John Chapter 20:1-8

They had in their minds and in their hearts and units, playing from the Bible, that they thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman Empire, establish a new government, and establish freedom in Israel.

When Jesus died, that was shattered. They had no idea that Jesus had a much better plan. We all have plans, don't we? You probably, and the Bible says it's a good thing to make plans, to know, or to consider, or pray about what's going to happen tomorrow, or next year, or five years from now.

Those are good things, but be flexible. Because unless God came down with his very finger and wrote out those plans, those plans are subject to change. And if you're so locked in as to what you want to do and when you want to do it, you could miss what God wants to do in your life. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a central theme and foundational belief in biblical Christianity. Today, Pastor David McGee explains what the resurrection is and what it means to you as he continues in the Gospel of John chapter 20.

Now, here's David McGee with his teaching, He is Risen. Please open your Bibles to John chapter 20. We're continuing on with our verse by verse study. John chapter 20, verse 1. Now, on 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. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid him. Now, who is the disciple that Jesus loved? Yeah, John. How do we know that? John tells us.

But that's, you know, that's good. John knew that the Lord loved him. When Mary went to the tomb, she was going to grieve, and they were going to finish the preparation of the body. She wasn't coming there to see if he had risen, because I want you to notice as we go through this chapter over the next few weeks, how caught off guard everybody is. They weren't like, oh, this is what he was talking about.

They're like, what happened? Now, understand that, because again, it indicates that this is a whole God thing. In verse 3, Peter therefore went out on the other disciple and were going to the tomb. Now, we're on verse 3. Let's talk about the three-day thing. The three-day thing is you find it throughout Scripture. If you remember, there was three days with Joseph and the Pharaoh and the baker and the butler. There was three days of darkness during the plague there in Egypt, and also, of course, the classic of Jonah being in the belly of the whale for three days. And Jesus referred to that and even told what was going to happen.

Matthew chapter 12, verse 40, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He told them. They didn't believe him.

I want you to understand that. They believed him about some things. Evidently, they didn't believe him about this.

Why? Oh, and this is important. They had their own picture in their mind and in their heart about how things were supposed to go. And the death of Jesus was not how they were supposed to go. They had in their minds and in their hearts, and it's plain from the Bible, that they thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman Empire, establish a new government, and establish freedom in Israel. That's what they thought was going to happen. When Jesus died, that was shattered.

They had no idea that Jesus had a much better plan than they came up with. We all have plans, don't we? You probably, and the Bible says it's a good thing to make plans, to know or to consider or pray about what's going to happen tomorrow or next year or five years from now. Those are good things, but be flexible.

Why? Because unless God came down with his very finger and wrote out those plans, those plans are subject to change. And if you're so locked in as to what you want to do and when you want to do it, you could miss what God wants to do in your life. You could miss what God wants you to do in your life because you want what you want.

How often we act like small children in these areas. Something doesn't go the way we want it. And doggone it, God, why didn't you do that? Don't you love me, God? I mean, it reminds me of when my children were real small and used to say things like that.

Well, if you really loved me, you'd buy me that bucket of ice cream. But we act like that with the Lord when the Lord changes the plans. The Lord has plans for your life. Do you know what they are? I don't know what they are for me. I mean, I can think, I can plan, I can prayerfully consider. But do I know the exact specifications of the next year or 10 years of my life?

Absolutely not. I don't. And I've learned that when God throws me a curve ball, I need to go with it. Because he has a better plan. He knows more. Verse 4, so they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. Now, is it just me or do you notice that in this verse, Peter, John records that he outran Peter? I'm faster.

I got there first. Peter was older. John was younger. And we know that John was the youngest from the order of the Last Supper.

You can go back to John 13, I think I'll talk about that. But John was younger, probably quicker, and he notes that he outran Peter. Because Peter and John kind of had this thing going on.

We've talked about that before. How do we know that Peter is the one that cut off the ear of the guy in the garden? John tells us. Matthew doesn't tell us. Mark doesn't tell us. They just say the ear got cut off. John says, it is Peter.

Peter cut his ear off. And then he records in here that he was first, I was first. A little bit quicker than Peter I am, I am. But you know what I do like in looking at this verse? They both ran.

I like that. They both ran. They didn't know what was going on. They weren't sure what was going on. But you know what? They weren't like, well, let's mosey on down to the Garden Tomb in a couple of hours and see what's going on.

We'll go buy Starbucks first and then we'll go check it out. You know, it was like, what? And they ran. Ah. Loved one.

That's a good model. Why? Because you know, often in life we're going... Meandering and moseying, that's a southern thing. I'm going to mosey on down. That means you're going at some point.

Or I'll go directly. That's another southern thing. But it kind of lacks purpose. I think running is a good thing. We're told to run the race. Are you running? Or are you walking?

Or are you moseying? So we're supposed to run. Run the race.

That's what Paul encouraged us to. But are you running? I can't imagine at this point that they would be walking.

And you know what? I can't imagine that some of us would be walking now. But some of us are instead of running. We're running the race.

Encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses. So let's run. Let's don't be walking. I mean, we only have so much time here. It should be full tilt boogie.

I mean, in running, Paul would have used that, but that really wasn't around at the time. A full tilt boogie for God is what we should be involved in. Not, eh, I don't know. At some point, take a little step. No, run for the Lord. Verse five. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen claws lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen claws lying there. So Peter stops at the entrance. I mean, John stops at the entrance. Peter goes on in, and he sees the claws lying there.

And you know what? These are the grave claws of Jesus. I understand something. Now, I think we should take care of our bodies, and I try to eat right and exercise and do all these things.

But this is just a tent. If you will, these are grave claws. And at some point, I'm laying them down. At some point, people will be able to view the grave claws and say, well, that's what he used to be in, but he's not in there anymore. That's the same for every one of us.

We need to realize that so that there's a balance to that perception. And so at some point, realize that you're done with your body. It's a tent. And you're going to lay those grave claws around. You're going to be a butterfly, and that's just your cocoon. And at some point, you're going to come out of it. And it's going to be, as Tigger says, ta-ta for now.

I mean, you're going to be out of here. And that's what was going on with these grave claws. And I think John stopped probably out of reference at the entrance. And Peter, isn't he just like Peter? I mean, Peter's like, I'm in there.

I'm going to see what's going on. I mean, I love Peter. And I probably, as much as I talk about Peter and Peter being ready, fire, aim, Peter, at this point, he's a gonzo guy.

He's that full-tilt, boogie guy, isn't he? And John stops. I don't think Peter ever stopped. I don't think he ever thought about stopping at the entrance. He just ran straight in. I like that about Peter. He doesn't hesitate. And sometimes that didn't work for him. But again, he was gonzo for the Lord.

He plunges on in. So let's see what happens. Verse 7, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen claws, but folded together in a place by itself. Now, had somebody stolen the body, they wouldn't have gone through this trouble. They wouldn't have unwrapped the body.

They'd have just grabbed the body and been out of there. So it tells us something significant happened. And I think, actually, this verse cast a little bit of doubt on the Shroud of Turin.

And I'm not going to make, I'm not, we don't need to break fellowship of whether you think it's the real deal or not. But evidently, there was a cloth that was wrapped around his head. And if you've ever seen the Shroud of Turin, it contains the imprint, supposedly, from the head of the person. And part of what wakes me out about that is people worship the shroud, which I'm not sure Jesus would have provided that.

But we can agree to disagree. It's just curious that that verse notes that. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge.

He'll be right back with more in just a moment. But I want to remind you of the free resources available to you on crossthebridge.com. There's a team of hundreds of people that will pray for somebody to be saved. You have a loved one that needs to know Jesus as Savior. You need people to pray for him.

You need someone to present God's word to him. Every day we're presenting God's word to him here on Cross the Bridge with Pastor David McGee. We can pray for them as well just by simply going to crossthebridge.com and click on the Pray for the Lost button. All you need to do is put in the first names of the people you love that need to know Jesus as Savior, click on Submit, and immediately hundreds of people will begin praying for your lost loved ones. And what an awesome way to bring your loved ones to Jesus. Here's a word from Associate Pastor D.A.

Brown. We want to take just a couple seconds here to pray for some cities in our listening audience, specifically South Lake, Sun Valley, Tonopah, Wells, Winnemucca, Nevada, and also Cape May, New Jersey, and Farmington, New Mexico. Lord, we thank you for the people tuning in in these cities. We pray that you would pour your Holy Spirit out, that you would fill people with the faith to say yes to what you're wanting to do in their life. People who are downtrodden, they're full of despair, I pray that that would turn to hope and trust in you, Jesus. God, I pray for those in leadership positions in these communities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment, that they would look to your Word for advice and counsel and answers on how to lead. Lord, we pray that they would get plugged in church and receive from biblical authority and direction. Lord, I pray that many people will get plugged in churches and they will begin serving and looking for opportunities to use the gifts that you've given them to be a blessing to other people in the same way they've been blessed. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen, thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse eight. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed. Just in case you missed it the first time, John was actually the first to the tomb. He beat Peter just in case you missed that in the preceding verse.

He reminds us again that he got there first. And what's Peter thinking right now? He goes into the tomb.

It's empty. Now, let me remind you, Peter denied Jesus. Not only did he deny him, but Jesus had told him, you're gonna deny me.

You remember that conversation? Jesus says, Peter, Satan has desired you to sift you like wheat. Now, how would you like to have Jesus say that to you? He said that to Peter. And if I'd have been Peter, I'd have been talking about, well, you told him no, didn't you?

I mean, you're not gonna. But that's not what happened. He got sifted. And at that point, he was so arrogant, he said, not so ain't gonna happen. Peter made those bold statements.

He said, even if these other guys leave you, they're kind of questionable anyway, not sure why you chose them, I'm with you. He made those types of sweeping statements. But his pride and his confidence in himself led to a fall. And he denied Jesus. And others knew he denied Jesus. John knew he denied Jesus because John saw part of it, as he tells in the Gospel of John. What was Peter thinking? He obviously was very dejected. I like that in Mark chapter 16, verse seven, the ladies are told, but go tell his disciples and Peter.

I like that. Be sure to tell Peter. Because they knew that Peter, who had been so proud and standing firm, was now just crushed. And he was singled out.

The only one noticed, the only one singled out. Go tell the disciples and Peter. Be sure to tell Peter.

You know what else I like? John knew Peter had denied the Lord. Who do we see hanging out together? John and Peter. There's some indication in the Scriptures that some of the other ladies went to tell the other disciples, but John and Peter were separate.

Why? Well, may I suggest that the division had been caused by the denial? I mean, it might have been as strong as Peter showing up, and they said, no.

You need to go somewhere else. And at that point, John said, I'll go with you. I'll go with you.

And John and Peter hanging out. The life lesson here, be a friend during a hard time, not just in the good times. You understand every one of us is gonna go through hard times. Every one of us is gonna do something really silly or stupid at some point in our lives, and the tendency is, when somebody does something like that, to step back from them and go. Is that what Jesus did? Our tendency is to look at people and go, oh, look what you did.

Is that what Jesus did? Our tendency in Christianity, we tend to treat one another, well, like puppies. Many of us have had puppies, and you know, an unfortunate part of having puppies is, you know, they use the bathroom in your house. I mean, that's not good.

That's bad. And so as they do that, you've probably done this, whether you're gonna admit this or not. You go find the puppy, don't you? Look at this. And the puppy's like, what?

Did you do that? You know, I mean, the puppy is very confused. If you've ever noticed a puppy's face when you do that, they're like, I don't, you know, I don't wanna keep it.

I left it there for you. It's a gift. But, you know, but that whole putting his nose in there, that's weird to me. But you know what? That's what we do as believers sometimes, as Christians. Somebody does something that they regret. It hurts them. It wounds them.

It wounds other people. And we take them like the puppy. And so often they just need somebody to come alongside them and say, man, I know right where you are. I've done some things that I've regretted. And I just want you to know I'm praying for you. And I love you.

You know, can we go get a cup of coffee? Calling people when suddenly they're not in fellowship anymore. Instead of treating them like a puppy.

Of being that friend during those tough times and during those bad times. Perhaps when other people are turning their back on. Because that's what Jesus did. You look at the woman at the well. You understand how very little Jesus said about her past?

Oh, he mentioned it. What about the forgiven woman in John chapter eight? Certainly he went through and they explored and analyzed all her mistakes as he said, look what you've done. The only thing he said is that he forgave her. Go and sin no more. What an incredible model.

What an incredible model. So John knew about Peter's weakness. He knew about his failing. And yet he still, he still hung out with him.

He didn't kick him to the curb. Now, there's three, there's words in here in these three verses, verse six, verse seven, verse eight. Talking about see, the word saw.

Verse five, verse six and verse eight. The word saw. And it's the same word in the English but there's three different words in the Greek.

Which I think is interesting. And the first one is to, in verse five it says he saw the linen claws. That's like you see, you look.

That's probably the closest to our word see. He went in and he saw, he looked, he saw. Verse six is, when it says he saw, it's meaning that he perceived. He understood what he was seeing.

It's a little deeper than the first. The third one in verse eight means he knew. And the other disciple came to the tomb, first went in also, he saw and he believed. He knew. John knew something had happened.

He might not have been sure of what. And see, this is the progression that we travel isn't it? You see. At some point in your life, hopefully you've looked at Jesus and said, well, I see that. I see that Jesus died for me.

But you just saw it in a superficial way. But then one day you understood. Jesus died for me.

And it was on a deeper level. And then as time went on, you knew Jesus died for you. And it was probably at the point of knowing that you made a decision. See, because you can't understand and perceive and really know that Jesus died for you without understanding, now there's a decision to be made. If you know this, it's a decision.

Not just a one-time decision. It starts there. You know, the prayer that I invite people to pray every week, it starts there. It doesn't finish there. As a matter of fact, if you pray that prayer and nothing, there's no changes. You're not turning from something to turning to Jesus.

Man, something's going on. It's supposed to be the start of a beautiful relationship. Just like if you called a girl and said, hey, you know I want to marry you, and she says yes, then you're like, okay, see you later.

And then you never called her again or something? See, that's not the relationship that Jesus desires. He desires to have a relationship with you. Right now, in the way is your sin.

There's nothing you can do about that. But Jesus has taken care of the problem. Jesus desires a relationship. Jesus desires a friendship with you. So you have to make this progression from seeing to understanding to knowing. And when you know, you have to be called into action. Let me ask you a question.

Where are you in these three? Do you understand this morning that Jesus did die on the cross for the sins of the world? It's a great place to start. That's where all of us started. But do you understand that? Do you understand that outside of the atoning death of Jesus Christ, you have no opportunity for forgiveness? That that is the only way to receive forgiveness? And if you understand that, have you gotten to the place where you know that? And that it indeed has changed your life? See, as Christians, and in a moment, I'm gonna speak to the people who have not yet asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins. But as Christians, far too often, we think of a one-time event. Okay, I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I'm done, I'm good, I'm ready to go.

I got some fire insurance. Is that what Jesus desired to give you? Is that what he meant when he said he came to give us life and that more abundantly?

I don't think so. I think he desires to give us much more. But a lot of us get stuck here.

Or we do that and we go, okay, good, I'm done. I don't need to serve, I don't need to do, I don't need to give, I don't need to pray, I don't need to read, I don't even need to attend church on a regular basis, I'm good. A lot of people are locked into this and they're spiritual infants. They're spiritual infants. See, if I go by the nursery and I see babies in there and they got diapers on and they got bottles in their mouth, that's a cute thing, isn't it? I think it's a cute thing.

I think babies are, that's why people have so many of them because they're really, really cute. But if a 35-year-old man came into the sanctuary with a diaper on carrying a bottle, we got a problem. Why? Because he's grown up. He's not supposed to be acting like that anymore, but he's not supposed to be acting like that. Start here and start running.

This is what needs to be happening in our lives. Do you know this? And when I use the word know, I'm talking about know and believe. I'm not talking about you just, you understand historically who Jesus was. They know about Jesus.

I'm talking about know in the sense of knowing intimately, knowing personally. And again, there's this gulf, this gulf of sin that's in the way. But Jesus stands ready and willing this morning to deal with that gulf. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12-515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio, through the Internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give, either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Those are terrific, and it's easy and it's free. So, folks, sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.