A Fisherman's Story

A Study in the Gospel of John John 20:1-29   by Samuel E. Ward   May 27, 2012   Introduction: Review   Part One:  "The Beginning of the Fisherman's Story",  John1:1-18 Part Two:  "The Telling of the Fisherman's Story", John 1:18-12:50 Part Three:  "The Climactic Events of the Fisherman's Story", John 13:1-20:31   I. The Final Meal John, 13:1-17:26 II. The Final Prayer with His Disciples, John 17:1-26 III. The Final Hours to Redemption, John 18:1-19:42   This study continues with . . .   IV. The First Witnesses, John 20:1-29   A. To the Empty Tomb, John 20:1-10   1. Mary Magdalene, John 20:1-2 (Mary at the Empty Tomb)   (John 20:1-2 NIV)  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!"   a. She witnessed the removed stone. b. She witnessed an empty tomb. c. She concluded that Jesus' body had been removed.   2. Peter and John, John 20:3-10. (Inside the Empty Tomb)   (John 20:3-10 NIV)  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, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, {7} as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, 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 their homes,   a. John saw from the tomb's entrance the strips of linen lying in the tomb. b. Peter went into the tomb and saw both the linen strips and the burial cloth used to wrap Jesus' head folded and separate from the linen. c. John went in and confirmed Peter's observations and believed. d. Peter and John went home.   B. To the Risen Christ, John 20:11-29   1. Mary Magdalene, John 20:11-18   (John 20:11-18 NIV) but 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} "Woman," he said, "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 returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning 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.   a. She first had the testimony of the two angels that Jesus had risen. b. She next had the appearance of Jesus to prove it.   2. The disciples minus Thomas, John 20:19-23   (John 20:19-23 NIV)  On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, 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 his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."   3. The disciples including Thomas, John 20:24-29   a. The skepticism of Thomas, John 20:24-25   (John 20:24-25 NIV)  Now Thomas (called 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 it."   I think Thomas may have been just the man H. L. Mencken once described.   A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.   -- H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) quoted in Draper's Book of Quotations   b. The persuasion of Thomas, John 20:26-29   (John 20:26-28 NIV)  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!"   c. The blessedness of simple faith in God's word, John 20:29   (John 20:29 NIV)  Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."   Conclusion   1. John has shown us these blessings for those who believe?   They are not condemned.   (John 3:18 NIV)  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.   They have accepted the will of God for their salvation in Christ.   (John 6:29 NIV)  Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."   They will not die in their sins.   (John 8:24 NIV)  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."   They will live even though they die.                      (John 11:25-26 NIV)  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; {26} and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"   They will have life in the name of Jesus.   (John 20:31 NIV)  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.   2. Peter, who ran with John to the empty tomb, wrote that the blessings are so great that even if we have to suffer for our faith, we can still rejoice.    (1 Pet 1:6-9 NIV)  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. {7} These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. {8} Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, {9} for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.   What do you believe will happen to you when you die?  What evidence do you have that you are right?  John has recorded what he saw and heard concerning Jesus so that you can have confidence that faith in Christ can assure you of eternal life, but rejection will bring judgment to any who choose to bear their sins on their own.