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The Scriptorium

Alive!

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything.

The Gospel of John: John 20.1-31

Read and meditate on John 20.1-31.
Jesus is alive from the dead. Everything has changed. We are changed. Right?

1Now Mary Magdalene came to the place
where He was buried, early the first day,
while it was dark, and saw the stone had been
removed. 2She ran to Peter and the man
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “See, they
have taken Jesus from the tomb away
somewhere, and we do not know where.” 3So then
both Peter and the other disciple ran
together, 4and the other disciple ran
ahead of Peter, and came first unto
the tomb. 5And stooping down, he looked into
the tomb, and saw the linen cloths in place;
but he did not go in. 6Then Peter came
and went into the tomb. He also saw
the linen cloths, 7but Peter also saw
the face cloth that had been around His head.
8The other disciple, who had run ahead
of Peter, also went in then, and when
he saw, believed. 9For they did not yet then
know what the Scriptures said, that from the dead
He must arise. 10Then the disciples went
away again unto their homes.

                                              11Outside
the tomb stood Mary, and she wept and cried
as she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
12And then she saw there, in that empty room,
two angles, dressed in white and sitting, one
where Jesus’ head had lain, the other one
where Jesus’ feet had been. 13To her they said,
“Why are you weeping, woman?” Mary said,
“Because they have removed my Lord, and they
have taken Him away, and now I may
not know where they have laid Him.” 14Now when she
had said these words, she turned around to see
the Lord there standing, though she did not know
that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said, “And so,
why are you weeping, woman? And whom do
you seek?” She thought He was the gardener, who
maintained the tombs, and said to Him, “O Sir,
if You have carried Him away, then Sir,
please tell Me where You laid Him, and I will
take Him away. 16Then Jesus, in a still
voice, said unto her, “Mary!” Turning, she
said to Him, “O Rabboni!” (which would be
translated, Teacher). 17Jesus said to her,
“Do not cling to Me; do not hold Me, for
I have not as of yet ascended to
My Father. To My brethren I want you
to go, and say to them that I ascend
unto My Father and your Father, and
My God and your God.” 18Mary Magdalene
came to the Lord’s disciples, to explain
that she had seen the Lord, and to report
what He had said.

                              19That evening, when the doors
where shut, and they were all together (for
they feared the Jews), then Jesus stood before
them suddenly, and said to them, “Peace be
with you.” 21When He said this, He let them see
His nail-scarred hands and spear-pierced side. Then they
were glad to see Him. 21He began to say,
“Peace be with you. As God the Father sent
Me, I am sending you.” 22And therefore, when
He said this, then He breathed on them, and to
them said, “Receive the Spirit. 23And if you
forgive the sins of any, then those sins
will be forgiven; and if you the sins
of any yet retain, then are they yet
retained.”

                24One of the twelve was not then met
with all the others – Thomas, called the Twin.
25And the disciples therefore said to him,
“We all have seen the Lord!” He said to them,
“Unless I see His hands, and feel in them
the nail prints, and can reach my hand within
His side, then I will not believe.” 26And then,
eight days thereafter, His disciples were
again together, inside, and the door
was shut, and Jesus stood before them and
He said, “Peace to you!” 27Then He showed His hands
to Thomas, saying, “Reach your finger here,
and see My hands; and put your hand right here,
into My side. Now, do not doubt. Instead,
believe.” 28Then Thomas answered Him and said,
“My Lord, My God!” 29And Jesus said, “Since you
have seen Me, you believe in Me. All who
believe and have not seen Me, they are blessed.”

30And it is true, that many are the rest
of all the signs that Jesus did when He
was present with His friends, which cannot be
recorded in this book. 31But all of these
are written here so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son
of God, so that believing truly on
His Name, you may have life.

- John 20.1-31

Reflect
1. The resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. Rather, we should say, His resurrection and ascension restores everything, and begins to conform the world to God’s original specs and plans. How can you see that, for example, in Mary Magdalene? What had she been? What did she become? Complete this prayer: Father, Jesus is making all things new! Make all things new in me, especially today as…

2.  The resurrection changed the disciples as well. When Jesus was arrested, they scattered for their lives. Now that He was alive again, they would scatter again, but with a completely different purpose. Explain. Lord Jesus, as You were sent, You sent the disciples, and You have sent me to…

3.  The form of human existence is changed by the resurrection of Jesus. What can we say about the nature of Jesus’ bodily existence, as we see Him here in John 20? Paul says we shall all be changed, in an instant; and John says we will be like Him one day (1 Cor. 15.35-53; 1 Jn. 3.1-3). What are you looking forward to, when you enter that state? How does being saved affect the state of your bodily existence here and now (2 Pet. 3.11-14)? In Jesus, I am a new person! Old things have passed away, Father, and all things are become new. Let me experience more of that newness today as…

4.  Also changed is the role of belief in human life. All people live by faith. Everyone believes something, hopes for something, envisions some form of the good life toward which they strive day by day. But Jesus said that full and abundant life (Jn. 10.10; 14.6) depend not on what we can dream up, but on knowing Him and God the Father (Jn. 17.3). In John 20.29 He made it clear that we must believe even without seeing (cf. 1 Pet. 1.6-9). What does that mean? How would you explain this to someone who asked about your faith (1 Pet. 3.15)? Give me grace, Father, always to be ready to…

5.  The resurrection of Jesus changed even our understanding of the Scriptures. Prior to the resurrection, many people knew the Old Testament, and many of them knew it quite well. But everything most people knew about the Old Testament changed when Jesus rose from the dead. Explain. How does His resurrection guide us in understanding the New Testament? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“This paragraph indicates, as it were, the end of the book. But afterward, there is still the account of how the Lord manifested himself at the sea of Tiberias and in the draught of fishes where special reference is made to the mystery of the church and its future character in the final resurrection of the dead. I think, therefore, it is arranged in this way in order to give special prominence to the fact that the end of the book has, as it were, been interposed, and that this ending was meant to be a kind of preface to the narrative that was to follow, in order in some measure to give it a position of greater eminence.” Augustine (354-430 AD)

Everything has changed since Jesus rose from the dead. We should be changing too, putting on the new person we are in Jesus Christ, and laying aside the old person we’ve been (Eph. 4.17-24). Jesus must increase in us, even as we decrease daily (Jn. 3.30). What are some ways you see that happenining in your life?

Closing Prayer
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

Psalm 22.23-31

Psalm 22.29-31 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
All the prosp’rous of the earth shall before His mercy fall;
Bending low before His worth, hear them humbly on Him call.
Even those low in the grave He will by His mercy save.

Let the generations all witness to His saving grace;
Let them to all nations call, “Bow before His holy face!”
Let the children of the earth hear of Jesus’ saving worth!

T. M. Moore
We are happy to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in our series on the Gospel of John by clicking here. Need help learning to pray the psalms? Order the book, God’s Prayer Program, and discover why and how to realize the power of the psalms to transform your prayer life (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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