But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.—John 20:11–18

Introduction: What Would It Take to Know That Jesus Is Alive?

Many people today wonder what it would take to know that Jesus is risen. What would it take to know that truth and have it change your life forever? Many people come armed with the assumption that they would have to see Jesus with their own two eyes (seeing is believing) or hear his voice with their own two ears.

We have a story in the Bible that allows us to test this assumption. There is a woman who has the remarkable opportunity to see Jesus right after his resurrection. The story unfolds in three scenes: (1) before she could see, (2) when she could see, and (3) after she could see.

1. Before Mary Could See (John 20:11–15)

I am going to say one word about history here at the outset. Did you notice that Jesus’ first resurrection appearance was to a woman (Luke 24:1–11, 22–24; John 20:1–2, 11–18)? Why is that significant? Some skeptics assume that the Bible was written by Jesus’ followers so they just made stuff up that would support their views. But this has the ring of truth and the ring of history to it. There was no possible advantage for the church in recording this fact. The low social status of women meant that their testimony was not admissible evidence in court. It would have undermined the credibility of the testimony and some would regard it as embarrassing. Some would think that there would be pressure to remove or ignore that fact. But the early Christian witnesses of the Resurrection could not remove the women from the accounts—those records were simply too well known. The Resurrection account is too problematic to be a fabrication. Jesus is making a statement by going first to those that society puts last.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.—John 20:11–12

Look at verse 11. The stone in front of the tomb has been rolled away, and the tomb is empty—Jesus’ body is not there. But these were not gullible, naïve people who were ready to believe anything. Notice that Mary does not assume that Jesus is risen. Her assumption is that someone has stolen the body.

This was her starting position already at the beginning of chapter 20. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2). Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw it empty, but they had still not yet understood the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. They went back to their homes (John 20:10), but Mary stayed behind. 

Now Mary looked into the empty tomb as well, but she found that it was not empty. In the place where Jesus was supposed to be, there were two angels. They spoke to her and asked her why she was weeping.

They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”—John 20:13

She answered according to her assumptions—someone had taken away the body of Jesus, and she did not know where his body was. There were grave robbers. The best she could hope for was to find the body and return it to its resting place.

Then she got more than she could have ever dreamed: Jesus stood in front of her.

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.—John 20:14

Then the earlier conversation with the angels gets replayed with Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing 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.”—John 20:15 

If you know how this story ends, you feel sorry for Mary. She is stuck in a conversation loop—she is going around in circles—repeating the same thing to multiple people (even Jesus). She is not on a merry-go-round, but a despair-go-round and she can’t get off. What will it take?!

Yes, the body moved, but not because someone moved it—Jesus moved his body—he is alive and walking and now he is talking to you. Why can’t you see what is right in front of your eyes? That is the question, isn’t it? Why can’t she see? In the introduction, we stated that people assume if they could only see Jesus with their own two eyes or hear him with their own two ears, then they would believe. This story shows that is simply not true. What will it take? Let’s see what happens when she could see (v. 16).

2. When Mary Could See (John 20:16)

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 

Mary Magdalene did not recognize the risen Christ, even when she saw him and she heard him speak. Why did she recognize him when he spoke to her a second time?

Let’s look at the differences between what he said to her the first time and what he said to her the second time (vv.15–16).

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Do you see the difference between verse 15 and verse 16? The first time he called her “Woman” (20:15). The second time he called her by name: “Mary” (20:16).

That is when she recognized him, but why did she recognize him when he called her by name? If you have been reading the Gospel of John from beginning to end, something begins to form an echo in your mind at this point. Wait a minute. This is exactly what Jesus said would happen: He would call his sheep by name. This is John 10!

Do you see the difference between verse 15 and verse 16? The first time he called her “Woman” (20:15). The second time he called her by name: “Mary” (20:16).

That is when she recognized him, but why did she recognize him when he called her by name? If you have been reading the Gospel of John from beginning to end, something begins to form an echo in your mind at this point. Wait a minute. This is exactly what Jesus said would happen: He would call his sheep by name. This is John 10!

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.—John 10:3–5

Did you catch what is happening here? God brought up from the dead the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13). What is the first thing the risen Shepherd does? He goes looking for his sheep and he brings them into the fold with his voice as he calls them by name. This is John 10:16 in action:

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Let us stop for a moment and marvel. Take it all in for a moment. Remember that Jesus had just defeated death in this story. When Jesus rose, death died. But there is still more for Jesus to do. Jesus does not just defeat death, he also has to defeat our deadness—our deadness of heart that keeps us in the dark. Our spiritual eyes are blind; our spiritual ears are deaf.

Faith does not happen because we conjure it up with our own strength. We don’t conjure it up; Jesus calls it out. When everything was dark, God said, “Let there be light.” When everything is dark in our hearts, the voice of Jesus is like a flash of light, and the dungeon of our hearts flames with light. Our chains fell off. The eyes of our hearts are opened. We can hear and see and follow. Faith is a miracle, not an achievement. Jesus’ voice has to shatter our stubborn darkness and deadness.

3. After Mary Could See (John 20:17–18) 

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

In John 20:17, Jesus calls his male disciples “brothers.” He wants Mary to go tell them, “I am ascending to “my Father and your Father, my God and your God.” What is happening here? Jesus says that the sheep that he brings into the fold are now family.

The point of the sermon is that the Risen Shepherd calls his scattered sheep by name and brings them into the fold of God, which is the family of God. 

This note about ascending to the Father has a special place in John’s Gospel. 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”—John 14:1–3

 Jesus’ ascension to the Father in John recalls the promise of going to prepare a place for them. Jesus is preparing a place for us in his Father’s house. This note about family is more glorious than most people even see at first sight. J.I. Packer said that this doctrine of adoption into God’s family has not been prized like it should in the past because it was always lumped together with justification or forgiveness of sins. In his book Knowing God, Packer says that adoption is “the highest privilege that the gospel offers; higher even than justification.”

Do you know how to avoid lumping justification and adoption together? Justification means that a guilty sinner can receive the verdict of “not guilty” on the basis of what Christ has done. Christ’s life provided the righteousness we need and Christ’s death paid the penalty for our sin. Adoption is an over-and-above gift we receive through justification by faith. Justification says, “You are not guilty;” adoption says, “You are family.” Forgiveness says, “You can go free now.” Adoption says, “You can live here always.” I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).

Application: How Then Shall We Respond?

1. Give Glory to Jesus for His Victory

My wife and I were watching a CrossFit documentary. In one round of the competition, the athletes had to hit a block with a sledgehammer. People were hitting it solid each time, but some cheated a little by letting the end of the sledgehammer pull the block a little. The two athletes that did it that way (technically an unfair advantage) got first and second.

The athlete that got third was upset. He hit the block the right way each time. He said that he not only lost out on points, but the bigger issue was he lost on his glory. There was a glory that he wanted to receive from the crowd that he missed.

All of us live for something. We will either live to get glory or live to give glory. It is a religious quest for recognition or glory. But will what you are living for make you live forever. The question is not living for something—it is living forever. Can your achievements defeat the grave? What happens when it is game over?

The gospel is not good advice, but good news. Advice is counsel that tells you how to accomplish something. News is something that has already been accomplished. Mat Fraser won the CrossFit games. But good news is something that has been accomplished for you. Jesus defeated death for you.

Think about what he accomplished. You cannot defeat the grave because you are a sinner. The wages of sin is death. You deserve to die.

The Bible says that he was tempted as we are, yet without sin. There are many people that feel like they cannot relate to Jesus because he is too perfect. I once had a college student tell me that Jesus did not seem like a real person because he never sinned. How could I ever relate to him? He doesn’t really know what it is like to go through what I have gone through.

I wish I would have had the following analogy to give her at that time. At the gym I attend (like a CrossFit gym) we sometimes do a Weekly Challenge on Wednesdays. One week we did a wall sit for time. I was not very motivated. I waited for a few people to get out (I didn’t want to be the first one out), then a few more people bowed out, and then my workout partner did. I could have perhaps lasted longer, but my legs were burning and I did not see a reason to keep going. I gave in and quit. The person who won lasted a minute longer than I did. 

Later, we heard the longest static wall sit is 11 hour, 51 minutes, 14 seconds, achieved by Dr. Thienna Ho (Vietnam) at the World Team USA Gymnasium in San Francisco on December 20, 2008.

I experienced the burn in my legs longer than some in my class; the winner experienced the burn for longer than I did, and Dr. Thienna Ho experienced a fuller burn than any of us can imagine. But Jesus is in a class all by himself.

But Jesus never gave in. He experienced the fullest burn of temptation imaginable. He was tempted in every way like we are yet without sin. 

He never sinned, and then he suffered the punishment for our sin. He took the wrath of God against us. He drank the cup of condemnation down to the last drop so that the Bible can say there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Not one drop of damnation—not one drip of condemnation. He took it all.

2. Watch How Jesus Reacts to Death

But what about death? What did Jesus do about death? Let us look at how Jesus feels about death in John 11.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”—John 11:32–37

Do you see what they are saying? They don’t question his love, but his ability to do anything. Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus from dying? Can Jesus do anything after Lazarus dies?

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”—John 11:38–44

Look at this phrase “deeply moved.” It occurs twice (vv. 33, 38). “Deeply moved” is a misleading translation. In the Greek outside of the New Testament, embrimaomai refers to the snorting of horses. Think of a horse ready to burst into battle—snorting and pawing at the ground. Whenever this word is applied to humans it means anger or outrage (D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, p. 415).

The problem of pain and death generates both grief and outrage. He loves and he cares. That was not in question. But what about the outrage? He was moved to do something about death—and he reached into the jaws of death and pulled Lazarus out.

Why doesn’t he do this for everyone? Why not bring back people from death? It is no great blessing to have to die twice. He did something better. He was moved to action—like a warhorse ready to burst into battle. He did not reach into the jaws of death—all of him went into the jaws of death.

It looked like death won as Jesus became a sacrificial lamb that would be an easy meal for death, but this sacrificial Lamb became the roaring Lion who tore death to shreds from inside the belly of the beast of death. When the Lord of life rose, death died. He pulled the jaws of death open wide so it could hold his brothers and sisters no more. Then he defeated death. When Jesus rose, death died.

Conclusion: Come Home

Do you hear the voice of the Risen Shepherd calling you by name? Have you seen what he did to open the way for you into the fold and into the family? If you hear his voice, do not harden your heart or try to talk your way out of it. 

How does he come to us and speak to us? How do we know?

I will tell you a story I heard that answers this question in a clear, up-front way. A 12-year-old boy went to church and heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and embraced Jesus as Savior. Word got out in his public school the next day. Some were not very kind with their cynical questions. “I hear God spoke to you, and you are now a follower of Christ. How do you know? Did you see God?”

“No, I didn’t see him.”

“Did you hear his voice speak out loud to you?” 

“No, there was no audible voice.”

“Well—if you didn’t see him and you didn’t hear him, how do you know it was him?”

He thought for a moment and said, “Well, I guess it is like when I go fishing. When do I know that I have a fish? I don’t first see the fish or hear him, but I know I have a fish when I feel the fish tugging hard on the line. God was tugging even harder on my heart.

If the Risen Shepherd is calling you today and tugging on your heart, surrender to him and follow him. Hear his voice say, “Come home.” I have a place prepared for you, You can dwell in the house of my Father forever. The jaws of death can’t close on you because I broke its jaw. The doors of death can’t close on you and lock you out of heaven because I ripped them off the hinges. Come home. Everything you need to make it home, you have in me. Receive what he has done for you. Glory in his defeat of death. Experience the eternal joy of entrance into God’s forever family.

Our prayer is that the Risen Shepherd would call more of his sheep by name in our Easter services and bring them into the fold and the family. He is still doing this because he is alive!

Benediction

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.—Hebrews 13:20–21

Sermon Discussion Questions

Outline

1. Before She Could See (John 20:11–15)
2. When She Could See (John 20:16)
3. After She Could See (John 20:17–18)

Main Point: The risen Shepherd calls his scattered sheep by name and brings them into the fold of God, which is the family of God.

Discussion Questions

• How does John 20 and the story of Jesus’ appearance to Mary help to establish the historical reliability of the resurrection account?
• When did Mary finally see Jesus for who he really was? Why did that moment make the difference? Is the same thing true for us today?
• Why is it significant that Jesus called the disciples his “brothers” and referred to “My Father” and “Your Father”?

Application Questions

• How does Jesus’ defeat of death offer real life hope in the here and now, not just some day when you face death?
• If we don’t see Jesus with physical eyes or hear his voice with physical ears, how do we know if Jesus really speaks to us? Has Jesus spoken clearly to you?
• What truths landed upon you in this message that you need to share with others in your life? How can you share these truths? Devote it to prayer.

Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to live to give glory to the Lord of life for his defeat of death.