John Chapter 20:8-14

Mark chapter 12, verse 24, Jesus answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God? Matthew 22, 29, and Jesus answered and said to me, you are mistaken not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. So look at Jesus attributes certain mistakes and belief and doctrine to what? People not knowing the Bible.

Well, since that has no present-day application, let's move along. No, you know what? I mean, you see this all the time. You see this on television. You read about it in the newspapers.

You definitely see it on the internet of people coming up with these weird theories and this weird thing and that weird thing. And you know what? They're out of the book. They're out of the book.

And once you begin to get out of the book, you get in trouble. You begin to go, oh, this sounds good. Let's do this. Well, it sounds good.

Well, let's try this. Welcome to cross the bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we should both know and love the Bible. Today, Pastor David explains why the Bible is so important as he continues in the Gospel of John chapter 20. Now here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, He is Risen. Turn with me to the Gospel of John. We are in chapter 20.

And again, we're kind of in these last couple chapters, we're kind of taking our time to really think about what's being said and the personal application here because it's very important. These are the high holy ground, if you will, of the whole Bible in the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus. So let's pick it up with verse nine. This is for as yet, well, let's back up to verse eight to give you context. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed, in verse nine, for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead.

This is an interesting verse. We talk about the cross a lot, and we should. We talk about the crucifixion a lot, and we should. But what's interesting is how little we talk about the resurrection. I enjoy crosses and seeing a cross and reminding me of the death of Jesus, but it's interesting how often do you see empty tombs as a symbol of Christianity. See, we hear of the crucifixion taught in a lot of places.

And see, this is the thing. This is one of the differences is we go expositionally or verse by verse. See, we spend time on the resurrection.

Why is that important? Because you realize that a lot of fellowships talk about the resurrection once a year at Easter, Resurrection Sunday, and that's it. But this is part of the power that's been given to us is we see in the resurrection. And again, I think I talked about this last week, but understand, in order to die, that does not have to be a supernatural thing. People die every day, and it's not necessarily a supernatural thing. For Jesus to die, it did, but it didn't necessitate there being something supernatural. But the resurrection? Well, for somebody to be dead and come back to life, something supernatural has to occur. And I think that's where, I think people actually begin to get a little uncomfortable with the resurrection. And that's why you see the more liberal churches.

That's one of the first things that goes, isn't it? They say, well, we don't believe in a literal resurrection and the other supernatural thing. We don't really believe in a virgin birth, but it's a very important thing. A life lesson off the bat. The resurrection of Jesus is a central theme and belief of biblical Christianity.

It's a central theme. You can't abandon the resurrection. As some churches have done, some movements have done, some Bible colleges have done, they back off of the resurrection.

You can't do that. Because it is part of the proof, as it talks about in 1 Corinthians, part of the proof that the sacrifice was accepted and Jesus was the Son of God. And you notice after his resurrection, there's less doubt once the disciples really grab ahold of what is going on. That's why in Romans chapter 10, verse 9, key verse, it says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now look at what that verse says. If you confess with your mouth, that's why every Sunday morning I'll lead people in a prayer and ask them to say it with me because the verse says this.

Not if you say it in your heart, but if you say it, if you confess it with your mouth. And the other piece of that is that if you believe that God has raised him from the dead, that's an important part of being saved or being born again. Now, notice there's a lot of things that this verse does not tell you you have to do in order to be saved. You can draw your own parallels from your own upbringing of, you know, of to take communion to be saved or to be baptized to be saved or, you know, some people believe you have to show the fruits of repentance in order to be saved. But wait a minute, how do you show forth the fruits of repentance in your life before you're saved? See, you can't do that.

You can't do that. Now, what happens is your heart gets stirred and you're sorry for what you've done, but, you know, that's as far as you can take it until you say, Lord, forgive me of my sins. Then he gives you the power to begin to live for him.

And we need to be careful with that one. See, because a lot of religious stuff would say, okay, here's what you need to do. You need to get, and this is the equivalent of what they're saying, you need to get your life straightened out. And then after you get your life straightened out, then you can come ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins.

Wow. If you believe that, you believe in salvation by works, which we reject here. We reject because the Bible says it's by grace. And here it says, believe and confess. Well, it can't be that easy.

Well, apparently it is. I mean, I didn't write the book, but I do believe it. Now, it's interesting that he says they knew, they did not know the scripture. And again, let me paint a picture of the disciples and understand in the Jewishness of the situation.

Let me put it in our modern day context. There were schools that were set up, yeshivas. And basically you went through elementary school, okay. And then at that point they made a decision of who went to junior high and only the cream of the crop then went to junior high. And then they made another decision after junior high, only the cream of the crop went to high school, if you will. Now, you could go on with the college thing, but there was actually three divisions in the Jewish education system at that time. So by the time somebody began to be trained as a rabbi, they were the cream of the crop.

They were top notch, if you will. Well, notice that the disciples, most of them were in north Galilee. They weren't in these schools. They had gotten the holy boot, I guess, you know, even if they went to elementary school, it's like, yeah, we don't need you guys anymore.

Don't call us, we'll call you kind of thing. And they didn't have a rabbi that they were following. And Jesus led them. So there was some reason they didn't understand the scripture, but I want you to understand that this is important to Jesus because he mentions it several times about the scriptures.

Let me run through a few real quick. Luke 24 32 talks about, and they said to one another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us? And the resurrection of Jesus on the Emmaus road in Luke 24, he talked about what? The scriptures and opened them up to these people.

Man, I don't love to bend at that teaching, but I'll ask him about it when I get there. But he opened up what? The scriptures. Doesn't say he did any miracles.

Doesn't say he did anything like that. He opened up the scriptures. John 7 38 says, he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Mark chapter 12 verse 24, Jesus answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. Matthew 22 29 and Jesus answered and said to me, you are mistaken not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. So look at Jesus attributes certain mistakes and belief and doctrine to what? People not knowing the Bible.

Well, since that has no present day application, let's move along. No, you know what? I mean, you see this all the time. You see this on television. You read about it in the newspapers.

You definitely see it on the internet of people coming up with these weird theories and this weird thing and that weird thing. And you know what? They're out of the book. They're out of the book.

And once you begin to get out of the book, you get in trouble. You begin to go, oh, this sounds good. Let's do this. Well, that sounds good.

Well, let's try this. What does it have to do with the Bible? Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with the Bible, but you know, I think it'll work. I think this will be good. Man, slow down.

Slow down. Have you not even read this scripture? In Mark 12 10, Jesus asked them, have you not even read this scripture?

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Have you not even read this scripture? That's a pretty cutting question. If you have a red letter edition Bible, that's in red letters because you know, the red letters are what Jesus says. It's important.

And he's going, you know what? Have you not even read the scriptures? Second life lesson, a follower of Jesus should know and love the Bible. A follower of Jesus should know and love the Bible. See, there's no other book that will impact our lives the way the Bible has.

And let me go ahead and say, and I know I'm getting ready to step on some toes. If you've read the whole left behind series, but yet to read your Bible, your priorities are messed up. You need to be in the book.

Now I enjoy some of that stuff and you know, I don't really get, I don't read a lot of Christian fiction simply because I want to be in this book. I want to be studying this book and digging in this book. And you know, this book has so many treasures in it.

I will spend a lifetime in this book. And can you imagine the conversation? I mean, this is what we do. We teach the Bible here.

This is what we do. Imagine the conversation when you get to heaven, if you've not read the Bible from cover to cover, how are you going to explain that to God? Well, I just didn't have time. You didn't have time? You read Gone with the Wind four times and you didn't have time to read my book? Yeah, well, you know, it was, Lord, you only gave me like 73.2 years and I just couldn't work that one book in. I don't want to be explaining that to God.

Or what about if you meet some of the authors? You know, you're standing around and there's a guy standing there and, hey, man, how you doing? Good. What's your name? My name's Amos. Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you, Amos.

Yeah. Did you read my book? What book? Book of the Bible. There's no Amos in the Bible.

Come on, quit pulling my leg. Ain't no book of Amos. Yeah, there is. Yeah, I read it. Sure. Be in the book. That's why we teach the Bible. Why? Because it impacts lives here.

And, guys, this is, understand, this is a high priority. You can go to some churches who week after week spend the 20-minute teaching, they're basically evangelizing everybody every week for those 20 minutes. Now, I have a heart for evangelism.

Don't get me wrong. If that's all I'm doing every week, you understand what's happening? The 80, 85, 90, 95, 98, 99 percent of the people in there that are already saved are receiving nothing.

They're not being fed. That's why here I tried to present milk, meat, and the gospel, something for the young believer, something for the mature believer, and something for the unbeliever. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, 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, Tenopa, 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 comes to church, he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 10. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. I don't really understand this, but I think the disciples still thought it was over. I think they thought, well, it didn't work. They had in their minds, well, we're going to overthrow the Roman government and restore Israel to an independent nation.

It didn't happen. And all their dreams and all their hopes in that sense were dashed on the rocks. They knew something had happened, but I don't think they knew what just yet. That's the way some people are about God, isn't it? That's the way some people are about the cross.

That's the way some people are probably about this church. Well, there's something happening. I'm just not sure what's going on. There's something.

Something happened with Jesus. I'm just not sure what it is. And it's important that you go from that curiosity, if you will, to knowing what happened and knowing how that can change your life. See, we need to be careful.

And, guys, I believe, let me phrase this correctly so nobody freaks out. I believe in being sensitive to the seeker. Now, I have a serious problem with being seeker sensitive. If my goal is to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in here spiritually, I'm going to be able to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in here spiritually.

I can't do that. There's some people in here right now. They should not feel comfortable spiritually because they're not at a good place with the Lord. I have to present the word of God.

Why? So they can move from just thinking, well, something happened and that curiosity and seeking the Lord to moving to a belief in Jesus. And the way that that happens is I need to challenge them through the word of God. And so these guys go back home and so far they're missing it. You realize that? I mean, they've been to the tomb now. They're not dancing in the streets like we sang. They're not going around going, hey, he's risen. No, they're going, what are you going to do?

I don't know. Let's go back to the house. What should they have been doing? Going and telling.

What did they do? Went back to the house. What should we be doing? Going and telling. What do we often do?

Go back to the house. Now, this is interesting because if this was a normal biography, do you understand it would have closed with chapter 19? There wouldn't be a chapter 20 or 21. But this is not a normal biography. This is the story of Jesus. And it doesn't end with death. Romans 8 11 says, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

You understand what that's saying? That resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you to serve him. Now, it's not just so you can stand around and show how spiritually strong you are. It's for actually doing things for the Lord. And that's kind of the line in the sand, I guess, between a believer and a disciple. A believer believes, a disciple does. He serves. He ministers to people. And we're able, everyone in here is able to do that.

Why? Because if you know the Lord, you have the power of the resurrection available to you. So not only can it raise you from the dead, it can like get you up to get here Sunday morning and all kinds of things.

So that power of resurrection is available to us. In verse 11, but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

We read this verse and we get a wrong picture. And that picture is that Mary's kind of outside the tomb and she's, you know, like that. That's weeping. That is not weeping to a Jewish woman.

Some of you know that. When we were over in Israel last year, coming down the Mount of Olives, there's a cemetery there. And I heard a Jewish woman weeping. And man, it brought the hair on the back of my neck up because it wasn't, it was wailing as loud as she could go. She was grieved. That's more than likely the type of weeping that she was engaged in. And I often take a comical approach to this.

I don't want to take a comical approach to this. But guys, look at the team that Jesus chose here. The disciples have gone back home. Mary's outside the tomb wailing because she thinks he's gone forever. And this is who Jesus is using.

That's encouraging to me. Because you know what we think? We think back to that yeshiva system, we think God only uses the cream of the crop. We think God only uses the cream of the crop, don't we? I mean, we've bred that mentality into our churches now with all the doctorates. And I'm not anti-education at all. But I don't think you can ever assume simply because somebody has a certain amount of education that they understand God and know God and are necessarily anointed to teach the Word. I've sat under some people that were highly educated that I just, I got nothing.

And I've sat under people who had little education who I walked away just filled spiritually. Now verse 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. As I thought about this, there at the tomb, there's one angel at the head, there's one angel at the foot.

But it's interesting the way the angels are positioned. In the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, there was the Ark of the Covenant. On the top of the Ark of the Covenant, there was the mercy seat. On the mercy seat, do you know what there was? There was an angel at each end facing one another. Just like we're told in this verse.

Can't be coincidence. I mean, why tell us that? For no reason?

No. You see, understand, that part of the Ark of the Covenant was called what? The mercy seat. And I think through that little detail is introduced the fact there's a new mercy seat from Jesus. If you remember the veil of the curtain was torn in two to give access into the Holy of Holies for us. And there in that tomb, an angel standing at each end, I believe gives a picture of that. I'm thankful for the new mercy seat.

Amen. Verse 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. Now, as I thought about this verse, I wonder why they asked her that.

Because, I don't know, I guess this is the way my mind works. When somebody asks me a question, I often wonder why they're asking the question. Somebody comes up and says, hey, you know, it's okay to, you know, it's okay for a believer to drink, a Christian to drink.

I mean, you can be saved and imbibe in alcohol. But, you know, a lot of times somebody's asking that because, you know, they've been alcoholic for 10 or 15 years and they're wanting me to make them feel good about drinking every night. Why are you weeping? And I wonder, why are they asking? Do they not understand that she's going through this emotional thing? Are they, I mean, they're angels, so I don't think they would be, oh, let me be careful. They're angels, so I'm not sure they're clouded or confused by feminine emotion. I am sometimes.

I mean, I've got to be honest. I'm confused, but they're angels. I'm not sure they're confused. So, are they thinking, well, he's risen, why are you crying?

I think that's probably why they're asking. And verse 14, now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. That's a puzzling verse. Why did she not know it was Jesus? Well, I don't know. I mean, I can, you probably thought I was getting ready to tell you. I don't know. I mean, I can tell you some of the theories that sound plausible.

One is that Jesus still had his scars, and we're told that his visage was so marred that he no longer looked like a man, is what the book of Isaiah says. Maybe that was it. Maybe because of the weeping. You know, she still had tears in her eyes and couldn't recognize her.

I'm not sure. What was she looking for? In that tomb, let me help you. Who was she looking for? Who was she looking for? She was looking for Jesus. We need to be looking for Jesus. And notice what didn't happen. She didn't see the angels and go, oh, angels, let's worship them.

This is great. Angels, you guys are religious. Let's engage in worship of the angels. She didn't do that.

Why? Because she's looking for Jesus. She wasn't looking for angels. She wasn't looking for just something simply religious.

She wanted more. Today in society and culture, we are so caught up in religion. And I understand liturgy and formality, and I can actually appreciate some of that.

We don't do it here because I think far too many people are intimidated by that. I can appreciate the beauty of an old hymn plate on a pipe organ or the formal liturgy of a service or responsive readings and things. I can appreciate that if the Lord is there.

But what happens is so much of that formality is introduced because God's been taken out. And it's amazing how cheaply people are satisfied sometimes. As long as they go and they're able to engage in a ritual and they go through the formality and then they can walk out, never having been in touch with God, never having touched base with the risen Savior of the world, never making that connection and somehow feel like something happened that makes everything okay. May you never be so cheaply satisfied. 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. Now God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

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. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him.

And He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. 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 12515, 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, DA, 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.