Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
2, 2017
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words Communion:
2500 words Video=75wpm
We’ve arrived at the pinnacle of Jesus’ ministry.
Luke told us what Jesus’ main purpose was in life:
(Luke 19:10 NKJV) for the Son
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
He would do this by dying for our sins.
We saw Jesus arrive in Jerusalem on the previous Sunday, Palm Sunday, to
the shouts of an adoring crowd, crying “Hosanna”.
On the following Thursday night, Jesus celebrated the Passover with His
disciples before taking them back to spend the night at the Garden of
Gethsemane.
Judas showed up with a group of Jewish leaders and soldiers.
Jesus was arrested and went through a series of trials as the Jewish
leaders argued to have Jesus put to death.
Pilate has tried to get out of sentencing Jesus to death, but eventually
gave in to the pressure of the crowd and the Jewish leaders.
Jesus was scourged
Jesus was crucified.
Jesus died.
Jesus was buried.
24:1-12 Empty Tomb
:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning,
they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the
spices which they had prepared.
first – heis
– one
the week – sabbaton
– the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the
Israelites were required to abstain from all work; seven days, a week
This is the word that is normally
translated “sabbath”, the seventh day, but is used here to speak of the entire
week.
early in the morning – orthros
– daybreak, dawn; at early dawn, at daybreak, early in the morning
very – bathus
– deep
came – erchomai
– to come. Aorist.
tomb – mnema
– a monument or memorial to perpetuate the memory of any person or thing; a
sepulchral monument; a sepulchre or tomb
which they had prepared – hetoimazo
– to make ready, prepare
spices – aroma – spice,
perfume
:1 on the first day of the week
Lesson
Worship on which day?
There is a very long-standing question in some people’s minds over which
day of the week the church should gather to worship.
Some people insist that we should only have church on Saturday, the Jewish
Sabbath.
While some who claim that the church didn’t start meeting on Sundays until
the 4th century, the Bible gives us hints that they met on Sundays
from the times of the apostles:
(Acts 20:7 NKJV) Now on the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message
until midnight.
(1 Corinthians
16:1–2 NKJV) —1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given
orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first
day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as
he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
Why did the church meet on Sundays?
It’s from our text.
Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday.
It’s such a significant day, that ALL the gospel writers make a point of mentioning
that Jesus rose on the first day of the week, on Sunday. (Mat. 28:1; Mark 16:2;
John 20:1)
(Matthew 28:1 NKJV) Now
after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
(Mark 16:2 NKJV) Very early
in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when
the sun had risen.
(John 20:1 NKJV) Now the
first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it
was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb.
Paul said we ought to be careful when it comes to judging people based on
what day of the week they worship:
(Romans 14:4–5 NLT)
—4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master
will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will
stand and receive his approval. 5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day,
while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that
whichever day you choose is acceptable.
Some people think one day is better than another.
Others like to worship God every day.
I kind of like the latter idea.
For the Jews, Saturday is a special
day.
It was part of the Ten
Commandments:
(Exodus 20:8 NKJV) “Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Later in the book of Exodus, God
reminds the people:
(Exodus 31:16–17 NKJV) —16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to
observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual
covenant. 17 It is a sign
between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”
But notice that
the Sabbath was for the Jews, to be a sign for the world that they belonged to
him.
For those of us
Gentiles, there’s a lesson about who the Sabbath laws were for – Jews.
Initially, God was honored by the
people taking a day off from work and resting.
It’s not until the
Babylonian captivity, when the Jews began to develop “synagogues”, that regular
corporate worship was practiced on Saturdays.
But they didn’t
just gather on Saturdays, they also gathered on Mondays and Thursdays.
Synagogue worship
In the synagogue
gathering, the people would recite the schema
(“Hear, O Israel…”):
(Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NKJV) —4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord
our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Then came the tephilla, prayer.
Before the Babylonian exile, people would compose their own
prayers, but afterwards they started following prescribed prayers.
Then they would
read from the Scriptures, followed by a teaching explaining what they had read.
They started with
a passage from the Torah and ended with a passage from the prophets.
If someone
qualified was present, then they would give a teaching or exposition of the
passages.
Worship on the
Sabbath.
The
appointed offerings were made each Sabbath in the temple: two lambs without
blemish and two tenth ephahs of flour mingled with oil as meat offerings along
with the appropriate drink offerings, Nu. 28:9 f. More priests were need for
these additional offerings than on week-days, Yoma, 2, 3–5. Two extra priests
were also appointed on the Sabbath to set the bowls of incense on the table of
the shew-bread and to renew the shew-bread, Lv. 24:8; 1 Ch. 9:32; Men., 11, 7.
The change in the rota of officiating priests was always made on the Sabbath so
that the outgoing course offered the morning sacrifices and the incoming course
the evening sacrifices, Jos. Ant., 7, 365; T. Sukka, 4, 24 f. (200); Sukka, 5,
7 f. The 92nd Psalm was appointed for the Sabbath, Ps. 92:1.
Throughout
the land and in the Dispersion services were held in the synagogues on the
Sabbath.124 The morning service consisted of the same parts as the
weekly services on Monday and Thursday: recitation of the schema,
the tephilla, Scripture reading and the related exposition. The
passages constituting the schema (Dt. 6:4–9; 11:13–21; Nu. 15:37–41)
were recited as on week-days, but with some additions on the Sabbath. The
tephilla was spoken as a sevenfold prayer, i.e., the 13 middle petitions were
left out and between the first three and the last three benedictions the
consecration of the day (קדושת היום) was interpolated, T. Ber., 3, 12. For the readings
from the Torah, which were held as in the morning and mincha service on Monday
and Thursday, the Pentateuch was divided into pericopes. Palestine followed a
three-year cycle with 154–175 sections, while Babylon read the whole Torah each
year and thus divided it into only 54 sections.129 In the Mishnah it
is laid down that at morning service on the Sabbath there should be a reading
from the prophets as well as the Torah, but there were no fixed passages for
this. Since the reading from the prophets came at the end of the service it was
called Haphtarah,131 i.e., that the service should conclude herewith
and the congregation should be dismissed after the reading from the prophets.
An exposition might be annexed to the Haphtarah if someone was present at the
service who had the necessary abilities and knowledge for expounding the text
and instructing the congregation.133[1]
When the church began, the church
was initially composed entirely of Jews.
Jesus was Jewish.
All twelve
disciples were Jewish.
All the believers
were Jewish.
The early church continued to honor
their Jewish traditions by going to both the Temple and the synagogues on
Saturday, along with their Jewish brothers and sisters.
You see it in the
life of the apostle Paul in his missionary trips. Regarding Paul and Barnabas
on their first trip:
(Acts 13:14 NKJV) But
when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
It’s not until Acts 10, around 40
AD, that the first Gentile became a Christian.
Cornelius was a Roman centurion,
and he with his whole family became Christians when Peter came and talked to
them.
Initially, the church was confused
over what to do with a Gentile believer. Nobody thought a Gentile could be
saved.
When Paul began his missionary
journeys, he began seeing large numbers of Gentiles coming to Christ, and the
church had to finally face the question, “What are we going to do with these
Gentiles?” The church held a grand council in Acts 15, around 50 AD.
There were some that felt that
Gentiles needed to become Jewish first in order to be saved. That meant being
circumcised and following the Law of Moses.
Peter spoke up.
(Acts 15:10–11 NKJV) —10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck
of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
There was much debate, and James
gave the final decision:
(Acts 15:19–21 NKJV) —19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the
Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that
we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual
immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach
him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
In other words,
the church did not require Gentiles to become Jews, but only to avoid certain
things that were going to cause the Jews to be grieved.
:1 they, and certain other women with them
We’ll talk about the gals who were there that morning when we get to verse
10.
:1 bringing the spices which they had prepared
Last week we saw that on Friday afternoon, Jesus’ body was buried in the
tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
When Jesus’ body was initially put into the tomb, it was wrapped in linen strips
and 100 pounds of spices (John 19:39-40)
(John 19:39–40 NKJV) —39 And
Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen
with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
The spices were to embalm the body, but to perfume it as it decayed.
The amount of spices they are using
would have been extremely costly.
Strips of
cloth were wound around the body with the spices packed in.
We saw last week that there was a group of gals present at the burial, and
they have now come back to add more spices to Jesus’ body.
:2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
stone – lithos
– a stone
rolled
away – apokulio
(“from” + “rolling”) – to roll off or away.
Perfect passive participle. The
stone had been rolled away, and was still rolled away.
This word is used in the Gospels to
refer to the stone that was in front of the tomb of Jesus. In Palestine, graves
were usually in a depression and the stone was rolled down an incline to cover
the mouth of the tomb. For a small grave, about twenty men were required to
roll a stone downhill to cover the door of the tomb. The Bible tells us that
the stone covering the door of the tomb was a large stone. The women would have
needed more men than even a full Roman guard of sixteen men to roll away the
stone. This was a major task.
:2 they found the stone rolled away
We mentioned last week that a heavy stone was rolled over the entrance of
the tomb, a custom meant to keep thieves or wild animals from disturbing the
body.
The stone was so large that the four women had been wondering:
(Mark 16:3 NKJV) …“Who will
roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
We suggested that it might have weighed upwards to 1-2 tons.
We’ve seen samples of these stones in Israel.
There’s also a very interesting one on Mount Nebo in Jordan.
Mark recorded,
(Mark 16:4 NKJV) But when they looked
up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.
There is a Greek
manuscript dating to the 2nd century (Codex Bezae) that adds in the
margin that this was “a stone which twenty men could not roll away”. (Evidence
that Demands a Verdict, pg. 216)
John recorded,
(John 20:1 NKJV) Now the
first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it
was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb.
The common practice was to have the stone rolled down into a trough to
cover the tomb.
The word translated “taken away” in John 20:1 means literally, “lifted up”.
Someone had picked the stone up and moved it away.
:3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
they went in – eiserchomai
– to go out or come in: to enter
:4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold,
two men stood by them in shining garments.
were
greatly perplexed – diaporeo
– to be entirely at loss, to be in perplexity;
from aporeo – to be without resources, to be in straits, to be left
wanting, to be embarrassed, to be in doubt, not to know which way to turn
stood
by – ephistemi
– to place at, place upon, place over; to stand by, be present; to stand
over one, place one’s self above; used esp. of persons coming upon one suddenly;
an angel, of the advent of angels
shining – astrapto
– to lighten; of dazzling objects; from aster
– a star
garments – esthesis
– clothing, apparel
:4 two men stood by them in shining garments
These were angelic beings.
:5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth,
they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
afraid – emphobos
– thrown into fear, terrified, affrighted
bowed – klino
– to incline, bow; to cause to fall back; to recline
faces – prosopon
– the face
they said to them – the angels spoke to the women
seek – zeteo
– to seek in order to find; to seek i.e. require, demand
:5 Why do you seek the living among the dead?
The angels sound as if the women should have realized that Jesus would rise
from the dead.
You don’t find a living person at a graveyard.
:6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was
still in Galilee,
:7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
must – dei –
it is necessary, there is need of, it behooves, is right and proper
be delivered – paradidomi
– to give into the hands (of another); to give over into (one’s) power or
use; to deliver up one to custody, to be judged, condemned, punished, scourged,
tormented, put to death; to deliver up treacherously; by betrayal to cause one
to be taken
sinful – hamartolos
– devoted to sin, a sinner; not free from sin; pre-eminently sinful,
especially wicked; all wicked men
be crucified – stauroo
– to stake, drive down stakes; to crucify
rise again – anistemi
– to cause to rise up, raise up; raise up from laying down; to raise up
from the dead; of the dead
:8 And they remembered His words.
remembered – mnaomai
– to remind; to be recalled or to return to one’s mind, to remind one’s
self of, to remember; to be recalled to mind, to be remembered, had in
remembrance; to remember a thing; be mindful of
words – rhema
– that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken,
word; any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning; subject
matter of speech, thing spoken of
:6 Remember how He spoke to you
Who are the angels speaking to?
They are speaking to the women who have come to the tomb.
We often look at the passages where Jesus is teaching His disciples and
think that the only people present were Jesus and twelve men.
There were women present as well.
:8 they remembered His words
The angel stirred up their memory and the women remembered something Jesus
had said in Galilee.
Lesson
Must Reminders
They remembered what Jesus said He “must” do.
Matthew records three separate occasions in Galilee where Jesus had told
His disciples that He would die and rise again. (Mat. 17:9, 22-23)
(Matthew 17:9 NKJV) Now as
they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the
vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
(Matthew 17:22–23 NKJV) —22 Now while
they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to
be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they
will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were
exceedingly sorrowful.
One of those occasions took place at Caesarea Philippi in Galilee.
Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. It was Peter who spoke
that inspired truth that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Under the shadow of this huge rock face, Jesus told Peter that his
statement would be a stone that He would build His church on.
(Matthew 16:21–24
NKJV) —21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go
to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
must – dei –
it is necessary, there is need of, is right and proper
This is the same word used by the angels in vs. 7.
This is something REALLY important.
Just as the angel is now reminding the women, Jesus had
said that He MUST go, suffer, die, and be raised.
We look back at it now and realize that Jesus had to die
because that’s how He would save us.
He would die to pay for our sins.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we
couldn’t pay.
22 Then Peter
took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this
shall not happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an
offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of
men.”
We’re not all that different from Peter.
We don’t always grasp the things that MUST happen in life.
When someone encounters difficulty, we assume it must be a mistake. Yet sometimes it isn’t.
24 Then Jesus
said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
If I have a desire to be a follower of Jesus, then there
are three things I MUST do. They are all
expressed as commands (imperative) in
the Greek.
I must deny yourself
Some folks forget this is a “must”.
Video: John Crist – Millennial
Missionaries
Following Jesus requires that I learn to say “no” to
myself.
I must take up my cross
I must be willing to take whatever hardship comes my way
for following Jesus.
Following Jesus wasn’t meant to be a way to make my life
easier.
There will be difficulty.
I must follow Jesus
I must do what Jesus asks you to do.
Don’t forget what’s important. Don’t
forget what you “must” do.
More “musts”
(Acts 16:30–31 NKJV) —30 And he
brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you will be saved, you and your household.”
(Acts 14:22 NKJV) —22 strengthening
the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and
saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
(2 Timothy 2:24–26 NKJV) —24 And a
servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach,
patient, 25 in humility correcting
those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that
they may know the truth, 26 and that
they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil,
having been taken captive by him to do his will.
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) —6 But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.
(1 Peter 1:6–7 NKJV) —6 In this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, 7 that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that
perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory
at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
(2 Peter 3:11 NKJV) —11 Therefore,
since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
:9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven
and to all the rest.
returned – hupostrepho
– to turn back; to turn about; to return
the tomb – mnemeion
– any visible object for preserving or recalling the memory of any person
or thing; a memorial, monument, specifically, a sepulchral monument; a
sepulchre, a tomb
told – apaggello
– to bring tidings (from a person or a thing), bring word, report; to
proclaim, to make known openly, declare
The word “angel” comes from the
root of this word. A “messenger”.
They had been spoken to by an
angel, and they turn around and “angel” these words to the others.
:10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the
other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
These were the women who had gone to the tomb early that Sunday morning.
:10 Mary Magdalene
Mary was from the city of Magdala on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.
In the last several years, this city has been found and is being
excavated. Hopefully we will visit the
first century synagogue there in November.
Luke has already told us that she was one of Jesus’ followers and had had
seven demons cast out of her (Luke 8:2)
(Luke 8:2 NKJV) —2 and
certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called
Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
We’ll see in a minute that Peter and John will run to the tomb to see for
themselves, and Mary will follow after them.
After Peter and John leave the tomb, Jesus will show up and Mary will be
the first one to see Jesus in His resurrected body. (John 20:11-18)
Before meeting Jesus, she was a very bad woman.
Yet she would get to see Jesus risen first.
(John 20:11–18 NKJV) —11 But Mary
stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and
looked into the tomb. 12 And she
saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they
said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said
to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they
have laid Him.” 14 Now 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 weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, 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, “Rabboni!” (which is to say,
Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do
not cling to 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 and your Father, and to
My God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary
Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that
He had spoken these things to her.
Mark tells us:
(Mark 16:9 NKJV) …He appeared first to
Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
Mary was a woman with a
history. She had been demon possessed at
one time.
And yet she will be the very first
to see Jesus after His resurrection.
:10 Joanna
She was the wife of a man named Chuza, who was an important servant in the
household of King Herod (Luke 8:3).
(Luke 8:3 NKJV) —3 and Joanna
the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided
for Him from their substance.
She may have been a woman with wealth and influence.
:10 Mary the mother of James
Matthew calls her “the other Mary” (Mat. 28:1)
(Matthew 28:1 NKJV) —1 Now after
the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
We don’t know much more about her.
:10 the other women with them
Mark records there was a gal named Salome there as well (Mark 16:1). There may have been others.
(Mark 16:1 NKJV) —1 Now when
the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and
Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
:11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not
believe them.
seemed – phaino
– to bring forth into the light, cause to shine, shed light; shine; to
become evident, to be brought forth into the light, come to view, appear; to
meet the eyes, strike the sight, become clear or manifest; to be seen, appear;
to appear to the mind, seem to one’s judgment or opinion
to – enopion
– in the presence of, before; of occupied place: in that place which is
before, or over against, opposite, any one and towards which another turns his
eyes
words – rhema
– that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken,
word; any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning; subject
matter of speech, thing spoken of
This is the same word for “words”
that was used to describe the “words of Jesus” in vs. 8
believed … not – apisteo
– to betray a trust, be unfaithful; to have no belief, disbelieve
:11 their words seemed to them like idle tales
idle tales – leros – foolish talk, nonsense, humbug
Medical writers used it for the wild talk of those who were delirious or hysterical.
The women sounded absolutely crazy when they talked to the disciples. The men obviously know better about things
like…
Crucifixion. Perhaps they weren’t used to seeing people die on a cross.
They had seen Jesus being mocked and brutally mistreated by the soldiers.
They had seen Him being scourged.
The fluids that came out of Jesus when the soldiers pierced His side with a
spear proved that Jesus was dead.
At least Jesus had been given a decent burial in a secure tomb like
Joseph’s.
All that adds up to one thing. Jesus was dead. Nobody was telling them
anything different.
One of the suggestions a skeptic might make is that the resurrection was
just wishful thinking.
They suggest the disciples told everyone Jesus was risen because they
wanted Him to be alive.
The truth is, the disciples themselves didn’t believe it. They thought He was still dead, even after
the women told them different.
Don’t be discouraged when people have a hard time believing what you say
about Jesus.
Even the disciples had a hard time at first.
How did the disciples eventually change their mind?
It started when someone decided to check things out for himself.
:12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the
linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what
had happened.
arose – anistemi
– to cause to rise up, raise up; raise up from laying down; to raise up from
the dead; to rise, stand up
The same word that is used to
describe the resurrection.
ran – trecho
– to run; of persons in haste; of those who run in a race course
he saw – blepo
– to see, discern, of the bodily eye; perceive by the use of the eyes: to
see, look descry; to turn the eyes to anything: to look at, look upon, gaze at;
metaph. to see with the mind’s eye
linen cloths – othonion
– a piece of linen, small linen cloth; strips of linen cloth for swathing
the dead
lying – keimai
– to lie; of an infant; of one buried; of things that quietly cover some
spot; of things put or set in any place, in ref. to which we often use "to
stand"
by themselves – monos
– alone (without a companion), forsaken, destitute of help, alone, only,
merely
departed – aperchomai
– to go away, depart; to go away
marveling – thaumazo
– to wonder, wonder at, marvel; to be wondered at, to be had in admiration
:12 and stooping down, he saw
John gives us a little fuller account.
(John 20:3–7 NKJV)
—3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to
the tomb. 4 So they both
ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.
“the other disciple” is John’s way of referring to himself.
John humbly reports that as they ran to the tomb, he was faster than Peter.
As much as I love
the Skit Guys, they didn’t exactly stick to the script on this one, because
John records that John looked into the tomb…
5 And he,
stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he
did not go in. 6
Then
Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen
cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with
the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.
From John’s description, the linen cloths that had been wrapped around
Jesus’ body with the spices looked like an empty cocoon, as if the body had
just slipped right through them.
There was a separate piece of cloth, the “napkin”, that was used to cover
the head. It had been neatly folded and
was laying off to the side.
When they came to the tomb, both Peter and John had to “stoop down” to see.
stooping down – parakupto
(“alongside” + “stoop down”) – to stoop to a thing in order to look at it;
to look at with head bowed forward; to look into with the body bent; to stoop
and look into
I know this is describing the actions of a person bending over to look inside
the tomb, but it is also quite a picture of a person coming to see who Jesus
really is.
Lesson
Humble Belief
Peter heard the women’s words and decided to check things out for himself.
He didn’t wait for a convenient time to check things out, but he quickly
ran to the tomb to see what had happened.
But before he could see the empty grave clothes, he had to “stoop down”.
That’s humility.
Illustration
A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas, and talks with an old rancher. He
tells the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.”
The rancher says, “Okay, but do not go in that field over there,” as he points
out the location.
The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, “Mister, I have the authority of
the Federal Government with me.” Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he
removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher. “See this badge? This
badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish.... On any land. No questions
asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?”
The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.
A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA
officer running for his life chased close behind by the rancher’s prize bull.
With every step, the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems
likely that he’ll get “Horned” before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly
terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at
the top of his lungs.....
“Your badge. Show him your BADGE!!!”
For some people, the greatest obstacle to their belief in Jesus is simply
their pride.
It may be that they don’t want to acknowledge that there is a God who is
greater than they are.
It may be that they don’t want to acknowledge that they’ve been wrong about
Jesus all these years.
Are you looking for real wisdom in life?
Are you looking for the truth about God?
(Proverbs 11:2
NKJV) When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is
wisdom.
For some of you, it’s realizing you need
someone to save you from your sins.
Some are looking for direction in life, and
you are having a hard time hearing from God.
Make sure pride isn’t
getting in your way.
Sometimes I tell God I
want Him to direct my life, as long as it isn’t THAT thing.
Years ago when I wanted to
be in the ministry, but when Pastor Chuck told me to teach a Sunday School
class, I said “no” because it seemed beneath me.
When I eventually got into
ministry, my first job was overseeing Children’s Ministry.
Don’t be afraid to “stoop
down” in order to see what God has for you.
Humble yourself.
Maybe then you’ll see.