Okay, let's turn to the Word, that living and powerful Word. We turn to Genesis chapter 2, and then to John chapter 20. Let's stand to hear the Word. We'll never forget how great a privilege it is to have this book in our hands, to hear it read, and to hear it preached. Genesis chapter 2. beginning at verse four. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord had not caused it to rain on the earth and there was no man to till the ground. But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon. It is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hittikel. It is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, out of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him. And now from John chapter 20. We will read here the verses 11 through 18. The context in verses 1 through 10. is that Mary Magdalene and Peter and John have already come to the tomb, seeing that the stone has rolled away, the linen claws that wrapped Jesus were still there, the handkerchief that covered his face was folded and put away. John believed in the resurrection at this point. Now we pick up again with Mary Magdalene. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, 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. 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. And when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 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. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him, Rabona, which is to say teacher, 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, to my God and to your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of God endures forever. We turn to John chapter 20. This morning looking at verses 11 through 17 as we continue to study the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps sometimes children, or any one of us as children of God, I've wondered this simple question. Does God really know me? Does he really know who I am? Does he know my name? Does he really have an interest in me? And perhaps this is not just, not a question that's born out of a Well, it is essentially born out of a doubt, but not obviously any doubting of the Lord's goodness. Perhaps it's just because you are going around life, and you're seeing that there are a lot of important people in the world, and there's a lot of big things happening, and it's a very big universe after all. And we know that God has it all in his hands, that he is the one who has fashioned the farthest galaxies, and he's the one over kings and rulers. He's the one who is orchestrating everything that there is. And surely there's gotta be more important things than me, more important people than me. Does Jesus really know my name? Does he care for me? The first appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord was to a woman named Mary Magdalene. Not significant in this world in any way. As a matter of fact, she was a woman who had been cured by the Lord Jesus Christ or delivered from demonic possession. And surely during that period of demonic possession, her public reputation would not have been that great. She was also a woman who was numbered amongst the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, but she was not a Peter, James, or John. She would not go on to be a great leader in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In her day, she would also be an unlikely person for the first appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection simply because she was a woman. But she was the one in all human history. She was the one whom our Lord Jesus chose to reveal himself to graciously, personally, and powerfully in the garden after his resurrection. And that's what we'll study this morning. And as we do, we'll learn much about the character of the Lord Jesus and the glory of our redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ and his personal interest in individuals, that he is the good shepherd of the sheep and his sheep know him and he knows us by name. and he's the one who still continues to seek and save the lost. He did so when we first came to him in faith, and he is the one who continues to do so as we follow after him. Well, the first resurrection appearance of Jesus then, turning to John chapter 20, 11 through 18 is the text we'll focus on. Of course the bigger context is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus and we studied for a number of weeks from John chapter 19 the great truth of the cross and that central pressing truth of penal substitutionary atonement. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, that Christ was the one who knew no sin, but was made sin for us, that in him we might be the righteousness of God, that he was the one, as Isaiah prophesied, who bore our griefs, who carried our sorrows, that by his stripes we are healed, that he bore our transgressions and iniquities on the cross. And we saw last week, as we studied the beginning of the resurrection narratives, that we have the joy and privilege of looking at the cross, as it were, through the lens of the empty tomb, the vindication of the victory of Jesus Christ. And you remember that there's a very important, we have to think very carefully about the connection between the crucifixion and the resurrection. The crucifixion was, when Jesus said, it is finished, he had finished, the perfect, once and for all, offering for sin, and the consecrated offering of himself as a righteous person, the new man, the second Adam, in our place. And he had finished the offering of that life. Therefore, it was not possible that death should hold him, and he was vindicated by the resurrection. In his resurrection, conquering the last enemy, which is death. between the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus perhaps was the most difficult period for a believer in human history. What do I mean by that? Well, it had appeared for a moment and it's clear from the disciples' reactions that they have forgotten the words of the Lord Jesus until we read that John believes Their savior, their hope, their messiah, their king, the miracle worker, the one who fed them, who taught them, who led them was dead, cold and dead, in a grave. The quick study of the gospels makes it clear the disciples didn't see right away, didn't understand right away that he would rise again. Even when Christ foretold his resurrection, they denied him because it meant he would die. When he was arrested, even though he had foretold his resurrection and triumph, they all forsook him and fled. They denied him. And even here at the tomb, it takes time for them to understand and realize his triumph and his victory. Grief, sorrow, and fear dominate the narrative, particularly from the moment Jesus is arrested to the moment that they know that he has risen from the dead. And you can imagine that in that time, there's overwhelming grief. I mean, think of a man, for example, like Matthew, the tax collector. He's been plucked out of his life of sin by a Savior who seeks and saves the lost, and now that Savior is dead. Think about John, who loved his master and was the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had this particular intimate friendship with Jesus. His master is dead. Think of Mary. who had been delivered from seven demons, we read that in Luke. The Gospel of Luke, also in the Gospel of Mark. And now her deliverer is dead. And they grieve. And it's in this grief that we pick up the narrative in verse 11 of Mary at the tomb. Mary is overcome by this grief. She stood outside by the tomb weeping. She's there looking for the Savior who loved her. She's wondering where he is, at least where his body is at this point. And this is going to be in a moment one of the first resurrection appearances. Now if you compare the Gospels, a little bit of a note on the harmony of the Gospels, the Gospels seem to relate no less than 10 distinct resurrection appearances. And here we have one where Mary sees the resurrected Christ, and she's on her own. But we know from the other gospels that there's a lot of things happening in the garden at this point. Mary has come to the tomb. Peter and John have come to the tomb. Mary is going to go back to the disciples. But we know there's other women also in the vicinity. And it's as if you can imagine, there's this traffic back and forth to the tomb, different parties, different people, different times, sometimes together for a time, sometimes separated for a time. And here we're at a point where Mary appears to be, for a moment, distinctly and alone at the tomb. What I'm trying to say by that is when you read all the Gospels, the accounts harmonize beautifully together. But you have to remember that there was a lot happening that morning, and all of the Gospels tell us different details of what was happening. Here we are with Mary first, just moments prior to the rest of the women, which are clearly nearby, Peter next, et cetera, to see Jesus. They're gonna see him in succession. The key figure is this Mary who has been delivered by the Lord Jesus. The key realities that she already knows are the following, that the stone has been rolled away. We learned that earlier in the first verse of the chapter. She had already gone to the tomb early. She knew the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And now she is by the tomb weeping. She's not looking clearly, perhaps through her tears. She stoops down and she looks into the tomb. She sees two angels in white sitting there. Now, it's also clear at this point that though we know from the narrative that they're angels, that she doesn't fully know who she's dealing with. She doesn't recognize the angelic visitors to be angels. She doesn't recognize the Lord Jesus to be the Lord Jesus. She is not seeing clearly here. She's seeing, but not comprehending. She sees the angels, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had laid. Now, the angels ask her the question, 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 the question I think can rightly be understood not only as a factual question, why are you weeping? Could you please explain to us who you are and what's happening and why you're crying? But it is a gentle rebuke. The angels know that Jesus is risen. The disciples have been taught by the Lord Jesus that he would rise. Woman, he's not here. Why are you weeping? And her answer in her grief explains what she's thinking. She said, because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. So now we have insight into why she's weeping. She believes at this point that the body of Jesus has been taken away. that Jesus has not only been betrayed, he's not only been falsely accused, he's not only been crucified, but that even in his burial he's been degraded and the body has been taken away, that someone has robbed the grave. For what reason is not clear. However, she doesn't see clearly, she doesn't understand. Now she's looking in, she has this conversation, read verse 14. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. So she's a third figure. And it's unclear, again, to her who this is. Her vision is not clear. Jesus even speaks to her woman. Same question. Why are you weeping? And now another question. Who are you looking for? Who are you seeking? And it's astonishing to read the next phrase. 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. She doesn't remember the teaching of the Lord Jesus concerning the resurrection. She doesn't recognize angelic visitors from heaven there in the tomb. She turns to see a man she does not recognize, even though we know from the narrative it's Jesus, she supposes him to be the gardener. And she asks him where the body is. The overwhelming picture is Mary wracked by grief and unable to see clearly, even Christ himself. But before we move on from here, to look at the conversation between Mary and Jesus, look at the, there's a little phrase here which we need to pick up on. And it's a tiny phrase, it's an intentional phrase, it's a phrase in the Gospel of John which starts to pull something together. Who does she see when she sees this man? She sees the one she supposes to be the gardener. Now, the Gospel of John is intentionally communicating something to us. There are bookends to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. And the bookends are gardens. Chapter 18, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden and where his disciples had entered. He is in a garden. when he prays his prayer to the Father. He's in a garden when he's arrested. He goes to the cross, and his body is carried to a garden, and there's a grave in a garden, and he rises again in a garden, and then when Mary sees him, she doesn't recognize Jesus, but she supposes him to be the keeper of the garden. And you can't help but see that the Gospel of John is pressing a theme. And Jesus goes from the upper room to the garden, from the garden to the cross, where he does war with Satan, and conquers in the war. And then again, from the cross to the grave, and the grave is in the garden, and Mary, the first thing she sees, even though she's not seeing clearly the identity, she thinks of the occupation of Jesus as the gardener. Which brings us back all the way to Genesis chapter two. Then the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground. There was a body of a first Adam, of the dust. And God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And he stood up. And God placed him in the garden to tend it and to keep it. And now, and after that, He faced Satan in the garden and fell. Now Jesus has faced Satan and now finds himself in the very same landscape in a garden. And there the body of Jesus lying still in the tomb, raised from the dead by the Spirit of God, Romans chapter 1 and verse 3. Raised by the Spirit of God, the second Adam, the new gardener, is raised to newness of life. And there he stands and Mary first sees him in the garden as the gardener. What did God do with Adam, the first Adam? And the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden to tend it and to keep it. And already here, we can understand some staggering significance of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. How does Paul describe Jesus as in the resurrection? In his great treatise on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he uses language to help us understand the significance of the resurrection. He uses one particular phrase. He calls Jesus the first fruits. The first fruits, which should make you think of what? A garden and maybe the creation and the fact that on the third day God made. the trees of the garden, and he filled them with fruit, and each fruit there was seed, and that seed would then, that fruit would reproduce, and the original fruit was the beginning of a constant and great ongoing harvest. And if you were an Israelite, you were to remember this every year in the Feast of Firstfruits, when God had given you the very first of your harvest, that you would give it back to him, because the first was the sign that he would continue with his abundance. Or how about this, the firstborn, the one that opened the womb, the one who would be the beginning of a new family and a new generation in Israel, who would be the heirs of the promises of God, who would be specially dedicated to God. And John, in Revelation chapter one, describes Jesus as the firstborn from the dead. And the whole sweep of these patterns embedded into creation and in the Old Testament life of an Israelite in the New Testament are set forth as the undergirding symbolism through which we understand the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as it were, as one author said, history itself turns around and the tomb becomes the womb out of which the beginning, the firstfruits, the firstborn of the new creation emerges in triumph. And the promise of God from the landscape and in the second Adam is that the new creation is here. And it begins with Jesus Christ and the resurrection. And the grandest of cosmic realities is set forth here. This is the moment when the spirit raises the new man in the dawn of the new creation. And at this time, it's different than the old creation. Because in the old creation, there were risks and dangers when the serpent entered the garden. But here, the serpent has been crushed. Satan's power has been destroyed. He will never rise again to destroy the second man, the new Adam, has conquered. Death, which came by sin, as in Adam all died, so in Christ all shall be made alive. Death has been vanquished in this resurrection. Not only the tempter, Satan, not only sin and its guilt and consequences and power have been broken, but death itself, the wages of sin, has been conquered. And this one rises, who is both God and man. The beginning of the new humanity. The first fruits of the new creation. Christ, who himself is the source of all life and goodness. Christ our salvation. And the simplest thing here is to remember that there's two heads to the human race. You are in Adam or you are in Christ. If you remain in Adam because of stubborn refusal to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, the fruit that will abound will abound to death. There is a fruit to being in Adam. But if you're in Christ, if you've been raised with Christ, then you participate now in the conquering of Jesus Christ over Satan, sin, death, and hell, and the beginning of the new creation. If you have been raised with Christ, Paul says to the Colossians, then set your mind on things above where Christ is. And this means, here's these realities, If this means if you've been raised with Christ, if you're in the second Adam by faith, that means you are completely out of reach of all condemnation, the power of death, the power of Satan, the guilt and power of sin. You have been raised with Christ. But guess what? Mary can't see any of this, can she? Because she's not thinking of these grand themes right now. She's thinking that he's the lowly servant that trims the bushes in the garden. And she's looking for the body of a dead savior. In other words, the grand cosmic realities that she almost inadvertently confesses, like Caiaphas confesses when he says one man will die for the people, like Pilate confesses when he says behold the man, and here Mary supposing him to be the gardener, that she can't fully see She can't see it until one single word, one single word. She says, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said, Mary. There's one word, one word. My sheep know my voice, Jesus says in John 10, and I know them by name. And here, the living and powerful voice of the living risen word pierces through Mary's blindness. And one familiar name, this gardener knows me. This gardener knows me." Jesus two questions, Mary's response, and then one word. She turned and said to him, Rabboni, which is to say, teacher. Instantaneous, total recognition. My master My teacher is here. One word, she moves from fear to faith, awe, respect, humility, and back to trust. Instantaneous total recognition. And you need to stop for a minute. Think about Mary. Just think about what that does. She saw him first when she was possessed by seven demons, when she was under the power of Satan. She heard his voice deliver her. Then she went through the trauma of seeing him crucified, nailed to a cross, rejected by his own people, rejected by the world, the Roman Empire, crushed, as it were, under the power of Rome and the rejection of her own people. And then she saw him laid in a grave and dead and buried. And surely she was wondering, where is my salvation? And the moment she heard the word Mary, she knew where it was. in him here. An electrifying moment for Mary. Why does she believe? It's interesting. It's actually not because of the physical sight. It's because of the spiritual apprehension of the glory of the Redeemer Jesus Christ before her, which comes to her, listen carefully, by the word, Mary. That's how she knows. And this, for the second week in a row, reminds us of the sufficient reason we have to believe the gospel. Because of the word of God in history, which comes to us by the power of the Spirit, which itself has the power to open our eyes to see the beauty and glory of a resurrected, ascended, glorious Jesus Christ. That's how we believe, not by our physical eyes. There are many people who saw Jesus with their physical eyes, who saw him, even do miracles, who didn't believe. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And here hearing came by the word. This is how we believe, and this is why this was written for us. And there's a great blessing for those who believe by the word. Jesus says, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed, but blessed are those who have not seen and have yet believed. And it's an encouragement to us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. But what's the privilege that Mary enters into here now by faith? She sees Jesus, she recognizes him. But Jesus then says something to her. Don't cling to me. Now, there's been a lot of ink spilled on what that exactly means, but it seems fairly simple. Don't hold onto me here and now. Don't cling to me, and we'll keep reading, as if it were you were trying to prevent what is yet to happen and what needs to happen, which is my ascension. Mary wants to cling to Jesus evidently, and no wonder she does. She just lost her Savior, and in one word, she's found her Savior back, and she never wants to lose him again. So what does Jesus say to her? Not just don't cling to me, but I have more to do. 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, to my God and to your God. Now here's an astonishing message. The second Adam, the first fruits of the resurrection, the firstborn from the dead, who reveals himself to this lowly disciple in a word, providentially having it be that this woman would be the first witness of his resurrected glory, says, now Mary, you're not only gonna be a witness, but I'm gonna give you a message. And here are the first words of Jesus to Mary to take to the disciples. I have not yet ascended, but tell them. I am going, hear these words, I am going to my father and your father and to my God and your God. Now Jesus has come to make all things new in the resurrection, not only to deliver us from death, not only to make a whole new creation one day where the fullest reaches of the universe will be purified and made new, where everything, every animal, every creature, Every tree and rock and hill, you read the Psalms, where the whole of creation will be restored, the curse will be lifted. Jesus, the resurrection is the first fruits of the whole of the victory of Jesus Christ. But here now we get to the center of the victory because all that will exist for one reason, in order that Jesus might present a people to God and that we might live in the unshielded glory of the living God as the children of God. Which is why Jesus says there's more to do. I haven't finished the journey, Mary. Don't hang on to me. It's the same thing Jesus says in John chapter 16. I have to go. It's to your advantage. I'm going to send the Spirit. I'm going to ascend. There's more for me to do. But tell them where I'm going. On account of the resurrection, here's the message. to my father and your father, to my God and to your God. A few things here. Jesus is saying I'm co-equal with the father. There's something here of his eternal sonship that's distinct from ours. But then he says my resurrection means that you now can call my father your father. Tell the disciples this. And then my God, and here is identification as the mediator, the God-man, but your God. Jesus has come to bring us to God. He has come to restore communion. And the resurrection is the seal on the restoration of that communion. And the ascension, which is rightly understood as the fruit of, or the consequence, what logically follows the resurrection, the return of Jesus to his Father, is the assurance that we also, one day, will go to God. And the resurrection is the present confidence that we have that what will be future, which is us in the presence of God, is present reality because Jesus' Father is our Father. His God is our God. Jesus, after making purification for sin, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you? Here's the exalted mediator restored to his place at the right hand of the father in all of his glory, finishing his work. And Jesus says the message to my disciples is, and that place which I, which now rightly belongs to me as the mediator, is the place where you are welcome to." He says, my resurrection guarantees the reality of communion between God and man. It's all staggering. You're a sinner here this morning. Perhaps you're weeping on account of suffering in this life. Perhaps you're repulsed by the pollution that still clings to you. You're weary. Look at this scene and consider. Jesus, first revelation of his resurrected glory to a needy, weeping, lonely woman, Mary Magdalene. In that revelation, the outlines of the full glory of the new creation and the implications of Jesus shattering the bonds of death And in his message, the promise of communion with God through an ascended mediator, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. All of this from the lips of Christ. The message from Mary is go tell my brothers. Go tell my disciples. Go tell the rest of them that the work is finished. The prize has been won, and I have secured their eternal communion with God. Body and soul, we will share together Christ's eternal glory with the Father in a renewed new creation. Some of you here this morning perhaps came here with clouded vision like Mary. Perhaps with that question we started with at the beginning. Does Jesus know my name? Would He have mercy on me? Maybe with weak faith and weeping and trembling like Mary was at the tomb. And you can see what the answer is. Yes, Jesus knows the names, the needs, the cares of all his people. And his answer is the triumph of the resurrection and the promise of communion with God through his finished work. Let's pray. Lord our God, we come to you. The living and true God, we come believing in Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. Or we come as needy individuals in many ways, apparently completely inconsequential to the tides and flow of history. Or we come now believing that you know us in our circumstances, our needs, you know our names. Or we come again to declare that we believe in Jesus, the one who both died and rose again. the firstborn from the dead, the firstfruits of the new creation. Lord, we come believing that in Him, the Ascended One, You've given us Your Spirit and have drawn us into communion with You, the living God, and that the promise is that the Father and God of Jesus Christ, that You, the one to whom we now pray, in Him, that You are our Father and our God. Open our eyes, we pray, clear our vision, and help us to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Lord, we would also pray if there are any here who do not know him, that they would now come running to the one who is the resurrection and the life. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.