#1540 John 20 Part 2 Doubting Didymus

 

11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb crying; and so, as she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking 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.” 16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 So while it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”

Why This Gospel Was Written

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20: 11-31

John 20: 1-31

V. 11 She stooped to look into the tomb - Now John had seen it and believed, but Mary is still weeping for her Lord. 

V. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet - Angels means messengers, and in this case spiritual beings in the form of men, white being a reflection of their holy place of calling. They stand before the Lord in heaven always on the ready to be sent out. Look at their positions, remember the ark of the covenant. 

One at the head and the other at the feet: “So were the cherubim placed at each end of the mercy-seat: Exodus 25:18, 19.” (Clarke) - E Word

…6And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” 7Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.” 8But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.… Hebrews 1: 6-8

V. 16 Rabboni - He was her teacher, she was a disciple of Christ. She is the first person to see the risen Lord, and considering the times, of which the writers would be well aware, this is extraordinary. Women could not give testimony in court at this time, but here, the first witness that Jesus makes Himself known to is a woman. This flies in the face of reason, against culture, tradition, the legal requirements of that age, but to whom is God beholden? No man. This seems wasteful, a testimony that will be thrown out by the Pharisees, yet this is pleasing to the Lord. Are women not also made in the image of God? He has given us different roles based upon our genders, both physically and within the church, but they are not an assessment of greater or lesser value and worth. It is the culture as always that is wrong, not God for choosing a woman to be the first witness to the risen, living Savior. 

“Never was a one-word utterance more charged with emotion than this.” (Tasker) “Jesus can preach a perfect sermon in one word.” (Spurgeon)

iv. “In the garden of Eden, immediately after the Fall, the sentence of sorrow, and of sorrow multiplied, fell upon the woman. In the garden where Christ had been buried, after his resurrection, the news of comfort — comfort rich and divine, — came to a woman through the woman’s promised Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. If the sentence must fall heavily upon the woman, so must the comfort come most sweetly to her.” (Spurgeon) - E Word

V. 17 Go to My brethren and say to them - The first born of many brethren; these are the words of adoption, of familial belonging.

This also argues for the historic truth of this account. If someone fabricated this story, they would not make the first witnesses to the resurrection women, who were commonly (if unfairly) regarded as unreliable witnesses.

ii. “Celsus, the anti-Christian polemicist of the later second century, dismisses the resurrection narrative as based on the hallucinations of a ‘hysterical woman’.” (Bruce) - E Word

V. 18 I have seen the Lord - Peter and John have seen the empty tomb, John has believed, and Mary has seen Jesus, but this is going to be a hard sell for others, and rightly so. People say things all the time, and we should 1. Consider the source. 2. Consider the story, what is the likelihood? 3. Consider the surrounding events and couldn't this be a vision brought about by longing or hurt? 4. Consider the things that Jesus said before He went to the cross, did He talk about dying and rising again? 5. Consider Who Jesus was when He was with them, did He perform any miracles that would point to His ability to do this, ie raise the dead, heal the sick, etc.? 6. We can also examine the lives of the people who went on from this. How did they live their lives, and were they willing to die for these truths?

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.… Matthew 12: 38-40

V. 19 Jesus came and stood in their midst - I love this, they were hiding with the doors shut because they feared the Jews. Jesus doesn't knock, there is no hiding from Him, He appears. Now He would be different than what they had last seen, a glorified Savior, not a ghost. But, last they saw Him, he had been beaten beyond recognition, and He was a corpse laid in a tomb by Joseph and Nicodemus. I think it goes even beyond this, but I don't want to go beyond the text, yet it was certainly difficult for them to recognize Him. 

12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. 13 That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.…

…15And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. 17He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.…

…18One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?” 19“What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people. 20Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him.…

…21But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place. 22Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive.…

24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.” 25Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”…

…27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself. 28As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. 29But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.… Luke 24: 12-29

V. 23 If you forgive the sins of any - He had given them the breath of new life, of regeneration. He was also giving them the gospel that they would carry forth, the announcement of the forgiveness of sins. Who would receive that? Go down to verse 31, "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." It is those who believe in Christ Jesus that receive this forgiveness. The disciples carry the message of reconciliation to God.

“Intimating, by this, that they were to be made new men, in order to be properly qualified for the work to which he had called them; for in this breathing he evidently alluded to the first creation of man, when God breathed into him the breath of lives.” (Clarke)

ii. “The Greek word is the same as used by the LXX in those two pregnant phrases of the O.T., viz. Genesis 2:7, ‘the Lord God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath (or The Spirit) of Life’; and Ezekiel 37:9, ‘breathe into these slain and they shall live’ (the vision of the Dry Bones).” (Trench)

iii. “At an earlier stage in Jesus’ ministry the evangelist had said, ‘the Spirit was not yet present, because Jesus had not yet been glorified’ (John 7:39): now the time for imparting the Spirit has come.” (Bruce) - E Word

The connection with the reception of the Holy Spirit is important. “The words of Jesus emphasize that the Holy Spirit is not bestowed on the church as an ornament but to empower an effective application of the work of Christ to all men.” (Tenney)

ii. This lays down the duty of the church to proclaim forgiveness to the repentant believer, and the duty of the church to warn the unbeliever that they are in danger of forfeiting the mercy of God. We don’t create the forgiveness or deny it; we announce it according to God’s word and the wisdom of the Spirit.

iii. “The Church collectively declares the conditions on which sins are remitted, and with the plenary powers of an ambassador pronounces their remission or their retention.” (Trench)

36Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “ Brothers, what shall we do?” 38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.… Acts 2: 36-38

Called Didymus - Thomas was called this and it means twin, or doubled, and I wish I could go further with this, but could only find a lot of speculation. We also know of him as doubting Thomas, Thomas the skeptic, but there have been many so called skeptics throughout history, men who pride themselves on their demands for empirical evidence, all the while ignoring the overwhelming amounts of evidence for the Bible and the Christ Whom it foretells, describes and foretells. Many skeptics have also searched earnestly, desirous of disproving God's word, and yet coming to believe, even against their natural inclination for disbelief. Thomas may have also been an odd character, and crushed by the crucifixion of his Teacher, he may have gone to be alone in his despair, missing Christ's first visit with the other Apostles. There is plenty of evidence for the gospel, but men don't care for their loss of autonomy, and they love their sin.

…10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”… Romans 3: 10-12

…18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… John 3: 18-20

V. 28 My Lord and my God - He expresses belief, not only in the resurrection, but in the deity of the One before him. It crushes the mind. What a difficult encounter imagine. Jesus response translates it down through the years to us. "Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed."

“I believe He is speaking, not of a subjective faith, but of a satisfied faith. He is speaking of faith that is satisfied with what God provides and is there fore not yearning for visions, miracles, esoteric experiences or various form of success as evidence of God’s favor.” (Boice)

ii. “From this we learn that to believe in Jesus, on the testimony of his apostles, will put a man into the possession of the very same blessedness which they themselves enjoyed. And so has God constituted the whole economy of grace that a believer, at eighteen hundred years’ distance from the time of the resurrection, suffers no loss because he has not seen Christ in the flesh.” (Clarke)