Passage: John 20:1-10; Hebrews 7:23-25

The Big Idea

The resurrection isn’t hidden behind “take our word for it.” The evidence is laid out for anyone to investigate. Mary Magdalene didn’t expect a resurrection; she assumed the body was stolen. But Peter and John found the grave clothes still lying there and the head cloth folded by itself, and John saw and believed. Why did Jesus rise? Among many reasons, it means He’s still at work today, always living to intercede for us and able to save to the uttermost. So keep going to Him in prayer. It can’t fail, because Jesus is its object and its power, even when His answer is “no.”

You Can Check It Out

Over the years, a number of skeptics, including journalists and lawyers, set out to examine the evidence for the resurrection, intending to disprove it, and came away convinced. Frank Morison set out to write against it and instead wrote Who Moved the Stone? The English judge Sir Edward Clarke wrote that, after long study of the evidence for the first Easter, he found it conclusive, stronger than evidence on which he’d won verdicts in court.

One sign of a cult, or anyone hiding something, is “Just take our word for it,” or holding back evidence you can’t see.

But with Jesus, all the information and testimony is given to you. You can check it out, investigate it, find out whether it really happened. It’s available in the book you’re holding. And history and archaeology have repeatedly confirmed the Bible’s people, places and details.

The Gospels and Acts are collections of eyewitness accounts of Jesus: His life, His death and, most importantly, His resurrection. Lots of people live and die. The list of people who rise from the dead is much shorter! So the early church carefully recorded what happened.

And here’s something striking: the New Testament circulated while many eyewitnesses were still alive (1 Corinthians 15:6), and the people named in it didn’t produce a body or a better explanation. It’s mostly in later centuries that people have claimed it was all made up. A man rising from the dead is inconvenient if you don’t want to listen to what He said.

When it comes down to it, the real reason people don’t follow Jesus usually isn’t evidence. It’s that we want to run our own lives, be our own boss and follow our own dreams, and we’re not interested in handing control to Jesus, however loving and kind He is.

Mary at the Tomb (John 20:1-2)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away. So she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put Him!”

Mary was certainly devoted to Jesus. He had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2), and she loved Him dearly.
“So she’s biased! You can’t trust what she says!”
But look at what she says. Even Mary didn’t believe Jesus would rise. She assumed someone had stolen the body.
She had no motive to invent a story. She honestly reports that resurrection wasn’t even on her radar.

The Grave Clothes (John 20:3-7)

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. Stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen but folded up in a place by itself.

This isn’t what they expected.
The burial wrappings were still there, and the head cloth was neatly folded by itself.
What does that mean? The body wasn’t stolen in a hurry. Grave robbers, or anyone moving a body, wouldn’t unwrap it and leave the linens behind, let alone fold the head cloth.
They’d come expecting a simple case of a stolen body. The evidence pointed somewhere else entirely.

He Saw and Believed (John 20:8-10)

Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

The grave clothes were enough to convince John. He believed Jesus had risen, though he didn’t yet understand why.

Why did Jesus have to rise? There are many reasons:

He was sinless, so death couldn’t hold Him (Acts 2:24).
His death was the payment for sin; His resurrection was the receipt (Romans 4:25).
Our bodies will rise like His (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
It’s a unique proof that no other faith offers.

He Is Still Serving Us (Hebrews 7:23-25)

The reason I want to highlight today: Jesus’ resurrection means He’s still at work, serving us.

There were many priests, because death prevented them from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

What has Jesus been doing since that morning? Saving to the uttermost.
Saving us by forgiving our sins, and saving us by keeping us from continuing in sin.
He isn’t struggling against sin; He already defeated it once for all on the cross.
Instead, He’s spreading His victory and love, by answering our prayers with grace!
When we come to God in prayer, Jesus always lives to intercede for us. When we pray, Jesus prays to the Father on our behalf.
And when Jesus prays, the Father always listens. So things happen, according to God’s will.

“But I’ve prayed for lots of things that didn’t happen.”

What we pray may not be according to God’s will.
How can we learn to pray according to His will? By reading His Word and following Jesus.
“I prayed for an easier life. Why didn’t God answer?” Because God’s will isn’t an easier life. It’s an effective, abundant life.
So I pray for an easy life. Jesus hears my prayer. It doesn’t line up with God’s will, so He intercedes for me that I’d learn to seek God’s will first. The answer that shows up in my life may actually be more difficulty, which slowly loosens my grip on comfort and turns me to seek a different life through God’s Word: a life of surrender instead of selfish ambition, of serving instead of being served, of following Jesus to bless God and others instead of using God for blessings.

Jesus is fully committed to you, and to serving you even now. If He were here, He’d wash your feet and cook you breakfast, like He did on the beach (John 21:9-13). He has never left you or forsaken you. He’s an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Keep Going to Him

If you’re a child of God, the one point today is simple: go to Him. Keep going to Him. Prayer works.

It can’t not work when Jesus is its object and its power. He is and always will be faithful. He’ll pray with you and send an answer, though it may not be the answer you expected.

Amy Carmichael wrote a little poem about a three-year-old girl who’d been told Jesus always answers prayer. She had brown eyes and wanted blue ones like her mother’s, so she prayed and went to bed happy. In the morning she climbed up to the mirror, and her eyes were still brown. She thought Jesus hadn’t answered. But then a gentle whisper reminded her that Jesus had answered. He said no. And “no” is an answer too.

Simple Enough for a Child

Everyone is different. Some believe easily as children; others wrestle for years. Some see love and good deeds and believe. Some can’t see at all, yet they believe too. No matter what we’ve suffered, how rich or poor, enslaved or privileged, the gospel is equally relevant and powerful, and it calls for a decision from every human heart, every day.

Because the gospel is simple. If you think being a Christian is complicated, you may be overcomplicating it. Being a Christian is believing the gospel each day.

My job: believe the gospel.
His job: everything else.

What’s the gospel? Jesus is God who became a man. Check. Jesus died on the cross. Check. Jesus rose from the dead. Ch… wait a minute. That makes me look foolish to my professors, neighbors and coworkers. People don’t come back from the dead!

Exactly. That’s why it’s the one thing we must believe. If we put our hope in something ordinary, it could be disproved or prove insufficient. But if the impossible happened, then it can do the impossible for me, because I’m in an impossible situation. I need the impossible.

John saw an empty tomb and some folded cloths, and believed. He didn’t have all the theology worked out yet (John 20:9). Later he wrote, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). What’s written is enough. And believing brings life: eternal life, and life with peace, meaning and value now.

I can’t read your heart. I can only declare what the Bible says, and tell you that Jesus has given me life. I never deserved it or earned it. All I did was believe. He has poured forgiveness on my countless sins, given me peace I shouldn’t have, taken away my fear of death and supplied every need in His love. I don’t want anything from you today. I want you to receive the life Jesus offers by simply believing.

Grace Takeaway

This isn’t complicated. The tomb is empty, the grave clothes are folded, and the risen Jesus is still interceding for you right now. Whatever you’re facing, bring it to Him. Trust His answer, even when it’s “no,” because the One who answers is the One who loved you enough to die and rise for you.

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