Introduction
Over the past three weeks we have been studying the Passion of our Lord. Two lessons ago we studied the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, the cleansing of the temple, and his Last Supper. In our last lesson we studied his agony and arrest in the garden, trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, the way of the cross, crucifixion, death, and burial.
Today we study his resurrection. The story of Easter is found in all four gospels, but we are going to focus upon the Easter account as found in the gospel of John. As we did the last two weeks we will use a video which dramatizes the events in the bible. The video clip is taken from a movie called John, a Visual Bible. This movie dramatizes the gospel of John word for word
Today we study his resurrection. The story of Easter is found in all four gospels, but we are going to focus upon the Easter account as found in the gospel of John. As we did the last two weeks we will use a video which dramatizes the events in the bible. The video clip is taken from a movie called John, a Visual Bible. This movie dramatizes the gospel of John word for word
Easter in the Gospel of John
John 19: 38-42. After Jesus’ death a wealthy Jewish man named Joseph from Arimithea, who was secretly a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate to request if he could bury the body of Jesus. Pilate granted the request.
Jesus was buried according to Jewish burial customs. This means that his body was anointed with oils and spices, and then wrapped in a long burial cloth. His head was wrapped in a separate cloth. In addition to Joseph a man named Nicodemus also helped with the burial. he to was a secret follower of Jesus and a leading Jewish man. |
Since Jesus received a Jewish burial this means that he was not buried in the ground, but in a tomb cut into solid rock. The Jewish custom was to cut a nitch or a ledge in the rock, and leave the wrapped body on the ledge or in the nitch. The body would quickly decay, the bones removed and buried, and then the tomb would be reused. . The gospel of John states that Jesus was buried in a new tomb.
The body of Jesus had to be buried quickly because the Jewish Sabbath was about to begin. Such work was not permitted on the Sabbath. They buried Jesus in a tomb that was in a garden near the place where Jesus had been crucified.
The body of Jesus had to be buried quickly because the Jewish Sabbath was about to begin. Such work was not permitted on the Sabbath. They buried Jesus in a tomb that was in a garden near the place where Jesus had been crucified.
John 20: 1-8. Early on our Sunday, the first day of the week in the Jewish calendar, Mary Magdalene went to visit the tomb of Jesus as many people go to the cemetery today to visit the grave of a loved one. She found the tomb empty, and assumed that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Note that she did not even think that the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen. The empty tomb did not bring her to Easter faith.
She went to tell the other disciples that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Peter and John ran to the tomb. John was a much younger man than Peter and ran faster. He arrived at the tomb first, but out of deference to Peter, their leader, he let Peter enter the tomb first. |
They found the cloth that had been used to wrap the body of Jesus neatly folded. They did not understand that this was a sign that Jesus had risen from the dead.
The disciples left the tomb, but Mary remained. Mary was weeping because the body of Jesus was missing. She looked into the tomb and saw two men dressed in white who were angels, but she didn’t know that. They asked her why she was crying, and she told them because someone had taken the body of Jesus.
The disciples left the tomb, but Mary remained. Mary was weeping because the body of Jesus was missing. She looked into the tomb and saw two men dressed in white who were angels, but she didn’t know that. They asked her why she was crying, and she told them because someone had taken the body of Jesus.
The moment after she had said this she noticed a person outside of the grave who asked her “Women, why are you crying. Who are you looking for” (Jn 20: 15). This stranger was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. She thought that he was a gardener, and asked him if he had taken the body of Jesus.
The Risen Jesus then revealed himself to her by saying her name, “Mary”. When Jesus said her name she recognized him as the Lord, and answered back in Hebrew “Rabboni” which means “teacher”. |
Mary has come to Easter Faith. Not surprisingly she wanted to hug him, but he told her “Don’t hold me. I have not yet gone up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them this.” In the gospel of John, Jesus’ return to the Father (his Ascension) happens on Easter Morning, and not 40 days later as in the gospel of Luke.
John 20: 19-23: Mary went to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord, but they didn’t believe her. That night the disciples were all hiding behind locked doors out of fear of being arrested by the Jesus leaders. Suddenly without anyone opening the door the Risen Jesus is in their midst. His first words to them were words of peace. This “peace” implies forgiveness for the way that they had abandoned him during the passion. He then shows them the wounds of the crucifixion to prove that it is really Him raised from the dead. The disciples were overjoyed once they realized that it was him.
The report of Mary Magdalene that Jesus had been raised did not bring them to Easter faith. It was their experience of actually seeing him that brought them to Easter faith. Jesus then sends them forth to continue his work, and gives them the Holy Spirit so that they will have the power to continue his mission. In the gospel of John, the sending of the Spirit happens on that first Easter day, and not fifty days later during the Jewish feast of Pentecost as in the Acts of the Apostles. |
John 20: 24-29. Thomas, one of the disciples, was not present when Jesus appeared on Easter Night. The ten disciples told Thomas that they had seen the Lord. He did not believe it and said: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later the disciples were in the same room behind locked doors. Once again Jesus appeared in their presence without anyone opening a door. He invited Thomas to probe the wounds of the crucifixion in his hands and side if this was necessary for him to come to Easter Faith, but merely the sight of the Risen Lord brought Thomas to Easter faith. Jesus said to him “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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What Happened to Jesus in the Resurrection?
To understand what happened to Jesus in the resurrection we must realize that in the resurrection Jesus did not merely come back to life. Jesus was transformed or gloried in the resurrection. The Risen Jesus can die no more. Sin and death no longer have power over him.
In our last two classes on the Last Supper and the death of Jesus we learned that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross God made a new covenant relationship with all of humanity in which God is in union with us. This union is through the Risen Christ and his Spirit. The Risen Christ is able to place his Holy Spirit within us, and the Spirit enables the Risen Christ to dwell within us as well. As Christians we are a living tabernacle of the Lord. We are the dwelling place of God on earth. We read about this indwelling in the scriptures.
In our last two classes on the Last Supper and the death of Jesus we learned that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross God made a new covenant relationship with all of humanity in which God is in union with us. This union is through the Risen Christ and his Spirit. The Risen Christ is able to place his Holy Spirit within us, and the Spirit enables the Risen Christ to dwell within us as well. As Christians we are a living tabernacle of the Lord. We are the dwelling place of God on earth. We read about this indwelling in the scriptures.
In John 14: 16-17 Jesus speaks of this dwelling of the Spirit in us: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper. He will give you this Helper to be with you forever. The Helper is the Spirit of truth. . . .But you know him. He lives with you and he will be in you.”
And in John 14: 23 Jesus speaks of the indwelling of the Father and the son: “If anyone loves me, then he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. |
As Christ dwells within us he shares his Life with us, and as we share in his life we share in his victory over sin and death.
God the Father had a plan to save all of humanity from sin and death. His plan is that He will send his son into the world to experience sin and death which is what Jesus did in his passion and crucifixion, and then give him a victory over sin in death in the resurrection, and as we share in the life of the Risen Lord we share in this victory over sin and death.
God the Father had a plan to save all of humanity from sin and death. His plan is that He will send his son into the world to experience sin and death which is what Jesus did in his passion and crucifixion, and then give him a victory over sin in death in the resurrection, and as we share in the life of the Risen Lord we share in this victory over sin and death.
Easter Faith
The first step in sharing in the life of the Risen Lord is faith. We have to believe in the resurrection. We have to have Easter Faith to share in his new life and victory over death. The final words of chapter 20 of John’s gospel expresses this well: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”
But why do we believe in the resurrection today. The first disciples believed because they saw the risen Jesus, and even saw the wounds of the crucifixion in his hands and side. Why do we believe today?
We believe because we accept the witness of the disciples that they saw the Risen Lord. The first disciples claimed to have seen the risen Jesus, and told others about this. This witness has been preserved in the New Testament, and handed on by the Church. We believe in the resurrection because we accept their witness that they saw the risen Lord. Their witness is the foundation of our faith. Our Easter faith is apostolic. It is based upon the witness that they had seen the Lord.
But why do we believe in the resurrection today. The first disciples believed because they saw the risen Jesus, and even saw the wounds of the crucifixion in his hands and side. Why do we believe today?
We believe because we accept the witness of the disciples that they saw the Risen Lord. The first disciples claimed to have seen the risen Jesus, and told others about this. This witness has been preserved in the New Testament, and handed on by the Church. We believe in the resurrection because we accept their witness that they saw the risen Lord. Their witness is the foundation of our faith. Our Easter faith is apostolic. It is based upon the witness that they had seen the Lord.
Why do We Accept the Witness of the Disciples? One reason is that the shattered band of Jesus' followers was transformed into a community of courageous witnesses after the Resurrection. This may be the most important evidence of all. The total conviction with which the disciples proclaimed the Risen Jesus is undeniable because they did so in the face of death. Why did they believe to the point of death if Jesus was not risen?
A second reason is that the Risen Jesus can transform us as he transformed his first disciples. For the past 2,000 years Christians who believe in the Resurrection have been transformed by it. We cannot see the Risen Lord, but we can see the transformation that belief in the resurrection has had on believer to this day.
We can understand this transformation in terms of the wind.We can not see the wind, but can see the effect of the wind in the trees and hear the rustling of the leaves. In a similar way we can not see the risen Jesus. Only the Apostles 2,000 years ago saw the risen Jesus. But, we can see the transformation that the Risen Jesus can have in our life through the indwelling of Him and his Spirit. This transformation by the Spirit and the Risen Lord in the lives of believers is a sign that Jesus is Risen and alive.
St. Paul describes this transformation in terms of the fruits of the Spirit which are love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We can be blessed with these fruits if we believe and live the resurrection.
A second reason is that the Risen Jesus can transform us as he transformed his first disciples. For the past 2,000 years Christians who believe in the Resurrection have been transformed by it. We cannot see the Risen Lord, but we can see the transformation that belief in the resurrection has had on believer to this day.
We can understand this transformation in terms of the wind.We can not see the wind, but can see the effect of the wind in the trees and hear the rustling of the leaves. In a similar way we can not see the risen Jesus. Only the Apostles 2,000 years ago saw the risen Jesus. But, we can see the transformation that the Risen Jesus can have in our life through the indwelling of Him and his Spirit. This transformation by the Spirit and the Risen Lord in the lives of believers is a sign that Jesus is Risen and alive.
St. Paul describes this transformation in terms of the fruits of the Spirit which are love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We can be blessed with these fruits if we believe and live the resurrection.
Th following video dramatizes the story of the first Easter as found in the gospel of John. the review question follow the video. Click "Watch on Youtube" to see the video full screen. After watching the video answer the review questions.