Hear now the word of God from John 20, one through 10. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came 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 have laid him. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he's stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there. Yet he did not go in. And Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. And the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed. For as yet, They did not know the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. My friends, today we look at these 10 verses from John chapter 20, in which we see that the Lord Jesus fulfills Scripture in his rising from the dead. The Lord Jesus fulfills Scripture in his rising from the dead. Now you remember, last week, we had, in conjunction with our service, a memorial service for our dear departed friend and brother, Bill McCoy. And we grieved, of course, his loss about three weeks ago now. And yet, as the Bible says, we don't grieve like the world does, as those that have no hope. We have hope. We have hope, and Bill had hope. What was his hope? His hope was because of the death of Jesus, but also because of the resurrection of Jesus. As we noted last week, the death of Jesus is a foundational truth for Christianity. Without it, there is no salvation. Without his dying on the cross, there is no hope. But the resurrection is another key doctrine of our Christian faith. Without it, there is no hope. There is no hope unless Jesus rose from the dead. And of course, this is why this doctrine of the resurrection is so hated. and despised and attacked and ridiculed by the world, by those who follow the devil. Because you see, the opposite is also true. If Jesus has risen from the dead, then not only is he the savior, but he's also the judge who will judge the dead and the living at the day of judgment. world, those who want to suppress the truth and unrighteousness, those who don't care to follow Jesus, those who want to do their own thing, who want to follow their own ideas, their own ethics, their own morals, their own religious views, hate this doctrine because it is a reminder to them that there is a day of judgment that is coming. And so the resurrection, then, is another key doctrine of our Christian faith. Without it, you do not have Christianity. Now, at the end of the message, I'm going to pose the rhetorical question. What would your reaction have been to Christ's resurrection, or what is your reaction to it? But I want to pose it right now. I want you to think about this. I want you to try to put yourself in their sandals, as it were, in their shoes. What would your reaction have been to Christ's resurrection? Well, let's look at the actors here, if you will. First of all, Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene. Who was she? Well, we know she was a great sinner. She was a great sinner who had engaged in immoral activity. But she was also one who was forgiven. She was also one who was forgiven. And therefore, because knowing the greatness of her sins, the awfulness of her sins, the enormity of her sins, and knowing that those sins had been forgiven by Christ, one who loved Jesus greatly. What did she do, therefore, after the crucifixion? Well, on the first day of the week, she came to the tomb. Now remember, this was on the first day of the week. On the first day of the week, she had rested on the Saturday, which of course was the Jewish Sabbath. She had rested on the Jewish Sabbath according to the law and according to the creation ordinance. She had rested on the Sabbath day. But this now is the first Christian Sabbath. So we see the transition here, do we not? From that rest on the seventh day, And now it's the first day of the week as she comes to, as it's going to turn out, in celebration of the resurrection. That's why we worship on the first day of the week because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. We see all kinds of indication of this in terms of scripture. And so in celebration of the resurrection and also then with regard to redemption, to the renewal, if you will, the re-creation, not so much creation, but the re-creation, the redemption that comes. Now it's the first Christian Sabbath as we worship on the first day of the week. So she comes, as all the gospel accounts indicate, the resurrection of Jesus on the first, all the gospel accounts talking about the resurrection, all of them note it was on the first day of the week. But she comes also, we see, early in the morning while it was still dark. She was, you see, very earnest in her religious quest. She had rested, per the law, on the Jewish Sabbath, but now before the sun arose, early in the morning, she came. And it has been suggested by Matthew Henry, other commentators, that we must be like Mary Magdalene. That is to say that we must seek Christ in a similar fashion. I am not a morning person. I really could sleep in till 10 o'clock every morning, but anyway, I'm not a morning person, but even those who get up earlier than I would not normally have gotten up as early as Mary did. Mary came while it was still dark, and even so, even if it means that we lose sleep, as commentators have noted. We must seek Christ earnestly. Furthermore, we must seek him with great purpose and energy, with great purpose and energy, as she, out of love for him, came to that too. and we must put aside other pursuits and interest." So, first day of the week, early in the morning, while it was still dark, she went to the grave and discovered that the body was missing. Now this, this fact, the body was missing, along with other evidence, should have given her great hope After all, isn't this what one would expect if he were risen from the dead? Why was she discouraged by it, right? She should have been encouraged by it. But yet, it hasn't quite dawned on her the reality of the resurrection. Another indicator was the earthquake that had occurred. Furthermore, you remember that Jesus was very clear. He said that he would suffer, but then after three days, the Son of Man, that he, the Son of Man, would rise again from the dead. However, her faith was still weak, and she therefore despaired when she didn't find the body. But then we come to the other two actors here, namely Peter and John, two of the disciples. Now, notice how John does not describe himself by name. Remember, there were at least a couple of Johns, right? We have John the Baptist, the baptizer, who was a prophet and who, of course, was related to Jesus and baptized Jesus and so forth. This is the other John, the other major John, namely John the disciple, John the apostle, who wrote, of course, the Gospel of John. He doesn't identify himself by name, but rather he refers to him in the third person. So John, but also Peter. She comes to them She ran, came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, said to them, they have taken away the Lord. They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb. We do not know where they have laid him. This is upsetting news, obviously. And so Peter and John, they ran to the sepulcher, which is another name for the tomb. They loved the master. and they wanted to discover what was going on. Notice that John, the beloved disciple, outran Peter. Now, it's been suggested that perhaps Peter was still loaded down with guilt. You remember that he had denied his Lord. It's also been suggested that maybe John was a little bit younger than Peter. In any case, John outran Peter to the tomb. Now, at the grave then, after they ran to the sepulcher, to the tomb, at the grave, John was unwilling to do more initially than to look in. So he gets there first, but then he doesn't go inside. But Peter was, at that point, dear Peter, the impetuous Peter, the bold Peter, the Peter that usually was so bold and so energetic, what does he do? He immediately, as soon as he gets there, he immediately goes inside the tomb. And then John joins him after that. Now, I have a couple points of application here in terms of this point. First of all, there are different, notice that there are different gifts among Christ followers. John could outrun Peter. Okay, there's a difference there. But Peter, as has been suggested, could out-dare John, if you will, and encourage him then to have courage to go into the tomb and see for himself. So none of us is the same. We all have different strengths. We all have different weaknesses. Every one of us here has a strength. Every one of us here has a weakness. And the beauty of the body of Christ is that we need each other and that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. That's the beauty of the church. And that's what you see here being played out, that both Peter and John had a role to play. And in a sense, they both encouraged each other in terms of their quest for Christ. But then secondly, by way of application, let us be bold in following Christ. Let us be bold in following Christ. Let us not hold back. Let us not be timid. When we hear of our Savior, let us with boldness find Him, pursue Him, follow Him, serve Him. Now this is true with regard to a famous person. It could be an actor, it could be a politician, it could be an athlete. You know what happens, right? People just, oh, some famous person shows up What happens? Everyone wants to throng that person. You want to know all about him. But my friends, how much more so with regard to the Son of God and the Savior of sinners? Let me put it this way. Listen to me carefully here. There is nothing casual about following the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing casual about it. It's not the kind of thing where you can take it or leave it, or you can just be very unenthusiastic about it. If Jesus is who he is, if Jesus has done what he has done, dying on the cross, rising from the dead, ascending into glory, there's nothing casual or nonchalant about that. Let us, therefore, be bold in following Christ. Well, having seen Mary Magdalene, the scene with regard to her, the discovery, the body was gone, and then Peter and John running to them, they running to the tomb, let us now consider the evidence for the resurrection. Well, the first evidence for the resurrection is the body was gone. Now, obviously, if the body were still there, then the resurrection would not have occurred. The body was gone. You remember that guards had been posted? You remember how the Jews got Pontius Pilate, the governor, to post guards so that the disciples would not steal the body of Jesus and then spread the rumor that Jesus actually had arisen from the dead, guards had been posted to try to prevent, as it were, the resurrection. The body was gone. That's the first evidence. But secondly, the grave clothes were still there. The grave clothes were still there. Now, you remember when Lazarus, when Jesus When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus still had the grave clothes, right? Lazarus had need of clothes, but Jesus arose to die no more. Therefore, he had no need of these clothes, if you will. He is now clothed, we can say, in robes of righteousness and glory. But more than that, the fact that the grave clothes were still there is another indicator that the body, that he really did rise from the dead. Now, you know, there have been tomb raiders, tomb robbers, grave robbers. If someone was wanting to steal something from a tomb, they would have taken the clothes and not the body. Indeed, if the body had been stolen away naked, no one would have stopped to fold up the linen. And yet, these are indicators that Jesus really did rise from the dead and that even the linen claws were folded up and left there. But besides these things, besides the fact that the body was gone, besides the fact that the grave clothes were still there, we have, most importantly, the testimony of Scripture. Remember the theme for our message today? The Lord Jesus fulfilled Scripture in His rising from the dead. Now, at the close of our service today, intend to sing Psalm 16, Psalm 16. And in the 16th Psalm and verse 10, we read these words, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, in hell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. That is a prophecy with regard to the Lord Jesus, that God would not allow His Holy One, His beloved Son, He would not allow His body to decay. We see the fulfillment of this in places like Acts chapter 2 and verse 25. Peter, his great sermon on the day of Pentecost, where he quotes Psalm 16, verse 25 of Acts chapter 2, for David says concerning him, concerning the Lord Jesus, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh will also rest in hope because you will not leave my soul in Hades and Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy in your presence. And in verse 31, he foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. In Acts chapter 13, in Acts chapter 13, where Paul is preaching, verses 34 and 35, and that he, God, raised him, Jesus, from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore, he also says in another psalm, you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. And so we see then the the testimony of Scripture, including the fulfillment of Psalm 16. But you know what we also see in terms of this, in terms of the testimony of Scripture, is that all four gospel accounts speak of the resurrection of Christ. All four gospel accounts, unambiguously, clearly, plainly, strongly, Tell of the resurrection of Jesus. For example, if you look at Luke 24, verses 24 through 26, as Jesus, after the resurrection, their eyes were hidden. His presence was hidden to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus said to them, verse 25, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And later in chapter 24, he says, verse 44, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you. that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then he said to them, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day." Verse 48, and you are witnesses of these things. And then, of course, we also have the passage we read today from 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul says clearly, but if there was no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. And if Christ is not risen, Your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable, the most to be pitied. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, if he's still in the grave, then we are of all men the most to be pitied. Think of the Apostle Paul. Think of all the things that he suffered. Think of all the troubles he went through, shipwreck, persecution, think of all those things, but what's the point if Christ is not risen from the dead? He would still be in his sins. Paul would still be in his sins. He would be, or you could say we are of all men the most miserable. We are the most pitiable. What's the point? Why not just eat, drink, and be merry, and tomorrow we may die? What's the point? But Paul says, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. And at the end of the chapter then, the end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul again gives strong affirmation that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. All those things prophesied about the Messiah, his death, but also his glory in his resurrection, in his ascension. All those things that were in seed form and that were prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus has fulfilled. And not only do we have the Old Testament, but we also have the New Testament, which fully reveals these things. so that Jesus fulfills scripture in his rising from the dead. Well, I have two points of application at the close. The first is this. The doctrine of the resurrection is a wondrous thing. It's a wonderful thing, but remember, we have no hope without it. We have no idea as to how exactly it occurred. We know it occurred. It obviously is the power of God raising him from the dead. But remember, we have no hope without not just the doctrine, but the reality of the resurrection. We have no hope. What's the point of our lives? What's the point? Unless Jesus be risen from the dead, unless we will see him face to face, see the one who is our Savior. Secondly, notice the disciples still did not know quite what to do in our text here. They were perhaps a bit fearful, maybe they were a bit befuddled, confused. They went to their homes again. The question I have for you is, what is your reaction this morning to the reality of the resurrection? What is your reaction going to be? Are you going to affirm it? Are you going to believe it? Are you going to live your life in light of the resurrection? Or are you going to live your life like the world, which says, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die? Well, my friends, Jesus is risen from the dead. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Amen. Will you please stand for prayer? And our Father, we thank Thee, not just for the doctrine, but for the reality of the resurrection. And oh Lord Jesus, we pray, we pray that we would live our lives in light of thy glory, thy resurrection, thine ascension, thy coming again as Savior and also as Judge. Give us that grace, O Lord Jesus, we pray. Give us that grace. We pray in thy name, amen. In closing, let us remain standing and sing Psalm 16, selection B. As I mentioned, the psalm that celebrates the resurrection of Christ. Psalm 16, selection B, preserve me, O God, for in you do I trust?