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This morning I want to talk to you about the greatest event in the history of the world: the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead. Not only is this a true and historical event, but it has profound implications for mankind, and especially for we who are His followers!

Yeshua told the disciples, on numerous occasions, that He would rise from the dead on the third day, right in time for First Fruits. In Luke 24 He said to them,“These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things written about Me in the Torah of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.

Matthew (16:21) records that: From that time on Yeshua began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

1. The Resurrection as the 7^thsign attesting to Yeshua’s messiahship

Over the previous months, we’ve studied six of the seven public miracles or ‘signs’ around which John wrote his Gospel. The first of these was Yeshua turning ordinary water into fine wine at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. The second was the healing of the royal official’s son, which also took place in Cana. The third of these miracles took place in Jerusalem; it was the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda who had been 38 years in his infirmity. This guy not only didn’t thank Yeshua for healing him, but actually ratted on him to the religious authorities! The fourth was the feeding of over 5,000 people from what had begun as merely a young lad’s lunch: five small loaves of bread and two fish. Maybe we should call it the feasting of the 5,000, since they all ate as much as they wanted and were satisfied. The fifth public sign was when Yeshua granted eyesight to a man who had been born blind. This miracle triggered a heated debate among the Pharisees. It was becoming harder and harder for them to ignore or attempt to discredit this carpenter-turned-rabbi through whom God was performing such wonders. The sixth sign, raising His friend Eliezer (Lazarus) from the dead, was so startling in its implications that the Jewish religious leaders, fearful for the loss of their authority, began plotting to put Yeshua to death.

And so this morning we come to John chapter 20, and consider the seventh and greatest of all signs: Yeshua’s own resurrection from the dead. In fact, Yeshua told His opponents, those who insisted He perform a sign to prove Himself, that this would be the only sign they would get, comparing it to Jonah’s three days inside the great fish (Matt. 12:38-40). Let’s open our Bibles to John chapter 20.

Verse 1

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.

Matthew records that an angel had descended from Heaven and moved the stone, and that the angel’s actions triggered an earthquake. It would have taken several men to move the kind of stone used to seal tombs in First Century Israel. They weighed from several hundred pounds to over half a ton. But it only took one angel. In any case, such a sight would have been shocking – an open tomb where a dead body had been laid just days earlier.

Verse 2

So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Yeshua 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.”

Mary of Magdala was the first to see the empty tomb, and Peter and John were the first to hear the news. Who did Mary mean by “they”? Because it was Passover week, I doubt she thought it was the Jewish leaders, since to have contact with the dead would render a person defiled and unable to participate in the Feast. But evidently she didn’t think ‘resurrection’. Her presumption was that someone moved the body.

Verses 3 – 10

So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there;, and the face cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

The linen wrappings were those with which Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea prepared Yeshua’s body for burial. Let me briefly mention that there is an internet myth going around about the supposed ancient cultural significance of the head cloth, comparing it to a napkin that would have been used at dinner, and that if the person got up to leave the table and the napkin was neatly folded, versus thrown on the table, it meant “I’m coming back” and what we’re supposed to see here with Yeshua’s head cloth neatly folded is His telling us, “I’m coming back!” First of all, there is no evidence, either in historical or rabbinical literature, to suggest such a tradition. Secondly, the mixing of themes of an open grave and a meal is repugnant, to say the least. Don’t be gullible and believe everything you hear, even if it sounds ever-so-spiritual. Yeshua openly declared that He would return. The head cloth neatly folded simply shows us that He was alive again and He set it there.

What John does want us to see is that they didn’t yet understand the biblical promise of Messiah’s resurrection. In fact, he tells us they went home. But Mary wasn’t in any hurry to leave that place. And her persistence paid off. She was about to have a heavenly encounter!

Verses 11 – 18

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Yeshua had been lying. And 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, and did not know it was Yeshua. Yeshua said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Yeshua said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Yeshua said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Mary didn’t yet comprehend that Messiah Yeshua had risen from the dead, and she assumed someone had moved the body. She was distraught, but her grief was about to turn to joy. As she peered into the tomb, she beheld two angels, sitting where Yeshua’s body had previously lay lifeless. This might very well be the only time in Scripture where a human encountered an angel and wasn’t terrified. They asked why she wept. Suddenly, hearing something behind her, she saw Yeshua Himself, but didn’t recognize Him. Maybe it’s because she was so grief-stricken and didn’t pay close attention, or maybe Yeshua’s post-resurrection appearance was different. In any case, she thought He was the gardener! Talk about underrated!

By the way, never shop at Target wearing a red shirt, and never shop at Walmart wearing a blue shirt. You will be taken for an employee and peppered with questions and never get your shopping done. And whatever you do, don’t wear a tie. You’ll be the “manager”, and people will yell at you.

Yeshua’s message to Mary, and through her to the disciples, and through those disciples to the nations: “I am alive again, and I ascend to the Father!” His resurrection from the dead is the seventh and greatest of His signs.

Verses 19 – 21

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jewish leaders, Yeshua came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Having rejected Messiah the Cornerstone, the Jewish religious leaders (the “builders” as the psalmist calls them) were now apparently hunting down His followers. We find the disciples hiding behind locked doors. But in His resurrected body, Yeshua didn’t need doors to be open to come into a room. And He appears in their midst and says “Shalom Aleichem!” In view of Rabbi Loren’s great message from last Shabbat about evangelism, please note that the very first thing He says to the disciples is, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” We are to be His ambassadors – wherever we go we are to represent Him and go out of our way, and out of our comfort zone, to tell people how they can have eternal life through the Risen Messiah.

John goes on to say that eight days later Yeshua appeared to them again, and this time Thomas the skeptic was with them, and saw Yeshua for himself. For the sake of time this morning, let’s skip to the end of the chapter, verses 30-31, and then consider some of the implications of the resurrection.

Verses 30-31

Therefore many other signs Yeshua also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

As we approach the end of his Gospel, John freely admits his reason for writing it: to persuade us. Through these seven signs, and especially through the Resurrection, it is hoped that we will put our complete trust in Messiah Yeshua and the 100% effective atonement He made for us. Because forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God is mankind’s greatest need. And the only way we will see eternal life is if we invest the full weight of our trust in Yeshua. It’s all or nothing; it’s a package deal. If you take the Son, you get the Father also. If you refuse the Son, you get zip – nothing.

1. The Resurrection as God’s “Seal of Approval” on Yeshua’s sacrifice

Suppose Yeshua had remained dead; suppose the crucifixion and burial was the end of the story. What would it mean? It would mean that somehow He had not successfully accomplished redemption and atonement. It would mean that God’s righteous and perfect standard of justice had still not been met. It would mean that we were still alienated from God. In fact, Rabbi Paul writes, “… if Messiah has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Messiah have perished! If we have hoped in Messiah in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-18).

But the great apostle goes on to affirm that Yeshua did indeed rise from the dead! And because Yeshua was raised from the dead, it means that He has God’s “Seal of Approval”. God has vindicated Him. God overruled the decision of Israel’s “builders” who had Him put to death, and raised Him from the dead. God did so because Yeshua’s righteousness was perfect. And that means His sacrifice was sufficient, and we can know that we have the forgiveness of our sins. That is very Good News, my friends!

Yeshua Himself declared, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal” (John 6:27).

God’s approval was made evident by “Bat Qol” at the outset of Yeshua’s ministry. When He came to the Jordan to be baptized by John, a voice came from Heaven, saying, “This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased!” (Matthew 3:17)

God’s approval was made evident by Resurrection after Yeshua had completed His earthly ministry and surrendered His life for us. Rabbi Paul writes concerning this, “[He] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4)

III. The Resurrection as God’s assurance that we too will rise from the dead

Messiah is the beginning of God’s harvest of humanity, the first to be raised from the dead. As the first fruits, He is the beginning and the best, the prototype and model for all those joined to Him. Because God found Him acceptable, raising Him from the dead as the first fruits, it is a guarantee that those who believe in Him, the rest of the harvest of humanity, will likewise be raised and be given eternal life.

Again, Rabbi Paul writes, But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (have died). For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

In the same chapter, he went on to say, Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality…then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).

1. The Resurrection as God’s assurance that Satan, sin and death are defeated, and that we are no longer slaves to sin

The Scriptures foretold Messiah’s resurrection! We knew there would come to the Earth a great Redeemer. It began with God’s promise in the Garden Eden that the “seed of the woman” would crush the head of the seed of the serpent.

That is why the risen and glorified Son of God declared to John the apostle, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18)

Because Messiah Yeshua has conquered death and the grave, it means we who confess Him share in His victory. Sin no longer is our slave master! I am not suggesting we will achieve sinlessness in this life. But where once we were helpless and sin controlled us – nay, defined us, we now have the Holy Spirit in us, who enables us to say “No!” to sin.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin… For we know that since Messiah was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Messiah Yeshua. (Rom. 6:6, 9-11)

Messiah Yeshua’s resurrection from the dead is not only an historical fact, but it is the very foundation of our faith! That is why Rabbi Paul wrote: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Yeshua performed amazing miracles; but that isn’t the Good News. Yeshua taught profound truths; but they are not the substance of the Good News. Yeshua’s death and resurrection – that is the Good News!

To review, The Resurrection represents:

1. The 7th sign attesting to Yeshua’s messiahship
2. God’s “Seal of Approval” on Yeshua’s sacrifice

III. God’s assurance that we too will rise from the dead

1. God’s assurance that Satan, sin and death are defeated, and that we are no longer slaves to sin

If you love the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the same power by which He was raised from the dead is at work in you! Today, we ought to be able to say confidently, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!”