The Gospel of John describes the resurrection of Jesus in greater detail than the Synoptics, however, it gives only his and Mary’s perspectives. Correlating the Gospel accounts (Mark 16:1-2; Mat 28:1; Luke 23:54-56; John 20:1; Luke 24:1), it appears that the women watched His burial on the preparation and returned to their homes to rest on the Sabbath according to the commandment. At the setting of the sun on the sabbath, they were free to buy and prepare the spices and ointments. Then, early in the morning, they set out for the tomb. This conforms to the Traditionalist view of a Friday crucifixion-Sunday morning resurrection, which believes Mary left for the tomb while it was dark and arrived at sunrise.
1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Advocates for a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion propose that Jesus rose from the dead during the night, and not on Sunday morning (see note Mat 12:40). They cite this verse as proof; Mary cometh…when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre. However, there is good reason to question that translation, as the Greek verb translated cometh (erchomai) means both “to come AND to go.” Thus, Mary went early to the tomb; she left for the tomb while it was dark. Agreeing with that translation is the NIV, “While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.” Certainly the original does not require an arrival at the tomb before daylight, although it could be translated that way. This is a very common Greek word with a wide range of translations (accompany, appear, bring, come, enter, fall out, go, grow, pass). Study the same verb used twice in verses 3-4, where Peter and John started for the tomb, but Peter arrived first.
Scriptural support for the traditional view that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday at sunrise is very strong. All of the Gospels record the women arriving early in the morning at the tomb and finding it empty, and Mark states it plainly: Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week (Mark 16:9). Since each of the Four describe the women coming to the tomb at daybreak, and by all appearances His resurrection had just occurred (John 20:17; Mat 28:11-13), Mark’s early the first day pinpoints the resurrection at sunrise on Sunday. Granted, there were no eyewitnesses of Jesus actually rising from the dead, but a night-time resurrection has no solid footing.
Besides Mark’s clear testimony and the universal belief of the early church that Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, there is a notable objection to a night resurrection, which is that it does not conform to the typological prophecies. At first light of this very Sunday and in accordance to the Mosaic law, the priests were observing the wave offering of firstfruits (Lev 23:5-14) as part of the Passover/Unleavened Bread convocation. The fixing of the exact day upon which this ceremony was to be observed is unique among the OT ceremonies, for it does not happen on a set date (ie, the 17th day of the first month) but on a particular day (the first Sunday) within a feast (Unleavened Bread): On the morrow after the sabbath (Lev 23:11). Although instituted by Moses at God’s command more than a thousand years earlier, it perfectly matches the details of Jesus’ death (see note on Mat 26:2). Very probably Noah’s Ark came to rest on land in the new world on this exact day (see note on Gen 8:4). Many of the monumental events in the life of the Messiah correspond with a ceremony, a feast or an offering in the OT Law. The week of His death has multiple links to these typological ceremonies. On the 10th day of the month Jesus entered Jerusalem mounted on a donkey, the same day that each family was to select a perfect lamb for the Passover (Ex 12:3); they observed the lamb four days looking for imperfections and blemishes (Ex 12:6), the same days that the scribes and Pharisees sought without success to find a blemish in Jesus’ life and teaching; then on that lurid day of His betrayal, Jews everywhere were carefully cleaning and removing from their homes any spot of leaven; and later at the very moment He hung dying on the cross the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple; finally, on the day that His body rested in the tomb all Judaism was observing the holy high day sabbath; and at the very hour of His resurrection the priests were waving the offering of Firstfruits before the Lord (a type of resurrection, 1Cor 15:20); furthermore, on the exact day of the coming of the Holy Spirit the OT ceremony of Pentecost was being celebrated. More details could be given, but the point is this: the careful typology in the OT law is precisely fulfilled in a Sunday resurrection at sunrise.
When it was yet dark, Mary and the other women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. They determined to go early, before decay would have time to begin. The disciples were still in their homes, perhaps fearful of what might happen if they ventured out to see the tomb (John 20:19). Yet these faithful women were prepared. He might be dead, but He was not forgotten. Mark says the women had obtained and prepared sweet spices the night before (after sundown so as not to profane the sabbath), and left early in the morning to anoint His body (Mark 16:1). Very possibly the women did not travel together to the tomb, but coming from several homes arrived in separate companies and perhaps at slightly different times. We know that Mary and Martha lived in Bethany, which was outside the walls of Jerusalem. They were apparently unaware that the chief priests had installed a guard at the tomb the day before, but they did wonder who would roll back the stone (Mark 16:3). On arrival they were shocked to discover the tomb was already open!
Of the actual resurrection, one can imagine seeing the first rays of the sun touching that huge stone and the angel rolling it back for all to see that it was empty! Jesus rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1Cor 15:4, Hos 6:2), a time pre-figured in Abraham’s receiving Isaac back from the dead on the third day (Gen 22:4).
2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
While John gives only Mary’s account, there were quite a few women involved in witnessing Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:10). We know that there were at least three Marys, Joanna, Salome and probably Martha. Reconstructing the exact order of all the women’s experiences on this tumultuous day is difficult. Probably they went in various groups of women to the tomb and they separated after discovering He was gone. The disciples were in hiding for fear of the Jews (John 20:19), but the women do not seem to have felt threatened. Following is a possible reconstruction of events at Jesus’ resurrection:
- Jesus is hastily buried Friday evening by Joseph and Nicodemus. Many of the women who saw His crucifixion also witness His burial and make plans to return as soon as possible to anoint His body more carefully.
- The women left their homes while it was still dark so they would arrive at first light on Sunday. They were unsure how they would move the stone.
- Unknown to them, Jesus had just risen from the grave. The keepers had fled in terror.
- Arriving at the tomb, the women see that the stone is rolled away and that the tomb is empty.
- Mary Magdalene, thinking the body had been stolen, leaves the group and immediately runs to tell Peter and John.
- The other women continue at the tomb, much perplexed and wondering at what might have happened. They may have explored the tomb further, for it was usual that these tombs had numerous niches to hold the bodies of the whole family. Suddenly two angels appear and one speaks to them, explaining that Jesus had risen from the dead and that they should go and tell the disciples.
- The women leave the tomb and run to tell the disciples, but they do not meet Mary, Peter and John, either because they took a different route or because the disciples had not all spent the night at the same place.
- Meanwhile, Peter and John run to the tomb, followed by Mary Magdalene. The two men examine the tomb carefully, seeing the grave clothes but no body. They do not see any angels. They leave the tomb wondering what it all meant.
- Mary remains at the tomb alone, weeping. She stoops down and looks into the tomb where, behold, two angels appear right beside the place Jesus’ body had lain. Suddenly Jesus speaks from behind her and Mary becomes the first to see the risen Lord (Mark 16:9). She runs off again to the disciples, and some of them have a hard time believing her story.
- The other women are still en route to tell the disciples their story of seeing two angels at the tomb, so are unaware that Peter and John have already been told and are at the tomb. As they are going, Jesus suddenly appears and greets them. Many manuscripts do not have the first part of Mat 28:9, And as they went to tell His disciples (see NASB, NIV). It is possible then, that Jesus did not appear to these women until later.
Another reconstruction has Mary Magdalene coming earlier and alone to the tomb. Seeing the empty tomb she runs to tell the disciples. John and Peter run to the tomb to see for themselves, and Mary followed them. They also see that the tomb is empty and leave wondering about it all while Mary stays at the tomb, distraught and weeping. Jesus then appears to Mary first, who runs back to tell the disciples what had happened. Meanwhile, the other women arrive at the tomb and find it empty. An angel announces to them that Jesus has risen from the dead. Not knowing that Mary, John and Peter have already been to the tomb, these women run to tell the news. On the way Jesus meets them and they worship Him.
3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
After hearing Mary’s shocking news, Peter and John ran as fast as they could to the tomb. They started out together, but the sense that something had happened was so urgent upon John that he could not be content with Peter’s slower pace. He ran ahead of Peter and arrived alone to the sepulchre. Stooping down, he looked into the tomb and saw the linen clothes, but no body. Peter arrived a little later, but he did not stop at the door. Pushing past John, he entered boldly into the sepulchre and his eyes took in the stunning scene: the linen cloths that had wrapped His body were lying empty, still in the same shape as if His body were there (so it seems). Likewise the head piece lay by itself, wrapped together as if still enveloping His head. John entered the tomb too, and he saw and believed, which apparently means that the disciples did not agree with Mary’s idea that someone had stolen His body (v2), but that He had risen from the dead.
9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
It was at this moment that the light of recognition hit John and probably Peter too, although the two do not seem to have discussed it then. Suddenly the weight of His earlier words became clear, that He would be killed by the Jews but would rise again the third day (Mark 8:31; Mat 20:17-19; Luke 9:22; John 10:17-18) The import of it all seems to have so stunned the disciples that they left the tomb as if in a trance, speechless, trying to fathom it all and wondering what it all meant (Luke 24:12).
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene was left at the tomb to struggle with her own feelings. She still thought that unknown men had removed His body from the sepulchre. The suddenness of His arrest and death were still very real to her and this new atrocity only added to her overcome emotions. Her deep sadness was changed to unbelievable joy when Jesus revealed Himself to her and Mary became the first person to see Him alive, risen from the dead (Mark 16:9). Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Ps 30:5; Is 61:3).
John’s description of this event in all its details is stirring and culminates in the incredible scene of Mary recognizing Jesus first by the manner in which He spoke her name, much as He had earlier described in the parable of the Good Shepherd who calleth His own sheep by name (John 10:3). One can almost imagine Jesus standing there with a twinkle in His eye, planning this little surprise. Just one word, her own name, but comfortingly and tenderly spoken. Her first sense of incredulity and shock was immediately replaced with total joy and amazement. Rabboni, she said, apparently in reverence and wonder.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples later that evening, He did not warn them to avoid touching Him, and a week later He even invited Thomas to touch Him. Yet to Mary, He says not to touch Him. The reason He gives is clear enough: He had just risen from the dead; but why would that be cause for avoiding to touch Him? The implication is that He must first ascend to the Father, and then His body would be fully restored. A later company of women are described as holding Him by the feet (Mat 28:9). Was His body somehow different at this point? And what happened to make it touchable? The questions are as thought-provoking as they are impossible to answer.
Aside from the physical question of touching Christ’s un-ascended body, Jesus’ words to Mary seem to indicate that a part of His mission was not yet complete. He hadn’t had time to go to the Father yet. Many believe (as I) that a great battle took place in the spiritual realm when Jesus died and rose from the dead. Satan and his hosts were unexpectedly and crushingly defeated (Heb 2:14-15) and their place in heaven was wrested from them (Rev 12:7-10). The risen Christ descended into Hades and freed those Old Covenant souls held captive by the Devil (1Pet 4:6; Zec 9:11) and ascended with them into heaven (Mat 12:29). See my note on Eph 4:8-10 and Mat 27:53. It is probable that this war and the spoiling of Satan’s house did not take place until after Christ’s resurrection, for it was at that moment Satan knew he had been tricked into killing the Son of God, and it was then that the power of sin and death was broken.
Jesus would ascend to My Father and your Father, although the two cases of fatherhood are quite different. Men are sons of God only by adoption, Jesus is the son of God by nature.
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
At evening on the same Sunday of His resurrection, Jesus appeared for the first time to His disciples, who had assembled together behind closed doors in order to not be noticed by the Jews. They had gathered to discuss that day’s shocking events, of Peter and John finding the tomb empty and the women’s stunning reports of having seen Him alive. The way Jesus appeared in the room implies a miracle, either of passing through the closed door or simply materializing in their midst.
Peace be unto you (see John 14:27). One week later Jesus used the same greeting when He reappeared to the disciples. Almost all the epistles begin with a similar greeting of peace. The wounds the soldiers had inflicted upon Jesus had left scars and these Jesus showed unto His disciples. Thomas was one disciple who was not present and when the others described this scene, he famously professed to not believe Jesus had risen from the dead, unless he himself saw and felt those marks. I cannot think of another time that Jesus’ healing power left a scar or mark on the person. It is a mark of identity, accomplishment, victory.
The Gospel of Luke describes this scene as well, and says that Jesus also ate in the disciples’ presence (Luke 24:36-43).
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Jesus’ first words to His disciple send them on a mission, just as the Father had sent Him on a mission. All Christians are sent forth to be ambassadors for Christ, to evangelize the world and to extend the Kingdom, to go into all the world (Mark 16:15; Mat 28:19-20). As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. Jesus’ message becomes the Christian’s message, and His mission becomes our mission. While certainly it is true that every Christian is a missionary whether he lives at home or abroad, Jesus’ command is clear: Go ye into all the world. Jesus left His home and worked tirelessly and sacrificially to spread the Gospel; He asks the same of His disciples (Mark 10:29-30; John 17:18).
The words of the songwriter come to mind, Jesus saying, “My house is full, but My fields are empty. Who will go and work for Me today? It seems that all My children want to stay around My table, but no-one wants to work in My fields.” Yes, the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few (Luke 10:2).
To be sent forth as Jesus was sent implies that Christ’s laborers should expect to experience similar difficulties and sufferings that He endured. Certainly that was true of the Apostles. Each one died a martyr’s death except for John the Beloved. The Greek word for sent is apestelken, a verb form of apostolos (Apostle), but send is translated from a completely different Greek word (pempo).
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Jesus had told His disciples that He must leave them, but promised to give them the Holy Spirit forever (John 14:26; 16:7). Now, with His breath as a physical marker of this spiritual action, Jesus imparts the Spirit to them. By this it appears that the Apostles received the presence of the Holy Spirit several weeks before the tongues of fire fell upon the general population of disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-6). That agrees with Luke 24:49.
Jesus breathing the breath of spiritual life into the Apostles forms a distinct parallel to God breathing into Adam the breath of physical life in Gen 2:7. The scene matches the symbolism that the Apostle Paul makes with the first and last Adam (1Cor 15:45). God imparted physical life to Man at the creation of the world; Jesus imparted spiritual life at the creation of the New Covenant. The Greek word here translated breathed is found in only four occasions in the Greek Scriptures (Gen 2:7; 1Kgs 17:21; Job 4:21; John 20:22). It was intended to be linked with that event.
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them. Reading carefully, Jesus is not giving the Apostles the power to forgive sins, but confirming that God will accompany the disciples in their evangelistic efforts and will remit the sins of those for whom the disciples effectively intercede. Two verses help clarify this point. The first comes in a similar context, when Jesus commissioned the seventy disciples to evangelism: And whosoever shall not receive you…shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorraha in the day of judgment than for that city (Mat 10:14-15). The second is found in Jesus’ words to Peter in relation to church authority: Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Mat 16:19). The fundamental action is the same in both examples – a divine work is effected and confirmed in heaven which has been petitioned for, and announced, by the disciples of the Kingdom.
Under no conceivable exception (judicial, decretal, proxy, etc), would it be possible for a human being to forgive sins committed against Almighty God. His justice and wisdom do not permit that He give a limited-in-knowledge human mind the authority to remit sins. Indeed, the Scriptures repeat that no man has the right to judge another because he is a sinner himself (see note Rom 2:1). Instead, the saints of the Kingdom are charged to proclaim the acceptable terms by which God will forgive those who have sinned against Him, and that is the mandate of this verse under a two-fold truth: 1) Go proclaim to the world the availability of forgiveness for sins, and 2) Have all confidence that Christ will assuredly uphold His promises.
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Doubting Thomas, he has been famously called. However, his profession of doubt seems to be based more on a melancholic and pessimistic personality than upon a critical, doubting of the other Apostle’s testimony. This we saw earlier when Jesus determined to return to Jerusalem in spite of their warnings that the Jews were trying to kill Him. Thomas said, Let us also go that we may die with Him. In spite of these tendencies, Thomas was a remarkable, dedicated and successful Apostle for Christ (see our note on John 11:16).
Agreeing with this assessment, Robert Bruce writes: “The skepticism of Thomas was, we think, mainly a matter of temperament, and had little in common with the doubt of men of rationalistic proclivities, who are inveterately incredulous respecting the supernatural, and stumble at every thing savoring of the miraculous. It has been customary to call Thomas the Rationalist among the twelve, and it has even been supposed that he had belonged to the sect of the Sadducees before he joined the society of Jesus. On mature consideration, we are constrained to say that we see very little foundation for such a view of this disciple’s character, while we certainly do not grudge modern doubters any comfort they may derive from it. We are quite well aware that among the sincere, and even the spiritually-minded, there are men whose minds are so constituted that they find it very difficult to believe in the supernatural and the miraculous: so difficult, that it is a question whether, if they had been in Thomas’s place, the freest handling and the minutest inspection of the wounds in the risen Saviour’s body would have availed to draw forth from them an expression of unhesitating faith in the reality of His resurrection. Nor do we see any reason à priori for asserting that no disciple of Jesus could have been a person of such a cast of mind. All we say is, there is no evidence that Thomas, as a matter of fact, was a man of this stamp. Nowhere in the Gospel history do we discover any unreadiness on his part to believe in the supernatural or the miraculous as such. We do not find, e.g. that he was skeptical about the raising of Lazarus: we are only told that, when Jesus proposed to visit the afflicted family in Bethany, he regarded the journey as fraught with danger to his beloved Master and to them all, and said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Then, as now, he showed Himself not so much the Rationalist as the man of gloomy temperament, prone to look upon the dark side of things, living in the pensive moonlight rather than in the cheerful sunlight. His doubt did not spring out of his system of thought, but out of the state of his feelings” (my underline).
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
After eight days, meaning exactly one week later, on Sunday again. On the night of His betrayal, the disciples were puzzled how Jesus would manifest Himself to them but not to the world (John 14:22). Jesus’ answer involved a spiritual manifestation which the world would not see, yet in a literal and physical way Jesus did manifest Himself only to the believers after His resurrection, and only in sporadic occasions.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Thomas had missed a huge blessing by not being present on the previous Lord’s day meeting, but the next time he was in attendance. These were the first Sunday meetings of the Church, and so as yet they were unofficial gatherings of the believers. Thomas did not know their importance; nonetheless, it is to question why he was absent the first time. Given his moody temperament, was he somewhere alone and feeling sorry for himself? The church worship service is especially encouraging for such people.
While Thomas had professed disbelief, it was not a strong, stubborn decision to reject the facts, or he would not have hung around a whole week with the Apostles! The whole account makes good evidence for doubters, skeptics and waverers today. If it be difficult for someone to believe that a man might rise from the dead, here is one more proof of Jesus’ resurrection. The Apostles were not a bunch of gullible men who had been unfortunately deceived into believing a lie! Indeed, they were so convinced of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that every one except for John died for that belief.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
The disciples who saw Jesus before and after His resurrection had the clearest proof that He is the Christ, the Son of God. Many, many more have believed because of their testimony. We were not there to see Jesus hanging dead upon the tree, only to see Him alive about 40 hours later. We believe by faith; not a blind, irrational faith, but a faith based upon unbiased and irrefutable testimonies and facts confirmed in our own experience with the Savior. Frankly, this type of faith is more firmly established than seeing with the eyes! Trickery might deceive the eyes once in a while, but it cannot deceive these many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3). Thomas saw and heard Jesus face to face, and his hands even handled His flesh. He could not but believe that it was the same Jesus he had known and followed for 3-1/2 years. Blessed are they that believe on Christ although they have not such emphatic proof!
30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
A major purpose of John’s gospel is herein stated: These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The signs and teachings of Jesus are intended to bring mankind to a saving knowledge of His holy name, and are recorded such that even the most skeptical rationalist must confess that the general facts of the case are incontrovertible. Those who reject them anyway do so in spite of the evidence, not because of the evidence. They do not want to be accountable to a God who has given commandment concerning how Mankind should live. These people begin their inquiry already set in mind that they will not believe, and are content to find a detail which they find contradictory and upon that they hang their faith in disbelieving! See also John 21:25; Acts 1:3.