25That's what we call love. Satan loves himself. Christ loves the Father, he loves us. Well, along with this adoption, we have compassion, the Father's compassion, we have the Father's protection, we have the Father's provision, we have access to His presence. And when we sin, we are disciplined, we're not thrown out. What kind of Savior do you have? Are you part of a new family? And more so, as adoption, as being children, guess what? We are heirs. We are heirs.

38:11And that will be made very clear at the resurrection. Listen to what Romans 8:18 says. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed with us, it revealed in us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. So, all of creation itself is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God, the children of God to be revealed.

38:42Verse 23: And not only this, but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan with ourselves waiting for the adoption of sons as sons, the redemption of our bodies. It's like all of Creation is waiting for the children of God to be declared with power. Christ, risen from the dead, declared in power to be the Son of David, is the Son of God, declared in power by the resurrection. There is a future day, though we have been resurrected, and though we are in spirit, and though we are renewed, and though we have been adopted, yet there is a future element, a future dimension of this adoption when in glory he calls us forth by name and we are clothed in an indestructible, glorified body. Then it will be declared in power that we are children of God, heirs. We can already see what has happened in Christ. First fruits.

39:51Very profound. Just as Jesus was declared with power to be God's Son, so we will by the resurrection. You see, our development as image-bearers of God is very much patterned after what happened with Christ. Right? Christ conceived of the Spirit. We have to be born of the Spirit. Christ is perfected. Hard to believe. As a son of David, had to be perfected. He was without sin, yet he was perfected through his sufferings. We have to be sanctified. We have to be cleansed, we have to be transformed into his image.

40:36He was declared with power by the resurrection to be the son. We too will be resurrected and declared. You see the pattern here, though there's some distinctions, of course. Don't miss the similarities. Well, a very special message was given to Mary, a commoner. That was the content of his testimony. Make sure they understand this. And he sends it with her. So look at what Mary does. Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he said these things to her.

41:25What an incredible thing. Why, Mary? Why did he entrust these things to Mary? Why didn't he appear to somebody else first? Why not one of the disciples? Why not his mother? Why not somebody else? Why her? I don't know. Maybe it was her love. She loved much. And by the way, love is greater than faith. 1 Corinthians 13:2 makes that clear. If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

42:00Maybe it was for us. You see, we can't really identify with some of the favored, but we can identify with Mary, right? Mary was not dignified in her rank of importance as some of the other disciples. Maybe it was simply because she was there first. One thing's for certain: Jesus wanted to show himself to her first because he wanted to. And he did. And that says something about him, something wonderful. Finding up the brokenhearted, drying away her tears. Could you imagine what that trip home from the grave was like for her?

42:49What a transformation! Having met the deep lament and weeping was over, and there she is. Well, that's the first post-resurrection appearance of Christ. There are many more that happen. Disciples will see him, many disciples, other women will see him. But the scripture makes it clear there's one more appearance left that has not yet happened. He will come again. And my question to you all: do you really believe? The testimony of the Scripture? Do you believe the testimony of Jesus Himself?

43:38What kind of Messiah are you looking for? How small is the Savior you are searching for? I would ask you to abandon him, embrace the Christ of Scripture, He is large. He is large. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us to look upon you, to treasure the Son in whom all your delight is in. Let us be found in Him. Father, forgive us for coming to you with our own agenda. Father, nothing wrong with coming and making our request. We know that you ask us to do such, and we do that. Father, sometimes we can reduce our relationship with you and dictate to you what you ought to do, how you ought to be to us. Father, forgive us for not just embracing who you are and letting you lead. Forgive us and help us today to leave here, Father, with that oil of gladness, that knowing that we are indeed children of you. You have forgiven. You do resurrect. And let us walk in that newness of life and fellowship with you. It's in Christ's name we pray.